2025-26 Trip to the Southwest, Day 180

Day 180, Thursday, April 16, 2026 - Home, Oswego, NY - 93.9 Miles, 7,676.8 Miles for the Trip.

58°F overnight, 71°F at noon on the road, and the high for the day was 73°F.

Since I only had 90 or so miles to go, I got a late start. I stopped on the way at the Syracuse Camping World it see if I could purchase a Ventline Roof Vent with light. They have hit me with ads for it on Facebook, but when I stopped in they couldn't find one. Typical for Camping World...

At home I unpacked the stuff that had to be unpacked. Since I'm heading to the Spring Fling on May 12th, I didn't unpack everything. I do plan to take the trailer in to get the brakes checked and the bearings repacked before the trip.

Some statistics for the trip:

180 days for the trip

Total miles driven - 8730.5
Total Towing Miles - 7676.8
Miles Per Gallon - 11.77 (12.39 according to the built in calculator)
Cheapest gas $2.34 at Circle K, , Holly Springs, MS
Most Expensive gas $4.10 at The Brown Bag, Barnsville, PA (Last stop)

Most expensive campground - Cherry Hill Park, College Park, MD $103.00 per night
Least expensive (a few free), least paid - $10.00 per night fat Sunny Flats, Portal, AZ
Campground average cost - $28.84

10.4 Gallons of propane for a total of $33.03

Total miles for the truck - 100707.6
Total miles for the trailer - 71,761.9
Total Nights in the Trailer - 1591 

As usual after a trip I headed to Rudy's, our lakeside fish & more restaurant for a Shrimp dinner to go. Made it home just before a heavy rain started.

Until the Next Trip - 

2025-26 Trip to the Southwest, Day 179

Day 179, Wednesday, April 15, 2026 - Country Hills Campground, Marathon, NY - 146.7 Miles, 7,582.9 Miles for the Trip.

54°F overnight, 63°F for my morning walk, 81°F at noon on the road, and the high for the day was 82°F.

More overnight rain with a short 10:00 burst. Bright sunshine for the morning.

I got a call from Anne that the Guidos were sick & I might want to skip a stop at their house. So, I looked for a campground in the area. Chenango State Park was full, so I booked a site at the Country Hills campground in Marathon, NY. While Trip Wizard says they are closed until May 5th, someone answered the phone (although she was in Florida) and as far as I know I'm booked for tonight. I could drive all the way to Oswego, but it is 250 miles, a bit more than I like to drive, particularly since I'll have to at least partially unload the trailer after I get home. Breaking it into 2 nights makes for a short drive tomorrow.

So, I dumped the tanks, packed up, then sat in the trailer until it was time to leave.

The traffic on I 81 wasn't too bad, at least on my side of the road. Those heading south had a 3 mile stopped traffic section; I didn't see the cause. We had some lane closures, but the traffic was light enough that they only caused slow downs. I arrived at Country Hills Campground around 2:00. 

I'm in site 23, a full hook up site needing 1 1/2" side to side & a 1" rise on the tongue. The site is on gravel, has a fire ring but no picnic table. I don't know if they tables when they are open since that won't be for another 3 weeks. $48.00 for one night., and it appears that so far I'm the only one in the place. They only have a few sites set aside for overnighters. There are bathrooms, but they are locked.

Site 23

I did a speed test for AT&T & Verizon. AT&T showed 22.78Mbps down & 1.14Mbps up. Verizon showed 55.71Mbps down & 5.57Mbps up. If you don't have either, this would be a good site for Starlink - very open with few trees.

After setting up I sat outside and read for a bit. I finished B. B. Griffith's Follow the Crow, and started the second book in the series, Beyond the Veil. While the first might be considered a bit of a Navajo cop story, the second is pretty much a SiFi book. OK, but not what I expected. 

Windy with 24MPH gusts. The shade kept blowing closed on my chair so I eventually moved inside even though I had to listen to the AC until the sun went down.

Dinner was a Chef Ramsay Chicken Marsala Pasta Bowl.

Until Tomorrow - 

2025-26 Trip to the Southwest, Day 178

Day 178, Tuesday, April 14, 2026 - Lakewood Park Campground, Barnesville, PA , Day 2 - 0 Miles, 7,436.2 Miles for the Trip.

51°F overnight, 65°F for my morning walk, 75°F at noon, and the high for the day was 82°F.

It rained off & on (mostly off) throughout last night. Woke up to clear skies. I sat outside for a bit after my morning walk.

After breakfast I paid some bills, read some journals & forums, then did some reading on the Kindle. Current book is B. B. Griffith's Follow the Crow. This is the first in a Native American series "Vanished". I enjoy Native American stories, and this is the first of 7 in the series, all available for free with Kindle Unlimited. I don't think anyone can beat Tony Hillerman, but in addition to some of my favorites such as Kathleen O'Neal Gear; W. Michael Gear, Jean Auel & James Doss, I'm sure there are many others; I keep looking.

Around 2:00 the inside oft the trailer hit 80°F so i closed the windows, shut off the MAXX fan & fired up the AC. I sat outside in the shade of the trailer reading. B. B. Griffith's Follow the Crow is different from the James Doss & Tony Hillerman Navajo cop stories, but so far I've enjoyed it.

Dinner was an Amy's Enchilada with Black Beans. Not the usual bowl - I picked up a double enchilada without the fixings by mistake.

Until Tomorrow - 

2025-26 Trip to the Southwest, Day 177

Day 177, Monday, April 13, 2026 - Lakewood Park Campground, Barnesville, PA - 156 Miles, 7,436.2 Miles for the Trip.

54°F overnight, 58°F for my morning walk, 66°F at noon on the road, and the high for the day was 74°F.

Another reason for doing some of your hook up the evening before - it might be raining when it is time to go. A light rain started around 10:00 this morning and continued for the first quarter of the drive to Lakewood Park. A stalled truck in the right lane created a 15 minute stop & go on I 81. Saw a Escape 19 heading south around mile marker 34 in PA.

I arrived at Lakewood Park Campground around 1:30. A bit confusing since there is also a State Park with the same name 4 miles away but the coordinates from Trip Wizard got me to the right place. They have a camp cafe that has sandwiches & snacks.

Site 12 & the Bathrooms & Laundry

I'm in site 12, a full hookup site on a concrete pad level side to side with a picnic table and combined grill/fire ring. I had to drop the tongue 1". Close to the bathroom & showers (individual rooms) and the laundry. After setting up I started two loads. $2.75 to wash in large front loaders (an additional $.50 for heavy loads) and $1.75 to dry.

While the clothes were in the dryers, I headed for a shower. There are 3 bathrooms in the building, one without a shower, and 2 with showers, one disabled. I used the non disabled room. A sink, toilet & shower. 2 double hooks and a bench near the shower. A large shower with a shelf & a shower head hanging basket. A medium flow 3" shower head with adjustable water. While the floor is flat between the shower & drying area, a cloth shower curtain & good slope keeps the drying area floor dry. The only fault I could find was it was a bit too cold in the room. A solid A.

I checked Verizon & AT&T - Verizon shows 319.38Mbps down & 10.93Mbps up. AT&T shows 123.49Mbps down & 15.06Mbps up.

Yesterday I finished Nick Jones's The Quantum Chain and started The Whisper of Stars. It is Nick Jones first book, and it shows. My favorite oops is where the main character of the book gets bullet holes & gas leaks in the gas tank of her electric motorcycle. Still, an interesting story line.

A little before 5:00 I headed to the Cafe for a Yuengling battered Haddock sandwich on a Ciabatta bun. Alas, it wasn't to be. Seems the cafe is only a cafe Thursday through Sunday. They do have a few snacks available, but nothing that would make a dinner. To top it off, on the walk back to the trailer it started to pour. As soon as I got into the trailer it stopped, but it did start again 10 minutes later. So, it will be a damp microwaved dinner. Well, the dinner wasn't damp, just me.

Dinner was a Saffron Road Chicken Tikka Masala Bowl.

Until Tomorrow - 

2025-26 Trip to the Southwest, Day 176

Day 176, Sunday, April 12, 2026 - Greenbriar State Park, Boonsboro, MD, Day 3 - 0 Miles, 7,280.2 Miles for the Trip.

47°F overnight, 50°F for my morning walk, 59°F at noon on the road, and the high for the day was 70°F.

Other than some dogs on the other end of the loop, a quiet night & morning. Since there doesn't seem to be any heat in the bathroom, I'll be putting off a shower until tomorrow. 

Still cool at noon so I'm sitting inside. I probably should walk over to the ALiner in the next site and let her know I'm alive. Yesterday I got back from a walk and the campground hosts & a neighbor were standing outside my trailer. She had not seen me outside the trailer all morning and decided I must have died inside. Maybe folks in ALiners spend more time outside, but yesterday was cool enough that I spent most of the morning inside reading and listening to bluegrass music on WNCW on internet radio. In any case, we had a good laugh, and talked about camping in Arizona.

It did warm up enough by 2:00 to sit outside. I finished The Observer Effect and started the last in the series, The Quantum Chain. Around 4:00 I hooked up the trailer to save a little time in the morning. Not a long drive at 155 miles, but I won't have to rush. After hooking up I trimmed my beard, then headed in for dinner.

Dinner was a Scott & Jon's Shrimp Alfredo bowl.

Until Next Time -