Slow RV trip in
the NorthEast USA
1 may - 24 june 2024
This summer we tried something different: go slow. I normally
dislike driving quickly and far, but I wanted to have no goal
whatsoever except enjoying every day as much as possible.
I finished making this page on the last night of the
2025 RV trip. Hopefully this isn't the last one I have time to
build.
The costs were: 1500$ for gas, 2100$ for camping, 4500$
for food, and 1400$ for everything else. A total of 9500CAD. Not
counting the food: a total cost of 5000$. For 5 people for 2
months!
The overall trip GPX was plotted using
umap.openstreetmap.fr - the
map might still be there. Here's the overall trip:
Contents:
Preparation
Spent a week packing - much less stress that way.
Dewinterized, filled with water.
Day 1 (1 may):
Markham to Sprague Brook C.P. (New York)
Leaving at 10:15.
14:45 - lunch in Grimbsby-on-the-lake.
16:20 had to rush through the Butterfly Conservatory which closes at
17:00.
Walked around the botanical gardens, left at 17:30.
Didn't have anything confiscated at the border (that's new). No cars
were in the lineup.
Went to Walmart in Niagara Falls. Didn't see the 25$ Family Mobile
plan including a sim card, got a 10$ sim card and a separate 25$
plan. The 10$ sim card came with two cards: #1 on the Verison
network and #2 on Ting/Dish. #2 worked on my phone, the same phone
which didn't work on the Walmart Family Mobile the previous year.
Picked the zip code 14304 (asked people in the parking lot,
eventually someone gave me a zip code).
Didn't want to stay in the Walmart parking lot. Drove to Sprague
Brook county park. Arrived there at 10:45. Picked one of the 10-15
spots which were available wednesday/thursday night. Nothing
available for friday. 30$ electric.
Day 2 (2 may):
Sprague Brook County Park (New York)
Slept with the furnace off, and no electric heater. I was just a
bit chilly because I didn't bring my winter blanket.
A lady arrived at the site next to us and said her brother has
ours booked. I booked it a couple of hours earlier, didn't bother
to check her confirmation.
The double-track cross-country ski trail was short but a nice
bike ride. Natasha slipped down the rocks by the river.
Rode uphill to the other campground that was closed. The sites there
are nicer: one loop electric, the other not.
Transferred 2k to the US account.
Called Pope Haven. They said they won't allow trailers on primitive
sites (27$), water+electric were double that.
Thought I should call the UPS store to confirm that they will accept
a package from Tucktek. By the time I got around to it: they were
closed.
The kids collected a bunch of firewood. Sasha cut half of it to
length.
My Pixel 5 had data working on it but no calls. Probably because
they dropped 3G in the USA in 2021. Weird, given that I successfully
called to activate the SIM card. Moved the SIM card to Kim's phone.
I could have upgraded LineageOS to get Volte support, but didn't
want to risk it on the road.
Day 3 (3 may):
Sprague Brook to Willow Bay N.F. (Pennsylvania)
Slept better with the furnace on.
Had showers in the morning. Left around 10:00.
Ordered a couple of Tucktec kayaks for ~800$, to be delivered at a
UPS store in DuBois.
Spent a couple of hours playing disk golf at the Walter Kummer park.
13:30 Stopped at the Shittleworth park in Springville for lunch,
left at 14:30.
I think everyone got heatstroke. We brought water but didn't drink
enough of it disk golfing. I wonder whether the heat is something
one needs to acclimate to.
Drove through the Allegheny state park in New York where everything
was closed. This year I expected it.
My heatstruck brain was barely functioning by the time we got to
Willow Bay. Paid 48$ for two nights with no hookups. No trouble
getting a spot even on the weekend.
It started raining a bit. I couldn't make myself comfortable in bed
so I found the energy to set up the hammock under the awning and
curled up in there for a couple of hours. Felt much better after
that.
Day 4 (4 may):
Willow Bay (in Allegheny national forest) (Pennsylvania)
The rain ended at night.
Went to the boat launch to fish and swim.
After lunch went on the North Country Something trail to highway 346
and back - almost 6km, and we didn't even notice.
After that made a fire using wood someone left at a campsite. Nikita
came up with the idea to fire their clay on the griddle over the
fire. The kids had fun doing that for a couple of hours. Nikita
burned six of his fingers at the end of that process.
Day 5 (5 may):
Willow Bay (in Allegheny national forest) (Pennsylvania)
It was pouring in the morning but we decided to stay another night
and go for a longer hike.
Left at 11:50. Got to William's Brook at 13:10.
There's a lean-to at the intersection of the two trails, before
where the intersection is on OSM. Sasha left a note in the
guestbook.
15:30 went skinny-dipping before turning back.
Got back at 18:00. Sasha ran out of juice and collapsed in bed as
soon as she got to it. Everyone else was ok.
Battery at 70%, fresh water said Empty. Not bad for 2.5 days without
power and 4.5 days on one water fillup.
Had to drive back to New York to get data on the phone and find
campsites for the following few days. In some places there was
signal but no data, which made no sense to me if all voice is
supposed to go over LTE.
Day 6 (6 may):
Willow Bay N.F. to Red Bridge campground (Pennsylvania)
Earlier I thought the toilet was clogged. Now I was pretty sure it
was actually full. Didn't know what I was going to do about it.
A neighbour got stuck in the ditch. Pulled him out without much
difficulty. He insisted that I take his money even though I refused
vehemently.
Was ready to go about 11:00.
Spen half an hour trying to unclog the black tank and failed.
12:30 stopped at the visitor centre, the first time we found this
one open (I think this was the third year we passed this centre).
Got to the Red Bridge campground around 13:00. Found an amazing
campsite (29) with private water access. I wished the kayaks were
ready.
Drove to Kane, found an ACE Hardware on the way to the grocery
store. They just sold their last toilet auger, so I bought a regular
drain snake.
The snake didn't clear anything but it helped me understand that the
clog was at the bottom of the toilet, not in the drain. I loosened
the shitty toilet paper pulp using the broom handle, and it finally
flushed out. Looked like there is less than 10cm from the bottom of
the toilet pipe to the bottom of the tank.
Day 7 (7 may): Red
Bridge campground (Pennsylvania)
Found data service in one very small spot near the campground. UPS
tracking said kayaks have not been shipped yet.
Hot, sunny day. Went for a couple of 5-minute swims.
It was tuesday this day, couldn't decide whether to stay a third
night here at an electric site to charge the batteries.
Lazied around all day. Didn't catch any fish. Wished we had the
kayaks ready.
Day 8 (8 may): Red
Bridge campground (Pennsylvania)
Battery was at 30% in the morning. Moved to an electric site,
plugged in the bread maker.
24$ for not electric, 29$ electric.
UPS said package will arrive by 19:00 the next day, so I planned to
pass by DuBois on friday.
Did the whole Kinzua Valley trail, almost 12km one way. Nice and
flat, with very pleasant places to stop by the river. Natasha rode
it like a champ.
Day 9 (9 may): Red
Bridge to Clarion River NF campground (Pennsylvania)
Took some convincing to get the converter to charge the last 9%.
Once it started: it got to 100% very quickly. Didn't know what to
make of that.
Dumped tanks, filled with water.
Went on our way through Kane. Stopped at a meat store, a grocery
store, and did laundry.
Decided to try one of the Clarion River campsites. UPS was now
saying the package was due to arrive on friday. That would be 7 days
after the order was placed.
Left Kane at 12:45.
Arrived at the western-most (out of 3) RV campground on Clarion
river. This spot is great, don't even need to cross the road to get
to the river.
Decided to stay at least two nights: this river is calm, shallow,
and pretty - perfect for trying out a new/weird kayak.
Some dude stopped by and asked how long we're going to be there,
said he was planning to camp there in a week. He mentioned this site
is normally very busy.
Day 10 (10 may):
Clarion River (Pennsylvania)
Drove to DuBois to pick up the kayaks from a UPS store. Over 50km
away.
Each kayak ships in a separate box. One of them wasn't there at
12:30 when I was there. Went to the outdoors store next door to look
around. Could have easily spent another grand on kayaking stuff.
Got both kayaks. Put them together pretty easily (I did watch the
video in advance).
Went for a test ride, switching people 2 or 3 times, all the way to
Robin Island. The kayaks worked great.
There were 3 trailers at Robin Island, and one car in the middle RV
campsite.
Day 11 (11 may):
Clarion River to Parker Dam S.P. (Pennsylvania)
Left at 12:15. 56% battery. The furnace ran a lot in the previous
couple of nights.
Noticed that we were still in the norther part of Pennsylvania.
Went to the Simon B. Elliot state park thinking it would be cheap
and we just need a day to relax. But of course the advertised 18$
turned into 23$ (for non-resident), nay: 27$ for non-resident on a
weekend, plus a 6.50$ transaction fee. Added up to 33.50 - crazy for
what you get in that park.
We may have stayed anyway because it looked like a bicycle race was
happening, but the race was over already.
Drove back a bit to the nearby Parker Dam - that one at least has a
lake to kayak on. Same bullshit with the cost as the previous year.
Literally had to get my calculator out: 31$ for weekend electric +
27$ for non-weekend electric + 6.50$ transaction fee + 2x something
for a pet site even though we don't have a pet + 2x5$ non-resident
fee. Total 78.50$ for two nights.
It rained on-and-off quite a bit. Didn't do much, took the kids to
the beach.
Day 12 (12 may):
Parker Dam S.P. (Pennsylvania)
A ranger showed up with my payment envelope around 10:00. Apparently
you can only pay for one night for first-come sites. Thankfully she
didn't make a fuss about it.
Sasha made some stuff for Kim for mother's day.
Found that Sasha's rainjacket was missing. Found it on a bench on
the other side of the dam.
Went on the lake with the kayaks and a fishing rod. No luck catching
with any kind of lure I had. Then I saw a bobber floating in the
lake. Went to get it, and it disappeared. It was attached to a line
which was attached to a fish. Nikita and I chased it around for 15
minutes. The bobber dove as soon as the kayaks got near it, even
without paddling. Got it by casting a floating lure a few times - a
lucky cast got the bobber and I pulled out a small trout.
Didn't have any use for such a small fish, and it didn't make sense
to release it, because it swallowed the hook. Nikita gave it to
another fisherman who had several others on ice, of the same size.
Removed the footrest from my kayak. A useless gimmick.
Day 13 (13 may):
Parker Dam to Prince Gallitzin S.P. (Pennsylvania)
Went back to the lake for a couple of hours. Checkout here is at
15:00. Dumped the tanks, picked up the kids from the welcome centre,
and left around 15:30.
Stopped at Walmart in Clearfield. Spent 400$ on groceries. Left at
18:30.
Arrived at the Prince Gallitzin state park at 20:30, got site 82
again - next to the water and beside an electric site. 25$ unless I
read something wrong.
I was hoping to stay there for a few days.
Ordered 3 more kayaks at some point after deciding these things
really work. UPS said 1 of 3 packages has been shipped. I hoped the
store wouldn't send it back before all 3 arrive.
Day 14 (14 may):
Prince Gallitzin S.P. (Pennsylvania)
Nikita, Natasha, and I paddled across the lake to the disk golf
course. 18 holes might be a little too long, but most of us finished
it.
This lake seems to ave warmer water than any other we've encountered
on the trip so far. But we didn't bring our swimsuits to the disk
golf course, and were too tired anyway.
I went to sleep around 20:00. Checked whether everything was booked
for the upcoming long weekend - surprisingly it wasn't.
Day 15 (15 may):
Prince Gallitzin to Rocky Gap S.P. (Maryland)
I got up at 4:00. Plugged the trailer in to charge the batteries.
Around 8:00 with everyone still sleeping went out with the kayak.
Cought an average-size bass on a floating lure without even trying.
It was big enough to eat for breakfast.
Packed Nikita's sheet with the dirty towels and other laundry but
the laundry was closed.
Started to pack slowly at noon.
By 13:15 the batteries were only at 84%. I never figured out what
the charging curve is over time.
Drained the tanks, was surprised about how much came out of them.
Filled the fresh water. I figured fresh water shouldn't be a problem
in this part of the US.
Stopped at the Cumberland Corner Laundry and then drove through the
Cumberland maze to the UPS store in the mall at Park St. to get the
other 3 kayaks.
What a deal! 5 kayaks + 3 lifejackets + 4 paddles + shipping +
Pennsylvania and Maryland taxes + UPS pickup fees, but not counting
the driving to the UPS stores: 811.11$ + 1082.87$ + 10$ + 24$ =
1927.98 USD. And from this point on we always had free boats
whenever we wanted, either for rivers or lakes.
Arrived at the Rocky Gap state park (the one on the lake with the
casino) around 18:30. The office was closed, and the gate required a
code. I was getting mentally prepared to sleep in a parking lot when
another camper with no reservation showed up and called the ranger
on duty.
Paid for 3 nights at #161. Not sure how much - took her 5 minutes to
get me change and I forgot. I think it was 21.50$x3 = 70.25$.
Haven't had to worry about mosquitoes or black flies to date - very
nice.
Day 16 (16 may):
Rocky Gap state park (Maryland)
Went on the lake loop trail with the bikes. It was hard on Natasha -
lots of roots and rocks, but she learned a lot.
Spent the rest of the day swimming, kayaking, and farting around at
the beach.
Tested all the kayaks. It's not that hard to tip them over, and when
they do - they get water in. Curiously: can still paddle them when
they're half full with water. The water can be dumped out easily as
long as I can stand on the bottom of the lake - just raise it above
my head.
Sasha pushed my kayak all the way across the lake, and then we both
pushed it all the way back. About 500m total.
Day 17 (17 may):
Rocky Gap state park (Maryland)
Went on a 4 hour hike. Straight up the mountain on a trail which
(strangely) started behind someone's private property. Had to go
through the forest from the youth group camping area to its
beginning. Then south-west on the ridge - Evitt's Mountain trail.
Climbed the disused fire tower. It was scary at the top, but the
girls made it.
Passed Evitt's homesite. Saw what looked like a well. Thought that
one day I might live like a hermit as this guy did in the year 1700.
Straight down the mountain from there, as straight as the
mostly-unused trail allowed.
Then north-east on Rocky Trail, and back to the campground. I went
to get the car and everyone else returned to the trailer.
It started raining when we came back.
Cooked some sausages over the fire. They cooked perfectly but maybe
I shouldn't have eaten so late.
I went to sleep early, very tired.
Day 18 (18 may):
Rocky Gap state park (Maryland)
I 'slept' almost 12 hours. I felt like I woke up every 10 minutes.
Looked at the map and weather history - looked like Virginia Beach
and north of there is too cold in may (22°). There are several free
or nearly-free campgrounds with no amenities south-east of Rocky
Gap. Battery was now at 40%, enough for a couple of days only.
Decided to stay at Rocky Gap at an electric site. 29.50$ + 6.25$
transaction fee. I was starting to get used to these random surprise
fees.
Went to the nature centre in the park to look at the snakes. The
black ones we saw last year are non-venomous Black Rat snakes.
All 5 of us went kayaking to the casino end of the lake. I towed
Natasha there, and Sasha+Natasha back.
Towing one was barely noticeable, towing two felt like I wasn't
moving at all. Tough I didn't pay attention to which way the wind
was blowing.
Took 14 minutes for me to disassemble all 5 kayaks.
Pondered some more about how the converter works. It seemed to
charge the batteries in 5% of capacity increments before it stops.
Mostly at 20A, sometimes 10A. Couldn't tell whether the problem was
in the converter or the batteries. Turning off the power to the
converter for 5-10 seconds and back on seemed to restart the
charging. [Later note: I'm pretty sure it was simply overheating,
and throttling itself for protection. Unfortunately it doesn't seem
to cancel the throttling after its temperature drops back down.]
Day 19 (19 may):
Rocky Gap to the Hawk campground (Virginia)
Got up at 3 or 4 in the morning, then slept again from 7:00 until
noon.
The batteries were only charged to 90%. I thought either the
converter was trying to charge lead-acid batteries, or the batteries
were no longer capable of accepting a charge over 90%.
Had showers, dumped the tanks, filled the water.
Drove to the free Hawk campground without any adventures. Went
through West Virginia, into Virginia, and back into West Virginia.
The dirt road into the Hawk campground goes through a strange place
with no signs that looked like a resort. [I still can't tell what
that was.] Then about 9km of well packed dirt. The two potentially
weird turns were not any trouble.
The no-amenities campground is very well built, with several (of 15)
very flat sites big enough for us.
No swarms of bugs, but mosquitos were starting to bite lazily. Some
microflies and black flies too.
Day 20 (20 may):
Hawk campground (Virginia)
The microflies are more than just a few here.
Went on a very short bike ride to the end of the road.
Cooked burgers on the fireplace grill. Lost one by dropping it in
the coals, rescued a second one. They cooked very well.
Day 21 (21 may):
Hawk to Little Fort campground (Virginia)
Batteries at 60%.
Decided to move on, to try and see whether the Little Fort
campground has room for us - then there's a lot of weaving
Shenandoah river.
Needed groceries too. Spent nearly 400$ on two carts of groceries at
Food Lion, same as on the 13th.
The Little Fort (free) campground is very small, but it has maybe 3
or 4 spaces that could fit us. Picked one of them.
I think I just went to sleep soon after we got there.
Day 22 (22 may):
Little Fort campground (Virginia)
Hiked up to the Woodstock tower just after noon. 170m climb - piece
of cake. But it was very hot.
After lunch packed 4 kayaks into the truck and drover over the
mountain - a short but fun road, definitely not doable with the
trailer because of the hairpin turns.
The bridge past the dam didn't look like a good place to start: very
difficult water access and "no parking" signs.
Drove to the Artz Rd bridge - that was much better, I did not at all
mind parking at a 30° sideways angle - though opening the door was
quite a challenge.
I drove to the TT bridge to see if that would work as an end point:
didn't even see the bridge, it was on someone's farm.
Next bridge I tried was the Headley Rd: great place to park. A bit
hard to get the boats out because of the fast water, but overall
great.
Left my bike on the shore where I thought it would be easily seen
from the water and drove back to where I left everyone.
13.5km kayak run, with Natasha in my boat.
Some rapids, nothing too crazy. Though I did get stuck on top of a
big rock in fast water. Mostly it was peaceful paddling.
I didn't keep track of time, not sure how long it took.
Saw some herons, ducks, turtles.
9.3km bike ride back to the truck. I only walked up one steep slope.
Stopped at the Shenandoah county park to find what campsites with
hookups are available for the next day (thursday) or friday. Only
found two on thursday at the nearby Shenandoah Rover state park.
Booked that.
Day 23 (23 may):
Little Fort to Shenandoah River S.P. (Virginia)
Left at noon.
Had to drive 50km even though the destination was only 15km away as
the crow flies.
Arrived at 13:30, with the batteries at 14%. I was shocked to see
that they were charging at only 10A.
Went for a swim in the river. This south fork of the river isn't
much bigger than the north fork. I walked nearly to the middle of it
- about waist deep.
Very few bugs in this campground.
Found another campsite in the same campground for the next day and
booked it.
Had to dump out newly filled fresh water tank - it tasted like
chlorine. Newly filled water was good. I thought maybe they don't
flush the chlorinated water out the pipes at each campsite.
Day 24 (24 may):
Shenandoah River S.P. (Virginia)
Took the plastic cover off the converter, and it started charging at
35A. The batteries were 100% charged in the morning. That took a
weight off my shoulders - the batteries alone cost me 2000$. I could
replace the converter again if I needed to, or replace the lid with
a more open concept if it was an overheating issue.
Moved to the other campsite and went to swim/paddle from the bridge
to the campground (3.3km).
Sasha couldn't quite swim all the way across the river, at least not
without getting carried away.
Rode my bike back to the truck to pick it up from the starting
point.
No spaces were available for another night. Booked one at Lake Anna
S.P. with no hookups (42$).
Day 25 (25 may):
Shenandoah River to Lake Anna S.P. (Virginia)
Stopped by the visitor centre - the kids wanted to buy something
with their earnings. Nikita got to hold a snake.
Left around 13:30 with full batteries, fresh water, and empty waste
tanks.
Stopped in Culpeper to do laundry and go to Walmart.
Arrived at Lake Anna at 19:00.
Went to the beach for half an hour. I guess it gets so busy here
that they have to hand out wrist bands to keep the numbers down.
I got an email at 7:00 saying that a spot opened up for sunday at
Lake Anna. I didn't even see that email until 15:00, so that spot
was no longer available.
Day 26 (26 may):
Lake Anna to Powhaten W.M.A. (Virginia)
Packed up and took the trailer to the boat parking lot around 11:00.
The plan was to spend the day at the beach, and go to a wildlife
management area to sleep at night.
Spent until after 18:00 at the beach and drove to the Powhaten WMA
to sleep. I was supposed to pay 8$ (4$/adult) but couldn't figure
out how, even after trying really hard.
There weren't any campsites here, I pulled over on a dead end
roundabout.
Got some crazy winds in the evening. Thankfully no trees fell down
on us.
Day 27 (27 may):
Powhaten to First Landing S.P. (Virginia)
An enforcement car drove around the roundabout in the morning. They
didn't stop though.
Booked wednesday and thursday nights at Assateague state park and
called the park (after calling the reservation line) to book friday
as well.
Left at noon. Stayed on big highways this day.
The Newport News shipyard looked interesting. Absolutely enormous
doors on the bays. Too bad we couldn't get any closer than the road
on the hill. Looked like the entire peninsula is employed at the
shipyards. Hundreds of bicycles parked in there - must be how they
get around.
The parts of the town which aren't a parking lot for the shipyards
have the vibe of a biggest trailer park ever, though technically
they are not trailers.
From Hampton to Norfolk the bridge turned into a tunnel. I felt like
a subway driver, minus the sewer smell.
Got a site for two nights at the First Landing state park. 102$ for
electrical.
I forget where this photo is from, some time around lunch:
Went for a quick swim before dark. No waves. Had to walk 50-100m in
to get deep enough to swim.
It starting raining when we headed back, and pouring hard by the
time we were done washing the sand off in the bath house.
Battery charging at 35A.
Found a couple of small holes in the liner of the roof in the rear
left corner, and a bend in the aluminum siding at the top in the
same corner. Not sure when that happened, a good bet is Powhaten.
Day 28 (28 may):
First Landing S.P. (Virginia)
Rode our bikes on the Cape Henry trail to Virginia Beach.
The town is a typical timeshare/hotel place.
The open ocean is much nicer here: deeper and with waves.
Had lunch around 15:00 at a pizza place, stayed at the beach till
after 18:00.
Noone got burned.
Went to see the sunset from kayaks hanging out with the pelicans:
These kayaks work just as well on the ocean when there are no waves.
The kids found some hermit crabs and conches.
Day 29 (29 may):
First Landing to Assageague S.P. (Maryland)
I got up at 11:00, so we left at 13:00.
The next campground was farther than I thought.
The two-tunnel bridge was cool. Very long.
Stopped by a post office for Sasha to send a postcard and letter to
her teacher.
Got groceries at Food Lion in Onley at 16:00.
Arrived in the evening. Soon after setting up: a heavy rain came
down.
Day 30 (30 may):
Assageague S.P. (Maryland)
Checkout was at 11:00, checkin no earlier than 14:00. The workers in
this park are super anal, I almost expected to be told to leave the
park for 3 hours. Thankfully didn't have to.
On my way back from the office (I was on my bike) I stopped to look
at some ponies. One of them headed towards me. The minder in the ATV
started yelling at me to "back up, no back up more, 40 feet". I
didn't want to argue with that idiot. The NPS paper I got at checkin
clearly says 10 feet. It's no pleasure being supervised by a moron
anyway.
The trailer's been full of house flies all day. Someone must have
left the door open for a few minutes. Nikita and I zapped no less
than 30. And there were still 20 flying around after 20:00. I'm not
exaggerating.
The beach was still nice. Seems that the bugs stay mostly on the
campground side of the dunes. The water was cold but could easily
spend 15 minutes playing in the waves.
With the sun the beach was warm enough too in the afternoon.
This thing was parked in a nearby campsite. I thought maybe someone
built their own car body:
[Almost a year later I learned that this was a Tesla Cybertruck]
Day 31 (31 may):
Assageague S.P. (Maryland)
Tried to spend the day at the beach but despite reasonable
temperature and full sun - it was too cold because of a strong,
constant wind.
In the evening went on a bike ride south. Passed a couple of
campgrounds which might be in the national park.
Nikita used water rather liberally to wash dishes after dinner, and
we ran out.
Day 32 (1 june):
Assageague to Big Oaks campground (Delaware)
Carried 20l of water to the trailer for morning needs. Dump station
at 10:30.
Annoyingly the potable water spout was far from the dumper, had to
fill separately. But maybe that's a good thing on busy days.
Battery at 80% - maybe because all of the previous day it was sunny
and cold.
Got to the South Inlet campground of the Delaware Seashore S.P. I
could have fit into several of the no-hookups sites, but they
wouldn't even let me try: 20 feet max, end of story.
Everything else in Park Advisor and Reserve America was also booked
for the day. Started looking for a Walmart (the one we stopped at to
get jeans had too small a parking lot), and found the Big Oaks
campground on OsmAnd~. Called them: they had sites available. 75$
for full hookups, 65$ for water+electric. That worked out quite
well. A nice family campground with a pool was just what we
needed.
Spent half the day figuring out what to do next. Internet was sooooo
slow! By 22:00 decided against going to Long Island.
By midnight confirmed that there are no ferries to book till
wednesday (3 days later). Every time I looked to date there were
always tickets available on the same day. Maybe they cancelled a
bunch of scheduled boats because of a triathlon, or maybe because
there weren't enough people signed up. Regardless, had to scrap all
the half day's planning and find new options which did not include
crossing Delaware Bay.
Day 33 (2 june):
Big Oaks to Killens Pond S.P. (Delaware)
Drove the car only to take cash out of the TD bank nearby. Hit the
height warning bar with the bikes on the way into their parking lot.
I forgot the bikes were on top of the truck. They tried to get me to
authenticate using the app , which threw some
error. The card with the pin worked fine.
Drove to the nearby Killens Pond campground. 123$ for 3 nights. They
don't allow walk-ins, had to go make a reservation. Luckily the dude
at the entrance didn't object to me going to check out the sites
first. If I just looked at the website: the limit on all the sites
was 23', even though I could fit in nearly all of them.
Day 34 (3 june):
Killens Pond state park (Delaware)
Went on a bike ride around the lake. They call it "millpond", I
don't know what the difference is. "Muddy lake" maybe.
After 18:00 it cooled down enough to go do the 18 basket disk golf
course.
Day 35 (4 june):
Killens Pond state park (Delaware)
Kayaked around the lake and up the river as far as we could go. The
water was not flowing, but it wasn't stinky.
The girls went swimming. Saw lots of turtles.
Played baseball with everyone.
Day 36 (5 june):
Killens Pond to Lumps Point S.P. (Delaware)
Ate some trailer-made fudge for Nikita's birthday.
Drove to a place I found on Google Maps hoping to fix the broken
downspout and holes in the roof. The place wasn't there. Later in
the day the guy called me back and said he's a mobile RV service,
that the only reason he shows up on a map is he needed to specify a
location to get onto Google Maps.
Drove to the Lums Point state park. Full hookups, obscenely
expensive at 57$.
We were thinking there are a lot of bike trails in this region, but
didn't have any definite plan.
Didn't do anything in the evening.
The kids did laundry.
At night the rain came down. I couldn't remember the last time I saw
such heavy rain for so long. Rivers of rainwater were flowing
everywhere. Some places in the grass had water over 20cm deep.
Day 37 (6 june):
Killens Pond to Cabela's (Delaware)
I thought everything would still be flooded when I got up, but one
couldn't even tell it rained a lot. Kim went on a bike trail - same
thing.
Parked in a loop-type parking lot at White Clay state park and went
on a nice mountain bike trail. That lot is rather small for a
trailer, but we figured it'd be fine mid-day on a thursday.
Got groceries at ACME.
Went to stay in the Cabela's parking lot for the night. It could
have been really nice if it weren't right next to the interstate. It
even had a water spout (which I didn't need).
Bought a pile of stuff at Cabela's, and more at Dick's. Everything
here closes at 20:00. Didn't get a chance to go to REI or the
Container Store.
The 50$ 2.5m kayak paddle from Cabela's was a really good deal.
Everyone except me managed to sleep.
Day 38 (7 june):
Cabela's to Green Lane park (Pennsylvania)
Woke up early. At 8:30 moved the trailer from Cabela's to REI. Kim
needed to use WiFi.
Battery at 80%.
Kim and Sasha went riding the trails in the White Clay recreation
area. Me, Nikita, and Natasha played disk golf. Had to pay 8$ for
parking, 100% more than residents. I guess we aren't welcome there.
For the next campsite I was looking for a place with something to do
for three or four days. Hibernia County Park looked less like that
than Green Lake park, so headed there.
I'm pretty sure we drove through the Philadelphia suburbs the whole
time, 50-60km from its centre.
The Green Lane park has a terrible website. I did see a couple of
spots available on the weekend, but got worried when I arrived and
saw only tents in the campground. Paid 33$ (including the 50% "we
don't like tourists" fee) for one night only, in case we got kicked
out. But it was fine, ranger dude drove by and didn't have a problem
with it.
He mentioned that the only boats allowed on the reservoir (the big
lake) are rentals. I was only allowed to put in my Kayaks on Deep
Creek lake. I think the reservoir is owned by a water? power?
company.
Sites 1-8, and 20-30 are on the edge of a field. The others are on a
narrow path I was glad I didn't drive the trailer onto.
Day 39 (8 june):
Green Lane park (Pennsylvania)
I had a nasty headache. Slept in the hammock all day. Slept in bed
all night.
Day 40 (9 june):
Green Lane park (Pennsylvania)
I woke up in the morning tired, but not deadly sick.
All 5 of us went kayaking on the deep creek "lake". It's small but
it took a while because it was windy, and Natasha had trouble with
it.
Then 100 more boats showed up on the lake - a fundraiser of some
sort.
15:00 battery was at 46%. I thought it was 40% in the morning.
Around 19:00 went on a very tricky disk golf course. At one point we
were supposed to throw over the lake. Noone tried it. Spent a lot of
time looking for my driver. Found 4 others, lost one of those we
found. Returned one which had a phone number on it.
Day 41 (10 june):
Green Lane to Spruce Run R.A. (New Jersey)
Found the Tinicum Park campground on OSM on the way. Pulled into a
campsite there (it was quite large, and reasonably nice). Went to
find a way to pay for it. We would have stayed a night and would
have gone kayaking on the same (but much smaller) Delaware river,
and/or biking on the trails. Found that trailers are not allowed in
this park.
The park is on an enormous empty field. The tiny parking lot by the
river said " boat trailer only", and "no tubing". I left in disgust.
The bridge to Frenchtown looked to narrow for me to try. The cop
parked next to it suggested I go to the next bridge upstream. I'm
not sure that one is any wider, but there were no other cars so I
crossed easily.
All of the previous day and this one there were twisty, sometimes
narrow roads. More than a few signs saying "No trucks over 45'", or
"No trucks". I decided those signes were for tractor trailers.
Got to the Spruce Run recreation area in reasonable time. The beach
was closed due to algal blooms. Caution was advised for swimming and
kayaking.
We just relaxed for the rest of the day.
Day 42 (11 june):
Spruce Run recreation area (New Jersey)
Went on a 5 kayak ride on the Spruce Run reservoir. From the boat
launch to the bridge in the north and back, ~3km total.
Day 43 (12 june):
Spruce Run to Beaver Pond S.P. (New Jersey)
Stopped at a park-looking thing on the map. Turned out to be a
megachurch, and at 18:00 the next day a fair was going to start.
Looked like nothing out of the ordinary, except for the monster
trucks. To date I've never seen one up close, or maybe at all.
The two used for rides looked like they had the regular engines and
transmissions. With disk brakes on the differentials, and a
double-decker frame.
Had lunch in that parking lot.
Drove to the Beaver Pond state park, which, curiously, is inside the
Harriman state park. 65$ for 3 mights. Rules galore.
Everything including the beach and the laundry were closed, lukewarm
water in the showers, swimming not allowed except on the beach,
10$/kayak to be allowed to kayak, and the campground (shock!) nearly
100% empty.
Day 44 (13 june):
Beaver Pond state park (New Jersey)
We were going to do a loop on the Appalachian Trail and the red
triangle trail.
Got to the Lemon Squeeze first, where I practiced my mountain
goating:
But that's where we missed our turn and ended up going the wrong
way. Didn't even realize it until we saw the parking lot at Lake
Skannatati.
There was no shortcut to get back. So far we did 7km, 290m up and
180m down. I decided to run back to the car, Sasha decided to join
me.
We ran the flat/down parts two thirds of the way. I should have paid
attention hopping down rocks in a hurry - that screwed up my knee.
Day 45 (14 june):
Beaver Pond state park (New Jersey)
Drove to the Anthony Wayne recreation area for the one biking trail
in the entire park.
The parking lot is only accessible via the Palisades Interstate
parkway, which doesn't allow trucks or trailers. The parking lot is
enormous. It must have been used for something else previously.
Maybe a commuter lot.
Kim went to evaluate the trail. Said it's both hard and boring at
the same time.
Drove to the Bear Mountain state park to see whether kayaking the
Hudson is realistic. It was closed of course.
Went to another park just north of it. That had barriers across most
of the driveway but no signs saying we can't go in - so we did.
The Hudson looked very dirty, and it felt like a wind tunnel between
the mountains. Went back to the campsite after that.
Day 46 (15 june):
Beaver Pond to Winding Hills park (New York)
The girl at the office told us the lifeguards show up at 9:00. We
went to the beach after 9:00, no lifeguards of course. But plenty of
people driving around telling you to keep even your tows out of the
water.
12:45 finished at Walmart. Got a 50->30Amp adapter I expected to
need at the Firemen's campground in Lake Placid.
Stopped at a food truck festival in Monroe. Stayed there while the
dryer at the laundromat was going.
Drove to the Winding Hills park. About half the campsites there have
electricity. All those were taken.
At the entrance it said to go to the site, "we'll see you later".
Online it said they only take bookings for holidays.
Not much to do here. Swimming not allowed. Kayaking would have been
allowed if they didn't include our kayaks in the "inflatable"
category. But there were lots of kids this day (saturday), I thought
it might make sense to stay a couple of nights.
A guy came buy a couple of hours after we arrived. 40$/night for
non-electric, 45$ for electric. They had a dump station but its cost
made it inaccessible: 35$/use. I didn't need it anyway.
Day 47 (16 june):
Winding Hills to Margaret Lewis Norrie S.P. (New York)
Our campsite neighbours left early. I moved the trailer to plug it
in. Ideally it would charge for 6 hours while we kayaked and had
lunch. Then we could move to Margaret Norrie for 3 nights. I thought
maybe the due here would let me pay an extra 5$ for the electricity
I used in the morning.
The converter started charging at 35A, an hour later dropped to 26A.
I took the cover off. The converter was barely warm. All the screws
holding the wires seemed to be tight. The red cable connector to the
fuse board was so hot it nearly burned my finger. A minute later I
looked and saw the batteries charging at 40A and rising. Maybe it
senses the charging wire overheating.
Went kayaking.
By 14:00 the batteries were at 80%. Resetting the breaker restarted
charging at 36A.
Left at 15:00 with the batteries at 88%.
Stopped at Barnes & Noble, got a bunch of stuff. That divided
highway is a pain in the ass.
There was someone at the office at Margaret Lewis Norrie state park.
Got to drive around to pick the spot we liked (I made a list of
available sites in advance) and booked site #38 for 3 nights with no
issues. 21$/night.
No power, but might be able to borrow some from the neighbours
(especially if they leave early).
Day 48 (17 june):
Margaret Lewis Norrie state park (New York)
Went riding on the blue bike path.
The Mills mansion looked like a proper mansion.
There really is a tiny beach where OSM has it marked. No swimming
allowed there, not that I wanted to.
It looked like a good enough place to launch kayaks. I thought I saw
a strong current in the river, then realized the river flows the
other way. The wind must have created an optical illusion.
I was lying down with a headache the rest of the day.
Day 49 (18 june):
Margaret Lewis Norrie state park (New York)
One of our neighbours left in the morning. Pluged in the trailer at
9:20. Batteries were at 50%. Used the 15A adapter, hoping that if
the new occupant shows up while we're kayaking - they won't make a
scene.
Tried to drive close to the beach to launch the boats, but the road
said "Authorized Vehicles Only". Tried 3-4 other potential spots
further north, they were all private roads.
Drove to the marina and paid 15$ to launch from there.
Couldn't sense any current on the river - paddling upstream was very
easy.
Nikita saw a 1.5m sturgeon splash in front of him. I only saw the
splash. Found a place to get out and go for a swim:
Sure enough paddling downstream was much harder against the wind.
Got back to the trailer at 16:30. Batteries at 89%, charging at
3.6A. A 30 second power off got the charger going again, the other
11% filled up very quickly.
The guy who cam into the spot where I plugged in was nice. I
apologized and said I'll remove my cable, but he said not to worry
about it.
Had to fill the frehs water using the portable tank. There was no
drinkable water spout at the dump station.
Day 50 (19 june):
Margaret Lewis Norrie to Thompson's Lake S.P. (New York)
Dumped the tanks.
Stopped at a grocery store.
Drove to the Thompson's Lake state park for a quick stop near the
Albany airport. 21$.
The beach had lifeguards, which of course meant that swimming was
not allowed. On a crazy hot day like that too! I found another lake
access from the campground and we spent some time there.
Day 51 (20 june):
Thompson's Lake to Moreau Lake S.P. (New York)
Woke up at 6:00, got Kim to the airport.
Drove to the Colonie Mohawk River Park to have breakfast. They
wanted to charge me for entry. Parked in the bikers' parking lot
next to it.
Went for a 90 minute bike ride. Would have gone for longer but the
path was a little boring and the horse flies were nasty.
Drove to the Moreau Lake state park (24$). It has an nguraded part
at the beach, which we went swimming in in the rain; and a nice
nature centre with lots of animals.
Day 52 (21 june):
Moreau Lake to Crown Point S.P. (New York)
Went for a nature walk with the workers from the nature centre.
Moved the trailer to the beach parking lot and went swimming.
There were lots of kids there who came on buses, probably a school
trip.
Got 4 more sets of disk golf disks and a set of horseshoes from
Hobby Lobby in Glen Falls 80$.
Stopped for lunch at a ghetto boar launch on the Champlain Canal,
across from a prison.
Got to the Crown Point state park in the early evening. The
campground was flooded, but the campsites were high enough to be
dry.
The lake at the boat launch stank, and was very dirty. But there was
a fish cleaning station in the campground, presumably meaning
there's lots of fish.
Day 53 (22 june):
Crown Point state park (New York)
Woke up in the middle of the night because of a heavy rain. Maybe
that happens a lot here, that would explain the flooded campground.
The guy at the visitor centre said the area is normally hot, and
only the last 3 summers were very wet, especially this one.
Got an Adirondack Paddling guide, wished we had more time.
Played a round of disk golf at the campground.
Visited the museum across the street (admission was free for
campers). It's small, but pretty cool.
The fort ruins were a bit disappointing. The original mortar holding
the stones together disintegrated completely. I think all the stuff
still standing has been rebuilt in modern times.
Drove to Burlington to do laundry and pick up Kim from the airport
at 22:15.
The first laundromat said the last load is at 20:00, we were late.
The others weren't there at all, anod another was closed for repairs
or something.
Day 54 (23 june):
Crown Point state park to Volunteer Firefirefighters' campground
(New York)
Batteries at 12%.
Dumped the tanks. Kim carried one 20l tank of fresh water from the
spigot. I thought it's possible that the Firemen's campground in
Lake Placid I intended to go to won't have water or a dump station.
Stopped to do laundry in Port Henry.
Had lunch in the parking lot in front of the entrance to the Essex
County Fairgrounds. As soon as I parked - the rain turned
torrential. A couple of times the wind shook the trailer
around.
After it was over I looked at Kim's phone and saw an extreme tornado
warning. It said to seek shelter if you're in a trailer. I don't
know where they imagine I could have found such a shelter.
It rained a lot from there to Lake Placid. But even so I was
surprised I didn't recognize a single thing. I've traveled that road
in both directions a few times.
Got to the campground next to the volunteer firefighters' station
around 16:00. Batteries at 8%. Was barely able to life the tongue
without the bars on.
It's 50A only. I checked that the outlets are right on both ends of
the adapter but neglected to check that there's power at site 12.
There wasn't.
#7 had power working so I moved the trailer there.
At the information booth in the fire station there was a sign saying
they are not affiliated with the campground, and that I can put
money in the envelope "if you were told to pay here". Since I wasn't
told, and I didn't know how much to pay: I figured I'll wait till
someone comes and tells me.
More rain the rest of the day, and the forecast was the same for the
following day.
Decided to get home on the 25th.
Day 55 (24 june):
Volunteer Firefirefighters' to Grass Point S.P. (New York)
Spent a couple of hours walking in Lake Placid. I didn't like it.
Had lunch back at the campground. I wanted to pay the firemen for
camping here but their sign was explicit, and noone came to tell us,
so I didn't pay. Maybe they were planning to close this campground.
Drove to the Grass Point state park. 240km and only stopped once.
21$ for non-electric, though it had electric sites available.
The sun came out, and it was windy: great way to relax without
worrying about bugs.
Day 56 (25 june):
Grass Point to Markham (Ontario)
Boring drive on the 401.
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