August 23rd, 2016 – NY State Fair Trip – Maiden Voyage
We hit the scales for a quick how much do we weigh. The envelope please, 12,000 flat. Not bad given we have a 
maximum of 14,300. So off we head on our maiden trip with plans to hit the NY State Fair. The hookup, by the way, went very smooth. The day before we try to load some fresh water and find it leaking out of what I thought was the overflow. Turns out to be the drain, close the drain Dale and it begins to fill. The ride to Ohio our first stop went fine. The biggest first issue became fuel fill-ups. Little did we know you had to pre-pay at the Big Boy Pumps (truck). By the way, they turn out to be the easiest to pull into and out. We get used to the fuel thing and make our first stop for a little lunch. We find out that we had not totally thought that through, managed to work it out the off we go.
First stop Olive Branch RV Park– Oregonian, OH. We were in site
#44. Very easy setup, I don’t
unhook. Again, I thought I had it all figured out. We wanted to have some burgers on our new grill. I find that I have to unload about ½ of the stuff I loaded to get to the grill. Will work on the organization as we go. This is a nice place, quite with a ton of monthly RV’ers. The bathhouse was very clean and close. There is plenty of areas to walk Zoey. We will come back to this location again.
Must Fix List
- Basement organization
- The fan in the bedroom – we need some air circulation
- Carpet at the base of the steps – to catch the dirt coming in.
August 24th, 2016
Off we head to Stow, NY and Camp Chautauqua. Good start to the day, no major issues and we hit the interstate. Fuel continues to be an issue, access, fit, location of pumps just a big hassle. The big surprise of the day is the natural attraction the rig has to “Road Gators”. Boom we hit a gator, could not avoid it, more on this later.
We finally get to Camp Chautauqua on the west side of the lake. To our surprise, the gate is closed leaving us to 
use the intercom they have set up. Ginny attempts to use the system only to be met by heavy static and vague directions. We find out we are in the wrong lane to enter. I need to back the rig up, a first out in the real world. We head through the first of many narrow openings. We get to the office down a rather steep hill and check-in. We are informed that we need to get to the other side of the property. The trip over was through a very narrow road with trees passing within inches of each side of the RV. Ginny and I are now holding our breath praying we don’t take out the sides of the rig. They direct us to our space and bid us goodbye. Settled in for the night it begins to rain hard. Zoey, of course, is a mess and covered in mud…. Gin cleans her up and the rig and we head to bed for very little sleep. Wake up a very nice breakfast in the rig, clean & pack up for Verona.
August 25th, 2016
Oh, I forgot to finish my story about the “Road Gators”. Nice big dent in our brand-new rig on the driver side lower panel where it hit – ouch! I’m thinking probably one of many to come.
Off to Verona, but first, we decide to pick up an “Easy Pass” that turns out not to be so easy. An hour later at the DMV in Chautauqua Institute Ginny is informed that it has to be special ordered, nice let’s go…. We get to I-90 and start heading east. Boom, the truck in front of us loses a tire and Gators scatter all over the road. I can’t avoid them, we hold our breath and hit a few. Time to fuel up, we stop on the Thruway and Ginny heads back for some cold drinks from the RV refrigerator. She comes back and says, “The Frig has no lights on, is that right”. Instant panic, we find out the inverter is off, and I can’t seem to figure out how to get it to turn on. The Frig has no power and a ton of food and drinks in it. I finally work it out, get it back online. We have an RV angel on our shoulder today. Up the road we go and pull into Turning Stone, Verona NY around 3 pm.
What a great facility. We have a pull through with plenty of green space, great walking roads, level sites, and a
very clean bathhouse. We set up quickly and begin to enjoy our space.
August 27th, 2016
Off to Chittenango, NY to visit Ginny’s hometown. We have a rather poor breakfast at the North Pole a former hang out. Now off to Gin’s home where I met her family and took a screen out during a late-night dip in the pool. Much to our surprise it had a warning sign up, not sure what that was all about, but it did not look good. Let’s get to the Fair and take a walk down memory lane. We enjoyed the day and the Fair Food we have come to love. Bakers Chicken, Basilio’s Sausage, homemade cookies, the works. We tour the grounds and are sure we hit all the hot spots including the Dairy Barn for or course the Butter Sculpture. We decided that we might need to come a little later in the week the next time to see some of the hitch competitions that we had loved to watch in the past. Now back to Verona for a good Rig cooked meal, Lamb.