Our Wander Years

TS7 Hop 6 – Croton-on-Hudson NY to Lowman NY

Posted on August 24, 2021 by Sparky

250 miles via NY 9, NY 301, NY 9D, NY 9W, I-84 and NY 17. Cumulative tow miles: 991. Truck miles: 443. Cumulative truck miles: 1568.

This may have been my worst day of RV travel EVER. I got away on schedule, around 10:30am, but ran into a closed road (NY 9) a half hour into the trip. I think it was a downed electric line because there were LOTS of electric crews in the area. But I must have been the first vehicle to come onto the scene because the person directing traffic had not yet set up – I got stopped by a half-dozen flares across the road. Then I had to back up a quarter of a mile (not easy with a 42-foot trailer!) to a place where I could turn around. And because the GPS was not aware of the closure, it becaume useless – it just kept telling me to turn around and go back up the closed road.

Bottom line: I detoured about 25 miles, down to the Bear Mountain Bridge, then back north on NY 9W on the west side of the Hudson River. The extra miles necessitated a refueling stop, which was annoying beyond belief (why did the pump take my credit card then demand that I “see the cashier”?).

Did I mention that there were frequent heavy showers too? I had to turn on/turn off the wipers about 30 times in 3 hours.

This route has a LOT of up-and-down. The truck did okay, but there were some very long uphill stretches that strained the engine. And long downhill stretches that tested the brakes.

The worst problem, though, came at the end. The last mile to the campground was another long uphill pull. When I got to the campground the office was closed. I tried to call the number on the door, but had no T-Mobile service. I found the owner, found where my site was and went back to the truck. Started it and got an “engine overheated” message – the first I have seen since 2013 near the Grand Canyon. There was really no reason for the truck to overheat – one mile of uphill should not be that difficult.

Worse, when I tried to use the overheated truck to pull another 200 feet into the site, then engine died. And would not restart. I had to get the entire rig towed into the site so I could get electricity running to the RV to save my frozen foods (oh, yeah, the inverter once again did not work on this hop).

Problem after problem. Traveling used to be fun. Not so much now.

I should also mention that a full tank of gas took me just over 200 miles rather than the 240 that I expect. I wonder if I have a fuel leak. It wouldn’t be the first. And it might explain the “air bubble in the fuel filter” problem.

My site at Croton Point Park, before the rain

The 3 days at the Croton Point Park were fine, if you like rain. Hurricane Henri made landfall in Rhode Island and its tentacles stretched to the Hudson River and beyond. It wasn’t all that windy but the rain was torrential. Roads flooded. And the entire park was muck. Not pleasant.

I can’t figure out why a park this close to New York gets almost no OTA television. I got a dozen channels if I positioned the antenna just right, but mostly I was unable to find that “just right” position and had almost no television for the entire 3 days. Which I am used to – I had no television for 3 months in Orange MA. But I get tired of flipping through the DVDs.

So I once again have to deal with a disabled truck. Tomorrow. Tonight I am going to think if I want to continue traveling in an RV. And if the answer is “yes”… how can I replace the truck? Or eliminate the need for one?

Categories: Adventures, NY, Places, Routes, RV Parks, TS7 | Leave a comment

TS7 Hop 5 – Swanzey NH to Croton-on-Hudson NY

Posted on August 21, 2021 by Sparky

185 miles via NH 10/MA 10, I-91, I-84, I-684 (north of New York City), NY 35, NY 100, NY 118, NY 134, NY 129 and US 9A. Cumulative tow miles: 741. Truck miles: 302. Cumulative truck miles: 1125. The extra truck miles were due to a trip to MA for a medical appointment and some shopping around Keene NH. The truck miles would have been over 200 miles greater had my last softball game not been canceled. I was fully prepared to travel 2 hours each way to get that final game in. But it rained all day Thursday.

There is quite a bit of up-and-down on this route in CT, but the truck handled it well (because I didn’t turn off the overdrive this time). But, once again, the refrigerator did not stay on. I am beginning to wonder if I need to replace the battery in the RV.

Though the trip seemed relatively smooth, there must have been some rough patches. Some of the shelves were pretty jumbled when I got to my destination. And a screen had popped out – a first in my nearly 10 years of travel.

My three days in NH were at the Ashuelot River Campground. This is a small campground on the Ashuelot River with very large, very open sites. Only a few of the sites are pull-throughs but it really doesn’t matter because the back-in sites are so open that no driving skill is required.

Back-in sites at Ashuelot River Campground

As you might expect, this campground is on the Ashuelot River, a small, gentle, meandering stream. Rusty liked the walks along the river. It is a fairly scenic stream. It is probably beautiful in the fall when the leaves turn.

As mentioned above, my last softball game of the season was rained out. That ended a very disappointing (in terms of both my performance and the team’s) season in a very disappointing summer. I really struggled at the plate. Probably my worst offensive (or most offensive?) season in 40 years. Maybe I am getting old.

Nah.

Categories: CT, MA, NH, NY, Places, Routes, RV Parks, Sports, TS7 | Leave a comment

TS7 Hop 4 – Poland ME to Swanzey NH

Posted on August 18, 2021 by Sparky

170 miles via ME 122, ME 26, US 202 (with a brief detour near Gorham ME and I-393 and I-89 to bypass Concord NH), NH 9 and NH 10. Cumulative tow miles: 556. Truck miles: 338. Cumulative truck miles: 823. The extra truck miles were due to a graveyard tour and a trip to the Oxford Casino.

Last things first. I stopped by the Oxford Casino the last night in Poland. I immediately found a slot machine that let me win. I started with $20 and was soon up to $50. But then that machine and all others that I tried went cold. After an hour of playing I left the casino with $20.19 – a full 19-cent profit! Big night at the casino.

The cemetery tour took longer and was profitable in its own way. I was on the hunt for 8 of Jett’s paternal ancestors, all buried in 3 cemeteries not far from Poland. I was unable to locate the Shepard’s Field Cemetery in Oxford where 4 were buried. But I found the Addition Cemetery in Leeds (a pair of 4th great-grandparents) and the East Otisfield Cemetery in Otisfield (second great-grandparents – the parents of Jett’s paternal grandfather). So pretty successful, I think. But about 90 miles of driving.

My two nights in Poland were at the Range Pond Campground. This is a mostly-seasonal campground with many rigs that appeared to have been there for years. And a lot of kids. But a nice pool and very wooded. Water and electric only so it has now been nearly a week since I have emptied my tanks. I will do that in NH, for sure.

I should mention two truck-related things that I encountered on this trip that were worthy of note. The first was my discovery of the “no overdrive” setting. I don’t know why a driver would want to turn off overdrive, but I accidentally found a way to do it. And turned off the “towing” setting at the same time. So for most of this trip the truck was operating without either overdrive or the benefit of the “towing” settings, the result being that the engine seemed to labor more than usual. I noticed the difference and worried that something was wrong with the engine. But it appears that the fault lay entirely with the driver.

The other incident was the odometer rolling over to 200,000 miles. I bought the truck with about 80,000 miles on the odometer, so I have added about 120,000 in just under 10 years.

Categories: Genealogy, ME, NH, Places, Routes, RV Parks, TS7 | Leave a comment

TS7 Hop 3 – Hermon ME to Poland ME

Posted on August 16, 2021 by Sparky

107 miles via US 2, ME 23, ME 11, ME 135 and US 202. Cumulative tow miles: 386. Truck miles: 200. Cumulative truck miles: 485. The additional 93 truck miles were due to the trip to Ellsworth, a trip to refuel and shop and the return trip from the repair shop.

This route was not the one I planned, but after 40 minutes of the GPS telling me to turn when I didn’t want to I finally relented and let the voice take control. The route selected by the GPS was fine. A bit bumpy, but not busy, It was a short trip.

My 3 days in Hermon were spent at the Pumpkin Patch RV Resort, home of the Escapees Chapter 3 Lobsterfest Rally. I was here once before – in 2014 – for my first Lobsterfest Rally. Of course Jett was with me for that one; this one was a bit different solo. And I recognized only a couple of faces. But I found some new friends and had both a good time and a fine meal of lobster, clams and sweet corn.

Escapees Chapter 3 Rally meal – but not the lobster one

The main events of this stay – besides the lobster – were the truck breakdown and finding my brother, both of which I have already documented.

Categories: Food, ME, Places, TS7 | Leave a comment

TS7 Hop 2 – Saco ME to Hermon ME

Posted on August 13, 2021 by Sparky

135 miles via US 1, I-295 (through Portland), I-95, ME 69 and US 2. Cumulative tow miles: 279. Truck miles: 141. Cumulative truck miles: 285. The extra truck miles were due to refueling.

This was another (thankfully!) uneventful hop. The weather was nice and so were the roads. I arrived before 1pm and got set up, figured out that there was nothing to do with regard to the RV rally (the annual Escapees Chapter 3 Lobsterfest Rally) so I decided that this was the time to go find my brother.

Background: my younger brother, who I always viewed as a happy-go-lucky guy, dropped off the face of the earth nearly 5 years ago. No one had heard a word from him. I was worried that he might be dead. But my stepson – Jett’s son – is a private investigator and he gave me an address in Ellsworth ME where I could likely find him. So my secondary goal for these few days in Hermon was to drive the 35 miles to Ellsworth and see if he was really living there.

So that was my intent at 2:30pm on Thursday. But I started the truck, backed up about 20 feet and… the truck died. Engine quit. Couldn’t restart it. I did a quick search for a local diesel repair shop, they agreed to take the truck if I could get it to them, found a towing service, they came out and took my truck away.

Once again my truck was in for repairs. Not a great start to the TS7. I was pretty convinced that the fuel pump had failed. I played a mental game with myself, trying to guess if it would be over or under $500. More importantly, I was trying to figure the odds on whether I was going to have to rebook all of my stops to Madison WI. I was pretty sure I would.

I had an uncomfortable night of sleep. And it wasn’t due to the heat.

But at 8:30am I called the truck shop to confirm that my truck had arrived. It had. I asked if they had had a chance to look at it. They informed me that the problem was fixed. A bubble in the fuel filter. Cost: $40. They delivered the truck to me, free of charge. I was thrilled and gave the guy who bled the bubble a $20 tip.

I figured a trip to Ellsworth would be a great road test (about 75 miles, round trip). So off I went. I found the address, knocked on the door and… it was answered by my brother. Who was, against all odds, happy to see me.

A great day all around.

My one-night stay in Saco was at the Saco/Old Orchard Beach KOA. I didn’t do much there except set up, sleep and go out in the morning for fuel. It seemed like a nice campground.

Lobster and clams tomorrow. I am looking forward to that!

Categories: Family, ME, Places, RV Living, TS7 | Leave a comment

“Redemption” by David Baldacci

Posted on August 12, 2021 by Sparky

This is #5 in Baldacci’s Memory Man series, but the first of the series that I have read. I always feel that I am missing something when I don’t start at the beginning and I am undoubtedly right. There are many references in this book to events that presumably were the subject of previous books in the series. Missing some of the context certainly diminishes my enjoyment of the book.

But I will give you my take.

Amos Decker, the protagonist and the eponymous “memory man”, suffered a brain injury in college while playing football at Ohio State. As a result of his injury he remembers everything, no matter how minor or how long ago (but not before the injury). This mental abnormality plays a large role in Redemption as Decker – now an FBI agent – is approached by a man that was sent to prison for life for murdering 4 people, largely due to Decker’s investigation – his first homicide case as a police officer 13 years earlier in Burlington OH. The man, who has only weeks to live (he was released from prison due to his impending death) pleads with Decker to clear him as he was innocent.

That very night the man is murdered. Decker searches his infallible memory for any evidence that he screwed up the investigation. He initially can’t see any problem in what the police did 13 years prior, but the fact that the man was murdered (why murder a dying man?) and some doubts about how well he investigated the murders (he never, for example, read the autopsy reports) gnaw at him. He decides to look into it. His suspicion that he somehow messed up drives him to seek redemption (hence the title).

Needless to say, when he starts pulling at the strings, the case begins to unravel. More people start to die. He himself is shot at. It doesn’t take a genius – or a man with infallible memory – to realize the something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

I won’t go into the details of a very twisted plot, but I will tell you that the motive for all the mayhem is very large and very deep. But I couldn’t get past the feeling that it was all a little too contrived. Not realistic. Too many murders in a small town (it reminded me of Cabot Cove, home of Jessica Fletcher of Murder She Wrote – a little town with more murders per capita than Detroit or Miami). So while I enjoyed the book, I can’t rate it highly.

6 out of 10.

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TS7 Hop 1 – Orange MA to Saco ME

Posted on August 12, 2021 by Sparky

144 miles via MA 2, I-495 (northwest of Boston), I-95 and US 1. Cumulative tow miles: 144. Truck miles: 144. Cumulative truck miles: 144.

Yes, the Seventh Trip South (TS7) has officially begun. This was a fairly short hop but I opted to avoid the NH tolls via US 1 so it was a bit slower than necessary. The thing that made it difficult was the time of day: I departed Orange at 4:30pm and hit some rush hour traffic. I didn’t arrive in Saco until after 8pm so I had to set up in the twilight. But otherwise it was a pretty simple and straightforward trip.

Actually, one other thing made this hop difficult: exhaustion. I got just 2 hours of sleep then played 2 softball games in sweltering 90-degree heat before doing all the hitch-up work. I could barely keep my eyes open while driving.

Saco is just an overnight stop. On to Bangor tomorrow.

Categories: MA, ME, NH, Places, Routes, TS7 | Leave a comment

Florida vacation – Day 5, the long trip back to MA

Posted on August 12, 2021 by Sparky

The final day was a long travel day. Lili and I said goodbye to Tony and departed Ocala at 11:30am. We got to Ft Myers just after 3pm. I gave Lili a 15-minute tour of downtown Ft Myers (which is about how long it takes to see downtown Ft Myers) then stopped for some fast food at McDonald’s. Except that it wasn’t fast – we were 20 minutes in the drive-through lane. That got us to my home RV site about 30 minutes before the Uber was scheduled to arrive, so Lili got the 5-minute tour of my site (again, that is about how long it takes), then I dropped her and the luggage off at the community center, drove back to the site, left the Toyota and did the 5-minute walk back to where I left her.

Which is when the skies decided to open up. I got soaked on the 5-minute walk. Naturally the shower stopped as soon as I got to her.

The Uber showed up on time and got us to the airport by 4:30pm, in plenty of time for our 6:45pm flight. That flight was uneventful but the last flight, from Dulles to Hartford, was delayed by an hour. We didn’t get to Hartford until 1am and by the time I got the luggage and the truck and drove her home to Worcester it was 3am. I didn’t get back to the RV until 4am.

I got 2 hours of sleep then got up for my softball game. And had my best game of the year – 4 for 6. Maybe I should always play softball on short sleep.

Categories: CT, DC, Family, FL, MA, Places, Sports | Leave a comment

Florida vacation – Day 4, Universal Studios, Orlando FL

Posted on August 12, 2021 by Sparky

This was the main event of this trip – a day at Universal Studios. It went well. Very hot with an afternoon shower, but many of the attractions are indoors so the shower didn’t really affect us.

First let me say that a day at Universal is not cheap. The tickets – even with the “Florida resident” discount, were $145 per person. Then they get you for parking, too – $26. At those prices you damn well better have a great time.

The only pleasant surprise, financially, was the food. The prices at the snack kiosks and restaurants in the park were suprisingly reasonable. We had lunch at an Irish pub.

Our goal was to get to as many of the adult “rides” as possible. There were about 10 in all, if you include “E.T.” (which is listed as a kiddie ride but is enjoyable for adults too).

Tony and Lili went on the “Hollywood Rip Ride Rocket” roller coaster, which they both liked (Lili rated it as the best ride at Universal) while I went on the “Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon”, a 3D virtual ride which nearly made me vomit (I had to close my eyes). I would rate that as the worst ride at Universal. Tony and Lili later went on the “Fast and Furious – Supercharged” ride, another 3D virtual experience (ok, but nothing special) while I endured a 70-minute wait to get on the “Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts” ride, a combo roller coaster and 3D ride that I thought was spectacular. I also loved Diagon Alley with the fire-breathing dragon atop the Gringott’s Bank.

We all went on the “E.T.” ride (fun and gentle), the “Despicable Me Minion Maybem” ride (the best virtual ride in the park) and the “Men in Black Alien Attack” ride, a combo ride and arcade shooting gallery (we didn’t shoot very well). We didn’t make it to “Transformers The Ride 3D” or “Revenge of the Mummy”, both of which are supposed to be quite good but the lines were very long. We walked through Krustyland but didn’t go on “The Simpson’s Ride.”

We were pretty tired by the time we left at 6pm. A fun day.

Categories: Adventures, Family, FL, Places | Leave a comment

Florida vacation – Days 2 and 3, Ocala FL

Posted on August 11, 2021 by Sparky

On the evening of Day 1, my son and I went around and around about how to best spend Days 2 and 3. He was in favor of going to Busch Gardens in Tampa; I thought that would be too tiring and expensive – I preferred Homasassa Springs Wildlife State Park which I thought would be more low-key. But both were over an hour away so we finally compromised on Silver Springs State Park which was only a 15-minute drive.

I was a bit disappointed. The main attraction of the park is the glass-bottomed boats (and, in fact, the 1966 movie The Glass Bottom Boat was filmed here). The 30-minute tour was interesting but the rest of the park was basically walking trails. You can rent kayaks here and that might have been nice, but we didn’t opt for that as none of us had even kayaked before. Most surprising was that the shops were all closed for renovation and the only food in the park was a lonely food truck.

Well, we wanted low-key.

Because we ate little (me) or nothing (Tony and Lili) at the park, we dined out at Texas Roadhouse. The meal was forgettable except for the Bread Incident. One of the reasons we went to Texas Roadhouse was that Lili really likes their bread. But on this occasion she broke a biscuit, smelled it and tossed it back. She said it “smelled like alcohol”. Now you can ask how a 15-year-old can identify the smell of alcohol, but we won’t go there. Both Tony and I smelled the roll and agreed that it did smell like alcohol. I then ate some of it and it tasted fine, but Tony complained to the waitress (who also concurred on the alcohol smell). She went to the kitchen and was told that that is the smell of the yeast.

Plausible since the roll tasted fine.

Day 3 was a do-nothing day. Lili spent the day playing video games with remote friends and, sometimes, with her father. I blogged and read. I did sneak out once to find the resident gopher tortoise sunning himself.

Categories: Adventures, FL, Food, Places | Leave a comment

TS7 Hop 6 – Croton-on-Hudson NY to Lowman NY

TS7 Hop 5 – Swanzey NH to Croton-on-Hudson NY

TS7 Hop 4 – Poland ME to Swanzey NH

TS7 Hop 3 – Hermon ME to Poland ME

TS7 Hop 2 – Saco ME to Hermon ME

“Redemption” by David Baldacci

TS7 Hop 1 – Orange MA to Saco ME

Florida vacation – Day 5, the long trip back to MA

Florida vacation – Day 4, Universal Studios, Orlando FL

Florida vacation – Days 2 and 3, Ocala FL

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