GTW Hop 1: Northwood, NH, to Warwick, MA

105 miles via US 202, NH 9, 10 and 78 and MA 78. Cumulative distance: 105 miles.

GTW Hop 1, Northwood NH to Warwick MA

FYI: “GTW” stands for Great Trip West.

This was a nice trip, right up until we got to the Wagon Wheel campground. The problem? We didn’t know that we had arrived. We were relying on the GPS and it took us about a third of a mile beyond the entrance (which wasn’t well marked) and around a bend. When the nice GPS voice announced that we had arrived we were surrounded by dense woods. Then the adventure began…

But first, the route.  The stretch down US 202 to Concord was part of the training route that we took the day before, so no surprises there.  It is a very nice road for a big rig – wide lanes and most 4-lane road. Then we got off on NH 9 and took a little detour into the WalMart parking lot to return a dog harness.  This was our first WalMart parking lot experience.  WalMart is very RV-friendly and many stores let RVs park overnight for free (which really pisses off the local campground owners).  I don’t know how many parked there overnight, but when we arrived about 1:30pm there were about 30 RVs parked there.  A couple of them were even tailgating, which doesn’t strike me as a great way to spend a sunny afternoon – sitting in a lawn chair on the WalMart tarmac, with cars coming and going.  It seems more like RV purgatory.  But to each his own.

The trip down NH 9 and 10 was also very pleasant. This is mostly 2-lane road, but with some slow lanes to allow passing on long uphill climbs.  This stretch ended in Winchester, NH, which was one of the few towns that we went through.  We were struck by how different this Winchester was from the very affluent Winchester, MA.  This Winchester has public housing (and pretty crappy housing at that) lining Main Street.  The nicest buildings in town were the two senior housing complexes and the rehab center on the southern edge of town.  It appears that growing old and infirm is the biggest growth industry in Winchester.

The ride down 78 – in both NH and MA – was narrow, hilly and twisty.  But totally devoid of traffic and quite pleasant to drive.  I think it would be a great road for a motorcycle or sporty convertible.

Then we got to the campground.  But didn’t see it (or any signs for it) and went on by.  The GPS then “recalculated” us onto a route that left us staring at the thing that to someone driving a big rig is like staring at a fire-breathing dragon: a low bridge.  I had dutifully downloaded the “low clearance” POI file for our Garmin, but it had no effect in this case.  So, as a complete novice with fewer than 200 miles of towing experience to my name, I had to execute a very difficult 3-point turn on very narrow roads.  I lost my head a bit (I was too preoccupied with cursing to think straight) and started backing up without waiting for Jett to get out and direct me.  And immediately swung the back end into a telephone pole.  I would call that “dropping the baby, part 2.” Again, not a huge amount of damage, but I did put a scratch on a lower panel and dented the bunkhouse slide topper.  Of course it couldn’t be the one that was already damaged.  Nope, it had to be the other one.  So now I have a matched pair of damaged toppers.

But we did get the rig turned around and got it back to the vicinity of the “you have arrived at your destination” announcement, at the entrance to a state forest.  I parked the rig on that entrance road and walked up a bit to see if I could spot a sign to the campground.  Nothing.  Meanwhile Jett was flagging down a motorist and asked for directions.  We were only a few hundred yards away, but it was around a corner and not visible.

Naturally, as soon as we learned where it was I spotted a small sign, high up in the trees and mostly obscured by leaves, that pointed us to the campground.

So we finally arrived and backed into a wide-open site (and, if I say so myself, nicely executed on my part).  Then we tried to call Jett’s brother to let him know we had arrived.  No cell service.  I had to drive 7 miles into Orange, MA, before I could get a signal.  I took the opportunity to refuel.

After some effort we got an internet connection at the campground, which is how I am able to post this.

Then we crashed, exhausted from the stress.  Not the most auspicious start to our journey.