2020 – B & B Travel Blog

November 24, 2020February 6, 2021

Chassahowitzka River Campground – 11/20/2020 – 11/24/2020

We spent the weekend before Thanksgiving camping with our friends Mick & Heidi and their girls Haley & Lola at Chassahowitzka River Campground in Homosassa, FL. If you ever want to see old school Florida, this is it. The campground is nice with full hookups and lots of foliage. The foliage was thick enough that we had no luck with our DISH satellite and the campground is far enough away from civilization that we couldn’t pickup any TV channels on antenna. No loss there because we were spending time with friends and there really wasn’t any time for watching TV. The campground Wi-Fi signal was strong, but unfortunately there wasn’t enough bandwidth to make it usable. We did get good Verizon coverage on our cell phones for both voice and data.

Beth kayaked on the Chassahowitzka River by herself one of the days and with Heidi and her friend Nell the next day. The springs were beautiful, but she did not encounter any manatees. Now that Haley works for a bicycle shop we hired her to tune up Beth’s bike. She did a great job and Beth’s bike is now pedaling like new.

We managed to cook over a fire every night except the first night. One of those night’s we cooked Pork Burgers purchased at Mishler’s Packing back home in Indiana. They were delicious.

Unfortunately, on our way home we had a little incident pulling into the Gibsonton, FL Walmart to purchase diesel fuel. The entrance was at such a steep angle that the tail of our RV dragged on the ground. Apparently, the bearing in our radiator fan had gone out and was literally hanging by a thread. The sudden impact from the tail of the RV hitting the ground finally caused the fan assembly to fall out of alignment. We were afraid to drive it at that point so we parked it and waited patiently on a tow truck for six hours. While we waited, Beth made two trips home in the Tahoe with everything we could think to unload from the RV. Meanwhile, the long wait provided the opportunity to observe all the “interesting” activity occurring in that particular Walmart parking lot (a murder resulting from a drug deal gone bad occurred there the following week). The tow truck eventually arrived and took the RV two miles across the interstate to the local CAT dealer.

September 28, 2020September 28, 2020

2020 Road Trip – Final Day of Travel

I got up this morning and put a good final back flush on the black tank before we left Country Oaks RV Park & Campground in Kingsland, GA. We departed at 9:15 AM EDT and stopped for fuel at a Circle K in Baldwin, FL for our final fuel up. We paid $2.05/gallon for diesel fuel. We stopped for lunch at the Rest Area in Ocala, FL and made a sandwich and used the restrooms (couldn’t dirty up our clean black tank).

The rest of the drive home was uneventful (unlike last year) and we arrived at 2:30 PM EDT and promptly began unloading all of our “stuff”. At 4:30 PM we decided we’d had enough of unloading and Beth went to Little Caesars and grabbed our favorite $6.49 pizza (ExtraMostBestest® Thin Crust Pepperoni) and Buffalo Wings.

We traveled a total of 5,962 miles on this year’s trip.

September 27, 2020September 27, 2020

2020 Road Trip – Country Oaks Campground – Kingsland, GA

We started our day with a delicious breakfast at Cracker Barrel. They now offer an upgrade to “Loaded” Hashbrown Casserole (basically throw bacon and cheese on the original casserole). I took one on the chin for the team and tested out this new upgrade and am happy to report that it is definitely worth whatever it cost (if you have to know the price, you can’t afford it).

After breakfast we departed at 9:00 AM EDT and drove directly to Country Oaks RV Park & Campground in Kingsland, GA arriving at 1:30 PM EDT. We drove 270 miles today. We stayed in this same campground at the start of our road trip last year and I stayed here again on my way to Gaffney, SC for service at the Freightliner Customer Service Center this year. On this visit we stayed in Site #4 and were able to pickup all three Dish Eastern Arc satellites by placing our portable satellite antenna (R2D2) in front of our camper. The rain started shortly after we arrived and continued with a slow drizzle throughout the afternoon and evening. We had hoped to arrive in time to watch some NFL football, but ran into several “technical” issues that prevented us from watching the Bucs vs Broncos game, but we did manage to catch Sunday Night Football (Packers vs Saints).

September 26, 2020September 26, 2020

2020 Road Trip – Cracker Barrel – Columbia, SC

Today we decided to see how far we felt like driving, so we didn’t make any campground reservations and figured we could stop at any of the plethora of Cracker Barrels along I-77. We left Candy Hill Campground at 10:30 AM EDT and stopped for $1.72/gallon diesel fuel at the Sam’s Club in Rock Hill, SC and decided we could survive another hour of driving. After fueling up we stopped at a Food Lion just down the road from the Sam’s Club for our final grocery stop.

We drove a total of 448 miles today and stopped for the night at a Cracker Barrel in Columbia, SC at 7:00 PM EDT (Hash Brown Casserole for breakfast tomorrow!!!!). Beth cooked up some Perdue Short Cuts with a side of rice for dinner and we watched the Florida State vs Miami college football game.

September 25, 2020September 25, 2020

2020 Road Trip – Candy Hill Campground – Winchester, VA

This morning we got up and entered Cabela’s the second they opened the door at 9:00 AM EDT along with about 20 other people starving for ammunition. Both guns and ammunition are difficult to find these days. The folks at Cabela’s told us yesterday that they sometimes get more ammunition overnight, but unfortunately today there was none to be had.

We then traveled 168 miles and are staying here at Candy Hill Campground in Winchester, VA. We stopped for diesel fuel at the Sheetz station in Martinsburg, WV paying $2.39/gallon. We arrived at the campground just before 1:00 PM EDT and were placed in Site #H2 (one site North of the spot we stayed in last year).

Beth wanted hamburgers for dinner so we purchased firewood from the campground which was quickly delivered to our site via golf cart. This was probably our last campfire on this road trip so Beth elevated her pyromania to another level. The burgers were great and cooked quickly over the massive pile of hot coals.

September 24, 2020September 24, 2020

2020 Road Trip – Cabela’s – Hamburg, PA

Today we started our trip home leaving Speculator, NY at 10:00AM EDT and drove to the HUGE Cabela’s in Hamburg, PA. We drove 323 miles and arrived just after 4:30PM EDT. The fastest route home when leaving Speculator is through Scranton, PA, but in the past we’ve found the roads there to be absolutely horrible. So, even though it means paying tolls in New York and New Jersey we have taken I-87 to I-287 to I-78 the last few trips. I guess we’ll have to give Scranton another try on our next trip because the NY/NJ tolls were $25.35 and then Pennsylvania hits you if you travel Westbound on I-78 across the Delaware River (state line). The fee for a car is $1. The fee for a motorhome towing a car is $16 (Eeeek!).

On the way down out of the Adirondacks we stopped at the Sunoco in Mayfield to top off the fuel tank for $2.49/gallon. We stopped and fixed a sandwich at the Modena Travel Plaza along I-87 near Modena, NY.

Upon arrival we went into Cabela’s to spend some money so we could get the passcode to their onsite RV dump station. I bought some reloading case lubricant, some cast iron skillet cleaning gear, and a Moon Pie. Beth bought some Gear Ties to organize all of our phone charging cords in the camper.

We went back to the camper and reheated the leftover Chicken Parmesan from last night’s meal at the Melody Lodge in Speculator and watched the Thursday night NFL game (Miami vs Jacksonville).

September 22, 2020September 24, 2020

2020 Road Trip – Speculator, NY

Today we traveled up to Beth’s hometown of Speculator, NY to visit her brother Dick and her nephews Lou and Jerry. We left at 12:30PM EDT. On our way out of Albany, we stopped at Stewart’s Gas Station and topped off the fuel tank for $2.49/gallon. From there we headed to the city of Albany’s Water Purification Facility to dump our black and gray tanks. Once the tanks were empty we headed West on I-90 to Amsterdam, NY and then North on SR-30 to Speculator. It was a perfect Fall day and the further we got up into the Adirondacks the more the Fall Foliage improved. We arrived at 3:00PM EDT.

Once we setup the camper, Dick ran off to the grocery store and picked up two huge steaks. Beth cooked German potatoes, asparagus, and mushrooms while we grilled the steaks and corn on the cob. All five of us enjoyed a fine meal at the dinner table.

Drive Around Mason Lake – 9/23/2020

We wanted to get out and see the fall foliage so today we took a drive North of Speculator on SR-30 to Mason Lake and drove around the lake. The scenery was beautiful.

That evening Beth’s brother Dick and his sons Lou and Jerry went with us to dinner at the Melody Lodge. Our meals were great and we got to see some great views overlooking Speculator.

September 10, 2020September 24, 2020

2020 Road Trip – Albany, NY

We left Cherry Grove Campground at 9:45AM EDT and stopped for fuel just down the road at a Sunoco Station where we purchased diesel fuel for $2.42/gallon. We headed East on SR-370 and stopped at a Dunkin’ Donuts 15 miles down the road to pickup coffee, breakfast sandwiches, and some delicious donut holes. We continued East on SR-370 and then took I-690 through Syracuse and picked up I-81 South. Once again, to avoid tolls, we skipped I-90 and took US-20 on into Albany. Today we drove 188 miles and arrived at approximately 2:00PM EDT.

Hiking at Barberville Falls – 9/16/2020

Today we went hiking at the Barberville Falls Preserve in Poestenkill, NY with Beth’s sister Lori. There are three hiking trails in the preserve and two were accessible from the parking lot along Blue Factory Rd. The Falls Trail is a short, but very steep hike down to the bottom of the falls, so we took it first in order to get the hard climb on the return from the falls out of the way. The falls were beautiful.

Barberville Falls Trail – Poestenkill, NY

We then took the Ridge Trail out through the surrounding woods. There were a lot of hills to climb and descend, so the short 1.3 mile trail still provided a challenge. At roughly half way through the hike we stopped and ate lunch. Overall it was a great hike on a beautiful day.

September 8, 2020July 20, 2021

2020 Road Trip – Cherry Grove Campground, Wolcott, NY

We left Camp Eriez in Lake City, PA at 9:00AM EDT and headed East on I-90 and then took I-86 East in order to avoid the New York state tolls on I-90. We needed diesel fuel and prices were climbing as we continued East. The Queen of GasBuddy didn’t let us down. She found an exit where both gas stations had diesel fuel for at least $0.80 less per gallon than the other exits. We’re not sure if this exit was on Seneca Indian land (there were casinos at the previous exit), but we bought diesel fuel for $2.00/gallon at M&M Junction. Having purchased over 50 gallons we saved over $40 (guess who went out for dinner?).

We stopped for lunch at the Friendship Rest Area and for the first time on our trip, the weather was conducive to eating outside at a picnic table (75 degrees and sunny). The scenery was pretty good too.

After lunch we continued on I-86 East and then took SR-36 North to I-390. We didn’t want to experience any of the rioting (sorry, “peaceful protesting”) in Rochester, so when we got to good old US-20 we took it east to Geneva, NY (enjoying the incredible view of Seneca Lake) and then took SR-14 North. We then took SR-104 East to CR-143 and headed back West a quarter mile to Cherry Grove Campground in Wolcott, NY arriving at 3:30PM EDT.

The transient sites here are very long and have decent width. Since it’s now after Labor Day there are only a few campers in the transient section. We have full hookups and the campground Wi-Fi is quite respectable.

After setting up camp we headed up to Sodus Point (on Sodus Bay) to blow the day’s fuel savings at Captain Jack’s Good Time Tavern. It was worth the trip. We sat outside on the water where we almost got cold (69 degrees and a steady North wind). All the reviews said to try their “famous wings” so we ordered some for an appetizer. We weren’t disappointed, they were incredible and we ate a few and took the rest home. I ordered the cheesesteak and tater tots which was good, but nothing to write home about. Beth ordered the Chicken Parmesan special which was incredible and the chicken breast they used was one mother clucker. She ate all she wanted and still took enough home for us both to share for dinner the next night. After dinner we drove around Sodus Point and looked at all of the vacation homes and cottages or “camps” for the native New Yorkers. We stopped at the park on the point and Beth dipped her toes in the nippy Lake Ontario waters.

Chimney Bluff’s State Park – 9/9/2020

Today we slept in and ate a nice breakfast. Then we headed out to hike at Chimney Bluffs State Park along the shore of Lake Ontario. The hike starts immediately with a climb up to the top of the bluff, but there were stair steps along the way to make the climb more manageable. The views along the trail from the top of the bluffs were incredible. When we got about 0.6 miles in the trail was closed and we were directed into the forest. Not knowing where it would take us, we turned around and went back to the trailhead and then down to the beach and followed it along the bluffs we had just hiked from above. Overall we hiked 2 miles and the scenery was beautiful.

On the way back from our hike, we stopped at a fruit market associated with one of the many apple orchards we passed along the way. We purchased a couple of apple cider donuts (we earned them!), a block of delicious sharp cheddar cheese, a block of HOT buffalo cheese, a bottle of wine from a local vineyard, some local spaghetti sauce, and various types of apples.

September 7, 2020September 7, 2020

2020 Road Trip – Camp Eriez, Lake City, PA

This morning at 9AM EDT we started heading East to visit Beth’s family in Albany, NY. We left Chain O Lakes State Park at 9AM EDT (dumping our tanks on the way out). We headed East on US-6 and stopped at the Walmart on the East side of Kendalville, IN for fuel. On our way into the Walmart my sister Deb called and told us they had just seen us driving through Kendalville. I filled up for $2.20/gallon while Beth ran into Walmart and picked up some groceries.

We continued East on US-6 until it merged with Ohio SR-2 and stayed on SR-2 until it merged with I-90 just East of Cleveland (avoiding the Ohio Turnpike tolls). The rain was very heavy around Sandusky and the traffic was very thick, so we pulled into a Rest Area and ate lunch in order to let the rain and traffic pass on by. We had my sister Deb’s leftover pulled pork for lunch and it was still delicious!

We pulled into Camp Eriez on Lake Erie in Lake City, PA at 3:45PM EDT. There are a lot of seasonal campsites here, but they are all kept in very nice shape. There is a separate section set aside for transients and each of those sites is 33′ wide and 66′ long. They don’t have sewer hookups, but the bathhouse is extremely clean and the shower heads are higher than mine (which pleases me). We would definitely stay here again.