Mortimer R V Turtle headed South on Tuesday, determined to make some progress towards home at the end of his third week of the shake-down cruise. About 130 miles again, with 90 of those on I-89.
I used to have an abiding aversion to anything NewYork, ever since my earliest days as a Cleveland Indians fan. The drive north a couple of weeks ago through the City, and over the George Washington Bridge [$16!], even aggravated this hostility. Now, this stint in the state parks of the Empire State seems to be adjusting that attitude. Now, I marvel at how smooth and efficient their interstates are, even though showing sings of wear and tear. Similar Ohio roads would be shaking our fillings out. How clean and pleasant their camping areas are, at prices less than half the going commercial rates. Lynne is even amazed at how frequent the parking areas and rest stops are encountered along the highways and freeways.
Today we stopped at Fair Haven State Park on the eastern shore of Lake Ontario. This was originally a Civilian Conservation Corps project. Rainy weather is threatening, and making it difficult to get out exploring and photographing. That coupled with another evening without non-roaming phone and Internet make for some added detail in this commentary. By 6PM the day cleared, and we went for a two hour walk through the forest, past the beach and out to the end of the breakwater with lots of pictures.
When we pulled into the campground, we were greeted by a mother and two baby deer munching on the flora. We stopped to watch, they looked back, and strolled off into the woods across the road. Too surprised to get a picture, but it would have been a great one otherwise. Then we were walking along some tent sites, and noticed a squirrel trying to pick the lock of an unoccupied tent – quite amusing, except for the fact that upon closer inspection, we noticed that one or two more squirrels were already inside the screening and bouncing off the tent walls. Must have been some mighty happy squirrels, and less happy campers.
On today’s drive, we stopped for brunch at McDonalds, and asked if they had WiFi. Well, they didn’t but Burger King right across the street did, if it has recently been repaired since it went down six months ago. We gave it a try, and were pleasantly surprised to find it working, fast and free. So we got our email, put in some stock orders, and uploaded the most recent pictures and commentary.
Lynne has also taken to making comments about the shower facilities and other less important amenities at each campground, on our trip log. So if you ever have questions about where the good ones are, we will have you covered.
One of the most amazing things about Morty is his LP gas tank. We filled it from about ¼ full at our first gas stop on June 10. The LP gas runs the refrigerator and water heater 24/7 with the exception of when he is in storage mode, and the furnace, which has not been used yet. We’ve been checking the gas level every couple of days, and it seemed to go from full to about 5/8 in just a few days. But then it stopped moving, and is still at 5/8 full now three weeks later. I hope we don’t get a rude surprise some day, when the refrigerator shuts down without warning. Otherwise, we are very happy with the efficiency of the LP gas appliances on board.
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