STW1 Hop 1: Oakham MA to Glenville NY

145 miles via MA 148, MA 67, MA 19, US 20, I-90, I-890 (near Schenectady) and NY 5. Cumulative tow miles: 145. Truck miles: 145. Cumulative truck miles: 145.

The hard part of this route was the 30-plus miles on local roads before we got to I-90. The roads were fine, but this was August in New England, which meant that every road was undergoing repair. There was even about a quarter-mile of one-lane road on MA 19. Once we got to I-90 the rest of the trip was a breeze. We used the transponder for the entire trip, going through the E-ZPass lanes everywhere. Time will tell whether the tollway authorities had a problem with that.

We were sad to leave Massachusetts. We had a very fine couple of months with family and friends. But we weren’t too sad to leave Pine Acres Family Campground, our home for the past 2 weeks. It is a fine place, but probably not the best place for us. The things that make the campground exceptional – the kid activities, the swimming pool, the lake, the ice cream shop, the boat rentals – were things we used very little or not at all. It is a great place for families with younger children. Not nearly as great for us.

The one thing that defines Pine Acres: kids on bikes. Hundreds of them. Everywhere. They ride around the campground during all daylight hours, some going very fast, others still using training wheels. Drivers do a good job of sharing the road with them, but after two weeks it was a relief to get back on the open road. There is a BMX track for the more adventurous bicyclists, but it is a poor second to Normandy Farms’.

We loved our site. It wasn’t exactly level, which created some stability problems for us, but it was tolerable. The site had a wide expanse of green area on the right and woods on the left. Our only neighbors were a seasonal family below us to the left and occasional transient campers behind us. It was very private with plenty of parking space.

Our biggest problem with the place was their visitor policy: $10 per person and $5 per car for a visit, regardless of how long. Jett’s sisters came by to play some cards and it cost us $25 to host them for two hours. Ouch! By comparison, the visitor policy for the current campground is $1 per person.