The plan was for daughter LJ to fly to Maine with her two kids while husband Michael drove here with his mom and sister, so that they could all enjoy a week in a cottage at Popham Beach, something my mom did with both my girls thirty years ago when they themselves were little. Then, once the week was done, Mike and crew would drive back to Cincinnati while I drove LJ and the kids (aged 8 and 1) back there with the Little Guy.

And the first part of that plan went great! But now that the second part of the plan is mostly completed, I find myself seriously doubting if I ever want to drive to Ohio again. Here’s the story:

The problems began when I tried loading the tow vehicle (my 2024 Hyundai Santa Cruz) for the trip, because LJ had ordered several things to be delivered to me to use on their beach trip, which she then wanted (of course) to bring back home. Unfortunately, when I had everything loaded into the (admittedly small) bed of the SC, and then attached the trailer to the hitch, there were only about two inches of clearance left between the back tires and the fender. Not to mention the two decidedly unnerving loud clunks the truck made as it settled down under the weight of the Little Guy, and the dramatic listing to port which the rear end of the truck displayed when the trailer was attached.

This, to me, was unacceptable; I felt very strongly that it was not safe to drive the vehicle with that much weight in it, so I told LJ that I would just fly them back home. She, however, persuaded me that we could leave some things behind and make the drive anyway, so I unloaded several of the heaviest items (lounge chairs, and — significantly, my toolbox — read on!), and we bravely headed west.

And here is where I made my second mistake. On previous trips, I would always limit my daily mileage to 300 miles, which meant stopping first near Albany, NY; stopping the next night near Buffalo, NY; and then stopping the third night at the CVI in Milan, Ohio (Robin’s childhood home — see previous posts) before making the final push to Cincinnati. That always worked out great for me, so that’s the plan I followed this time, too — but, with my own kids now in their mid-30s, I forgot how much longer a road trip takes with little kids. So, what should have been at most a six-hour trip combined with more frequent stops and at least a half-dozen full-stop traffic jams (I still don’t know why) to become an eleven-hour ordeal. And when we finally arrived at our campsite around dinnertime, we entered the Little Guy only to find that the rear stargazer-window screen (which had just been replaced a month earlier to the tune of $1600) had detached itself from the wall and was laying on the bed.

Having left my toolbox at home to save weight, all I could think to do was to duct-tape it back up, and that’s what we did every night thereafter, from Maine to Cincinnati.

On the bright side, however, I chose exceptional campgrounds for our trip. I often use Harvest Hosts for this trip (see previous posts), but knowing the kids would be with me and would have little use for wineries, breweries or golf courses, I chose established state park campsites instead. So, we spent the first night at the Thompson’s Lake Campground at Thacher State Park, eighteen miles southwest of Albany, NY. This is a beautiful facility with widely-spaced campsites, a good playground and a fine beach for kids. Here’s our campsite:

Photos of the playground and beach:

You can see in the campground photos the “pack and play” playpen for the baby. We had at first thought that we could fit that inside the Little Guy and the baby could sleep in it — but when we actually tried it, it barely fit, such that nobody could have used the bathroom because it took all the floor space and jammed the bathroom door shut. So, plan B was to create a makeshift bed on the floor for her — but in practice, every time LJ tried to lay her down there, she woke up and screamed. The Little Guy sleeps three, by the way — two in a queen bed oriented east-west at the rear, and one on a twin bed created by folding down the dinette. As I was on the dinette bed, LJ and her two kids ended up on the queen bed, each sleeping in a tiny space north-south on the east-west bed. Suffice it to say they got little sleep that night, and I would have done the same save for the miracle of Ambien.

The next night I booked a campground near Buffalo, NY — and again, what should have been a six-hour drive took eleven. It did, however, get us all the way into Ohio, to a gorgeous campground overlooking Lake Erie in Geneva, Ohio. Check out this attractive sunset scene:

This campground, too, featured a fine playground and a nice (albeit somewhat rocky) beach on Lake Erie:

Being that we were now in Ohio, LJ could prevail upon Michael to drive to Geneva and bring the baby home, so it turns out that she only spent one night in the camper. This proved to be a fine solution to the sleeping problem and we were all grateful to Michael for making the long drive up and back.

Now, normally I would spend the third night on the road at the CVI, but host Lee was busy filming a television series for the A&E Network and I felt that he did not need one more thing (us!) to worry about, so I booked a campsite at the Milan-Sandusky RV park on US 250 in Milan, Ohio. This was an excellent choice as the management was very helpful and our campsite, although certainly not private, was comfortable enough, with the added advantage of being a pull-through site.

There was a lovely pool here, of which we made excellent use.

For our final day on the road, we headed south to Cincinnati — but this time by way of Ashland, Ohio, a different route than I usually use. I would typically drive almost due south through Mansfield, Ohio, but Ashland (situated as it is slightly northeast of Mansfield on I-71) is a much easier route as it bypasses all the railroad tracks and city-center driving that one must endure traveling through Mansfield. LJ chose this route and, if I ever drive here again, I would definitely do the same.

One of the must-see places in Ashland is Grandpa’s Cheesebarn. This is, as the name implies, the repository of every kind of cheese known to man. Cheeses in all flavors and persuasions (raspberry! chocolate! herbed! The list goes on and on!) vie for shelf space with a wide variety of nuts and chocolates of all descriptions. We stopped for an excellent lunch and bought a few delicacies to enjoy in Cincinnati.

None of the above, of course, addresses the extreme anxiety I experienced driving this route with LJ and her girls. Much of it, I think, was my concern over the truck and trailer; between the left rear side of the truck sagging, the rear window screen of the camper falling onto the bed, and the generally overloaded state of both, I was in constant fear of a catastrophic mechanical failure. Add in the horrendous traffic and the generally poorer braking of the truck with two tons of trailer behind it, and I was pretty much exhausted in every moment. And you know, usually if I make a mistake on the highway (God forbid!), I will be the only one to pay for it — but this time, I had three more highly valuable lives in my hands, so mistakes were not an option.

But thankfully, I was able to deliver the girls safely to Cincinnati. I don’t think I was ever so relieved to conclude a journey as I was on this trip.

Once there, I was able to prevail upon Michael (the family woodworker — check out his website http://www.merschwerks.com!) to repair the back window screen, and so far it has held. And while I was unable to find a Hyundai dealership willing to look at the truck in the short time I had before I left Cincinnati, so far it has leveled itself out and seems to be working fine on the way home.

Anyway, while in Cincinnati, we had the occasion to eat at an interesting spot in Milford, Ohio, called the Nation Kitchen and Bar, so named for Carrie Nation, a prohibitionist in the 1920s who allegedly made it a habit to stave up bars with a hatchet. However, upon bringing her rampage to Cincinnati she abruptly turned around and left it unscathed, declaring that there were so many bars there that she would be exhausted before the end of the first street she visited. Note the interesting door handle providing ingress to the establishment:

The above mural graces the back wall.

I am now on my way home; having spent last night at the CVI, I am tonight at the Hallmark Homestead outside of Buffalo, NY. This is a five-acre Harvest Hosts property with a big lawn, upon which I am one of three HH guests residing here tonight.

Our hosts for the night raise emus, kept in a pen behind the playground.

Here’s my campsite for the night:

I was pleased to spy a red-winged blackbird in the field behind the camper, which also house a “she-shed” (owner’s term!) which can be rented.

The plan is to stop at Arrowhead Marina and RV in Albany, NY tomorrow night, which is my usual final stop so that I can dump the RV tanks on my way home. But I am leaving this trip thinking that I will never drive this route again, since I can be in Cincinnati in an afternoon if I take a plane. Yes, if I stay a couple of weeks in Cincinnati, I definitely save money compared to staying in a hotel — but the stress of towing the camper all this way might very well be worth the extra money to fly. I have yet several golf trips and state park outings remaining on this summer’s calendar in the Little Guy; maybe a one-day tow trip will be enjoyable enough to justify keeping the camper another year, but I am seriously thinking of selling it and using the money to pay off some other stuff. I’ll finish out this camping season with it since I already have the campgrounds booked — but this may go back to being a strictly scooter blog! I guess time will tell!