Hangry Prevention

With Thanksgiving quickly approaching we started thinking of visiting family in South Carolina. (2400 miles round trip) What if we took the camper on her maiden voyage? Maybe the grandkids could come with us. Why not?

The RV was already winterized, but if we could just use the bathroom for emergencies we could eat at restaurants and with family during the whole trip. We have a friend near the halfway point who agreed to let us park in his driveway for the night and a couple of relatives that agreed to let us stay in their driveway while in S.C. Gas would be around $600. Food $200 and $200 for misc. Brought the trip expenses to about $1000 or roughly .50/mile.

On November 19,2016 we loaded up our things into rv. I did a last walk around before we headed over to pick up my son and 3 grandchildren. We loaded their things up plus some tools and pulled out around 6:30 A.M. Leaving from NH this was our intended route. Rt 95 south to 495 south to 90 west out to 84 to Scranton, Pa. then 81 to Hagerstown for our first overnight. 550 miles. Google maps said it was a little over 8 hours of drive time. I use 50 miles per hour as an average to include stops for food, gas, drinks, bathrooms and traffic. I refer to this as travel time. So we should be there between 6 P.M. and 7 P.M. We stopped about every 2 hours to keep the trip comfortable. We have traveled this route many times and always stop at Charlton plaza. This stop is about the halfway point of the first leg.(300 miles) We were getting 10 miles per gallon which is the most I expected. As we traveled the kids played on their phones, and engaged in short conversations. The rv was much louder than we anticipated. Squeaks, rattles and tire noise made it difficult to talk to anyone that wasn’t right next to you. We attempted to resolve as much of the noise as possible, but one thing we could not overcome was the poorly maintained highways. Traffic was busy but there were no traffic jams and we arrived in Hagerstown, Md. at 6:30pm. To park the RV for the night we had to negotiate a narrow alley way and park diagonally in the driveway. To get completely out of the alley way we had to squeeze the back end of the camper through the gate in the fence. Our host was greeted us and then treated us to a fantastic taco bar. We prepped the rv by plugging into an outside electrical outlet, cranking down the stabilizers, and turning on the propane. Weather called for a lower of 30 degrees. After dinner, conversation, and a couple of showers, our group split up to get some sleep. A few choose to stay in the house while Diane and I choose to stay our first night in the camper. The heating system worked great and our new mattress was comfy.

Our next overnight was planned for Charlotte NC to see some of our NH transplants. Just stay on Rt 81 south to Rt 77 south. A total of 400 miles, 7 hours of drive time or 9 hours of travel time. We planned on leaving around 10 A.M. We were treated by our host to a bacon and eggs breakfast with fruit and other fixins. I am beginning to like this “camping” life! A few more showers and the good byes and we were on the road again. This leg of the journey was hilly and we averaged 8.5 to 9 miles per gallon. There was one hill that had a 6% grade for 7 miles. Thankfully we were on the down side. We arrived in Charlotte Sunday night around 7 P.M. and with the garage door open were able to get off the road. We came in a little hungry and finding food was on everyone’s mind. By the time we started looking around most restaurants and stores were either too far or closed. Our host opened up the cupboards and fridge and we made turkey sandwiches, cheese, crackers, cake, ice cream and whatever was available. We split up again for the night. This time Diane and I chose to stay in the house while others stayed in the camper. It was a little warmer that night and the camper group reported no problems in the morning. We hung around for a while in the morning and started our final leg to Beaufort SC at 10 A.M.

Staying on RT 77 south to Columbia SC, to RT 26 South to Yemassee, then Rt 17 and Rt 21 to Beaufort. Only 250 miles, 3.5 hours of drive time or 5 hours of travel time. We arrived at Diane’s sister’s house around 4 P.M. She had a nice flat driveway and the rv fit perfectly. This would be our parking space for the next few days. Temperatures at night were staying in the 40’s so sleeping in the rv was comfortable. Diane and I chose to stay in the house and everyone else slept in the camper. One thing we did when we settled here was to stock up on food just in case. We fired up the fridge, and loaded up the pantry.

Thanksgiving week we visited relatives and friends in the area. Thankfully Diane’s sister had a 7 passenger vehicle and took us everywhere we wanted or needed to go. We had a great Thanksgiving with about 30 people including PaPa who was being ravaged by lung cancer.

On Friday November 25, we began prepping the rv for the trip back. This included a dump run and propane fill. Both events went smoothly. $20 for the dump at a nearby campground and $24 for 6 gallons of propane at a local gas station.

The route home was the reverse of the one we took to get here with the exception that we would stop in Charlotte and have lunch with one of the grandchildren’s college friends and not stay the night until we reached Hagerstown. Aaron had a great time catching up at lunch and we were soon back at the camper ready to head out again. We parked in an uneven space and before we took off my son noticed that the camper was very low to the ground and that the exhaust pipe to the generator had been bent back. Our first casualty. We did not plan on using the generator so we went on our way.

It was a long day of driving and stopping. 650 miles, 9.5 hours of drive time and 13 hours of travel time. We rolled into Hagerstown at 8 P.M. Our host had once again prepared enough food for us to enjoy. With 550 miles to do the next day, we had a quick turn around here. A few showers and off to bed. Early rise the next morning and on the road by 6:30 A.M. This made people grumpy and decision making, like where to get breakfast a challenge. As people got hungrier, they got more grumpy. We finally gave up and stopped at a Perkins restaurant. They have a great selection and soon after the meal was over, the original people that started the trip returned.

We continued on, but Rt 81 in Pennsylvania would soon become a parking lot. Additional traffic from people returning from thanksgiving, a tractor trailer fire, and two more unknown standstills made for slow going. We rolled into Charlton rest stop and got something to eat. I was checking the score of the Patriots game and they were losing by one point with 3 minutes left in the game. We were close to the station so were put up the tv antenna and were able to get a crystal clear reception of the game. The Pats scored in the last minute with a touchdown and ended up winning the game 22-17. It was great fun!