And away we go!

“You don't have to get it perfect; you just have to get it going,” would best describe our first week.  There were a couple of hiccups in our launching, but all in all, as I sit in a camping chair drinking Seltzer, here in a KOA in Streetsboro, OH, outside the camper, as the sun fades to the west, there is no doubt we have arrived.  As serene as the current setting affords, it didn’t start out that way. 

Hell no, we almost failed to launch.  And I mean that quite sincerely. 

We spent the better part of two weeks prior to July 4^th packing, organizing, and loading the caravan.  By the way, packing the RV also meant turning on the refrigerator / freezer, getting it sufficiently cold enough so that we could load meats, chicken, vegetables, fruit, a full selection of refrigerated items as well as Judy’s favorite ice cream sandwiches from Friendly’s.  Every last detail was planned and by Thursday night we had pulled in all the slide extensions, charged up all the batteries, and settled in for one last night before we set off on our inaugural trip.  Next morning, I jumped into the fully fueled “Beast” in preparation for backing into the 5^th wheel hitch.  Yeah.., what greets my eyes on the heads up display from the truck computer is the g-d damn “Check Engine Light”.  The truck diagnostic system is flashing a warning about a problem with the diesel exhaust fluid.  Which I know cannot be true, because I had just added more fluid 3 days prior.  To be blunt, we were going nowhere, because the truck needed to go to the repair shop.  And that’s exactly what we did.

We are very lucky to have a good friend at an excellent repair shop in Norwood, MA and we texted Brandon with our issue, and were instructed to limp the truck into the shop, as soon as possible.

The “Beast” was the first vehicle on the lift when the shop opened at 8:00 am, and within the first 30 minutes, the issue had been diagnosed and the parts were on order.  It was just a bad sensor.  Judy and I went to breakfast.  If we could not depart for Syracuse, NY by 12:00 noon, departure would need to be delayed, and plan B involved getting up really early and departing a day later.  Fortunately, we had some good karma, as Brandon called us at 10:30.  The “Beast” would be ready to go.  After a significant amount of final “running around” we were on the road by 12:30.  We launched 4 hours late, but we launched.

Our first stop was in a driveway in Fayetteville, NY.  We basically boondocked in a big driveway, long enough to support our 52 foot long caravan, but a driveway nonetheless.  We had such a great time visiting with my first cousin Beth, her husband Rick, and the boys Eric & Jack.  We packed so much activity into just 2 days.  Steven played 9 holes of golf with the boys, as Judy and Beth wandered around the center of town. We visited the following museums and areas of interest while in the Fayetteville / Syracuse region.

• The Stickley Brothers Furniture Museum, which is in the second floor of the Fayetteville, NY town library.  If you are not aware of Stickley furniture, then you should do some research.  These guys John George L. & JG Stickley furniture have been around since 1904, and a Stickley Brothers Mission dining room suite won grand prize at the 1904 St Louis World’s Fair.  Their furniture is still being manufactured and sold today.

·       All Things OZ: The Frank Baum & All Things OZ historical museum.  This is the group that puts on Oz-Stravaganza usually in late May each year, in Chittenango, NY.  Chittenango is the birthplace of author L. Frank Baum, whose works include "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz."

• Matilda Joslyn Gage House in Fayetteville, NY.  Matilda Josyln Gage was a fascinating woman, and a progressive visionary of women’s rights and human liberation and the movements of which she was a part.  She was part of an abolition movement that publicly defied 19th century laws that forced complicity with slavery and a suffrage movement that demanded women have the right to vote.  She also happened to be the mother-in-law of L. Frank Baum, and it is known that she suggested that L. Frank Baum write down and publish his stories about OZ. (I believe there were 12 original books written about OZ, and the movie the Wizard of OZ in just an adaptation of a single book.

We had cookouts for dinner and ate at the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que in downtown Syracuse, and they had some of the best smoked meets including St. Louis ribs, & brisket I’ve ever had.  Monday morning had us packing up the camper for our next move to Erie, PA.  Yeah.., not so fantastic!  Somehow I missed the weather forecast for Monday morning and although we were able to get up and walk in the morning without any rain, by the time I got around to closing up the coach and attaching to the truck, it was pouring rain, with thunder and lightning.  A great learning experience as the conditions for closing the camper made the whole process much more difficult.  We were absolutely drenched by the time we got into the “Beast” and headed out.  Lesson learned!  Pay attention to weather on travel days, and pull in some of the extensions, and hook up the truck if the weather looks bad.

Off we went to Erie, PA for 4 days on Lake Erie.  Presque Isle State Park was the featured attraction. A naturally occurring peninsula on Lake Erie, and our first day found us on a tour boat called Lady Kate leaving from Misery Bay, out through the channel, and around the peninsula into Lake Erie proper.  It was a lovely sunny day and the 2 hour boat ride was exquisite.  Gave us a real sense of the Lake as well as the history of the area.  If you are not familiar with the war of 1812, well much of it took place in the Great Lakes and the surrounding cities between Buffalo, NY and Detroit.  The most famous battle took place at the battle of Lake Erie, between a very young navel Captain Oliver Hazard Perry, who’s famous for saying, “Do not give up the ship” & “We have met the enemy and they are ours”.   Just a fascinating battle, and a real history lesson. 

Next day, we were off to the Erie Maritime Museum.  A great little museum, that also highlights the war of 1812.  However, the focus of this museum was the two masted square rigged Brig war ship called the Niagara.  Oliver Hazard Perry’s original flag ship was the Lawrence, which was so heavily damaged that Perry transferred his command to the Niagara and promptly broke through the enemy lines firing cannons on both sides of the ship, to end the battle in an hour.  Just fascinating history.  We toured an exact “sea-worthy” replica of the ship including an inside visit which was very claustrophobic.  If you were shorter than 4’11 you could stand up on the lower deck, anything taller and you had to stoop or crouch.  Honestly, not like I’m that old, but staying hunched over like that for 20 minutes or so was really quite tough on the back.  Was a great tour, and the ship is still active as a training vessel by the US Navy.

After a short but memorable visit to Erie, PA, we packed up to leave and travel to Streetsboro, OH, in the heart Cuyahoga Valley, 20 miles south of Cleveland, OH.  But you’ll have to wait to read our next post as we tell… the Rest of the Story.