We Actually Get a Day to Take the Roadtrek On At Least a One Day Trip

So - where I most have wanted to go - even for just a day and back is to a particular place we go to in Pennsylvania. The problem is that it is only open on one day a week and that day is Friday. Well recently there was an occasion that we were going to celebrate but it was not on a Friday and we had plans to just take the RT and go - to - PA but just go around some of our other haunts there - most of which are also outdoors. That was a Thursday and while the weather had said all would be good, the night before that report changed for the worse. Why does the weather mean so much? Well, if I am going to use the gas, spend the tolls - which just to get out of NY just went up again -and not be able to do what we want to do when we get there - it is just not worth making the trip. I was talking with a relative that lives in NY but works in PA and he confirmed that every Friday since January has rained in PA - which he was glad of as he comes home on Thursdays and goes back to work in PA on Mondays.  I looked ahead for a different day- and Friday, which is no surprise it was going to rain - and we had tickets to attend a function locally.  Saturday seemed good. Last minute check  and it still looked good. And that Saturday - we got in the Roadtrek and headed off.

As usual traffic getting off this island and then off the next island was its usual bumper to bumper (one car on the side of the road - not even in the road - can bring all lanes to a standstill, but as we entered New Jersey - despite its bumpy and rough interstate highways (bang, bang, bang inside the RT) the traffic was gone and it was full speed ahead. Once we got away from NY, the fog had lifted - in more ways than just the actual fog we had driven through along the ocean.

We had nothing special planned when we got there - though there is an Amish bakery that makes an exceptionally good chocolate shoofly pie and I had contacted them a few days before asking if we called as we were on our way to Pennsylvania would they have a couple of these pies baked and ready for us when we got there.  That was the first stop!  Meryl called once we got over the second bridge which I figured if we got that far we were clear to actually get to PA.  The young lady that answered the phone (even Amish businesses have telephones) said the pies would be wating for us when we arrived - which we estimated and the GPS estimated would be just after one o'clock.

Ah! The GPS. The Copilot RV GPS app was discontinued a few months ago. I got an email notice telling me that it was going to be replaced by the regular Copilot GPS app - which in the past did have an RV setting but did not route as extensively for RVs, plus cost only ten dollars - and not the $60 that the Copilot RV GPS app cost complete with all of its problems. So I downloaded the new app - no charge - and I have a feeling that there is no charge for this app any longer - though the traffic function in the app is and has always been by subscription at $10 for a year. The new app has a new look and far more confusing and not user friendly as the old app was. What it does have is the full RV profile setting that the Copilot RV GPS had. This will keep you off roads your RV is not supposed to drive on by height, restrictions, etc. That is does fairly well.  So now with one day trip in the car and this day trip in the Roadtrek and it did OK.  I am not going to say that I recommend it yet. If it actually is free you might want to try it. I have to get on the Google Play site not logged in to find out what is going on with the money for this app now.

What the GPS does do pretty well - as does the TomTom in the Eclipse II that is still in our RT dash - is estimate time of arrival very lose to the actual time arriving. They adjust every so often for sitting in traffic or a change in route of my choosing.  And the Copilot was routed directly to the bakery while the TomTom was routed further on - and the Copilot started showing us getting there earlier than we had seen when the call was made.  We did arrive early enough that it was too soon to get to the bakery - but there is another haunt nearby - and we stopped there.

(Now if this is the most boring trip - or article you have ever read - you are probably right. This was in no way an exciting trip. We were not out for excitement. I just wanted to be out and away and somewhere I enjoy - as simple a place as it is - that would just show me that any confidence I have been doubting in the Roadtrek or our just traveling in the Roadtrek was unfounded - and as boring as this trip may seem to most - it was just what I needed. And I am writing about it because I have heard from a number of readers asking if we are "OK".)

The weather was sunny and the temperature was in the upper 60's.  It was going to be the same at home - but at home we would be wondering what are we going to do today. Here - when our last trip to this area was at the end of September - also for a single day there and back - it was like coming back to our home away from home where there always seems to be a pleasant diversion.

We got to the bakery and there was a Mennonite young woman in the shop (who had been on the phone - Mennonites have phones in their homes). As soon as I said who we were she said she had the pies all ready for us. As she was putting the pies in boxes I commented on how long it has been since we have been able to get down there - especially on a Friday  to where this shop has a stand to sell their pastries and pies. She also confirmed that yes, it has rained, snowed or been frozen over on Fridays since the beginning of January. The pies in hand we set out - for lunch. (The pies were for home.)

Lunch was good as always in a little local spot we know. We spent the rest of the day at an outdoor popular tourist spot that was jammed (I rarely come to this area in PA on Saturdays to avoid the tourists) and  I lost track of time - which is a good thing - as when I looked at the time - expecting to keep going from there out to other regular stops of ours, it was 5:00 pm and things were starting to close down.  We decided to drive past the campground we stay at in this area - not to stay - but to see if there have been any changes. We heard that the company that owns the campground and the attraction next door had bought a hotel that had gone up for sale a year ago that was on the other side of the campground. And yes, there was construction being done on that hotel to turn it into something of a Nickelodeon themed hotel.  It is too soon to see how this is going to impact the campground.

Gas prices in Pennsylvania and in New Jersey have always been less than gas prices in New York but both states have put additional taxes on the gasoline and prices were higher than at home which has been around $2.65 a gallon.  On the Turnpike in New Jersey gas was $2.80 a gallon. On the roads in Pennsylvania gas was between $2.81 to above $2.85.  I could not put buying gas off any longer as the Roadtrek was below half a tank - which is not a big deal BUT seeing the total on the pump when buying gas for more than half a tank can result in severe shock.  $50 and the tank was once again full.  The price per gallon was $2.83. We saw the two lower prices later.  We usually fill the Roadtrek up at the last rest area in New Jersey, but with the prices what they are, I said as we were leaving this gas station that we would go directly to a local gas station at home before we went home that night and have a full tank for our next trip.

We headed out to dinner at a local restaurant that is out of the tourist area and is primarily locals, Mennonites, and Amish eating.  It is a favorite of ours - made up for take out dinner at home that we had for the occasion celebration at home - and really enjoyed it (as always). 

The ride home was smooth and without delays - unusual for a Saturday night.  We filled the gas tank near home - got upset with an Uber or Lyft driver who was driving haphazardly around the gas station and was backing into the front of the Roadtrek as I started the engine to pull away from the gas pump - and then we got home. Happy.

I purposely did not write names of where we went. They would all be seen a boring places to most - and some I just don't share to keep them from getting crowded. 😎

I, usually here, take everyone along for the ride - and this was another one of those articles. When something exciting happens I will write about it.

By the way Roadtrek, the company is out of business.  No joke.