Heading East

Our first major RV adventure was behind us. Now it was time for the trip we had been talking about for years.

The plan was to spend the summer traveling across the United States and Canada. Kentucky in July can be absolutely miserable. The humidity settles over everything like a wet blanket, and by noon even the thought of eighteen holes of golf sounds more like punishment than recreation. We wanted to escape the heat, but we also wanted to avoid the Fourth of July traffic. Waiting until after the holiday weekend seemed like the best compromise.

Our ultimate destination was Weymouth, Nova Scotia. Wendy’s mother still lives there, along with much of her family. After spending time in Nova Scotia, we planned to turn west and make our way to Ontario to visit my sister on the Bruce Peninsula. It would be our first true cross-country RV trip and the first time we would really put both ourselves and the RV to the test.

Planning the route was surprisingly exhausting. There is a constant tug-of-war between making good time and actually enjoying the trip. We had agreed that neither of us wanted to spend eight or ten hours behind the wheel every day. Four to six hours felt about right. Long enough to make progress, but short enough that we could still enjoy where we landed each afternoon.

Of course, just like every trip we have ever taken, we got a late start.

Fortunately, our first day was an easy one, only about four hours on the road.

Our destination was Vevay, Indiana, where we had booked a site at Follow the River RV Resort. Before leaving home, I had carefully studied the campground map. Being the antisocial hermit that I am, I searched for the most isolated campsite I could find. I finally settled on one tucked away in a quiet turnaround at the edge of the park, convinced it would be peaceful.

Apparently everyone else had the exact same idea.

When we arrived, that little corner of the campground was packed, while most of the rest of the park sat half empty. So much for my brilliant planning.

Fortunately, the woman in the office had no problem with us switching sites. We ended up with a spacious spot that was easier to get into, had excellent hookups, and was still nice and quiet.

It turned out to be a great first stop. Easy access from the highway, clean facilities, and a well-maintained campground. It set the tone for the trip and is a place I would happily stay again. Highly recommended. Also, Vevay was a gorgeous little town where we drove into to get some wine and it was certainly worth some time exploring.

Our second stop was Evangola State Park in western New York, perched on the shore of Lake Erie just southwest of Buffalo. It would be our first night without full hookups, so it was also another small lesson in RV life.

The drive was mostly along I-90. For the most part it was an easy day, although parts of the interstate felt like they had been paved during the Eisenhower administration and then forgotten. Every few miles the truck and trailer would bounce hard enough to remind me that everything we owned was rattling around in the cabinets behind us

One of those bumps got my attention.

Suddenly a warning flashed across the truck’s dashboard telling me that the trailer brakes were no longer functioning.

That is not one of those warnings you ignore and hope goes away.

Without trailer brakes, the breakaway safety system is compromised and all that weight is relying almost entirely on the truck to stop it. Pulling nearly five tons of trailer without working trailer brakes is not my idea of a relaxing vacation.

I signaled, eased off the interstate, and headed for the next exit. As soon as our speed dropped, the warning disappeared.

Well… that was interesting.

I pulled into a parking lot, disconnected the seven-pin electrical plug, inspected the contacts, plugged everything back in, and gave the cable a little wiggle to make sure it was seated properly. Everything looked fine. We headed back onto the highway.

The rest of the day it behaved perfectly.

I made a mental note to keep an eye on it, while secretly hoping this wasn’t going to become one of those recurring RV adventures that starts with, “It only did it once.”

Evangola State Park only offered electrical hookups, so before leaving Kentucky I had purposely traveled with an empty fresh water tank. Water weighs over eight pounds per gallon, and hauling sixty gallons around adds roughly five hundred unnecessary pounds. Since I was already averaging about ten miles per gallon, dragging a quarter ton of water down the interstate didn’t seem like a brilliant fuel-saving strategy.

Once we had the trailer backed into the site, leveled, and connected to power, we packed everything back up, drove over to the campground’s water station, and filled the fresh water tank before returning to the campsite.

The campground itself was beautiful. Large campsites were tucked beneath mature shade trees with plenty of grass between neighbors, making it feel open instead of crowded. Being right on Lake Erie only added to the atmosphere. After a day on the road, it was exactly the kind of place that reminded us why we had bought the RV in the first place.

We stayed two nights at Evangola because the previous day’s seven-hour drive had worn us out. One thing we’ve learned about RV travel is that recovery days are just as important as travel days. Retirement is not a race, and there is no prize for covering the most miles.

The next morning we headed over to Grandview Bay Golf Course, a little nine-hole track not far from the campground. As we were teeing off, one of the locals described it perfectly.

“It’s not really a golf course,” he said. “It’s a bar with a golf course attached.”

That turned out to be a pretty accurate description.

It was short, quirky, and nothing that would ever host a tournament, but it was fun. We decided to walk instead of ride, something we had not done in years. By the ninth hole our legs reminded us exactly why we usually rent a cart, but it was enjoyable to slow the game down and simply be outside.

After golf we wandered over to Castaways, a little beach bar overlooking Lake Erie. We had a couple of drinks, shared a basket of perfectly unhealthy fried food, and watched the boats drift by.

From there we headed over to Evangola Beach for a swim.

I had forgotten just how enormous the Great Lakes really are. Standing on the beach, you cannot see the other side. It feels more like standing beside the ocean than a lake. The beach was clean, mostly sand, with warm, clear water and a designated swimming area. It was one of those unexpected stops that ends up becoming one of your favorite memories.

The following morning we packed up and headed east toward Schodack Island State Park, just south of Albany.

The drive was uneventful, which in RV terms counts as a major success.

Schodack Island turned out to be another beautiful New York State campground. Like Evangola, it offered only electrical hookups, but the sites were spacious, private, and surrounded by mature trees. The campground sits along the Hudson River and provides easy access for kayaking, fishing, and other water sports. It was peaceful enough that you almost forgot Albany was only a short drive away.

One lesson from this leg of the trip involved toll roads.

If you plan to travel through New York, get an E-ZPass before you leave home.

We had learned that lesson in Florida, and New York reinforced it. Traveling the New York Thruway without an E-ZPass gets expensive in a hurry. Some sections cost more than twenty dollars, and those charges add up quickly when you’re towing a trailer. The electronic pass not only saves money, it also lets you roll through the toll plazas without stopping. But beware of the cost in New York, we spent well over three hundred dollars on toll fees getting across the state

Lesson # 6 – Buy an EZ Pass.

Fuel was another surprise.

The service plazas along I-90 were convenient only if your definition of “convenient” is “the only place available.” Most had a single diesel pump tucked in with the commercial trucks, making it awkward to maneuver a pickup and thirty-foot trailer. To make matters worse, diesel was nearly a dollar a gallon more expensive than what we had been paying before entering New York. But this increase in cost we found was mainly from travelling on the I-90 toll highway where the gas stations have a monopoly.

Whether it was the toll-road monopoly, New York taxes, or simply a captive audience, I don’t know. I only know that every fill-up hurt enough that I started doing the math before squeezing the handle.

Another small lesson we learned involved traveling with Patty.

Several of the state parks required proof of a current rabies vaccination before allowing dogs into the campground. I assumed her rabies tag on the collar would be enough.

It isn’t.

They wanted a copy of the actual vaccination certificate from the veterinarian. Fortunately, we had a digital copy on our phones, but it could have easily become a problem.

If you’re traveling with a dog, keep copies of all of their vaccination records with you, either printed or stored on your phone. The rabies tag hanging from the collar is not considered sufficient proof by many state parks.

Lesson # 7 – Bring your dog papers