Restaurants

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Saratoga Springs, NY, to Chambly, QC

I had a slow morning at Saratoga Springs. The cats certainly were in no rush to go anywhere:

I enjoyed my quiet little corner of the raceway parking lot:

I backed right into a corner, just because I could:

The raceway was a long ways away:

I got the rig as squared away as I could and took off around 10. I was really impressed with the signage right at the Jefferson Street exit. It was certainly more helpful than my GPS, who told me to navigate to such and such a street:

I meandered my way to I-87 north and got off two exits later to take highway 50 north to Saratoga RV Park. Their dump fee is $20 and it’s just that, a dump fee. There is no potable water for filling an RV holding tank. They also sell propane and it cost $50 to fill the on board tank. Propane is the only thing I’ve found to be much cheaper in Canada than the US; this price would be exorbitant in Whitehorse, but was cheaper than in Washington State. That sure was an easy $70 for these very nice people!

Before heading back on the road, I parked the rig to the side so I could change into a nicer skirt (I’d worn grubbies to dump!). In a moment of perfect timing, the phone rang. It was the adjuster from Aviva wanting to let me know that the cheque was in the mail. She also asked me when I’m getting the other repairs done and I asked her to please give me a few days to breathe and think about this when I get to Montreal, a place I wasn’t at yet. I told her I’ll be filing my reimbursement claims shortly.

From the RV park, I was able to continue on highway 50 north to I-87, so the RV park wasn’t really a detour. It didn’t take long to reach the scenic and isolated Adirondacks. It is a rather long stretch after Saratoga Springs before you reach civilization again in Plattsburgh and you have to go through the scenic Lake George region.

I was amused when we started to hit the bilingual signs. Quebec does have some bilingual signage near the border, but the English is in tiny print, as per the law, while the French on the US signs is the same size as the English.

I’m always amazed by how quickly the landscape changes before Plattsburgh. One minute, you are surrounded by towering trees and the next you are in open cultivated land full of neat orchards.

It was going on 2:00 when I hit Plattsburgh for lunch. It was a bit of an emotional stop in that the last time I ate at the Applebee’s there was with my dad in late 2006. He was having a rare good day in his final stages of terminal colon cancer and we were on what turned out to be our last road trip together, just a quick border run, because he got tired so easily. I remember so clearly our discussion that day, with him making me promise that I would from then on make changes that would make me happy rather than satisfy other people in my life. Little did we know that less than two years later, I would be setting off on a great adventure. But I digress.

The border was nearly upon me, but I had one more stop to make after lunch. I pulled off in Champlain to get half a tank of gas, at a whopping $4.03 a gallon, the worst I’ve seen on this trip! A fill would have been $200, which is still cheaper than anywhere in Canada right now.

The knots in my stomach tightened when I reached the point of no return:

Left: Canada. Right: last US exit

It’s amazing how returning to my own country is more stressful than entering another one.

Croft asked in a comment if I was planning to cross in French or English. This was something that I debated and I finally decided to let the guard’s accent answer the question for me. I got a woman with a very thick accent when she spoke English. So I decided to cross over in French.

I was asked how long I was in the US, the purpose for my trip, how I met my friend in Virginia, and if I owned the motorhome. Then I got asked a question I could not answer and I froze: what was my license plate number? The car and the rig are one number apart and I can never remember which is which. I was just about to offer to jump out and check when the officer asked if I had my registration on hand. Oh, yeah. Duh. I got the right papers out and told her. She ran the plate number then asked the value of the goods I’d bought, if I had booze, drugs, or personal weapons on board. And that was it. The last time I had an easy clearing like that was back in 2005! I’ve been grilled harder coming back from a Walmart run! WOOHOO!!!!

From the border, it was just 45  minutes to my mother’s. I arrived, got level, and accepted a cold beer! That and getting the bike out of the living room were the only things I planned to do tonight. Tomorrow, we’ll deal with getting some water on board, plugging me in, and getting me hard wired to the internet.

The drive today was really difficult and I am exhausted! It was windy, but I also think my suspension needs to be looked at. I started to notice that the roads felt really rough well before my accident, so I’m sure the issue is not related to it, but it seems worse now that I don’t have the toad. I just find that I’m bouncing a lot more and hearing things shift around in the rig. Tioga George just got some Bilstein shocks installed and I’m hoping that a simple cure like that is all that’s needed. It just seems that if I don’t have a perfectly smooth road I’m more bouncing than rolling down the highway and having a lot of side to side movement. I just did some quick research and it doesn’t sound like I have a major or unusual problem, but I’m astounded by how differently the rig handles solo!

Finally, I want to, again, raise both my middle fingers to the guy who honked at me for going 5 miles below the speed limit on a narrow, twisty road and to the guy at the shopping plaza in Plattsburgh who honked at me because I wasn’t turning fast enough for him. WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!

And I would like to end by quoting T.S. Eliot:

We shall not cease from exploration. And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.

I have complained bitterly about how rude and rash are Quebec drivers. But having just traveled the breadth of the United States, I have to say that Quebec drivers were a breath of fresh air. After weeks of having the cars behind me whip around me at a highway on ramp, making it impossible for me to merge, it was a breath of fresh air to have the column of cars behind me wait patiently while I got over safely. And then I got caught on autoroute 10 in construction and traffic (its usual state) and everyone gave me my space and made sure I had enough room to change lanes. Merci beaucoup!

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St Clair PA to Saratoga Springs NY

I am parked at the Saratoga Springs Raceway in Saratoga Springs, New York, just north of Albany off of I-87.

I was awake ludicrously early this morning (5:45!) because I went to sleep by 10:15 and actually slept straight through. I wasn’t ready to be up, though, so I spent about 40 minutes cuddling with Tabitha. I took the time to make a nice breakfast, then headed into the Walmart to withdraw some cash.

It was misty in St. Clair this morning:

But the mist started to clear up as I got ready to pull out:

The drive back up to I-81 was much easier than the drive down. I knew I was going to hit construction immediately and that I was in for a long, hard haul to just past Albany. I actually have blisters forming on my hands from all that white knuckling!

At Hazleton, I took everyone’s advice about the state of the hill between Scranton and Wilkes-Barre and veered east onto I-80. My GPS was much smarter today and quickly adapted to my new route, especially since I remembered to change the settings to allow routing on toll roads.

I had a very frustrating experience getting gas. There was only one pump I could access and there was someone ahead of me in line for it. The old codger got out, saw me, and went back into his vehicle. His wife tottered into the store and came out about five minutes later. The man got back out of his truck, pumped his fuel, then tottered over to the store. He came out, looked my way, and got back into the truck while his wife adjusted some things in the truck bed. She got back into the truck and they sat there another five minutes before moving on.

I got the fuel, which took almost 20 minutes since I had to authorize the pump twice, and did a check around the rig before moving on. I found a sporty red car in my blind spot. It sat there for a full five minutes before the owner came out of the store. She spent several minutes cleaning trash out of her car, then started pumping her fuel. When that was done, she sat in her car and dialed her phone. By this point, I was so angry I decided to not even attempt to get out and ask her politely to move. Sum total, I lost almost a full half hour waiting for her to clear out! I should have cut my losses at the old codger and gone to the next station down the road. I couldn’t believe that I wasted a whole hour to get fuel!

I’d spent some time last night trying to figure out how the NY Thruway works and what my toll would be, but gave up. I did cobble together, correctly, that I would encounter a toll booth upon entering the Thruway and would be given a ticket that would determine what I would have to pay at the toll booth on the exit.

This is what the ticket looked like:

Each line indicates the exit number and applicable toll. So it was easy to compare the ticket to my GPS instructions and determine that I would be exiting at 24, for a nice even toll of $11.

It was getting on lunchtime by this point, so I decided to stop at the first service area on the Thruway. I bought a nice loaf of French bread last night and planned on peanut butter sandwiches and coffee for lunch. This plan was cemented by the fact that there was a Starbucks at this first service area. Paying the Thruway surcharge on an espresso was more appealing than cleaning the French press and making my own, plus an espresso has less caffeine. Needless to say, I was surprised that a tall Americano was $2.22, just seven cents more than in Smithfield, VA, and still cheaper than a short Americano in Canada! The fast food options also seemed reasonably priced, but gas was almost $4 a gallon!

My exit was just past Albany, and let me tell you that I never thought I would be so grateful to see New York’s capital city! I knew that, from then on, it would be smooth sailing in increasingly rural landscapes all the way to my mother’s.

The exit toll booth felt very chaotic:

From Albany, I entered one of my favourite parts of the US, remembering fondly summers spent at Lakes Champlain and George and random excursions into Plattburgh with my dad just to eat dinner in another country. My detour to the raceway notwithstanding, I didn’t need a GPS anymore and felt the weight of my travels fall from my shoulders. All the signs pointed to Montreal; I was on the home stretch!

I was really tempted to continue to Montreal, but the rig was in no way ready for the border. Instead, I got to Saratoga fairly early, will have a relaxing evening, and will set out at a leisurely pace tomorrow. I was going to arrive for lunch, but failed at finding propane and a dump station today, so I need to do that tomorrow. I know there’s a state campground a couple of exits up and it should have a dump station for me to use. As for propane, wish me luck. That stuff is elusive! I had thought I’d pass a campground today and would be able to dump there and ask for directions to propane, but campgrounds would have required huge detours. Crazy!

When I got in, sat down at the computer and noticed a weird smell. What was that? Rubbing alcohol? No… Oh, acetone! I opened the medicine cabinet and discovered that a bottle of nail polish had overturned. There was very little to mop up compared to the stench that is still lingering.

Now, it’s time to figure out what I’m doing for dinner. I’m sure beer will be involved. It’s hot here!

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Petersburg VA to St Clair PA

Miranda was packed by 8:00 this morning. I handed the key to the lady in the office in case the mechanic was ready to work on her before I got back from returning the rental car. I got to Enterprise at about 8:20 at the same time as the guy who was going to drive me back to WS Campbell. Everything was fine with the rental and the insurance is picking up the full tab! I got back to the shop at 8:30 and Miranda was still outside. I took back the key and got her into the garage then went to the office to settle up the bill.

My adjuster at Aviva continues to impress me. She told me that the axle repairs alone would be $5,600. Um, no. That was for everything. The axle repairs came in at just under $3,000, so with the towing bill the invoice was $3202 and change, which was actually less than they would have thought because they didn’t need to replace all the parts they thought they needed to replace. I signed off on the repairs and faxed the invoice and credit card receipt to Aviva.

There was a truck blocking the pull-thru exit of the garage, so I had to back out. I always take it as a compliment when I am left to my own devices to do such manoeuvring. 🙂 It was an easy out, though, as I had a big empty space to back into and get pointed in the correct direction.

Before we leave WS Campbell, here’s the view I had from my desk the last two weeks:

It’s 5KM to the I-95/South Crater Road junction and there is a Shell just before the turnoff. It would have been a bit tight with the toad, but it was easy access with just Miranda. I had a quarter tank of gas and I was staring at the cheapest fuel prices on this trip ($3.49/gallon), so I had the pump pre-authorized for $125 and that filled the tank to the brim.

Now, I’m going to give more detail about my route than I usually do because there has been some discussion about it in the comments.

Just a few miles north of where I got on I-95, at 9:20, I took I-295 to by-pass Richmond and got back on I-95 north of the city. I grinned as I passed Ashland, awed that the last time I took this route, I drove straight from there to Gatineau in a day!

Traffic got thicker and thicker the further north I drove. I was happy to exit to route 17N just past Fredericksburg. I knew that the next bit wasn’t going to be easy as I would have to drive through a shopping district with lots of traffic lights, but it was better than going through DC. I followed the signs for route 17N to I-66 west.

My GPS continues to make me wonder who programs routes for it. I was heading for a destination just off of I-81 and right up to the I-81/I-66 junction, it was adamant that I drive through downtown Washington to get there! Whomever comes up with a GPS that automatically routes around cities is going to get my business for life.

I’d been too nervous to have breakfast before leaving (but not so nervous that I didn’t take the time to have coffee!) and the knots in my stomach had gotten pretty tight along route 17. But I began to feel better when I hit I-66 and I planned a lunch stop just before I-81, where there is a Walmart and a bunch of restaurants, so it was pretty convenient in an RV. I think it would a been a bit tougher of a parking lot with the toad, but with Miranda alone it was fine. I went to Applebee’s, of course. 🙂

It was almost 1:30 when I was done with lunch and I had three more hours of driving to do. I was getting tired and starting to jump every time a vehicle passed me, causing Miranda to shift in the lane. Had I left a couple of hours later, I would have stopped for the night in Chambersburg, but that option was a Cracker Barrel and 3:00 was way too early to stop there. I decided that I could handle another couple of hours and made a point to stop at the two rest areas I passed.

The day’s calamity struck at the first one: I could not get my key into the lock for the house door! So I need to troubleshoot the deadbolt when I get to MTL. *sighs with tongue firmly in cheek* It is a huge hassle to get into the house from the cab. I can get the door unlocked from inside, but cannot relock it from outside.

It was going on 5:00 when I got to the exit for St. Clair. The Walmart is about 6 miles from I-81, further than I usually like to go from my route, but I was hoping to get a few things that were on my shopping list for this trip and which I held off getting until I knew how things would end up with the insurance claims.

The last bit of the driving day was brutal as the 6 miles turned out to be straight down a twisty 6% grade. I was really glad to find a scenic Walmart that was happy to have me overnight.

Today’s drive took me from Virginia, back to West Virginia, up through Maryland:

and into Pennsylvania:

At Walmart, I picked up a frozen pizza for dinner and a bunch of bags of shredded cheese in anticipation of returning to a country where cheese is a luxury (snark, snark). I also got a slow cooker! I’ve been wanting one for ages and did some online shopping looking at reviews for little ones. The Rival brand didn’t look like much on the shelf, but I’d read reviews that said they make decent appliances. So when I found a four-quart model for less than $10, I snapped it up! Right next to it was an adorable six-cup rice cooker for $13. My beloved rice cooker is much too big for my needs and sticks badly. I can store both my new appliances in the space the old rice cooker took.

The next part of the day wasn’t much fun and I was pretty cranky by the end of it. I had a bag of used cat litter by the front door waiting for me to find a garbage can and a certain black cat decided to do her claws on it! I spent what felt like ages sweeping the mess and then disinfecting the floor. But my day wasn’t over.

I’m out of propane on the on board tank and haven’t had any luck finding some today. My fridge and freezer are full, so I had to haul the auxiliary tank outside, find my pigtail, and get everything hooked up so I can keep the fridge on tonight. Someone needs to create a propane fill directory! The two places I found today only deal in bottles; they don’t fill truck/RV tanks.

For tomorrow, I’m listening to everyone who told me to avoid the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre uphill climb at all cost. So I’m taking I-80 to I-87 and am going to research the toll to see if I need to have cash (I’m completely out but there’s an ATM in the Walmart). The only remotely decent place to overnight between here and my mother’s is the casino in Saratoga Springs. From there, it’ll be about three hours, plus the border crossing, to arrive for lunchtimeish on Thursday.

 

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A Day in Richmond, VA, including the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (and Amuse Restaurant)

Ooh, it’s been a long day and it’s not over yet. I’m at a Starbucks somewhere in Virginia, maybe Hopewell. I’ve got some pictures at the bottom of this post.

A nasty couple of leg cramps during the night meant that my early start today was on about an hour of sleep. Gah. I headed north out of Petersburg, stopped for breakfast, and then pointed the car towards Richmond for my appointment.

Minutes after leaving the Starbucks where I posted this morning, the phone rang. I was shocked that it was my adjuster at Aviva; it was 7:30 in Vancouver! She confirmed that they will be filing a claim with the moron’s insurance company to cover the repairs, my deductible, and the tow bill. The repairs are coming in at $5,600… HOLY MOLY.

She, of course, couldn’t resist chastising me again for continuing without having a thorough inspection made of the rig. I maintain that discovering the damage during an inspection is a big what if. One of the guys at the salvage yard in West Virginia actually got under the rig with me and said that there was no visible damage. Who’s to say that an inspector would have even thought to look for a weak axle? I maintain that the moron’s insurance company got off lucky because I would have put them on the hook for kennel fees, a rental car, a hotel, and three square meals a day, minimum, to salvage my vacation had I been stuck in West Virginia.

I asked her how long I can have a hotel room (thinking that I might need it again Monday) and she said that as long as I’m within the prescribed limits, it can be until Miranda is road ready. She was concerned that I’m staying at home this weekend, saying that if I cause extra damage to the axle by living in the rig, the extra repairs won’t be covered. *shakes head and reminds herself that not everyone RVs*

Anyway, she gets points for calling me early! 😀

By the time I hung up with her, it was about 10:50. I couldn’t believe I was now concerned about being late for my appointment! I knew I had plenty of time to get to the address, but was worried about parking. The options got more dismal the closer I got to Capitol Mac, so I was relieved to find a spot right across from the store. I popped in, handed over my computer, and was out of there in less than 10 minutes. I guessed, correctly, that I’d need to charge the new battery, which justifies ending the day at another Starbucks.

From Capitol Mac, it was just a couple of blocks to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Virginia’s answer to New York’s Met. Now, nothing compares to the Met, but this was a fine museum and the perfect place to kill several hours. Best of all, it’s free! I had fun leisurely roaming through the exhibits, which cover the span of human history. I did pretty much skip over the modern stuff, however.

Many of the reviews I read said that lunch at the Amuse restaurant on the top level is a must. I was leery about eating at a museum, figuring the prices would be astronomical, but a couple of reviews claimed the prices were reasonable. I decided to give it a shot. I got a nice table on the balcony and glanced through the menu, relieved to find that just about everything was $15 or less. The offerings are very fancy/gourmet.

The first thing that caught my eye was a tuna tartar, but I already had raw tuna this week, so I kept looking. Ooh, crab cakes with a horse radish sauce and fingerling potatoes! And then I came to seafood chorizo. Hmm. Now, that sounded different. I decided to try it out. While I waited for my food, I was brought a hunk of delicious herb bread.

A picture of my lunch is below. As I said to the server, “There are no words to convey how delicious this is.” The seafood chorizo was, of course, a sausage, thickly sliced and deliciously caramelized. It smelled strongly of the sea, but the taste was much more mild and quite sweet. The sausage was served with cubed and herbed Yukon Gold potatoes. Finally, there was a slaw made of julienned apples, red onion, radish, and fennel, topped with Parmesan shavings. I’ve always avoided fennel since I don’t like licorice, but it turns out that the plant is completely inoffensive, offering a bit of bite with a lot of crunch and not that much licorice flavour. All for $14.

I’d had my fill of the VMOFA by about 2:30. I decided to find a mall since I needed an outfit to wear to the party next Saturday. I picked the first one my GPS listed, drove all the way there, and discovered it had been razed. This is when I remembered that my phone has internet so I Googled ‘Richmond Mall’ and got a hit for the Regency. My GPS got me there without incident.

In Canada, I would have headed for a Reitmans, but I didn’t know what stores in the US would have clothes in my price range. So I was happy to see a JC Penney at the mall; it was the perfect place to start looking. I wound up finding a ton of things I liked, so there was no need to go anywhere else. I spent about an hour putting together an outfit then headed to the Payless next door for some dressy sandals. I wandered through the mall for a bit, but was quickly reaching burnout so I returned to the car.

I asked the GPS to take me to the nearest movie theatre, but when I arrived at the location, there was no cinema. I’d just about had enough, so I decided to drive by home and see if Miranda was level. It was only 5:00, so I was actually a little relieved to see that she was still tilted. This gave me the impression that perhaps work wasn’t done for the day. I decided to try the movie theatre idea again. The GPS took me here, where the cinema has been shut down for some time. *sighs* At least, there was a Starbucks right there.

$5,600 worth of damage

$5,600 worth of damage

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

now, this was interesting: that lady is sculpting a statue that is part of a series, one of which is at the Mariners' Museum in Newport (the one where I thought the men were wrestling a penguin)

now, this was interesting: that lady is sculpting a statue that is part of a series, one of which is at the Mariners’ Museum in Newport (the one where I thought the men were wrestling a penguin)

I just wanted to hug this little fellow; notice that his tongue is sticking out

I just wanted to hug this little fellow; notice that his tongue is sticking out

hilarious!

hilarious!

lovely view (which I would revisit at lunch)

lovely view (which I would revisit at lunch)

this image of a futuristic Marine World (with all the animals being deformed) was rather disturbing!

this image of a futuristic Marine World (with all the animals being deformed) was rather disturbing!

"An Athenian woman asks a Spartan woman, Why are you the only women to rule your men? In which the Spartan woman replies, Beause we are the only women who give birth to men."

“An Athenian woman asks a Spartan woman, Why are you the only women to rule your men? In which the Spartan woman replies, Beause we are the only women who give birth to men.”

these are more than more than 2,300 years old!

these are more than more than 2,300 years old!

more than 2,300 year old jewelry!

more than 2,300 year old jewelry!

this impressive sarcophagus was on loan from the Met!

this impressive sarcophagus was on loan from the Met!

statues like these could stand in for the person if the mummy was damaged

statues like these could stand in for the person if the mummy was damaged

deliciousness

deliciousness

a view is always good for digestion

a view is always good for digestion

I don't like the Art Deco style, but now I understand it. This clock is based on an Egyptian head dress!

I don’t like the Art Deco style, but now I understand it. This clock is based on an Egyptian head dress!

that window is the next best thing to a view!

that window is the next best thing to a view!

I was impressed that I could spot the Monet among the imitators

I was impressed that I could spot the Monet among the imitators

I adore Tiffany lamps

I adore Tiffany lamps

love the dragonflies

love the dragonflies

I'd never seen this Van Gogh, but recognized his work immediately

I’d never seen this Van Gogh, but recognized his work immediately

unmistakably a Renoir

unmistakably a Renoir

I was impressed that I could recognize a Matisse

I was impressed that I could recognize a Matisse

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Killing Time

I am at a Starbucks in Mechanicsville, VA. Let me pause for just a minute to say that I have always loved the name of this town; it sounds like a Fisher-Price little people play set. 🙂

I had breakfast at the Cracker Barrel next door, my first and most definitely not last time having breakfast at that chain. Since I don’t eat eggs, I usually end up ordering pancakes for breakfast. By the time I add on some protein and a tip, breakfast comes in around $13, and I always end up throwing away half the pancakes. At Cracker Barrel, I was able to order their hash brown casserole and turkey sausage side combo by itself, which made for a reasonably portioned and very tasty breakkie with a good balance of carbs and protein. Their coffee was really good, too! The tab was $6 and I added a $2 tip.

I’ll be heading into Richmond shortly to have the laptop battery replaced. I found the perfect place to spend the afternoon and hope that it’s as great as the reviewers claim. As a hint, it’s considered Virginia’s answer to the Met. That’s a major promise and I’m curious to see if the comparison is accurate.