It’s 695 miles from the Beacon, New York Elks Lodge to Elkhart Campground, and we wanted to get there as soon as possible, because by Monday I have to get the new issue of the Gypsy Journal to the printer. So we left yesterday morning, planning to get about 400 of those miles behind us by the end of the day.
The first order of business was to cross the wide Hudson River on the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge. The bridge is actually two spans, one going east and one west, and is 7,855 feet long. Fortunately, it is three lanes wide and pretty level most of the way, which helps my bridge phobia. And I planned to stay in the center lane all the way across.
Except that the left lane was closed, so the center lane was now the left lane. It didn’t matter, that’s where I stayed.
And I didn’t snivel even once, though Terry took a picture of me concentrating really hard.
It was only 43 miles to the Pennsylvania state line, which meant I was now legal to have and load any firearms that might be in my possession. Not that I would have any with me, because that would be illegal in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York. Lord knows I wouldn’t want to break any laws! 😉
We followed Interstate 84 into Pennsylvania, and what a bumpy, bouncy ride it was. But the scenery sure was pretty.
Just outside of Scranton the highway was totally blocked, and a policeman was waving traffic onto the left shoulder to get around a horrific accident. A full-size pickup truck had rear-ended the truck pulling the backhoe that is on the road shoulder in this picture and then an eighteen wheeler hit it from behind, compacting the pickup down to less than four feet long. Folks, please be careful out there, it only takes one moment of inattention to get you killed.
Remember when I complained about some states not having mile markers keyed to highway exits, or few mile markers at all? Pennsylvania must have known I was coming, because not only do they have mile markers, they have one ever 1/10th of a mile! I told Terry they could have just had one every mile and used the money and manpower to fix some of the potholes instead. Yes, I know, I’m never satisfied!
Don’t get me wrong, they were working on the roads a lot. In fact, the entire route down to Interstate 80, and then I-80 into Ohio was pretty much one very long construction zone.
Eventually we crossed into the Buckeye State and got on the Ohio Turnpike, where I promptly had a brain fart. Going through the narrow toll booth, I wasn’t paying close enough attention and hit the driver’s side mirror on a post. Fortunately, I was going very slow, so the damage wasn’t too severe. It basically pulled out the screws that Charles Yust had just installed a month or so ago because the mirror was loose. But I was really kicking myself for it.
We pulled off the road and were able to tighten the screws somewhat and hopefully it will hold until we get back to Elkhart. Once we were stopped for the night, I called Charles to tell him I was unhappy with his previous work on the mirror, telling him that the first time I hit something with it, the damn thing came loose again! He and Chris will be back in Elkhart tomorrow too, and I’ll give him an opportunity to fix it again and make things right. Yes, I’m that kind of guy. 🙂
With 485 miles behind us, we pulled into a service plaza on the Ohio Turnpike for the night. They have an RV parking area with electric hookups and water for $20 a night, but we would have had to unhook the toad and back in, which makes it inconvenient for a quick overnight stop. Besides, we have this huge Onan diesel generator taking up space in the front of our motorhome, so we might as well use it. So instead, we pulled into a pull through space on the far side of the plaza to dry camp for the night.
Today should be an easy run of just over 200 miles. I’ll try not to hit anything else along the way.
Thought For The Day – It is not easy to find happiness within ourselves, and it is impossible to find it elsewhere.
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
That’s just crazy. What does driving like that and not stopping to see anything have to do with RV’ing? If all you are going to do is drive far and fast and never stop to see anything along the way become truckers and make money at it.
Geez Gregory, did you get up on the wrong side of the bed? Sometimes when you are RVing, you have to get from Point A to Point B and there isn’t always “something to see”. Go get a cup of coffee and calm down.
We drove to Alaska in 2010 and last summer we were in the state of Washington and are presently in Maine. I can say for sure that 90% of the roads to Alaska are better than 75% of the roads in the lower 48. Whoever is in charge of the roads in each state should have to travel their roads in a motorhome.
Perhaps Gregory is confusing Nick and Terry’s working-while-RVing lifestyle with somebody else who is totally retired and just wandering the country on a perpetual vacation.
Maybe Gregory just doesn’t read closely enough to see that our blogging friends here are on a tight schedule to produce another “Gypsy Journal”, get it to the printer, and then get it mailed out in a few days, after which they must get Terry to her annual oncology checkup in northern Michigan.
On the other hand, maybe Gregory just has an annoying medical issue. I recommend Benefiber, Hon…. works like a champ. When ya feel better, maybe you won’t be so aggravated about the little things in life — like other people’s business.
Hey Greg,
Chill, man, chill.
Apparently, you are not a regular reader here. In fact, like Llana suggests, perhaps you are NOT regular — or worse someone actually peed in your corn flakes today. You can be sure we loyal readers don’t like anyone criticizing the Nickster.
This post hit a nerve. We also hit the passenger side mirror on our motor home at a toll booth on the Ohio Turnpike only ours tore all the way off. Only $800+ to get one of the six remaining replacement mirrors in the country sent to our Boston campground. Driving without a mirror was nerve wracking.
I’ve said for years that I wished I had got the contract for the 1/10 mile marker signs in PA.