Thoughts on the trip so far
Well we have
logged about 5300 miles thus far since May.
We’ve spent over $1600 in gas alone.
We have come to realize there is a lot more to see in this country than
we originally thought. Our original intention was to drive around without any
kind of a schedule. We would stay somewhere
for a week or so and then move on. The
only places we had to visit were Murfreesboro to see the grandkids, Washington
DC and then on up to Nova Scotia. We figured
we would make it to Nova Scotia about the middle to end of June. We would stay
for a couple weeks then head back over to Ohio and then up into Michigan. The first few stops were nice and there
seemed to be adequate time to rest up from the trip and see some of the local
sights. Once we hit Fredericksburg, VA
there didn’t seem to be enough time to see everything we wanted to see. Of the four days we were there each of us got
to make one day trip into DC. If you’ve
ever been to DC, you know a full week would not be enough time to experience
all the sights it has to offer. It felt to me like we had pulled a drive by on
this great part of the trip. This was
not the only part of the trip that ended up this way. We could have easily spent three weeks in
Nova Scotia, instead of four days.
I’ve learned a
lot of things this time out. First of
all the day you pull in and the day before you pull back out are essentially
wasted days. On the day you arrive at
your destination, it’s usually just after 1 pm in the afternoon. After you get to your spot and set up, and
unpack it’s already 3-4 o’clock. Not to mention your body is still vibrating
from the 250 plus miles you drove earlier in the day. The day before you leave is spent cleaning up
and packing. The more you get done the
day before means the earlier you can pull out in the morning. I find that I can drive a lot longer if I’m
fully rested and leave by 8am. This being said a four day trip really only
works out to be a 2 day visit.
Another thing
that really sucks is driving multiple days in a row. We drove roughly 1000 miles in four days
going from Amherst, Nova Scotia to the Bass Lake Resort in upstate New
York. When we first started the trip, I
told Geri that 120 miles a day was my limit. She felt we should be going a lot
further.
Canada and Bar
Harbor Maine were very nice. The weather was a little chilly as we had arrived
just before their summer seasons had started.
A lot of the tourist places were not even open yet. Everything is more expensive in Canada. A gallon of 2% milk was close to $7.50 a
gallon. Diesel fuel was just over $5 a
gallon. Sandwiches at a road side diner start at about $8. Campground rates were about the same as in
the states at around $30 a night, although in Montreal we did pay a whopping
$51 a night for a full hook up including Wi-Fi. We also found that a lot of
campgrounds and gas stations were not really big rig friendly. You needed to ensure there was enough room to
get out before you pulled in.
To be continued……….
