STW1 Hop 3
238 miles via NY 12, I-81, NY 104, NY 390, I-490 (west of Rochester), I-90, I-290 (around Buffalo) and I-190. Cumulative tow miles: 551. Truck miles: 270. Cumulative truck miles: 933.
This was the longest – both in terms of distance and time (almost 5 hours) – of any hop we have made in the past year. At 238 miles it pushed the limit of how far we can travel on a single tank. We probably could have made it, but rather than stress out we made a fuel stop at a service plaza on I-90 (the NY State Thruway). I thought this would be the easiest way to get a partial tank, but it turned out to be not so easy because the single diesel pump on the truck side of the plaza was out of service. I guess not many trucks fuel up at these service areas. We decided that, rather than snake our way over to the car pumps, we would use our 5-gallon emergency supply. That was only the second time we have used the emergency supply.
The route would have been even longer if we had taken the fastest route – I-81 to I-90. More expensive, too, as the New York State Thruway is pretty pricey. I avoid tollways when towing because I am never sure what the charges will be, but opted for a compromise this time – about 50 miles of toll road out of 238 total. About half was on expressway. Most of the rest was on NY 104, which mostly wasn’t bad – a little up-and-down but not many sharp curves. We did, however, run into a nasty stretch of construction just west of Oswego which included 4 separate one-lane sections with flagmen. Very ugly. Jett hated it, but so did I.
At the final toll plaza I couldn’t get over to the “E-ZPass Only” lane, so had to go through a manned booth. I thought I might be asked to pay extra for the RV that I was towing, but the attendant just cheerfully waved me through. It was comforting to know that I wasn’t cheating the State of New York.
The view from near our site
Our home in Clayton was the Merry Knoll Campground. It was pretty basic – ordinary swimming pool, a minimal bathhouse, a laundry with 2 washers and 2 dryers. Our site was in an open field which ran down to the St Lawrence River. Scenic, but not so scenic as our previous site at Arrowhead. It was a steep walk down to the water, but once there a broader vista was the reward.
Not a great place, but perfectly fine for two nights.
Approaching sunset on the St Lawrence