Author Archives: Sparky
TS4-1 Hop 4: Tremont PA to Herndon VA
158 mi via I-81, I-83, US 15, VA 267, VA 28 and local roads. Cumulative tow miles: 594. Truck miles: 410. Cumulative truck miles: 1192. The extra truck miles – nearly 250 – were incurred in making the innumerable trips into Binghamton and surrounding communities trying to get the brake controller fixed. This hop was … Continue reading
TS4-1 Hop 3: Chenango Forks NY to Tremont PA
154 miles via NY 12, I-81 and local roads. Cumulative tow miles: 436. Truck miles: 310. Cumulative truck miles: 782. This was the hop that extracted us from our 8-day nightmare. As expected, the most difficult part of the trip was the 200 yards to exit the Chenango Shores Campground. There were three distinct challenges: … Continue reading
Disaster recovery, phase 2: the brake controller
For those of you who never tow anything, I will enlighten you on what a brake controller is: it is a device that controls the brakes on whatever you are towing. When you press the brakes on the truck it sends a signal to the trailer to activate its brakes too. The truck and the … Continue reading
Disaster recovery, phase 1: the truck
Of the four known problems with our rig, two were truck-related and two were RV-related. Clearly, nothing could be done with the RV problems until the truck problems were solved. Unfortunately, one of the two GMC dealers in Binghamton NY would not book an appointment until Thursday and the other would only offer a Friday … Continue reading
TS4-1 Hop 2: Schenectady NY to Chenango Forks NY
130 miles via I-90, I-88, NY 206 and NY 12, Cumulative tow miles: 282. Truck miles: 302. Cumulative truck miles: 472. The extra 172 truck miles were incurred in Schenectady and along the Hudson River on the several excursions we took while there, as documented in the TS4-1 Hop 1 post. This was not the … Continue reading
Disaster!
Yesterday, October 6, 2018, was, without question, the worst day we have had in over 6 years of travel. It was a cascading series of events that has left us with both a truck and an RV in need of repair before we can continue to Florida. It all began on NY 206, about 4 … Continue reading
TS4-1 Hop 1: Phillipston MA to Schenectady NY
152 miles via US 202, MA 21, I-90, I-87, I-890 (near Schenectady) and NY 5. Cumulative tow miles: 152. Truck miles: 170. Cumulative truck miles: 170. This hop was over roads that we have traveled before, so no surprises. There is a lot of up-and-down both on US 202 and I-90, so the engine got … Continue reading
Tully Lake disc golf
One of the positives in this summer of mild disappointments was the Tully Lake disc golf course, located at the Lake Tully Recreation area in Royalston MA. I lost track of the number of times that I played this course. It is a very difficult course, but also a very beautiful one. And completely, totally … Continue reading
Fourth Trip South (TS4) preview
We start our fourth trek south on Wednesday. We will be heading to our new home at Cypress Trail RV Resort in Fort Myers. We are excited about this new location and our new status as “permanent residents” but that doesn’t mean that we are going to rush down there. We are, as always, going … Continue reading
“Just Take My Heart” by Mary Higgins Clark
Simon & Schuster, 2009 I am not a huge fan of Mary Higgins Clark. I find her plots to be contrived and the characters thin. But I have to admit that she is easy to read. Short chapters and no long dialogs. I read this book in less than a week, which is fast for … Continue reading