What we learned

Hi all,
Its been a couple of weeks since our trip and though I w o old share some of the things we learned.
I drove from home, Louisville KY to the Boston MA area and stopped over in OH for one night, and two nights in Watkins Glen NY area before reaching Foxboro MA for 9 days. My wife flew in to meet me there for 9 days. I then drove back thru upstate NY, Niagara Falls, thru OH again before reaching home.
Here are a few of the things I (we) learned.
1. DON'T EAT A JELLY DONUT WHILE DRIVING.
I was coming out of OH and came upon a Dunkin Donuts. SInce we don't have DD where I live anymore, I thought I would get a jelly donut and coffee. A few miles down the interstate I thought I would take a bite out of the wonderful jelly donut. This darn thing had 3 times the amount of jelly in it than usual. The darn thing virtually exploded when I bit into it! At the same time my GPS was telling me my exit on the interstate was on the left, not the right. I quickly changed lanes while squirting jelly all over my face, hands shirt, pants and driver seat. What a freaking mess! A suffered for a few miles and pulled off the hwy and easily climbed into the CI and changed clothes. Thank goodness for having 3 weeks of clothes with me!
2. PAY MORE ATTENTION AT HWY CONSTRUCTION SITES
While driving at 55 mph (posted const site speed) on the right lane of two lanes, I was taking it easy in heavy traffic all around me. Trucks were posted to stay in the left lane near the concrete construction wall. While my Jeep was not near the pavement edge, my CI apparently was, and the right side of the CI was pulled off the 6 inch edge of the pavement and jolted the rear or the jeep in the same direction. With traffic all around I pulled the CI back on pavement with heavy swaying of both the jeep and CI. I really thought I was going to hit other cars but somehow it all worked out in a second and a half. Now I know why trucks are told to stay near the wall! It was almost uncontrollable! Whew!
3. SOMETIMES PAY MORE FOR SEWER SITES
At the last few campsites, I noticed that when I upgraded to sewer sites, even though we really did not need them for short stays, we were surrounded by larger RVs as a result. The benefit of this was that the RV folks rarely used the showers and restroom facilities. We had complete use of the facilities which no waiting at all. Many of the times we were the only ones there and the facilities remained super clean! Meanwhile on the other end of the park with tents etc, the restrooms were more crowded.
4. PACK WITH A VARIETY OF CLOTHING
When going to NEw England, don't assume its Summer in June! We had days in the 50s, with wind and rain. Who would think I needed jeans, sweat shirts and jackets for most of the week! We were constantly doing laundry because we did not have enough warm clothes!
5. GREAT CAMPSITES
Watkins Glen Stat Park, Watkins Glen NY
West Branch State Park- Ravenna OH
6. CHECK OUT SOME PHOTOS!
Watkins Glenhttp://www.kennethtripp.com/p239237317/h2de163c0#h2de163c0
Sturbridge Village- Sturbridge MA-http://www.kennethtripp.com/p232787365/h13968d97#h13968d97
THANKS ALL!

 

Oh, Ken, the pictures of Watkins Glen were wonderful! It is an amazing place. We didn't camp there on our way from PA to ME - stayed at a KOA (not sure why, maybe it was closer and we were tired) in the area - but did stop the next day on our way north to the turnpike. The canyon wall with the river racing through is so impressive, and you can get pretty close to it. Thanks for sharing your adventure.

Kathy

 

Ken,
My wife and I are hoping to make it to Watkins Glen this year for a short trip. Thanks for taking those way cool pictures of Watkins Glen. Now it is a must to go there! I might have to order one of those from you if that is possible.
Thanks again for sharing. I love the jelly donut story!
Charlie

 

Thanks for the nice comments Kathy. Glad yo enjoyed Watkins Glen!
Ken

 

Charlie,
Feel free to order any photos from my site. Enjoy!
While I did not have the time while in NY, you may want to check out the Letchworth State Park, a couple of hours away. It has been called the Grand Canyon of the East.

Here it is.
http://nysparks.com/parks/79/details.aspx
Ken

 

Thanks Ken,
Letchworth SP looks like a good place to go as well!
Charlie

 

Charlie,
Of course the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown can't be missed either!
Ken

 

Thank you for sharing the photos of your trip. They are absolutely gorgeous!

 

Thanks Deb!