New Jersey/Philadelphia and on to Galax

We left Bellingham, MA at 7:00 am - that's right, 7:00 am - in a steady rain. We traveled North on 495, then West on I90 until we hit I84 and finally I684 as we approached New York. The rain was relentless. Our GPS told us to take the the Hutchinson River Parkway, then the Cross County Parkway, the Sawmill Parkway and the Mosholu Parkway to I87 and finally across the George Washington Bridge and on to I95.

Unfortunately, it didn't tell us that all the parkways into New York City are for "passenger cars only"! So here we are, in the rain, continuing on I684 feeling more and more anxious. Luckily, I had driven this before and knew that we could continue on I87/I287 and cross the Tappen Zee bridge then connect with the Garden City Parkway (motorhomes OK!) and head South to I95 then to I295 and reach our destination in Clarksboro, NJ.

With the rain still pelting down and the windshield wipers leaving gobs of rubber at each end of their sweep, we headed down the Garden City Parkway, and wouldn't you know it, had our right mirror clipped at one of the overly narrow toll booths. the damage was mostly cosmetic - two gashes in the chrome - but probably can't be repaired and will mean the replacement of the mirror assembly. Moving on down I95 to I295, we hit some stop-and-go traffic but finally arrived at Timberlane Campground in Clarksboro with over 350 miles under our belt.

This particular site was selected since it is the closest campground to Philadelphia, and we wanted to visit the historic sites in the city. We were assigned a nice campsite and got settled in with too much trouble. Everything worked fine and we happily headed off - in the rain - to a local Italian restaurant for drinks and dinner. The food was good and we headed back to the coach - in the rain.

It rained all night and when I awoke, I found that the carpet under the driver's side slide was wet from side-to-side. I am not sure whether it got wet from the heavy rain, from the fact that I put the slide in at the campground the morning before with lots of water on the slide topper, or whether there was a leak from the wheel well that allowed water to infiltrate during our long drive. Whatever, another item on the growing list of things to be corrected at Red Bay in October!

To our relief, the rain stopped for most of Wednesday and we were able to head into Philadelphia - a mere 12 miles - and visit Independence Square, a very impressive center where the Liberty Bell and drafts of our national historic documents - Declaration of Independence and Constitution, are housed. The Square is also home to the Independence Hall and the other buildings where all the documents were drafted, debated and signed, and where the first three presidents presided over the new nation. I had never seen these things before and was quite moved by the experience. With great difficulty, thanks to the traffic, I was able to get a picture of the statue of George Washington in front of Independence Hall, which is undergoing extensive renovation.

Suz and I then had lunch at a little Philly deli - very good I might add - and then headed back to the coach before the rian began again. Later in the day, we found a nice spot to relax for happy hour and then settled in for the night. About 2:00 am, a major thunderstorm hit the campground and of course Dixie went nuts - no more sleep. The rain continued until morning, then proceeded off and on for most of the day. Glad we toured Philadelphia on Wednesday!

Given the iffy weather, we decided to forego our trip to Charleston, SC and head straight to our lot in Galax, VA. The pad is finished, as is the small cabin and I can spend the next couple of weeks getting started on the landscaping. It will be nice to get back to doing some work around the yard! Our trip to Galax will take two days and cover about 485 miles. We plan to stop in Lexington, VA tomorrow night, then be in Galax on Saturday morning. Looking forward to it. Until the next posting, Cheers!

John, Suz and Dixie the Wonderdog