The Bill and Kit Go
Fetch It Trip (Maine to Minnesota and Back)-Chapter Four

Monday, October 6, 2008:

I guess I spoke prematurely yesterday. Day light brought the true character of thiscampground to life. It was a bit quaint, well used and had the feel and look of the proverbial “crazy hermit that lived in the woods” place. Campground guides are a bit like realestate listings. Words like, near by, or rural, or seasoned, or quaint can have vastly different meanings.  This place had a lot of natural beauty but the facilities themselves were pretty run down. And it had one of the highest site fees we’ve paid!? It must be that trickle down economics we’ve heard about…..you trickle down a 10 mile country road….. late on a dark night…..where there is only one campground…. and you pay what they ask. Oh yea, it was called The Happy Hills Campground. I’m sure it’s the moonshine that makes the hills happy.

Much to my chagrin, I forgot to mention that we are traveling with our mascot and faithful companion. He is low maintenance, quiet, and very flexible. A lot of folks travel with tiny dogs but our buddy beats them all:

 

Note: Made additional mileage readings with our new toy in tow (say that a hundred times real fast!):

Speed | Duration | Truck | Truck with Trailer

55 MPH_10 Min___19.4_____12.5

60 MPH_10 Min___17.7_____11.4

65 MPH_10 Min___16.4_____10.2

70 MPH_10 Min___15.6_____Ugh!

Forgot to mention yesterday that we crossed the Eastern Continental Divide at 2610 feet near Keyser’s Ridge in Maryland. Also since we are trying to travel the “back roads” on the Blue Highways (we need to read that book!), we roll through quite a few small and interesting towns, hamlets and villages (not sure that makes what). The visits have been for the most very pleasant but the roads have been narrow, winding, no shoulders and at times pretty rough. Most stuff in the trailer migrates around to new locations as we rumble along. It’s either that or the Kit puts stuff in different places each day so Bill can play hide and seek with his socks. It doesn’t take much to keep pensioners entertained.

A “tire pressure problem developed on the truck. Somehow, overnight the right rear tire lost 6 PSI. (Maybe the rifle toting good old boy on the confederate flag ATV snuck back and inhaled from it). Anyway I probably would not have noticed except the trucks fancy Driver Information Center (DIC) rats on itself. Don’t ask….GM named it I didn’t. In the past we would have rolled on in ignorant bliss as the tire was self destructing. So I just “had” to get another gadget to solve the problem and put our minds to rest. Using the recently purchased Tire Inflator I brought all eight tires to their proper pressure.

Headed North toward Altoona, Pennsylvania traveling an incredibly picturesque state (blue) highway. Rolled through Picture Rocks, Tivoli, LaPorte and Loyal Sock Creek (Huh?…..Gonna have to look that one up). Pulled in for the night at a KOA in Bellefonte, which is just outside State College, PA. The place should have been called Super Large Expensive Motorhomes With Penn State Logo’s Plastered On Them Ville. I’m not even sure what a Nittany Lion is but we were surrounded by their rolling palaces.

 

The park was very nice and had a few hiking trails we used to stretch our legs a bit. Well, actually Kit tried to stretch her legs…..mine are long enough already but I accompanied her anyway.

Wondered about the town’s name however. I did notice that all the men and some of the women had long hair and full beards…..I guess they were the town’s namesakes as they sure were hairy.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008- This morning the right rear was low again; I’ll just top it off every morning rather than bother dropping the trailer, pulling the tire and getting it repaired. We are amassing quite a list of “must have” items to ensure safe and comfortable RV traveling. I’m willing to share the list if anyone is interested.

Hit the southern NY border south west of Albany around mid afternoon. We stopped at a Good Sam campground, Lake Lauderdale very near the Vermont border. The couple has owned it since 1987 and winter over in their own “park model” style trailer. They were in their 60’s and seemed like hardy folks. The road to the place was once again, narrow and twisty. I guess our decision to stay off the interstates will likely force us into these smaller, backwoods campgrounds. Which is OK by us.

An unplanned treat (actually very little of this trip has been planned) is traveling through the foliage band as it creeps south. The weather has been clear and crisp with temperatures in the upper 50’s. Views from the many high elevations are quintessential New England. Pastoral valleys nestling quaint village surrounded by bright yellow, orange and red foliage.

Love, Bill-Dad-Poppy and Kit-Mom-Guma