Given that this is likely my last trip to Ohio with the Little Guy (more on that in a later post), I thought I would change things up and take a different route this time. Rather than taking I-90 across Massachusetts and New York as usual, I decided to head southwest once past Albany, and ride I-88 on a more southerly route. This will take three nights on the road, just like the northern (I-90) route would, but this time I’ll be stopping at the CVI on the way home instead of on the way to Cincinnati as usual.

Before I describe for you my location for the evening, I have more to relate with regard to the saga of the Little Guy jack. You will recall (see previous post) that I attempted this trip last week, only to have the electric smart jack fail as I was hitching up; my repair efforts took a disastrous turn, mitigated only by my very helpful neighbors. So when I last wrote, the trailer had been delivered jackless to the dealer, who promised it for today.

In point of fact, however, the dealer turned it around two days sooner than expected (more kudos to Call Of The Wild RV), and so I went over on Thursday to collect the trailer, which now sported a manual crank. Apparently, as I was informed too late, manual cranks have a built-in bumper which prevents one from cranking them too high. I, however, noticed no such bumper, and in my attempt to hitch the trailer to the truck, over-cranked it, raised it too high, and broke it, right there in the dealer’s lot.

So, another tractor was employed, this one with a trailer hitch on it, to lift the Little Guy once again so that a third jack could be installed. Again, to their credit, the dealer deployed a technician immediately to put on a replacement; except that there were no more side-crank style jacks in stock, so I had to settle for a helicopter-style crank — which means that I can no longer mount the bike rack. At least the trailer didn’t crash to the ground this time!

The busted side-crank jack is shown above, its post on the ground, before the dealer replaced it. The side crank allowed for the installation of the bike rack. Below is the newest iteration, sans bike rack, as it would be impossible to crank with the bike rack attached:

Note the horizontal plate which serves as a foot for this jack. Having scraped it on the road several times en route today, my current view is to just get another electric smart jack installed when I get home, as it rides higher and, of course, requires no cranking. I thought the manual crank would be easier and quicker to use, but it is not. So we will see.

Anyway, enough about jacks. Tonight I find myself at Grapevine Farms in Cobleskill, NY, about thirty miles southwest of Albany, just off I-88. This is an impressive business, primarily a winery, but with several additional enterprises as well.

In addition to the winery, seen below, there is a small bakery, a jewelry store, a room selling home goods, and a restaurant which serves lunch until 3PM (I arrived too late to partake).

This charming fellow welcomes you into the store:

The jewelry store and restaurant can be seen below:

The grounds here are immaculately kept and include a gazebo (not pictured) along with several picnic tables, all overlooking a lovely orchard.

Here’s a sense of the view out the door of the Little Guy:

There is another Harvest Host member here tonight, a couple in a class B van. They seem nice enough, although they violated an RV rule of etiquette by parking so close behind me that they can (if they choose) watch me sleep through my back window. That is why, I suppose, RVs come with window shades. A bigger concern, perhaps, is that there is no turnaround here — I’m going to have to back the rig up into the main parking lot in order to be on my way tomorrow. Here’s hoping they’re early risers and clear out before I do!

Anyway, the goal for tomorrow is to make it to Harrisburg, PA. Monday, I hope to be in Xenia, Ohio, and from there it will be just a day’s drive to daughter Leslie’s place outside of Cincinnati. More tomorrow!