The good news is that my RV is waterproof the bad news is that nature is determined to prove it. When held under house arrest by the weather it matters little where one is parked but for the record I'm in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Given what's happened these past few days drawing the curtains and having a nap this afternoon seemed the course of least resistance. As I start writing darkness is quickly falling, though there's little I want to see outside in any case. Rain has been sluicing down my skylights all day.
On Thursday afternoon I decided I'd accomplished all I had could before leaving Oakville so before I left shut things down at home and set out to complete my last group of tasks. When getting my heat pump working did not appear in the works I decided it wasn't worth spending another night so I set off for Niagara. The only thing I still needed badly was propane and it wasn't on offer where I checked. Stopped at Queenston Heights for supper on the food items that might cause a problem at the border and said my good byes to Canadian soil. Paused at Canada Customs to register my camera and binoculars then with a sense of fatalism drove up to American Customs. Crossed the frontier with a minimum of hassle around 5:45 and the journey began.
It wasn't long of course until I was engulfed in darkness. Crossed the toll bridge and was on my way. The I-90 is a toll highway? As I learned later the next day at a New York State Tourist Bureau from the senior citizen who was manning it and eager for company on a slow day this applies only to the stretch that passes Rochester which happened to be Democratic at that time the Republican Governor Rockefeller built the rest of the highway. Political patronage again rears its ugly head and the state considers the revenue too valuable to surrender this stretch to the Feds even though it was long since paid for. The one thing I've noticed about US Turnpikes is the fact that exit lanes are too short to allow one to slow down in time forcing one to do so in traffic. Many also involve downhill stretches with bridge abutments at the bottom.
With only a slight detour in the wrong direction found my way to the campground I'd settled on for my first night in America and found my way to an empty site—most of them—as instructed and as the Milky Way smiled down on me plugged my RV into the power post remembering to shoot the circuit breaker. America gave me a cool and frosty welcome. Next morning met my host and got him to fill my propane tank. After breakfast set off to find gasoline; $3.35.9 an American Gallon picked up half a gallon of milk at a Yellow Goose Mart. So began a long day of driving. Stopped at one mall for potato salad and frozen OJ—more expensive than in Canada—and was offered chicken and biscuits with gravy as the luncheon special by a person of colour. Pass. The Tom Tom GPS and I made it through New York State and crossed into Pennsylvania stopping at the Welcome Centre. "Smile, You're in Pennsylvania!"
As light began to fail negotiated a bewildering series of interchanges and then narrow country roads looking for my next campground. I never did find it. I viewed their website the night before but the campground alluded me. Before I gave up for the night completely stopped for gas @ $2.79 a gallon—remind me to fill up before I leave Penn State. Stopped at a Park and Ride to catch a few hours rest and then set off after programming the GPS for Harrisburg. I had planned on a two day rest at the last campground and the weather that followed confirmed the wisdom of my original plans.
While I was stopped at a rest area having coffee and a sandwich the rain started. Just how high I'd climbed in the last hours became apparent when we started going downhill. I regret the fact that night obscured the mountains through which I'd driven. Mind you the fall colours have been muted by haze and an early fall for most of the territory I've crossed; I can only hope the Blue Ridge Parkway is not as far advanced. Not long into the evening the rain became wind-driven making driving even more miserable in such hilly terrain. I was thankful to negotiate the extensive road construction around Wilkes-Barre at a time when there was relatively little traffic. What the truckers stuck behind me were saying I'm better off not knowing. Being constantly overtaken by behemoths throwing off spray and their own air currents causes some white knuckles. To add to the misery after Wilkes-Barre the fog set in. Stopped for another nap before continuing on. When I'd passed my fifth roadkill deer and realized that traffic was barrelling by me at 65 miles per hour with zero visibility I got off the highway after the last 10 mile construction zone. Found a place to park and went to bed.
The next morning got going slowly around 7:30 and stopped at Frunck Family Restaurant with the idea of having breakfast. The place was crawling with middle-aged reservists in camos. When no one had come to seat me after 5 minutes I gave up in disgust and went on my way. The wind let up if not the rain and I made good time to Harrisburg and checked into my present campsite at 9:30 this morning. First order of business after plugging in was bacon and eggs. This is the first campground I've seen that has electrical meters at every site. They also have a log-on system for the internet that features bandwidth throttling. The place I stayed Thursday night did that as well. Apparently I've exceeded my limit for the day already.
I may attempt to read some E-mail after I post this blog. I plan to rest up for two days in the hopes of this weather passing. According to my calculations my ultimate goal of reaching Winchester and the Blue Ridge Parkway is now only a day's drive after crossing Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia. I'll have to look later for a campground nearby as I want to stop at the visitor's centre before I begin driving the parkway. The rain is still falling as I finish this note so I'll have to wait until tomorrow to fill my water tank and bottles, pump out holding tanks and explore the area. If I'm given the opportunity I'll post this tonight—Saturday. My Personal In-Box being a lonely piece of electronic real estate I won't be troubled with answering any E-mail.
No comments:
Post a Comment