Author: Rae

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Has Anyone Driven Through Scranton Recently?

There is still a week before I pull out and I am going over my route for the first part of the journey. When I came north in the spring, I took I-81 to Hazleton PA, then I-80 eastbound to connect with the NY Thruway at Parsippany to avoid the uphill slog over the very rough road between Scranton and Wilkes-Barre.

Because of the mess from Hurricane Sandy, I am wondering if I’m better doing that downhill slog avoid getting anywhere near the current mess in the Tri-state area?

Road conditions on the Thruway are clear, so my gut is telling me to make sure I leave upstate New York with a full tank of gas and drive straight through to PA from Saratoga. But I’m hoping that there’s someone on the ground in that area to give me the real scoop on the most sensible route.

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My Tow Bar Is Here!!!

The Ready Brute Elite tow bar comes with an integrate surge brake, safety cables, a dashboard monitor, and clevis appropriate for the base plate to be used.

I am going to review all the installation information so that I can direct the shop and also check their work. It is really, really, really, really cold out these days, but I’m hoping to get a warm afternoon to run more cabling under the rig for the dashboard monitor. Every little thing I can do myself will save me big bucks at the shop.

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Not Begrudging a Rude Awakening

When the phone rang at 8:30 this morning, I knew it had to be the shop calling to let me know my base plate is in. It is! They wanted to install it on Thursday.

I called the Ready Brake folks (they’re great!) to confirm that my tow bar was shipped on the first as promised. It was, it has cleared customs no man’s land, is in Buffalo, and will be here Wednesday!

So if family stuff hadn’t been going on this weekend, I could have gone ahead and done the installation Thursday and left Friday. But I do want to make these two last family dinners, so I called the shop back and asked to move the appointment to Monday first thing. The best they could do is first thing Tuesday, which is fine, two days ahead of the previously set date, and a couple of days before the no street parking because of winter ordinance comes into effect. It’s also not a moment too soon as the weather has turned and the nights here are COLD!

So if all that goes smoothly, I’m pulling out on Wednesday the 14th, just under six months since my arrival!

I found both a dump station and propane right on the way to the shop, so I’ll go take care of those matters on Tuesday before going to pick up the truck and get the final adjustments made with the rig on site. As for gas, I’m only putting in enough to get across the border!

So, I have to be ready to pull out by mid-day Tuesday. I’ll park on the street Tuesday night and pull out Wednesday morning, probably a little later than I would have liked to let some of the morning traffic pass.

The border crossing will help me set my destination for Wednesday night. If I breeze through, then I might make a huge push and get to Pennsylvania. But I will more likely just go to Saratoga, even though that’s barely any distance, just to lessen the stress of driving my new rig for the first time.

I am concerned about potential hurricane devastation along my route, but a check of the roads indicates a clear path, even on the New York Thruway. As long as the weather holds, I should be fine. Thankfully, I’ll have a nice big buffer of time in case my plans get waylaid.

My biggest regret about this summer is that I didn’t get to go to Toronto. I would have liked to have gone east, too, but that was really a dream. At least, I got to see my family and friends from Toronto, so there’s that. No sense looking back. I am now looking ahead to that magical beloved moment when I cross the Mason-Dixon line and, just like that, spring will return to my world. It’ll be my fourth time and I bet it won’t get old any time soon!

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Solar Array Monitor Wonkiness

Croft’s troubles with his RV fridge has reminded me that I forgot to share a rather amusing anecdote about my solar array monitor.

I tend to check all my monitors and sensors two or three days a day, more when I’m boondocking, less when I’m on shore power. Last week, I paused to make lunch, checked my monitors, and everything looked good except that my solar array monitor was flashing 6 volts and change.

My first reaction was confusion. Then, I realised that 6 volts and change is half of 13 volts and change. So my monitor was only registering one of my batteries.

Everything in the battery bank looked fine, but I was able to give the new bolt a couple more turns with a wrench. It’s so hard to get in there that I must have told myself, “Good enough” when I made the modification when I needed to put in just a bit more effort.

Hopefully, this will be the last tweak, but it’s gratifying to know that, so far, I haven’t had any major corrections to make to my new system. I look forward to testing the inverter, which I will do on the journey from here back to Hampton Roads. If I have any concerns, I’ll have several weeks there to effect corrections.

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I Am Now REALLY French

I have a decidedly more adventurous palate now than I did when I was younger. I credit sushi for a lot of that since the stuff that comes out of the sea can be very strange indeed.

There is one dish that I have always avoided as it truly repulses me. Every time I see a picture of it, my gag reflex starts. And every time, I think that I gobble down eel. My logic is definitely lacking!

Tonight, my mother made this dish as an entrée (which is an appetizer for my American readers). I decided that it was time. I closed my eyes so I wouldn’t have to look at the item in question, took a piece, and chewed slowly.

The picture of this dish sucks as I only had my phone, but, truly, it didn’t look appetizing at all:

What are you looking at? An escargot in garlic and chive butter sauce. Yes, a snail.

I had two more. They were very tender and the flavour was very delicate and mostly over powered by the sauce. In other words, with my eyes closed, they were completely forgettable. At least, I now know that I can be served escargots and they will go down my gullet smoothly, but I would not seek them out. I know my dad used to love them, surprisingly enough for a meat and potatoes man, but now I understand that it was probably the garlic butter he loved.

Next up on my ‘I can’t believe I haven’t tried this yet’ is black caviar. No concern on that end, I know I will love it. I’ve got to make a point to find out what a good affordable brand is and where to buy some.

Now, I am off to try my squid ink pasta!