The drive to Lake George was a peaceful one. No hurry's, no worries! I had registered very early at the campground, before they worked out the bugs for the Loners on Wheels negotiated rally rates. I knew they had overcharged me but wasn't concerned and figured we would work it out when I got here. They surprised me by having the appropriate credit waiting for me when I arrived. A few of to LoW campers were already here. They had apparently come early for a Good Sam rally and simply stayed on. The site was tight but it was a pull through and pretty level so it was a quick set up. After several hugs and hello's I was asked to drive to a rental place and pick up five 8' folding tables. Mo came with me to pay for the tables from the Yankee LoW funds. The guy at the rental place helped load them. When we got back to the campground there weren't any other men able to help so I unloaded them by myself, dang they were heavy (lol). The rental place let me drop them off on Sunday even though they were closed. Roger Smith came with me, helped unload them and leave them stacked behind the rental building. Over the week of the rally I: walked around town with Barbara Smith once and the SE-LoW's another time (Bobbi Harden, Linda Kendall, Daryl Spoonseller, Roger, and Martin Smith (no relation)). Wow, there were so many Smiths it could have been a family reunion. The Smiths included: Barbara, Carolyn, Marge, Martin, and Roger (I think that's all). There weren't as many attendees as we originally hoped for but with about 35 it was a nice gtg. I managed to unload lots of stuff by donating them as door prizes and/or for the Chinese auction. I'll bet I lightened the rigs load by quite a bit. Among the stuff I gave away were: an unopened 5 gal jug of anti-freeze, an unopened 5 lb box of fire starters, a set f heavy gauge jumper cables, two boxes of Christmas lights, a full box of Christmas cards, two laundry bags, an unopened set of levels, an unused 1 lb citronella pail, a hand painted glass jar I'd won on a Murder Mystery train ride, and a few more miscellaneous items I hadn't used in almost three years on the road (lol). Other than some electrical problems at the pavilion where the rally set up for our meals I think the gtg went well. The main entertainment was a guy who billed himself as the human jukebox. He was very good and even seemed to look like some of the singers he mimicked like Tony Bennett and Dean Martin. The second entertainment of line dancing didn't seem to go over as well, possibly because it had gotten a little cold. The "Human Jukebox" and I chatted a bit and before he left he gave me a free CD of his songs, very nice of him. About 20 of us took the two hour cruise on Lake George. Prior to the cruise about six of us walked around a bit and had some lunch. Since we sat at two adjoining tables they agreed to give us two checks but wouldn't give us individual checks. A bunch of us had gone out to lunch earlier in the week and sat at one large, round table. That restaurant wouldn't give anything but a single bill. It reminded me when I had munch with Barbara that third restaurant wouldn't provide separate checks either. Must be a Lake George thing (lol).
A funny thing happened late one evening on my way back to my rig. As I neared my RV a deep, gruff voice yelled at me "hey, you, get over here"! I stopped and yelled back in the dark in an annoyed voice "you talking to me"? As I responded the deep voices wife very politely and meekly said "no, no, he doesn't mean anything, could you please come over here for a minute". As I walked over to their rig I saw an older couple and the husband appeared barely able to walk. He asked if I owned the truck with the various army stickers. Turns out he was in Viet Nam the same time as me and even went through airborne school about the same time I did. He gave me a bracelet made of parachute rig cord and we chatted a while.
I took off early for my longest day's drive of almost 400 miles. It's the end of another year of RV'ing and I took my rig into the dealer in PA. I stayed at the dealer over night and spent the next week in a hotel in Edison, NJ about half way between my two sons Alex and Zack (Hi guys!). Over the week the RV was in for maintenance I: spent an afternoon with each of my sons, they also each stayed over at the hotel with me one night, I also had breakfast with my friend John and with my friend Randy. I managed to pick up my mail and even traded in my phone for a new one and a tablet. The hotel had a full breakfast each morning. They also had a pool and hot tub. It was a restful week and it was great to see and spend some time with Alex and Zack.
The RV didn't have any particular problems and it's good to know the brakes are repacked and bearings greased, the roof is sealed well and all systems checked out fine. I stayed over at the dealer one night which gave me time to reload the refrigerator and double check everything. It was a long but easy ride to western PA. I had a full hook up and was able to catch up with my laundry. While walking around the cg I met Doug & Becky out of OH in a cute little Scamp and Ray & Mary, local seasonals. Doug & Becky seemed to enjoy showing all the details of their little Scamp. I thought living full time in my 30' fifth wheel is being a minimalist but it's not even close to two people in a 13' trailer. Ray and Mary invited me to a local, family style restaurant. We spent almost two hours on the very topics most people avoid, religion and politics. It was a very pleasant evening. The drive to WV was very pretty with the Fall foliage in almost full bloom. It was also interesting with the many hills. There were two very steep hills where vehicles over 5 tons (I weigh in at 9 tons) had to get into an extreme right lane, come to a full stop, go into 1st gear while descending and not exceed 10 mph. There were also a few hills where I barely made 20 mph going up! The expedition cg has got to be the single worst cg I've stayed in so far. A narrow, winding road leading up to the entrance, a sharp turn on a steep hill that I barely made, a steep decent followed by a steep ascent to get to the actual site. The site was so sloped I was not able to level the rig even using all of my blocks plus a couple I found in the cg. All week I felt like I was going to roll out of bed. I was expecting a full hook up and there was no sewer, not even a dump station in the cg. The activities I'd booked were fun. I spent one day horseback riding through the WV hills. Really pretty foliage! Another day was spent going down 25 miles of class 5 rapids in a six person raft. The water was in the mid 50's and the air was about 60 degrees. A few people dumped into the Gauley River, but no one from my raft. I was soaked, but not really cold. It was a great day. A third day was spent ATV'ing along the Hatfield-McCoy trail. I thought I was an "experienced" ATV'er having done it once before with my friends in Maine. Wow, was this ever different! The trails were narrow with lots of steep ascents and descents. I did okay, almost lost it only once, got quite muddy, and had lots of fun. The fall foliage was great and I saw some wildlife including: turkeys, deer, a fox, and even a fair sized bobcat. While in WV I also managed to bring the truck in for its normal 5k service. Life is good. My next stop in Kentucky should be interesting but more on that when I next update this blog.
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