Trip from Albuquerque to Upstate NY 2022

[Tom&Shelly]

We are now at our "Summer home" (aka "Mom's") in Upstate NY. We decided our cat travels so well that we'd take a few extra days on the trip to show her the country.

We had a rough start, which was due in large part to poor pre-trip planning on our part. Last year, we simply stopped at camp sites at the end of the day when tired; this year we decided to make a few days' reservations ahead of time. Which meant we wanted to spend the first (and second) night at Red Rock Canyon State Park in Oklahoma. That's about 7.5 hours driving time from our home in New Mexico. (Also, we lose about an hour of sunlight due to the drive East, with corresponding time change.)

We got up early, ate a big breakfast, and were packed, hitched, and ready by 8:45. A last minute check of tire pressure revealed three slightly low tires in the Taco, and one over-inflated by about 6 PSI. We decided our mechanic had over-inflated that one tire a few weeks before, after we got a flat hauling brush to the dump. (Why hadn't we checked that before!) Our solution was to go to the gas station, air the others up, and de-air that one. Bad mistake! The lousy air hose connection made us loose air in the first tire we tried inflating. Got to the point where we had a warning light.

We could have (should have) broken out our own compressor, but it was packed, so we decided to go back to our mechanic. He got us right in. (We have "preferred sucker status", since we also own a Jeep.) He checked the low tire to make sure the valve stem wasn't broken, and made the air right on all tires. So we left a little after 10 am.

We hit the rain somewhere in Texas. We had been in drought (actually fairly close to the biggest wildfire in the country) and hadn't really thought too much about our cheapy, year old, windshield wipers. The one on the passenger side fell apart around 3 pm (central, in case you're keeping track). In Shamrock Texas, there are no auto-parts stores, but the grocery store just north of I-40 sells windshield wipers. (You probably ought to note that somewhere, in case you're in the same position, at the same place, we were!)

Anyway, around 5 pm, in Western Oklahoma, the rain became so hard we pulled off the highway for about 40 minutes. We continued to the camp site and arrived just before dark, in a moderate rain. Pulled into the same electric site we had last year. Decided our late lunch at a McD's was substantial enough we could skip setting up and cooking dinner in the rain, so we climbed in, watched a DVD, and went to bed.

At some point, I began to notice the sheets were damp, with water climbing up from the bottom. A quick check revealed it wasn't the cat (or me). We'd driven all over the East last year and the teardrop stayed nice and dry, but somehow, in the driving rain that day, the bottom of the cabin and utility room both became wet.

The next morning,



after a big breakfast of reconstituted eggs and bacon, while I relaxed and started Tony's new book, Shelly ripped off the bedding and used her hair dryer on our mattress



It's a good thing we were at an electric site, so she could use the hair dryer! The mold is alarming. Maybe we did have some water get in last year. How is still a mystery, although we suspect the store-bought doors. We may take the time to test it some, with Mom's garden hose. Not sure what we can do, but understanding the problem is the first step.

The day started to clear, and by early afternoon was sunny. We originally thought about going to the nearby Stafford Museum, or a local museum just outside the park entrance, but decided we needed to hike the nature trail and exercise our paws




(How much exercise do paws get in a backpack?) We still have the museums for future trips, but I consider the 0.6 mile nature walk enough to color in Oklahoma.

The weather continued nice so I cooked us dinner in a dutch oven, which also gave us leftovers for later in the trip. That evening a ranger came by and told us we hadn't actually reserved an electric site, but rather one of the "tent" sites. He was cool with it, and I'm glad we made the mistake--I don't know how Shelly would have used her hair dryer without electricity!

We had been careful to make the minor modifications to the tear from our list from last year's camping, checked it over well, cleaned and checked fluids in the truck, and packed it with Shelly's resin printer and other tools she needs for her doll house business, and packed everything else we think we'll need for 5 months living in the East. Somehow we missed checking tire pressure in the truck (I'd checked them in the tear) and replacing the windshield wipers.

Actually, just to make the list complete, I'd missed checking the batteries in the tear as well. On this trip the coin cells in a little electric kitchen timer went out as did the coin cell in our galley thermometer.

On the other hand, I've NEVER had a problem with my glasses after 20 years of camping (tent and tear) but always brought a spare pair along. That first day was the day--a lens popped out and resisted replacement. We'll break out the 5 minute epoxy this afternoon.

Think that first day of our trip was the most challenging so far in our teardrop travels. But we recovered okay.

As we left Red Rock Canyon, we pulled out of the canyon and were once again in the landscape of the Great Plains. We're not aware of anything else quite as beautiful as that campsite in that part of the country, so I expect we will go back, despite the slightly long drive (for a first day of a multi-month trip).

Tom

[tony.latham]

the bottom of the cabin and utility room both became wet.

On our April trip, we had heavy rain that snuck in through the windows. I bought a roll of 2" electrical tape to seal them for future wet weather.

Tony

[Tom&Shelly]

the bottom of the cabin and utility room both became wet.

On our April trip, we had heavy rain that snuck in through the windows. I bought a roll of 2" electrical tape to seal them for future wet weather.

Tony

That's a good idea Tony. We can try sealing things that way and see what happens.

I know we had some water penetration through the locks in our cabin doors and also through our utility doors back when we first did the hose test, but we didn't seem to have problems in a real hard thunderstorm in Raton last year or a heavy storm (maybe the heaviest I've ever been in) while driving home through Arkansas last Fall. I'm wondering if something changed, or if the direction of the wind just happened to be wrong this time.

Tom

[Tom&Shelly]

Our second stop was in Missouri, in the Ozark National Forest. Always wanted to see that part of the country; now at least I can say we saw it for one day! (More would be better!)



Good weather, and we spent our first night at a Ranger lecture on a salamander that lives in the local river and likes clean water. But what I remember are the warnings about water moccasins (or were they cotton mouths?) and ticks Yuck! I prefer bears and rattlers! The rangers always have to warn us about the local dangers. I remember a ranger warning the audience about mountain lions at Rocky, which scared a 3 year old half to death. I mentioned this to the ranger the next morning and she said there were actually only three mountain lions in the whole park and she went jogging alone at sunrise despite the warnings she gave to the contrary in the lecture. But it's CYA. If anyone gets eaten by a mountain lion, or bit by a snake, the Park Service is absolved. Anyway, I don't think we got any ticks and didn't manage to see any interesting snakes.

We spent the morning of our full day shopping for groceries and checking out the little town of van Buren. Found a farmer's market and bought some homemade banana bread and fruit. Had lunch at Big Spring




Can't remember if it was here we used our AC and tried the new mount, but we discovered it leaks a little, though not as badly as the original mount I'd made. So, back to the drying board on that design. As we did last year, we'll stuff a few rags in the utility compartment and keep the rest of our stuff dry.

Anyway, probably worth while going on a float, or canoe, trip in the Ozarks someday.

Tom

[tony.latham]

if something changed...

There's been a rumor floating around the teardrop world that the cabin becomes a low-pressure zone while on the highway. I'm doubtful but I bought a barometric pressure key logger and one of these days, I'm going to give it a test and see if it's true.

Tony

[Tom&Shelly]

if something changed...

There's been a rumor floating around the teardrop world that the cabin becomes a low-pressure zone while on the highway. I'm doubtful but I bought a barometric pressure key logger and one of these days, I'm going to give it a test and see if it's true.

Tony

I lost my grip on the cabin door in a strong wind last March, and it banged against the door guard. I'm wondering if it bent the door enough to compromise the seal.

If we want to test it here, we'll buy some ratchet straps from Harbor Fright and take out the mattress, then hose down the door. (Shelly thinks the mattress may be pushing on the doors and wants to try cutting them back. Guess that's possible too.)

With gas prices what they are, if we're at Mom's testing, we're not burning (much) gas, so I guess that's good. If the price goes up much more, we might be stranded here!

Tom

[rjgimp]

...we discovered it leaks a little, though not as badly as the original mount I'd made. So, back to the drying board...

"drying" board...?

Our second stop was in Missouri, in the Ozark National Forest. Always wanted to see that part of the country; now at least I can say we saw it for one day! (More would be better!)

Beautiful area. We're spending a week or so there in late summer with an RV group on mewe.com I'm involved with. Looking forward to it!

[rjgimp]

I bought a barometric pressure key logger and one of these days, I'm going to give it a test and see if it's true.

Tony

Oooooohhh.... The geek in me is awaiting your data with great eagerness!

[Tom&Shelly]

...we discovered it leaks a little, though not as badly as the original mount I'd made. So, back to the drying board...

"drying" board...?

Oops!

Now that was a Freudian slip on a wet surface!

Tom

[Tom&Shelly]

From the Ozarks, it was a relatively short drive (5.5 hours) to Mammoth Cave Kentucky. Our route took us right the southern tip of Illinois, a state we occupied for less than a minute from the bridge across the Mississippi to the bridge across the Ohio. We spent one night at the campsite at Mammoth Cave



then packed up early the next morning and took the Historical Cave tour. We'd made reservations in advance, which drove our timeline up to that point.

We actually stayed at the campsite last Fall, but it just happened to be a convenient location on our way back to New Mexico, we didn't plan a cave tour, so we made up for it this trip.

Since the drive was so short, Shelly planned on a relaxing evening at the campsite. Our cat spoiled that by spilling her water on the bedding. (I told Shelly to make the cat drink in the truck, but no...well, anyway, point made.) It was a little late to dry the bedding in the Sun, and we didn't have shore power for the hair dryer trick,but I noticed the camp laundry was only a hundred feet away.

So instead of a relaxing evening at the campsite, we had a relaxing evening at the laundromat. We also managed to get the stains out of the sheets from the water damage in Oklahoma. That night, we ate the tuna salad Shelly had made the night before our trip started, that we'd planned to eat in Oklahoma. So it all worked out.

I didn't bother to take pictures in the cave. We weren't allowed to use flash and I didn't bring a tripod. But there must be pictures online.

incidentally, I wore a torn pair of hiking shoes, then discarded them after the tour, to prevent spreading white nose syndrome to friends, family, or bats in other caves we may visit in the future. Already replaced them with a brand new pair when we went shopping yesterday afternoon.

Tom

[Tom&Shelly]

The afternoon after our cave tour, we drove the 2.5 hours to Boonsborough State Park Ky.



I'd personally defended the settlers at Boonsborough for several seasons as a child, and so was eager to see the fort. Unfortunately, perhaps to confuse the Shawnee, it wasn't obvious until we got to the front gate that the fort is only open from Wednesdays to Sundays. We salvaged Tuesday by driving an hour to Maysville KY and visiting a doll house museum Shelly wanted to see (part of her job). We were planning that for a trip later this Summer, but opportunity knocked. We also bought some great tasting tomatoes from a Mennonite (or maybe Amish) farm on the way back.

Wednesday morning, we did tour the fort



I don't remember the paved walk ways, but it seems fairly authentic. As we walked along, I started humming a familiar tune: "Born on a mountaintop in Tennessee, greenest state in the land of the free..." Oh! That was Davy Crockett, almost a different character entirely.

Anyway, that afternoon we drove to the great dollhouse museum in nearby Danville. That museum too is only open Wednesdays through Sundays



It did rain a bit while at Boonsborough, and I noticed the water in the toilets, right after each shower, was just slightly muddy, so we used the water we'd brought from the Ozarks and didn't refill our jugs until our next stop. Of course, Danial led the settlers to a spot along the river largely because they could dig shallow wells there. In fact, the recreated Boonsborough (built in 1974, actually a decade after the TV show) was built up a hill to mitigate flooding problems. The campground itself is much closer to the original site, and I suspect sits on a flood plane.

With two doll house museums, Mammoth Cave, and Boonsborough, I feel very comfortable coloring in Kentucky on our map of places visited in our teardrop.

Tom

[Tom&Shelly]

Our last stop was two nights at Swallow Falls State Park in Western Maryland.

I originally had my eye on Ohiopyle state park in Pennsylvania, and to spend our "off day" visiting Fort Necessity and the Frank Lloyd Wright house at Falling Water. But the former is basically just a round stockade (judging from the web site) and Falling Water is private and tours are expensive.

So we looked at other state parks about halfway to Mom's. The ones in Northeast West Virginia were full (it was approaching the weekend), so we looked at Swallow Falls, which we had not heard of. Frankly, my thought was to simply walk on a nature trail there and color in the state. I've been to business conferences in Baltimore, and someday we'll probably travel around the Chesapeake Bay region, but who even thinks about Maryland when considering the mountains to the West? Sure am glad we stopped there!

These are from their trail






Evidently we're not the only ones to discover this treasure



The campsites are nice also (non-electric in our case)



They warned us about a bear sighting. We were skeptical but took precautions. After all, after camping in the Adirondacks, Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming, it would be embarassing to be eaten by a bear in Maryland!

In fact, we were eaten by no-see-ums. It was considerably colder than the nights in Oklahoma, Missouri, or Kentucky, so we broke out our wool blanket and slept well. The second night there was a light rain which changed our mind about cooking breakfast. I'd like to say we found a nice diner, but, um,...well, at least they now know how to make decent coffee at the golden arches.

Tom

[rjgimp]

...visiting a doll house museum Shelly wanted to see (part of her job).

Tom

So..... the whole trip can be deducted, right?

[Tom&Shelly]

...visiting a doll house museum Shelly wanted to see (part of her job).

Tom

So..... the whole trip can be deducted, right?

Everything is legal until we're audited.

Seems to me like the trip should be deductible, but Shelly says it has to fit one of the IRS' categories. I suggested "boondoggle" because that one always worked for me in the Air Force.

Tom

[Capebuild]

Nice. Safe travels. Getting close to the upstate vineyards, right around the corner over the next ridge.