STS Hop 3

341 miles via I-395 (CT), I-95, I-287 (NY and NJ), I-80 and several PA routes, with a refueling stop in northern NJ.

This hop was much longer than originally planned and way beyond our usual daily limit of 240 miles (which is our towing range on a single tank of gas).  But we were forced into this by the delay last week with the truck repairs.  Faced with a long day of travel or the ordeal of rescheduling the rest of the trip, we opted for the long day.

Tappan Zee backup

And a long day it was. Google estimated the travel time to be under 6 hours, but with traffic, a lunch stop and a refueling stop, it was just over 8 hours.

Fortunately, it was a fine fall day. The sun was bright and the colors were coming out, particularly in CT. But getting past New York is always an ordeal, no matter which route is taken.  We chose the Tappan Zee this time because it was the shortest route and we had no reason to think that the delays there would be any longer than at the GW.  We were delayed maybe 30 minutes with traffic approaching the bridge.  Which completely dissipated halfway across.  The bridge is being replaced and the ongoing construction, with more than a dozen massive cranes, is a sight to behold.  And, apparently, drivers were beholding because the traffic sped up as soon as we passed the largest crane.

Huge crane

The refueling stop was more of an adventure than it should have been.  I selected the US-17 exit off of I-287 as a refueling stop because there were several large service stations there.  Getting off and getting refueled was easy, but getting back on was difficult, primarily because I got confused between US 17 North and South and did a tight left turn onto South which was (1) a mistake and (2) resulted in me running over a curb.  I feared blowing a tire, but did no apparent damage.  But then I had to find my way back onto US 17 North, to get to I-287 North so I could get to I-287 South.  Confused?  So was I.

The second adventure was the loss of the GPS.  It just froze on us as we were approaching our exit off of I-80 in PA.  Our destination was still 20 miles away and the printed Google directions suggested that we would be traveling on some fairly small roads.  I had checked the route for low clearances in Google, but liked having the GPS (which issues warnings for any bridge of less than 13′ 6″).  But the GPS just flat out froze.  We couldn’t even turn it off.  So we unplugged it and hope that it would run down the battery quickly.

It didn’t.  We had to navigate the last 20 miles from the map alone.  It wasn’t as difficult as I feared, but Jett was a nervous wreck (and still sick with her cold) by the time we got to our site at Pinch Pond Family Campground.  After setting up – and unjumbling everything (there were some nasty bumps on I-80) – she went straight to bed.

Holiday Acres Family Campground, North Scituate RI

Holiday Acres pond

We spent two nights at Holiday Acres Family Campground in North Scituate RI. The days were not pleasant, primarily because we both had colds, so Jett pretty much spent two days in the RV. I was out for much of the day on Saturday to play softball (we lost 2 of 3, unfortunately) but had dog walking responsibilities, so I got to look around the campground a bit.

This campground reminded me a bit of the Circle Cg Farm Campground in Bellingham MA which is not a flattering comparison. We dislike Circle Cg in part because the sites are unpaved (and some are just plain dirt), the roads are somewhat narrow and many of the sites are occupied by old, decrepit trailers. Holiday Acres had a large number of long-term residents (some sites had picket fences and hardwood decks) and a smattering of decrepit trailers. But it also had better facilities and a more pleasant pond than Circle Cg, so I rank it a bit above. But it still isn’t a place that I would recommend highly.

Restrooms/laundry

Campsites on open field

But it did provide a place to rest up for the trip. And, most importantly, got us a 31st state on our map.

17 more to go…