2022 Trip To The Spring Fling, Day 9

 Wednesday, May 18, 2022 - Home, Oswego, NY, 230.7 Miles, 895.7 Miles For The Trip

By the way, I discovered a second set of bathrooms at Wilmington Notch DEC Campground that do have showers. No heat, but there is hot water.

I had a nice drive through the Adirondacks for the trip home to Oswego. Matilda, my GPS wanted me to take Rt 3 for most of the trip, but I've done that many times, so I decided to take NY 30, 28 & 69. I stopped a short time after leaving the campground for a photo of a small waterfall on the West Branch of the Ausable River, and again at the top of Long Lake for a photo of Buttermilk Falls. I've now taken photos of Buttermilk Falls with low, medium & high water.  More photos at today's LakeshoreImages page.

Buttermilk Falls

I arrived in Oswego around 3:30, unpacked the refrigerator, and what I hope was everything I'll need for the evening & tomorrow morning. I plan to pretty much empty the trailer over the next couple of days so I can do a "deep cleaning" before the next trip. I also have new self adjusting brakes that I plan to have installed with the next bearing packing, etc.

Until The Next Trip - 

2022 Trip To The Spring Fling, Day 8

 Tuesday, May 17, 2022 - Wilmington Notch DEC Campground, Wilmington, NY, 250.2 Miles, 665 Miles For The Trip

Another rainy night, although it stopped well before morning, letting me pack up the trailer & dump the tanks without a raincoat. I headed out of the campground around 9:30, and arrived at Wilmington Notch by 3:30. A mix of 2 lane county roads, a few 2 lane state roads, and a bit on I 89. Lots of wind & some light rain off & on during the drive, with heavier rain starting just after arriving at the campground.

I'm in site 30, a dry site on sand level enough that I did not need to unhook the trailer from the truck. There is a bathroom building with flush toilets, but no showers or heat. Good Verizon coverage at 74.3Mbps down & 23Mbps up, with weak AT&T that I didn't check the speed. It cooled off when I hit NY; it hit 70°F on the drive, but was only 48°F when I arrived at the campground & the furnace was running. I usually shut it off when driving unless the temperatures are well below freezing, but I forgot this time. Along with the campground photo I'm adding a couple that Anne took during our trip to Mt. Washington.

Me at Mt Washington

It looks like the rain will continue for the rest of the afternoon, so I'll probably just sit in the trailer & read. Still reading Lawrence Block's Enough Rope on the Kindle, and listening to Peter V. Brett's The Warded Man audio book. I managed to get a mosquito inside the trailer that is driving me crazy. I hope to "get" it before going to bed tonight.

Dinner was a microwaved Saffron Road Chicken Biryani bowl.

Until Next Time - 

2022 Trip To The Spring Fling, Day 7

 Monday, May 16, 2022 - Chocorua Camping Village KOA, Tamworth, NH, Day 6,

Another night of rain making a lake outside my trailer door. Like last time, but the morning (this morning) the lake was gone. After a morning walk around the campground, including following the Exit signs to see how I can get out of the site tomorrow, I warmed up a muffin for breakfast, then read for a bit. Anne & Guido decided they wanted waterproof jackets for their trip to Scotland in June, so we drove to the L. L. Bean store. We stopped at a couple of other places on the way back, and decided since it was suppose to rain at dinner time, to make lunch dinner.

I made a home made pizza with peppers, mushrooms, pepperoni, and my home made sauce - I didn't have an onion, so I used onion flakes. All decided it was editable,

It started to rain a little after we finished lunch at 4:00.

Until Next Time - 

2022 Trip To The Spring Fling, Day 6

 Sunday, May 15, 2022 - Chocorua Camping Village KOA, Tamworth, NH, Day 5

Heavy rain late afternoon & overnight. By dark the area outside my trailer door was between 1" & 3" deep. Glad I put the Clam & my ground cloth away during the day before the rain.

We went to breakfast at the pavilion again this morning; easier than cooking. After that I read forums & journals, then wandered over to Anne & Guido's trailer to meet with Roy & Lea, former students that live in the area. We sat around chatting, moving to the pavilion when it started to rain & back to the Guido's trailer when the rain stopped & for lunch. Eventually, the rain came back, Roy & Lia headed home & we headed up to the office to make reservations for next year. 

While it cleared up for part of the afternoon and we stopped by to chat with Dave & Jackie at their Scamp 13, I headed back to my trailer when light rain started to fall. I don't know if Anne & Guido made it back before 4:30 when heavier rain, lightning & thunder moved in. 

Because it is still raining, dinner was a sandwich & chips.

Until Next Time - 

2022 Trip To The Spring Fling, Day 5

 Saturday, May 14, 2022 - Chocorua Camping Village KOA, Tamworth, NH, Day 4, 0 Miles, 414.8 Miles For The Trip

At The Top Of Mount Washington

Another warm night - I slept with the windows open & the fan on. I even ran the AC for about an hour before I went to bed to get the trailer below 80°F. It was down to 74°F in the trailer & 78°F when I shut it off. 

Saturday morning was the "Shine & Show", the time to show off your trailers and the personalization you have done to them. I showed mine a couple of times then went around to a few taking photos that are on today's LakeshoreImages page & the Spring Fling 2022 page.

After that it was off to the Mount Washington Auto Road. We tried last year, but it was only open on the weekend & we went during the week. This time we checked ahead of time. Not inexpensive at $67.00 for the three of us, but something that we wanted to do. A slow drive, both up & down. A fairly narrow, mostly (except for about a mile) paved road with lots of parking at the top. I took lots of photos, including some panoramas. There was a fire in the distance in one direction, a building that was chained to the earth (Mt Washington has what is claimed to be the worst winter weather in the world), a cog railroad for those that don't want to drive (I also ran into a couple of hikers that made the trip on a trail to the top). While the top is designated as a state park, the road is privately owned. I bought a "T" shirt at their gift shop across the road from the Auto Road entrance.  Lots of photos on today's LakeshoreImages page.

We saw a couple of lightning strikes on the way back, but didn't hit rain until we started the drive back to the campground. Since it was raining, we stopped on the way back to the campground at Delaney's Hole In The Wall restaurant for dinner. Anne & I had fish & chips, while Guido had salmon. The fish & French fries were very good, as was the huge bowl of home made tartar sauce. 

Now, at 6:30 back at the campground it is raining fairly hard. Glad we decided to do the restaurant!

Until Next Time - 

2022 Trip To The Spring Fling, Day 4

 Friday, May 13, 2022 - Chocorua Camping Village KOA, Tamworth, NH, Day 3, 0 Miles, 414.8 Miles For The Trip

Gerry & Barb Grilling The Chicken

Warmer than last night (as well as today). The furnace never came on this morning. After my walk around the campground & breakfast, I sat outside and read. Current book is Lawrence Block's Enough Rope, a collection of 80 of his short stories. While short stories, I'm not sure I'll be able to get through them before my library loan runs out. Great stories, but 80 is a lot of them.

I missed the painting demo, but did make it to the cooking demo. Gerry made One Pot Harvest Time Goulash, and Xin gave us samples of hard boiled eggs cooked in beer & Coca Cola, and Sticky Rice with Dates. Photos of the cooking demo and the pot luck are at today's LakeshoreImages page or the page for the 2022 Spring Fling.

At 5:00 Gerry and Barb finished grilling the chicken, the pot luck donations were spread across three tables, and the feast began. After eating, there were prizes and a 50/50.

Dinner was, of course, the pot luck.

Until Next Time - 

2022 Trip To The Spring Fling, Day 3

 Thursday, May 12, 2022 - Chocorua Camping Village KOA, Tamworth, NH, Day 2, 0 Miles, 414.8 Miles For The Trip

Digging Into The Cheese & Crackers

While the days have been warm, in the low 80's, the nights are still cool. My furnace, set at 62°F came on 3-4 times during the early morning hours. 

I walked around the campground before breakfast, then sat outside in a sweatshirt reading. By 11:00 t\it was warm enough to ditch the sweatshirt, and be 2:00 time to change into shorts.

We made a trip the North Conway & the Hannaford grocery store for supplies. Well stocked, particularly for the stuff I like. I even found Amy's Cinnamon rolls.

After that it was a half tank fill up at $4.16 and back to the campground. We sat around reading & talking, then I headed in to bake a couple of blueberry pies. We timed the pies, dinner & the cheese & cracker get together well enough that everything worked.

Dinner was Baby Back Ribs, salt potatoes, creamed spinach and applesauce. We had 5 minutes to get to the get together. I took a bunch of photos which are on today's LakeshoreImages page.

After that it was back to the trailer for my evening eye drops.

Until Next Time - 

2022 Trip To The Spring Fling, Day 2

 Wednesday, May 11, 2022 - Chocorua Camping Village KOA, Tamworth, NH, 205.5 Miles,414.8 Miles For The Trip

The Guidos made it to the Broken Wheel around 8:00 with a working van that had working air conditioning. After 3-4 tries, Toyota managed to fix it.

We headed out a little after 10:00, with me suggesting a gas station in Bennington, VT that Gas Buddy showed had regular gas at $3.19 per gallon. We drove by one that had it at $3.39, and stopped at the "cheaper" station where we paid $4.40. The first time I paid more than $100.00 to fill the truck. We did see a pretty church going through town:

The rest of the drive was on VT 9 & NH 9, a mix of short runs on interstates, US 3 and NH 16. 

We settled into sites 48 (the Guidos) and 50 (me). Very nice sites overlooking the pond. Full hookup sites with a glass table, chairs, a propane grill and a wood platform. Of course the nice sites come at a cost - with the rally discount it is $52.20 per night.

Site 50

After setting up we chatted with Gerry & Barb, the hosts, and some of the couples that have already arrived for the rally.

Dinner was Bubba Burgers, Bush Beans & Walmart Cookies & Creme Mousse for dessert.

Until Next Time - 

2022 Trip To The Spring Fling, Day 1

Tuesday, May 10, 2022 - The Broken Wheel Campground, Petersburg, NY , 209.3 Miles, 209.3 Miles For The Trip

 I made it to the Broken Wheel Campground around 2:30, all on secondary roads. Various county roads to Rome, NY, then NY 5 most of the rest of the way. Gas is getting ridiculous! $4.62 at some stations, and the least expensive I saw was $4.35. Of course that was when I had a full tank...

I'm in site 26, a water & electric site on grass for $36.50 per night. Level enough that I don't need to unhook the truck or even adjust the tongue jack to level. While I called & they said there would be no problem with a pair of sites together, the woman who owns the campground didn't get the information so was surprised to see me. We usually register & pay at the caboose in the center of the campground, but the local authorities declared that because of Covid, they can only allow 1 person in the caboose due to size. So, registration is at the campground store.

Site 26

I received a text from the Guidos that Toyota says they put a bad battery in the van, and will put a new, hopefully good battery in today, so they might show up tonight. as of 3:00, no word from Toyota that it is ready, so they are going over and stand there until it is. The latest word is they are on the way & expect to arrive around 8:30.

Dinner was a Saffron Road Chicken Biryani with Basmati Rice bowl.

Until next time.

2022 Trip To The Spring Fling

 Tuesday, May 10, 2022 - Home, 0 Miles, 0 Miles For The Trip

It is again time for a Spring trip. Of course I just got back from a 7 month trip to Arizona, but that doesn't count - it was a Winter trip!

The trailer is packed and the first stop planned - the Broken Wheel Campground in eastern NY. Anne & Guido planned to met me there & drive to the Chocorua Camping Village KOA together, but their tow vehicle died. They are trying to get it fixed, but have not had much luck with their local Toyota dealer. They have spent close to $2000 on the air conditioning and over 3-4 "repairs" it never got fixed. The last time they replaced the compressor, but they haven't had a chance to find out if it was a fix - the van died on the way to the store, they had it towed to Toyota who declared the battery was bad, replaced it, and on the way home it died again.

So, I'm heading out.

Until next time.

2021-2022 Trip To The Southwest, Day 194

Monday, May 2, Home, Oswego, NY - 120.3 Miles, 7,960.4 Miles for the Trip

Home

Another drive up I 81. Very little traffic, although a lot more going south. I arrived at home around 11:00. Light rain towards the end of the drive, and, of course, as I unloaded the trailer. I only unloaded some of the "stuff" since I'm heading to the Spring Fling in New Hampshire in a week.

Some statistics for the trip:

Total towing mileage 7,960.4, total mileage for the trip is 9,831.9. Towing MPG 12.05 calculated by the truck, total MPG for trip is more accurate at 11.45. 858.323 gallons of gas for a total cost of $3,102.64. Most expensive gas was $4.50 per gallon at Animas, NM & Falls Creek Falls, TN, least expensive was $2.87 at Bastrop, TX. Total campground cost $3,365.55 with an average of $17.44 per night. 56.8 gallons of propane at an average cost of $3.28 per gallon.

Dinner was a microwaved Amy's Chile Relleno Bowl.

Until the Spring Fling!

2021-2022 Trip To The Southwest, Day 193

 Sunday, May 1, The Guido's, Binghamton, NY - 162.9 Miles, 7,840.1 Miles for the Trip

The Scamp Parking Place

The Escape in the Street

Another late start since we had a fairly short drive, 99% on I 81. We arrived at the Guido house a little after 2:00. I'm parked in the street while the Scamp is home in its own parking spot, at least for a week.

Not much else for me for the rest of the day, although the Guidos had to reset the house clocks (power outage) and start unpacking the trailer. I'll have all that tomorrow when I get to Oswego.

Dinner was a chicken parm & roasted potatoes at Little Venice in Binghamton. A bit dry, but editable.

Until Tomorrow -