New York

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Cutting It Close

I got a 7GB internet package for this month and I’m at just over 6.9GB this morning! I’m pretty sure that I will be over by a few MB. I’m shutting down the computer shortly and will be calling Verizon to turn off the data plan before I cross the border.

Speaking of the border, I hate border crossing day. 🙂 The rig really isn’t in very good shape right now, not at all the way I like to have it in preparation for an inspection, but I can’t help the chaos in here. I tidied up as best as I can and am crossing my fingers that the crossing back to Canada will be as easy as was the crossing into the US. I’m going through a major border point (Lacolle/Champlain).

I was surprised by how much I have to declare; $450. That’s $200 in clothes, $200 for a new computer battery, and $50 in assorted sundries for the rig. I’m still well below the limit and only have 12 beers on board, so I should be fine provided I don’t get accused of braying.

I hoping to arrive at my mother’s between 4 and 6. The big question marks today will be propane, dumping, and the border. The drive will be fine, except maybe the bit around Candiac depending on whether they’re still working on the 30. I should have asked my mother about that.

Google Maps says 15 to 30 to 112 to get to my mother’s, which is a terrible route since 112 would take me through St. Hubert and tons of traffic lights and slow speeds. Instead, I will take the 10 and then the back roads for a much easier/smoother trip. Anyway, once I get back on the road after doing the propane and dumping, the GPS is only going to serve to give me an ETA!

I’ll check back in tonight once I’m squared away. I’m also going to share some pics of where I’m parked this morning. I’ve been getting really lucky with my overnighting spots!

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Mission Accomplished?

I found a campground about 20 minutes north of the raceway that is not a detour and which may have both a public dump station and propane! I’ll be heading over there soon as I get out of here tomorrow! If the location pans out, I will be sure to provide all the details! In fact I’ve made a note to create a post about the various places I have gotten propane over the years.

Note to self: top up the fuel tank before crossing over.

 

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St Clair PA to Saratoga Springs NY

I am parked at the Saratoga Springs Raceway in Saratoga Springs, New York, just north of Albany off of I-87.

I was awake ludicrously early this morning (5:45!) because I went to sleep by 10:15 and actually slept straight through. I wasn’t ready to be up, though, so I spent about 40 minutes cuddling with Tabitha. I took the time to make a nice breakfast, then headed into the Walmart to withdraw some cash.

It was misty in St. Clair this morning:

But the mist started to clear up as I got ready to pull out:

The drive back up to I-81 was much easier than the drive down. I knew I was going to hit construction immediately and that I was in for a long, hard haul to just past Albany. I actually have blisters forming on my hands from all that white knuckling!

At Hazleton, I took everyone’s advice about the state of the hill between Scranton and Wilkes-Barre and veered east onto I-80. My GPS was much smarter today and quickly adapted to my new route, especially since I remembered to change the settings to allow routing on toll roads.

I had a very frustrating experience getting gas. There was only one pump I could access and there was someone ahead of me in line for it. The old codger got out, saw me, and went back into his vehicle. His wife tottered into the store and came out about five minutes later. The man got back out of his truck, pumped his fuel, then tottered over to the store. He came out, looked my way, and got back into the truck while his wife adjusted some things in the truck bed. She got back into the truck and they sat there another five minutes before moving on.

I got the fuel, which took almost 20 minutes since I had to authorize the pump twice, and did a check around the rig before moving on. I found a sporty red car in my blind spot. It sat there for a full five minutes before the owner came out of the store. She spent several minutes cleaning trash out of her car, then started pumping her fuel. When that was done, she sat in her car and dialed her phone. By this point, I was so angry I decided to not even attempt to get out and ask her politely to move. Sum total, I lost almost a full half hour waiting for her to clear out! I should have cut my losses at the old codger and gone to the next station down the road. I couldn’t believe that I wasted a whole hour to get fuel!

I’d spent some time last night trying to figure out how the NY Thruway works and what my toll would be, but gave up. I did cobble together, correctly, that I would encounter a toll booth upon entering the Thruway and would be given a ticket that would determine what I would have to pay at the toll booth on the exit.

This is what the ticket looked like:

Each line indicates the exit number and applicable toll. So it was easy to compare the ticket to my GPS instructions and determine that I would be exiting at 24, for a nice even toll of $11.

It was getting on lunchtime by this point, so I decided to stop at the first service area on the Thruway. I bought a nice loaf of French bread last night and planned on peanut butter sandwiches and coffee for lunch. This plan was cemented by the fact that there was a Starbucks at this first service area. Paying the Thruway surcharge on an espresso was more appealing than cleaning the French press and making my own, plus an espresso has less caffeine. Needless to say, I was surprised that a tall Americano was $2.22, just seven cents more than in Smithfield, VA, and still cheaper than a short Americano in Canada! The fast food options also seemed reasonably priced, but gas was almost $4 a gallon!

My exit was just past Albany, and let me tell you that I never thought I would be so grateful to see New York’s capital city! I knew that, from then on, it would be smooth sailing in increasingly rural landscapes all the way to my mother’s.

The exit toll booth felt very chaotic:

From Albany, I entered one of my favourite parts of the US, remembering fondly summers spent at Lakes Champlain and George and random excursions into Plattburgh with my dad just to eat dinner in another country. My detour to the raceway notwithstanding, I didn’t need a GPS anymore and felt the weight of my travels fall from my shoulders. All the signs pointed to Montreal; I was on the home stretch!

I was really tempted to continue to Montreal, but the rig was in no way ready for the border. Instead, I got to Saratoga fairly early, will have a relaxing evening, and will set out at a leisurely pace tomorrow. I was going to arrive for lunch, but failed at finding propane and a dump station today, so I need to do that tomorrow. I know there’s a state campground a couple of exits up and it should have a dump station for me to use. As for propane, wish me luck. That stuff is elusive! I had thought I’d pass a campground today and would be able to dump there and ask for directions to propane, but campgrounds would have required huge detours. Crazy!

When I got in, sat down at the computer and noticed a weird smell. What was that? Rubbing alcohol? No… Oh, acetone! I opened the medicine cabinet and discovered that a bottle of nail polish had overturned. There was very little to mop up compared to the stench that is still lingering.

Now, it’s time to figure out what I’m doing for dinner. I’m sure beer will be involved. It’s hot here!

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First Purchases for Miranda!

I had a lovely time in upstate New York yesterday and picked up a few items for my RV (ignore all prices on the websites, I only picked up stuff on sale!!!):

–Garmin Nuvi 260 GPS (how, praytell, have I traveled all this time without a GPS?!);

–APS 750V battery back-up system (UPS) and surge protector, for my computer set up of course;

–Black & Decker Pet Series hand vac, which they claim is specifically engineered to pick up pet hair (the reviews support this);

–Corelle Sandstone dinnerware–I decided after a lot of hemming and hawing to get a plain colour because the RV was going to look ‘busy’ enough;

–Stanley Stud Sensor, because I want to make as few holes as possible in my coach (and got quite the lesson in the mobile house);

–collapsible over the sink strainer;

–collapsible measuring cups (and matching spoons);

and, finally, let’s not forget my

–Wonder Wash, which was a gift.

The trip was well worth the time and gas I expended… especially since gas is so much cheaper in the US. When I bought two gallons worth at the last gas station before the border, the attendant took my ten bucks and laughed, saying that it’s easy to spot Canadians these days–they’re the ones topping off their almost full tanks before going home!

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Day One

I left home on Saturday March 29th. I aimed to drive 800 of the 1,200 kilometres that separated me from a good friend in Virginia with whom I would spend the better part of Sunday. My initial plan was to stop somewhere in the vicinity of York, PA, then I was advised to go around DC by taking I-81 to I-66, then route 17 to connect with I-95 just past Fredericksburg. All well and good… except that I forgot about my new plan, or, rather, didn’t register that York was no longer on my itinerary.

Let’s start at the beginning.

I woke up around 6:30 that morning and had every intention of getting another hour of shut eye, but my excitement had other plans for me. Within minutes, I was up and at ’em. It took about an hour and a half to get out the door. It was bitterly cold out, but already the sun was shining bright.

I made a quick stop at a Tim Horton’s for breakfast, and then came the border, about an hour away. I decided to cross at Ogsdenburg instead of Watertown, even if this meant I would have a good stretch on a slower road on the New York side to get to I-81, instead of speeding along on the 401 on the Ontario side. I guessed, correctly, that this small crossing would mean a short delay.

Customs came after a toll bridge. The officer was kind, but wanted the full story of how and why my car was damaged. I started with the Reader’s Digest (TM) version, but finally gave him all the gory details. Nosy sonofagun!

Locals on that quiet New York road must have hated me, but I stuck to the speed limit and ambled my way down to I-81. From there, Syracuse, and lunch time, loomed up. Using advice I’d gotten from tripadvisor.com, I took exit 30 to get to a Wegman’s grocery store.

Wegman’s is a luxury food store in the style of Loblaws, with lots of pre-made food and gourmet deli offerings. I sampled a delicious Irish bleu at the cheese counter and bought a hunk for lunch. In the car, I assembled bleu cheese and apple slices on French buns for a most satisfactory lunch!

Then, I drove.

Shortly before the Pennsylvania border, I realised that there was no more snow on the ground and that the temperature was definitely inching its way up to ‘springy’ levels.

Around 5PM I found myself in York, PA, on I-83 with no inkling yet that I was in the wrong place. Accomodation had been plentiful before York in the vicinity of Harrisburg, so when I didn’t find anything suitable in York, I figured I’d be okay to push on for a bit. However, the scenery became rural very quickly, and then I passed into Maryland. As Baltimore loomed closer, I began to realise that I’d goofed.

There was no convenient place to pull over and check the map, so I pushed on on I-83.

Unfortunately, I-83 ends right in downtown Baltimore.

As a Homicide: Life on the Streets fan, I know that Baltimore is the murder capital of the United States. Soon as I found myself on a busy main street in that city, my heart started to race.

I’d survived being lost in Chicago’s South Side and visiting New York City’s Washington Park at midnight, so I kept my wits about me, figuring that my best bet was to get onto the opposite side of the street and come back the way I came. This took a few intersections and a couple of scary left turns (driving in Chicago at rush hour in construction was less terrifying). Sure enough, I saw signs for the I-83 and made my way back to it. I took the time spent sitting at red lights to pray and look at the map. So, once I made it back onto the relative safety of the interstate, I knew that I needed to take the 695 south and that, sum total, I was only about a half hour out of my way. That said, I had no plans to spend the night in Maryland, didn’t have a motel guide, and was nervous about circling DC. This little unplanned excursion into Baltimore was already making me laugh, but it was time to stop for the night.

Soon as I was on the 695, I kept my eyes peeled for motels, and pulled off somewhere in west Baltimore at an exit that promised beds, gas, and food. I took the name of the exit, Security Boulevard, as an omen.

My first choice was a Days Inn that was outrageously priced at 99$ per night (plus tax!). So, I settled on an okayish Motel 6. It was an interesting place to stay. Built on a hill, the motel had three separate buildings, one for the 100s, then one for the 200s a bit further up, and, finally, at the top of the hill one for the 300s, where I was staying. It was blessedly quiet up there, but a bit isolated.

For dinner, I decided to try an American chain called Applebee’s. Above my table, there was a sign that made me burst out laughing right there in public: “He who hesitates is not only lost, but miles from the nearest exit.” Another omen that this was where I was meant to be that night. Dinner was excellent; I’d go to Applebee’s again.

On the way back to the motel I saw a third sign that everything was fine–a car which had been purchased in the city that was Sunday’s destination, but which sported Maryland plates. Very odd.

My night at Motel 6 wasn’t very good. I was woken up by the phone two or three times. According to the operator, there was a problem with the switchboard and my room kept on showing up. Whatever. I told management that I was very unimpressed and displeased, not that that did anything. Anyway, I did manage to get about 6 hours of good, deep sleep, which is satisfactory for a first night on the road.

Even though I wasn’t where I was supposed to be that night, I’d done close to 1,000km and would have only a short haul on Sunday. It was a good day.