We have the peddle to the metal now! Lewiston, NY (Niagara Falls area), Erie, PA, Kinzua, PA (Allegheny Mtns), Canandaigua, NY. Took a day in Erie to do laundry, fill prescriptions, get a haircut, and do a grocery run. Did I miss anything? Oh, yeah, rest. That's cause we didn't get any!
When we left Ontario, had a 300 mile day to reach Lewiston, NY. Got back into the U.S. with absolutely no hassle, thank goodness. Know having the passports help. No trailer search for ground beef trying to 'slip' across the border!
Pulled into the park about 5:00, got set up and I popped some chicken patties in the oven for our supper, before we did the walk-about. Then back to the trailer where I worked till about 11:00 preparing the review. Next morning we sat down with the owners to go over the review, chat about their business, long-range plans, etc. Then it was off to Erie, PA.
On the way there, Roger pulled one of his "oops, I wonder when the gas station with diesel is?" He found one - with just over a gallon of gas to spare. It was looking like he was going to have to use that 'emergency 5 gallons' he carries, for sure.
After Erie, we took time to stop in at a truck wash to have our home spiffed up a bit. We had followed a coal dust truck for several miles on the interstate before we went in to Canada, and our trailer looked like someone had dusted it for fingerprints. They did a great job on it - and we were sparkling, as we headed east into the Allegheny Mtns. We actually travel the interstate in New York, then drop into northern Pennsylvania to get to this park. This is not one of those you normally stop for just one night, for it's 20+ miles off the highway.
The Southern Tier Highway (also known as I-86) in southern New York makes all the roads in Oklahoma look WONDERFUL! It is absolutely THE worst road we travel. This jaunt was so bad that it jostled a partial gallon of water so badly that it bounded the lid right off. (Not to mention what my cabinet contents looked like!) Thankfully nothing broken . . . or so we thought.
One night there (same routine) and we headed north to Canandaigua, NY which is in the Finger Lakes area. Pull in, set up, and head out to do our walk about. This park is loaded with campers - and all in very chatty moods! I thought we would never get our walk done! Gotta love them, but by that time it was very close to 9:00 p.m. and we were dead on our feet. A very late supper - but our morning muffin was long gone and we were hungry. Then I burned the midnight oil doing computer work.
See, folks, we do work! It just looks like we're 'playing' to every one else. They don't see the research and computer hours spent preparing for a visit - and then doing the report for the owner - and then the time filing that report, along with pictures. We take between 75-100 pictures at every park, documenting improvements - and deficiencies - each year.
AND, although Roger says I mostly 'nap' on the drive between parks, I call it 'recharging' for the next stop! Sounds good, anyway.
Now back to the 'nothing broken' from our trip on the Southern Tier highway! Roger was doing that very necessary chore of emptying our holding tanks before we left Canandaigua, when he reached for the handle to open the gally (same as kitchen) tank, only to find the handle dangling loose. The rough road has evidently 'undone' some very vital connection. No time at the moment to mess with it, he emptied the other tanks and we headed on east to Cooperstown, NY.
We were wanting to get to Cooperstown as quickly as we could, for we knew that we would only have a couple of hours with the guy here. He is a lobster/crab fisherman out of Rhode Island (he has his own boat & crew) and he runs his pots Tuesday through Saturday. Pulled in about 4:30 or so, to find Bruce and his help (an very nice Amish gentleman) working on the pool gate.
Now, everyone has a 'soap box' and for Roger it is self-closing pool gates. (it's a safety thing) He has found a type of closure (the kind we had at our park) that is foolproof - if installed correctly. Two years ago he bought 2 dozen of them and every time he finds a gate not working, he pulls one out. More often than not, he installs it for them.
Talk about timing! We were standing in the store talking with the wife, Patty, when here came Bruce - with said closure in hand (that we had left with the previous owner). Roger gave him some pointers - and said, "let me get the trailer to our site and I'll be back with my tools." The old Amish gentleman just didn't believe it would work. So, of course, Roger had to make a believer out of him - and he did.
And what was funny, while Roger was working his magic, I opened my e-mails to find a query from our team in Colorado - with questions about Roger's favorite pool gate closure. I followed up with pictures and specs and got them headed in the right direction.
So if Roger doesn't accomplish anything else in this life, he has made it safer for hundreds of little ones at KOA campgrounds, because he installs self-closing pool gates that work every time!
An added bonus - I picked up a loaf of homemade Amish bread, and 1/2 lb. of homemade fudge (for Roger, really!). While the guys were 'resting' from their labors on the bench under the shade tree, here came a horse-drawn buggy, the young Amish girl coming to check the supply of goods left in the store over the weekend. Roger ended up buying a dozen of her homemade cookies before she took them away. This is my kind of park, nestled in the rolling farmland, much of it farmed in the gentle Amish way. As we say often, I could 'lose a crop' here.
Bruce left out at 4:00 a.m. this morning, headed back to the boat for the week. We won't do the review here till later this summer. I'll spend the day catching up on computer work, while Roger will attempt to repair - and open - the gally holding tank. Can't cook if I can't do dishes! Then we head north about 25 miles to the Herkimer Diamond Mine KOA . . . and start all over again!
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