I'm a bit late on this as I started out on 6/29 but here's what I've been up to
SAT. June 29
Got everything ready to go for the voyage. Loaded up the 1000 that I picked up here in Ohio for Sam (1967bolens collector) in NJ so that I could drop it off while on my way to Akron to pick up a Brinly CAT 0 plow that I had just bought on eBay, and then NC to pick up a Hard Cab for the Bolens Large Frames. This time the rain didn't wait for me to even get on the road. It started raining while I was loading up the 1000. :rolling:
Set sail for Akron, to pick up the plow, but had to make a stop to replace the wiper blades. BOTH of them started to disintegrate, and I didn't want to scratch the windshield.
Finally arrived in Akron and loaded up the plow.
[sharedmedia=core:attachments:75214][sharedmedia=core:attachments:75935][sharedmedia=core:attachments:75934]
After that we plotted a course for Carney's Point, NJ and set sail again. Stopping for the wipers and getting them installed put us behind schedule, so we stopped in a Wally World parking lot for the night.
SUN JUN 30
Our next stop was going to be at a Flying J truck stop in Carlisle, PA for fuel, but after looking at gasbuddy.com we diverted to another station in Carlisle where I pumped in 55 gal. at $2.99/gal :dancingbanana:
Since it was getting late, we decided to stop at a KOA campground in West Chester, PA. Now, it was a really nice campground, but well off the beaten track. I gotta say, PA has some great scenery, but some of their secondary roads sure are narrow! It was definitely an adventure getting from the freeway to the campground.
MON. JUL 1
Left the KOA and headed to Sam's place which was just a short hop.. Once I arrived, (while it was raining) we off loaded the 1000.
Since the battery was dead, Sam just pulled the freewheeling pin, and pushed it off the trailer. Then he fired up his HT20D and we pulled it to the garage.
After that I got the guided tour. I gotta say, Sam has a lot of neat stuff, some of which I would like to talk him out of...not that I think that would happen. One thing that did interest me was his dad's Iseki/Bolens. That was the first one that I've actually seen. It wasn't as big as I expected. Really not all that much bigger than a Large Frame with the exception of the tires/wheels which makes it 'stand' higher.
After the tour, it was time to head South to Edenton, NC. The rest of the day was spent traveling through a bit of NJ, through DE, and into VA.
Along the way we took the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. THAT was an experience! We took a vid, and I'll have to get it posted. The tunnels are a bit narrow, and I spent a lot of the time with the left wheel of the trailer running on the center line, which has a rumble strip...made a heck of a clatter We got through the first tunnel with only cars coming in the opposite direction, but in the 2nd we met an 18 wheeler about 1/2 way through. That was a bit of 'white knuckle time' as I'm sure that there was no more that 6-8" clearance on each side. Still we got through OK, and decided to stop in yet another campground in Chesapeake, VA. Note...so far, unlike my typical road trip, we have yet to stay in a Wally World
TUE. JUL 2
Headed off the Edenton, NC which was just another short hop from the campground. Got Alex's place which was a bit of an adventure in itself. Alex had told me that it wasn't going to be easy to find his place with the GPS, and truer words were never spoken. Just as we were about to turn off the paved road onto the gravel road where Alex lives, there was a car was coming out. He stopped next to us and asked if we were going to Alex's and I said yes. He was a good friend of Alex and eventually ended up guiding us to where we needed to go. If not for that, I may have still been wandering around in there! The lane into Alex's has trees planted VERY close to the drive, and there were branches (fortunately just small ones) scraping along both sides of the motorhome on the way in. It was a bit tight, but I did manage to get to where he had the 'goodies' stored. Once there, we decided to unhook the trailer and move it around with his Kubota. That made life a lot easier.
After a bit of talking, Alex, his buddy, and I proceeded to load up not 1, not 2, but 5, yes count 'em, 5 Large Frame Snowcasters. He got them in a big package deal along with a number of tractors and other goodies. Since he's where snow is very rare, and trying to sell them would be a problem, he gave me an asking price for the lot that I just couldn't refuse.
Then it was time to take the hard cab off of the 1250 that it was on. THAT was a job, and it was a danged good thing that there were three of us! I'm definitely going to need help getting that rascal mounted on the HDT1000.
With all of the loading, talking, and stops for a couple of (what else) rain showers, and a beer break, it was late afternoon and time to head North with a loaded trailer.
[sharedmedia=core:attachments:75950][sharedmedia=core:attachments:75949][sharedmedia=core:attachments:75946]
[sharedmedia=core:attachments:75941][sharedmedia=core:attachments:75940][sharedmedia=core:attachments:75939]
[sharedmedia=core:attachments:75938][sharedmedia=core:attachments:75937][sharedmedia=core:attachments:75936]
Oh, did I mention that the lane had trees on each side? I noticed this stuck in the awning this morning!
[sharedmedia=core:attachments:75948][sharedmedia=core:attachments:75947]
I had asked Alex for a recommendation for a place for seafood that would do carryout, and he suggested one. However, we missed it and after traveling a bit farther, I spotted a Wally World and decided to stop in and ask local person for a recommendation. I'm sure glad I did that.
He sent me to a little Mom & Pop place about 5 miles away. He said that they had their own boats and that all of their food was very fresh. Once I stopped in it was obvious that it was going to be good. Very little decor, just a number of tables which were almost all filled, and good smells coming from the kitchen. The wife and I both decided to get the sampler dinner which had flounder, shrimp, scallops, fried oysters, frys and hushpuppys. There was so much, that we still have enough for another meal!
Since it was getting late, and we were most of the way back, we decided to stop back in the same campground we stayed in the night before.
WED. JUL 3.
Today is going to be a travel day. Our next stop is going the be the Shenandoah National Park in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, where we plan on traveling the Skyline Drive. That's 105 miles of road with a speed limit of 35 MPH. The wife traveled it many years ago, and wants to do it again. It should be an interesting experience. I don't know when we will get there, but we will probably stop for tonight and then drive it tomorrow.
OK, we are sitting in a campground just a couple of miles from the entrance to the Skyline Drive. This is a fairly early stop for us.
We had planned for a fuel stop at a particular Flying J truck stop that had gas prices a lot lower than all of the other stations around ($3.19 vs. $3.32 or so) and had done a 'splash and go' earlier to give us just enough gas the get there. Calculations proved correct, and the 'fuel light' came on just as we drove into the driveway! We pumped in 64.8 gallons, so that meant that we have a 'reserve' of 10 gal. when the light comes on. That's the first time we've seen the light, and it's nice to know just how much gas there is when we get the warning. With 10 gallons, and figuring just 5 mpg, that gives us 50 miles to find a gas station.
Getting here was something of an adventure, as the GPS took us off the beaten path and along some twisty turny, narrow roads. scenery was nice though.
We also 'did' another bridge-tunnel. This one was going back North into Newport News. Good thing about this one was that it had two lanes going in each direction, so there weren't any clearance issues to give me white knuckles. I'll post tomorrows drive here after we stop tomorrow night.
SAT. June 29
Got everything ready to go for the voyage. Loaded up the 1000 that I picked up here in Ohio for Sam (1967bolens collector) in NJ so that I could drop it off while on my way to Akron to pick up a Brinly CAT 0 plow that I had just bought on eBay, and then NC to pick up a Hard Cab for the Bolens Large Frames. This time the rain didn't wait for me to even get on the road. It started raining while I was loading up the 1000. :rolling:
Set sail for Akron, to pick up the plow, but had to make a stop to replace the wiper blades. BOTH of them started to disintegrate, and I didn't want to scratch the windshield.
Finally arrived in Akron and loaded up the plow.
[sharedmedia=core:attachments:75214][sharedmedia=core:attachments:75935][sharedmedia=core:attachments:75934]
After that we plotted a course for Carney's Point, NJ and set sail again. Stopping for the wipers and getting them installed put us behind schedule, so we stopped in a Wally World parking lot for the night.
SUN JUN 30
Our next stop was going to be at a Flying J truck stop in Carlisle, PA for fuel, but after looking at gasbuddy.com we diverted to another station in Carlisle where I pumped in 55 gal. at $2.99/gal :dancingbanana:
Since it was getting late, we decided to stop at a KOA campground in West Chester, PA. Now, it was a really nice campground, but well off the beaten track. I gotta say, PA has some great scenery, but some of their secondary roads sure are narrow! It was definitely an adventure getting from the freeway to the campground.
MON. JUL 1
Left the KOA and headed to Sam's place which was just a short hop.. Once I arrived, (while it was raining) we off loaded the 1000.
Since the battery was dead, Sam just pulled the freewheeling pin, and pushed it off the trailer. Then he fired up his HT20D and we pulled it to the garage.
After that I got the guided tour. I gotta say, Sam has a lot of neat stuff, some of which I would like to talk him out of...not that I think that would happen. One thing that did interest me was his dad's Iseki/Bolens. That was the first one that I've actually seen. It wasn't as big as I expected. Really not all that much bigger than a Large Frame with the exception of the tires/wheels which makes it 'stand' higher.
After the tour, it was time to head South to Edenton, NC. The rest of the day was spent traveling through a bit of NJ, through DE, and into VA.
Along the way we took the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. THAT was an experience! We took a vid, and I'll have to get it posted. The tunnels are a bit narrow, and I spent a lot of the time with the left wheel of the trailer running on the center line, which has a rumble strip...made a heck of a clatter We got through the first tunnel with only cars coming in the opposite direction, but in the 2nd we met an 18 wheeler about 1/2 way through. That was a bit of 'white knuckle time' as I'm sure that there was no more that 6-8" clearance on each side. Still we got through OK, and decided to stop in yet another campground in Chesapeake, VA. Note...so far, unlike my typical road trip, we have yet to stay in a Wally World
TUE. JUL 2
Headed off the Edenton, NC which was just another short hop from the campground. Got Alex's place which was a bit of an adventure in itself. Alex had told me that it wasn't going to be easy to find his place with the GPS, and truer words were never spoken. Just as we were about to turn off the paved road onto the gravel road where Alex lives, there was a car was coming out. He stopped next to us and asked if we were going to Alex's and I said yes. He was a good friend of Alex and eventually ended up guiding us to where we needed to go. If not for that, I may have still been wandering around in there! The lane into Alex's has trees planted VERY close to the drive, and there were branches (fortunately just small ones) scraping along both sides of the motorhome on the way in. It was a bit tight, but I did manage to get to where he had the 'goodies' stored. Once there, we decided to unhook the trailer and move it around with his Kubota. That made life a lot easier.
After a bit of talking, Alex, his buddy, and I proceeded to load up not 1, not 2, but 5, yes count 'em, 5 Large Frame Snowcasters. He got them in a big package deal along with a number of tractors and other goodies. Since he's where snow is very rare, and trying to sell them would be a problem, he gave me an asking price for the lot that I just couldn't refuse.
Then it was time to take the hard cab off of the 1250 that it was on. THAT was a job, and it was a danged good thing that there were three of us! I'm definitely going to need help getting that rascal mounted on the HDT1000.
With all of the loading, talking, and stops for a couple of (what else) rain showers, and a beer break, it was late afternoon and time to head North with a loaded trailer.
[sharedmedia=core:attachments:75950][sharedmedia=core:attachments:75949][sharedmedia=core:attachments:75946]
[sharedmedia=core:attachments:75941][sharedmedia=core:attachments:75940][sharedmedia=core:attachments:75939]
[sharedmedia=core:attachments:75938][sharedmedia=core:attachments:75937][sharedmedia=core:attachments:75936]
Oh, did I mention that the lane had trees on each side? I noticed this stuck in the awning this morning!
[sharedmedia=core:attachments:75948][sharedmedia=core:attachments:75947]
I had asked Alex for a recommendation for a place for seafood that would do carryout, and he suggested one. However, we missed it and after traveling a bit farther, I spotted a Wally World and decided to stop in and ask local person for a recommendation. I'm sure glad I did that.
He sent me to a little Mom & Pop place about 5 miles away. He said that they had their own boats and that all of their food was very fresh. Once I stopped in it was obvious that it was going to be good. Very little decor, just a number of tables which were almost all filled, and good smells coming from the kitchen. The wife and I both decided to get the sampler dinner which had flounder, shrimp, scallops, fried oysters, frys and hushpuppys. There was so much, that we still have enough for another meal!
Since it was getting late, and we were most of the way back, we decided to stop back in the same campground we stayed in the night before.
WED. JUL 3.
Today is going to be a travel day. Our next stop is going the be the Shenandoah National Park in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, where we plan on traveling the Skyline Drive. That's 105 miles of road with a speed limit of 35 MPH. The wife traveled it many years ago, and wants to do it again. It should be an interesting experience. I don't know when we will get there, but we will probably stop for tonight and then drive it tomorrow.
OK, we are sitting in a campground just a couple of miles from the entrance to the Skyline Drive. This is a fairly early stop for us.
We had planned for a fuel stop at a particular Flying J truck stop that had gas prices a lot lower than all of the other stations around ($3.19 vs. $3.32 or so) and had done a 'splash and go' earlier to give us just enough gas the get there. Calculations proved correct, and the 'fuel light' came on just as we drove into the driveway! We pumped in 64.8 gallons, so that meant that we have a 'reserve' of 10 gal. when the light comes on. That's the first time we've seen the light, and it's nice to know just how much gas there is when we get the warning. With 10 gallons, and figuring just 5 mpg, that gives us 50 miles to find a gas station.
Getting here was something of an adventure, as the GPS took us off the beaten path and along some twisty turny, narrow roads. scenery was nice though.
We also 'did' another bridge-tunnel. This one was going back North into Newport News. Good thing about this one was that it had two lanes going in each direction, so there weren't any clearance issues to give me white knuckles. I'll post tomorrows drive here after we stop tomorrow night.