Gentile Campground
After a long night with little sleep for me, we woke bright and early and were on the road by 9:15 without any significant hiccups. On a side note, our new neighbors in ME had left their campsite at 4:30 in the morning. I know this because I awoke at 2 and didn’t get back to sleep until 5:30. I’m not one to get up in the 4 o’clock hour when it’s pitch dark out, but I don’t mind if someone else is an early bird or fisherman ... or just plain crazy person. However, these folks slammed the door repeatedly during the fifteen minutes they spent packing up their truck. Goodness.
We stayed at Gentile Campground in Connecticut for our first in-between pit-stop. Gentile Campground must have been The Place to stay for families in the 80’s. Now, it’s like a ghost town of dilapidated structures and outdated play places. Near the front gate is a small play area with animal statues that the kids were delighted to see. Their website boasts of a chapel on grounds, but the only “chapel” we saw was the size of a kids’ playhouse with a five foot ceiling. There is a play set with slides, swings, and a tire swing. There is even a very rusted merry-go-round. A traffic light, flashing yellow-red-yellow-red, hangs in the intersection of two tiny inter-camp roads, swinging by itself, making me think of an abandoned town. Several cars of seasonal residents drove by, slowing down to stare as if we were the first outsiders they had seen in awhile - entertainment. The brochure also lists other amenities such as a basketball court, bocce court, baseball field and tennis court. They had free wifi here, which was a huge surprise, especially after the past six weeks. Unfortunately, the signal was poor so it didn’t do us any good.
This is the first time we’ve spent two consecutive days traveling, so we weren’t very picky about our overnight campground - big enough to accommodate us, must allow dogs, and close to our route. When John called to book a campsite, the manager told us they’d write down our name, but we didn’t “really” need a reservation; we could just show up. The fact that this didn’t bother me is a testament to how far I’ve come. When we rolled in, the manager informed us that we could pick ANY spot in this one area. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen campgrounds without site specific reservations, but I had previously, and quickly, shut down this idea since we are usually very particular about our site.
The campground does not accept credit or debit card payments, so John disappeared into the trailer to find our checkbook. The owner said she had never had any luck with those modern newfangled credit card machines. He then pulled forward, forgetting that the door was open and steps were out. As we pulled to the completely empty block of sites where we were told to stay, a man was walking by and pointed it out to us. Despite being on the road full time for three months, we had made a rookie mistake.
John stopped as we approached the sites so we could figure out which would be easiest for a “quick” stop. This is so funny in retrospect. We chose the most level (and longest looking) site. The hitch to our trailer (with bike rack extended we are probably closer to 43-44”) was up against the road and we only had a foot between us and the water hook up in the rear. We ended up parking in a way that looks completely random and a bit diagonal. The road is just wide enough for our dually to fit on and there were rocks across the street which means John had to pull in at a diagonal. It took us an incredible amount of time to make it within the borders of the site.
As we unhitched, we realized that the hitch chains were super tight like they were when we left Whipoorwill. Luckily, we knew the answer was detaching the screws to remove the chain to get the hitch lock free. We also knew this was going to be crazy to line up in order to replace in the morning. I had the bright idea to use some chalk to outline Dennis’ tires. It looks like the body outline at a crime scene. We prayed it wouldn’t rain overnight as it was difficult enough with the chalk outline.
Leveling our RV here was a slow and lengthy process. When we were “as good as it gets,” we were still far away from center both right to left and front to back. I ran to the potty room and started to feel seasick from the motion of John walking around in the kitchen. I mentioned that we felt off-center, and John told me he was sure I was correct; “You’re more accurate than a level.”
Since we had such a large space to ourselves, we let Ginny off leash and tried to teach her to play fetch with a ball. She loves chasing it, but it took awhile before she mastered scooping it up with her mouth and she likes to drop it random places as she zigzags at full speed across the grass. The kids played in an open space behind the campsites and decided to “renovate” the gazebo by retrieving pieces that had fallen off and leaning them against the empty spaces. Kaeli has decided she’d like to renovate or build something at our new house.
We were enjoying a relaxing dinner by the fire pit in the campsite next to ours (ours somehow didn’t have a fire pit or picnic table; the one closest is pictured above). The weather was perfect, the crackle of the fire was divine, and the conversation was pleasant. Suddenly, Ginny leapt to her feet and began barking and growling fiercely as she’s never done before. Don’t get me wrong, she tries to protect us from random dogs and the rare person, but we’ve never heard such a deep, warning sound. She was focused towards the gazebo and some bushes in front of the woods. John looked around briefly and didn’t see any wild animals. I took Ginny inside where she finally settled lying next to me in the bed, growling sporadically. John decided they would roast a quick marshmallow and come inside before it was fully dark. I also decided we’d double lock the doors overnight just in case.
Fun on the road
We stopped for gas at a highway rest stop. It very clearly stated that cars, RVs and buses should stay to the left while trucks should keep to the right. Dennis gets confused about the miles left in the gas tank, calculating it based on the past month of driving without a heavy rig attached to his backside. It’s not easy to find gas stations large enough to accommodate our combined size and we’ve learned the hard way that not all gas stations have diesel fuel. Given this perfect storm of not easily being able to fuel up and being unsure how soon we need to get gas, we try to keep on top of this. As we pulled up to the gas station, John had me hop out to confirm that the last two rows had diesel. Unfortunately, it was only the pump closest to the exit aisle. John pulled forward as much as he could while staying in range for the fuel pump, but our tail was blocking most of the exit path. The honking persisted through our fill-up while cars drove on the grass or sped to the other side of the pumps to get around us. When a semi-truck began honking, then squeezed past us, my heart sped up, knowing the damage that we might incur. He somehow squeezed past and we skidaddled out of there as quickly as we could. We’ve now decided that we will always follow truck signs.
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As we pulled into Connecticut, a driver was gawking at some people crossing the road and didn’t look before he tried to merge into our lane and John miraculously swerved and used those fancy brakes I’m still so thankful for. Ten minutes later on the same trip, a man tried to pull out if his driveway without seeing the humongous RV barreling down the road. Another round of swerving and braking and I decided that the people in this area aren’t very observant. I know there are minor incidents like this that we run into as drivers all the time, but it’s a much bigger deal when you are driving such a large and heavy vehicle that stops and maneuvers like an elephant.
Spring Valley Campground
We pulled into Spring Valley campground after a very long day on the road. More to come on Jan’s crazy antics in my next post. This was our first trip with two vehicles, so we were both driving the entire trip which added to our fatigue. The campground seemed nice enough, but honestly, we weren’t there for enough hours to have a good feel for it. We had paid an extra five dollars (I know, big upgrade) to have a pull through site, thinking we could leave the truck in place for easy hitching to save time in the morning. For some strange reason, the electric was at the front of the pull through making it impossible to connect to the outlet and keep your vehicle in front of your RV. A fancy fifth wheel drove in around the time we arrived and we shared a laugh over the strange setup. The woman said, “Well, you just never know what you are going to get. I guess that’s just part of the adventure.” Truer words have never been spoken. Living on the road is a constant lesson in flexibility. The only way to feel at peace with it all is to set your heart on adventure and let your mindset follow.