Brian and Barbara RV'ing: August 2024

We just got on the Interstate and went North into New York State and a town called Vestal near Binghampton. More relaxing and exploring.

Does it get any better?

Well it might have to get worse before it gets better sometimes and this apparently was one of those times!

An American dart board.
Solid wood with wooden darts too.

We had a bad experience of PA roads a couple of years ago when the extremely rough going broke the rear suspension completely in two. We were saved by Dave and Gloria luckily.

https://banbrv.blogspot.com/2021/09/2009-monaco-cayman-broken-trailing-arm.html

Not wanting to repeat the experience we decided to take the Interstate north into Upstate New York to an area we hadn’t so far explored.

As we got further north the mountains got higher and the climbs steeper for the coach to climb.

I glanced down and saw a red warning light flicker while climbing some of the steeper hills. It went away as soon as I let off the throttle.

This is usually a sign of low fuel pressure and might indicate a blocked fuel filter which we hoped was the case but doubted because we had new ones installed before we left AZ and we had only done about 4K miles since.

The nearest Cummins Diesel dealer was in Syracuse NY so there was a chance to find what the problem was and explore Syracuse at the same time!

One of the good things about Cummins dealers is that they may have the ability to let you camp there! This was one of that did and we gratefully plugged into their 50 amp power supply.

The technician plugged in his computer and confirmed low fuel pressure under heavy load but found the fuel filters to be fine. He spent a whole day going over the fuel system and found several small problems and a software update for the ECU which when added together were the cause of the issue.

We spent another night there as it was late in the day before he had us set to go, meanwhile we learned about the Erie Canal and how it affected the Westward expansion of the USA.

An Erie canal boat is very different from an English canal Boat

We also discovered the Elks Lodge in Liverpool (NY)! A pretty place on the Erie Canal, full of friendly people. Our joy at finding another Liverpool was increased when we read the Lodge history and discovered that when the Elks took over the property it was called the Downing Tavern! Coincidence at it’s best!

Liverpool Elks looking over the water

From the Erie Canal we decided to head North East which would head us towards Vermont, New Hampshire and our final destination of Maine. It would also allow us to follow the St Lawrence Seaway along the Canadian border.

A Lighthouse on the Seaway

Not a bad view from the rig at Jacques Cartier State Park

We had been at the other end of the Seaway in Sault St Marie some years back and lived for a short while on a town on that Seaway in St Catherines Ontario Canada. Tracking along another part of it seemed like a good idea.

https://banbrv.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-huron-circle-route.html

We were now in school summer break time and rapidly approaching the July 4^th Holiday. About the only time we make reservations if for Holiday weekends and especially the 4^th which gets very busy.

Some research came up with a couple of NY State Parks along the way, and when I got onto their booking website we found them to be very reasonably priced at $30 a night for water and electric with a dump station on site.

The first park was Jacques Cartier SP and the second Robert Moses SP. Both were well maintained, very picturesque and busy! We enjoyed them immensely especially Jacques Cartier where we had a view straight out the front window looking over the Seaway.

A bulk carrier heading west to Hamilton Ontario
enters the lock.

The Seaway itself was excellent and we explored the locks, dams and museums, then watched ships passing thru the lock going to Hamilton and St Catherines Ontario. Kind of closing the loop for us.

Another ship ready to exit the lock.

We spent a couple of weeks in the area before crossing into Vermont and exploring the Newport area. A couple of brew pubs and a dinner cruise on Lake Memphremagog (no idea how you pronounce that!) were just right for us!

Very scenic lake front in Newport VT

We keep returning to this area which is generally referred to as New England and is made up of the most North Easterly States, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts. I don’t think there is an “Official” list, and I probably insulted the inhabitants of several states!

Mountains, rivers, pretty towns and villages this area has it all.

We crossed the Northern part of Vermont and onwards to New Hampshire where we wanted to return to the Lincoln/Woodstock area where we met up with Barbara’s brother and sister in law several years ago.

https://banbrv.blogspot.com/2016/10/waiting-for-visitors.html