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Northern New Jersey (Newark/New York City) is not very RV friendly. There are not many campsite/RV park options that will get you close to NYC. Also, since many of the roadways in this area are older, you have to try to plan your driving route to avoid low clearances as well as tunnel and bridge restrictions. But we didn’t want to completely bypass NYC.
We re-entered New York from the east, this time. This was a sort of transitional stop for us. Middletown is in the Hudson River Valley a little south and west of the town of Poughkeepsie. We parked for two nights at Korn’s Campground.
We did a little cleaning, some shopping and went to see a movie for the first time in months.
Next stop: Freehold, NJ
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Cold Brook is some 20 miles north of Utica, in the southeast portion of the Adirondack Mountains. While here we parked at the Adirondack Gateway Campground. It is a pleasant campground surrounded by farmland. We’ve been struck by just how much farming we have seen in Western and Central New York State. This was first and foremost a place for us to “hide out” for the 4th of July weekend.
I made this reservation several weeks in advance by plotting out our likely path and estimating the time we would want to use getting there. Knowing that Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day are the highest demand times for camping I try to get these blocked out well ahead of time. Adirondack Gateway Campground served our purposes well. It was fairly secluded but it was quite busy with family groups.
We took a drive into Utica and found a car show and art event.
Next stop: Burlington, VT
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In Waterloo, NY, we parked at the Waterloo Harbor Campground. This is in the heart of the Finger Lakes region of New York. When you look at a map you can easily imagine the movement of glaciers that gouged out this series of lakes in a pattern that looks like fingers extending from a hand.
The steps on our RV are operated by an electric motor that turns a semi-circular shaped metal plate. That plate has a has an arm attached to it that causes the steps to extend and retract. The motor works on the principal that it will continue to run until it meets a certain amount of resistance and then it will stop. So, for example, if you open the door when you are parked near a curb, the steps will extend until they bump into the curb then the motor will stop.
Second Act 