October 5-7, 2019
Sturbridge Camping Club at Quinebaug Cove, Brimfield, Massachusetts
Day 113-115
Cold and crisp morning; reminds me crunching into a Macintosh apple! Checked air in trailer tires. All a little low because of the cold weather (air expands when hot). Getting air for the truck tires is easy, getting them for the rig is more difficult because I need a really long hose which most gas stations don’t have.
I am so excited today! I am just a few days from Boston where I have family. Today I am meeting up with my old middle school friend, Karen, at the Vanderbilt Mansion in Hyde Park NY, on the way to Brimfield, MA. NY Route 209 was nice and pretty, as was NY Route 9S. Surprisingly, these residential roads are also 55 mph! Too fast in my opinion for such a thickly populated area, plus I am pulling a trailer.
My friend is coming from the south and I from the north, and we arrive at just about the same time. We are meeting here because it is halfway for both of us, plus they have free trailer parking!!!! Unfortunately, I drove past the main entrance because the beautiful tall arched cement entrance looked too narrow. I thought it was a pedestrian walkway. So, I turned down the next street to turn around but ended up at the banks of the Hudson River at a small park. I look around and realized I am in a tight situation and become a little anxious. Luckily for me, a man comes out of the house I am parked in front of to help. He owns trailer and guides me as I turn around. Karen then guides me up the road and then thru the slim entrance way. It's so narrow! I probably had no more than a few inches on each side. While parking the rig, I went over a large curb which seem to offset an upper cabinet over the bed. Yikes...I need to get that checked out. I should have been looking at my smaller mirror while driving thru the parking lot.
We had a great visit in the trailer then walked (I hobbled) around the grounds of the mansion. It was a beautiful day. Pulling out of the mansion driveway was even harder than pulling in. The left turn onto NY 9N was so dangerous. No one slowed down. I even put my window down and waved my hand and honked, still people sped by. Honestly, I thought I was going to get hit.
I was going to take the scenic Taconic Parkway to the Mass Pike, but there was a sign saying no vehicles over 10’. My rig is 9’9". I got really nervous and continued straight on NY Route 199 looking for a pullout to reroute. I had read something about NY roads not allowing trailers on some roads, so I call the DOT (Department of Transportation). Can you believe, I actually got a live person, on a Saturday?! She confirmed to me that trailers/RVs are not allowed on this road and helped reroute me. So glad I called!
Continued on NY199 to 22 to Interstate 90, the Mass Pike. NY Route 22 was lovely. Gently rolling hills, all types of farms including horse farms, barns and colonial homes. I even found another great storage locker company to throw the ball for Sparky. The Mass Pike portion was not bad either; it's so rural in Western Mass.
Almost at camp in Brimfield, and my GPS (both Waze and Ford) did not recognize the address of the camp and got me lost about 2 miles away. It’s now sunset, and I am getting nervous. I waved down a motorist for help, and she (Lori) couldn’t have been nicer. She said the camp was just up the road. We end up taking for about 10 minutes about my adventure and how much she would like to do this too! I would like to think I gave her enough encouragement to follow her dream.
Finally pulled into camp about 6:30 pm. They did not have my reservation which was confirmed thru a 3rd party, but fit me in and even parked it into my spot! It’s too dark now for me to unhitch, so I just plug in. Thankfully, I am level too. It’s cold. I purposely used up all the water in my storage tank, so it won’t freeze and am using extra gallons of tap water I keep on hand. I am told I will need to winterize, but I am not really sure what that means (more on that later). Long day, so tired. I catch up on phone calls and go to bed early.
Day 2 - Coldest day so far, 41 degrees. Brimfield is famous for their annual outdoor antiques show in July. As you can imagine, there are so many antique stores here. I don't need anything, so I worked on the blog for most of the morning, then went out to look for a place to throw the ball for Sparky. Found an office park; perfect. Then, headed off to Belmont about an hour away where my sister Sarah lives. We introduced the dogs (Sparky and her Buckley) successfully! This is important because I am going to have my hip surgery in Boston, and we will be staying with her for about 8 weeks. If the dogs don’t get a long, I'm in trouble. I borrow a few ugly sweaters and pickup my new VIAIR air compressor for the rig that I had sent to her house from Airstream Supply. The air compressor, like my generator is for emergency purposes, hopefully I will never need it but if I do, I’ll be prepared.
I don’t like driving at night in unfamiliar areas, so I leave and get back to camp by dusk. I watch some Shark Tank, publish Minnesota and get to bed late.
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