Monday, September 26, 2011

Last day in Connecticut and travel day to PA…

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With the cutoff low hanging over the Northeast the weather has been anything but predictable. Every day the weatherman says we have 60 percent or more chance or rain and everyday he seems to be wrong. Just in case we don’t stray far and yesterday was no different.

2011-09-26 Last in Connecticut 011We took a drive to go see a little beach near Groton, CT and along the way we stumbled upon an old fort named Fort Griswold.. don’t go there as it wasn’t the Griswald! The fort is just across the bay from New London CT and when you walk around the site you get a feel for what is was like back then protecting the harbor from the British. Neat place, worth the stop, and we were the only ones there to enjoy it… so sad!

After enjoying the fort we went into New London and were both unimpressed with the town enough that we didn’t stop and headed back to the campground to start preparing for our long journey to Pennsylvania.

2011-09-26 Last in Connecticut 012We are now sitting in nice state park in Pennsylvania named French Creek State Park. We are just under 300 miles from where we were this morning… why did we drive so far? There really aren’t many interesting spots to spend the night at along the way. It is a bit tricky getting around New York City without getting eaten alive by the traffic. We were given lots of advice, much of it conflicting, some of it was really good.

We drove down I95 through the towns of New Haven, Bridgeport, and Stamford CT. Next it was across the Tappan Zee Bridge which is known for its steep toll but that is only if traveling east on it as we were charged nothing while traveling west on it. Then through White Plains in New York via 287 which turned out to be an $8.50 toll road for 4.5 miles… we had no warning of this one.

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2011-09-26 Last in Connecticut 015We drove through New Jersey on I287 to avoid Newark till we hit I 78 and headed west. There is a toll (a steep one I am told if you are towing) when you cross the bridge into PA. We were told to stop at mile marker 7 and fill up with diesel in NJ since it was a lot cheaper and to disconnect the toad to save big bucks crossing the border into PA.  Diesel was only about 15 cents cheaper but gas was 3.33 which was 45 cents cheaper than CT.

We drove the next 7  miles separately and then just as we crossed the border we paid a toll ($6.50 for the motorhome and $1.00 for the car) and then we stopped at the rest stop just past the toll booth. Then Alice (our GPS) told us to get off I78 and head south to the state park… WOW!!! were we on some bad roads that RV’s our size shouldn’t have been on… We did make it nonetheless and after several glasses of wine and a nice dinner we are settled in nicely here… All in a days work I suppose.

5 comments:

  1. The East coast is a total unknown to me. We were there many years ago, but didn't drive around very much.

    Someday I'd like to spend some time RVing there and seeing some of the History.

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  2. They need a GPS program for "Larger Vehicles" we have had that same experience.

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  3. We have the Garmin nuvi465T model for truckers. The fire department gave it to Al as a retirement gift. It works great and we have not gotten in trouble with the trailer...yet!
    https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=31541&ra=true

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  4. Have a friend who just got the Rand McNally for RVers. She likes it better than the Garmin for truckers. I can't vouch for either. I have just a straight Garmin with lots of bells and whistles but she can't find the store I'm sitting right in front of if I give her the address. She spends her time mostly in a box in the basement now.

    Thanks so much for the tips on how to get through NYC or around it and about the tolls.

    Sherry
    www.directionofourdreams.blogspot.com

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  5. We are looking for a new GPS. We are so confused...so many out there that say they are the best! Who actually knows?

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