TS4-1 Hop 3
154 miles via NY 12, I-81 and local roads. Cumulative tow miles: 436. Truck miles: 310. Cumulative truck miles: 782.
This was the hop that extracted us from our 8-day nightmare. As expected, the most difficult part of the trip was the 200 yards to exit the Chenango Shores Campground. There were three distinct challenges:
- Push the RV back onto the grassy common area, to make a Y-turn to the dump station. With all the mud – from the heavy rains on Friday and the lighter rains on Saturday – I thought that there was a very real possibility that either the truck or the RV – or both – would get mired, axle-deep, in the muck. We didn’t get stuck, but we left deep tire tracks that will not disappear until next summer.
- Dump the tanks. We were using only one black water tank and one gray water tank, each 45 gal capacity. But, after 8 days, they were probably pretty full. We probably had over 70 gallons of sewerage to dump. The dump station was nearly full. I could not completely empty the tanks, but got rid of enough weight to make traveling 150 miles feasible. Probably dumped 40 to 50 gallons.
- Get to the road. This involved traversing the very narrow, very muddy road and making the fairly sharp left turn, avoiding the post on the left and the junk metal gate on the right. The bushes, too, to the extent possible. All through very deep puddles and mud. This turned out to be relatively easy. We hit nothing and didn’t get stuck.
Narrow, muddy exit path
Post to the left
The campground owner was waiting for us at the road. We thanked him once again for his kindness and assistance. He invited us to stop in again next year.
Not bloody likely.
Our new brake controller – which I had felt engage the RV brakes just getting to the exit – still needed fine tuning. Our plan was to take a slight detour to a large parking lot where we could get it set just right. But in traversing the 6 miles of NY 12 to the entrance to I-81, I made adjustments along the way. By the time we got to I-81 I was pretty confident that the settings were good enough to be safe, so we skipped the parking lot and started heading south on I-81.
The ride on I-81 was uneventful. I was a bit apprehensive about the undulations near Scranton and knew that they would provide a test of the engine’s health. It passed easily. The engine ran smoothly and never seemed to struggle much.
Our home for the evening was the Echo Valley Campground in Tremont PA. I picked it almost exclusively for its location – about 150 miles from Binghamton (a good road test for the truck, but not too taxing on its weary passengers) – and just a mile off of I-81. But it also offered pull-through sites and full hookups. The very first thing I did after we got set up was open the valve and complete the dumping of our gray and black water tanks. Then I took a long, hot shower.
The campground was no better than average, but did have recycling and one of the largest pools we have seen anywhere.
Ironically, this campground had almost no Verizon service. So, for the 9th consecutive night, we could not make or take phone calls. The TV service was also spotty. We got 4 channels on one TV and zero on the other.
Jett wanted to go out for a good meal and I didn’t argue. So we drove about 5 miles to Buddy’s Log Cabin Restaurant in Pine Grove PA. It had very good reviews – 4.3 out of 5 on Google – so we had high hopes. Jett ordered their specialty – broasted chicken – and I opted for some meatloaf. The salad bar was mediocre, as was the birch beer. The entrees… well, Jett couldn’t eat the chicken. Too overdone. The meatloaf was cold and bland. The mashed potatoes were instant. What did we like about the meal? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Disgusting meal. One of our worst dine-out experiences ever. I would be generous if I gave it a 1-star rating.
Buddy’s Log Cabin
Echo Valley pool