Day 2 - First big travel leg
Travel From: Salisbury Beach, Massachusetts To: Limestone, Pennsylvania Distance: 564 mi (907 km) Travel time w/brks: 10 hr 40 Distance since start: 648 mi (1,042 km) |
Thursday 6/22/2006
We got up at 3:15am and started to get the trailer and truck ready. By 3:45am we were able to pull out of out site at the campground. We made a quick stop at the dump station to get rid of some gray water. After that we pulled out on the road. It was about 60F (15C) outside and quite chilly. This is expected to be our longest travel day of this vacation. I was hoping that we'd get to our destination by 6pm (18:00).
As we were about to cross over from New York into Pennsylvania, Lilli called from my PubSub office in Nashua, where she was working on cleaning out his personal belongings with the help of Neil Schelly. Neil had helped her to get the heavy things into the Suburban. We stopped for breakfast at a rest area a 1/2 hour later. We had a muffin each and rested for about 30 minutes before we got back on the road. We were making good progress so far. We stopped at a TA truck center to fuel up the truck. It cost a whopping $97 to fill it up (for 32 Gal or 121 Lit). Prices have indeed changed. I recalled that we travelled this road back in 1999 as we were heading out to the Dayton International. At that point, we had made no modifications to our Suburban and it really struggled to get over the hills. The new truck with its powerful diesel climbed most hills at 65mph (104 km/h) without any effort.
Stopping for breakfast in Pennsylvania (even our "big" truck can look small)
We decided to plow ahead. According to the map program, we had less than 3 hours ahead of us to our final destination. It worked out great. We arrived at the campground just before 3pm (15:00). Both the truck and trailer were dirty from the road - the nice shine only lasted a few days. This is one of the last Airstream-only campgrounds left. There is a section of about 20 "permanent" trailers and then a field that can be used for rallies and overnight stays. Because we are so close in time to this year's WBCCI International rally, the general area was pretty much empty. We did not mind. The staff was nice and helpful.
Some of the approx 20 trailers in the upper lot for those with "permanent" sites
Shortly after we got setup, rain and thunder started to roll in. It was quite hot outside. We wrapped up our things, put up the awning, got inside the trailer and turned on the air conditioning. It was quite nice. We could see lightning just outside of the trailer. Erik cooked pasta and we ate dinner. After dinner, the kids played cards.
The kids playing cards after dinner (notice Erik's post mohawk tan-line)
Just after we had completed dinner, Lilli called with Skype. It is quite amazing that we do not have cell phone coverage here, yet we have wireless and are thus able to use Skype to call the outside. We had a video conference with Lilli from the trailer. I was able to move the camera around inside the trailer to let Lilli see what the kids were doing. The sound was quite good. All the kids got to hear and see mom. And I was also able to point the camera outside the trailer to give Lilli a flavor of what it looked like at the campground. The rain came and went as we wrapped up for bed.