June 26 - July 6, 2019: Lake George, New York
July 6 - 15, 2019: Lake George to Boise, Idaho And Back Again
Well, people that we meet along our travels and talk with have been saying "what a great trip and adventure, you are so lucky" That is so true, however...today we ran into our first real problem along the road. The Ford F350 truck...
Our goal today was to leave Cobleskill, NY (where we spent the night in a Walmart parking lot after Cooperstown, NY), drive up to Montreal, and then into Quebec City for a few days. However, after about 90 miles the truck was losing power, starting to shake a little and smoke. Of course, I happened to be the one driving and no...I did not break the truck : )
Luckily, we were within 1 mile of Lake George, New York. So I pulled off the Interstate and immediately off the exit was a Roadway Inn that I was able to pull into.
We called Roadside Assistance (THANK YOU!) and had the truck towed (Thank You Fred from Warrensburg Car Care) to Nemer Ford about 6 miles away. Craig quickly unloaded the motorcycle so we would have transportation and we were able to keep the trailer in the parking lot of the Roadway Inn as long as we stayed there. Not knowing if it would take 1 day or 2 weeks to repair the truck, we booked one night at the Roadway.
This was Wednesday, June 26 and luckily we had an early start that morning so Ford could start working on the truck immediately.
The Roadway Inn where we parked our trailer and stayed in the hotel
Sitting in our room making phone calls and trying to decide do we stay here longer than 1 day, do we have the trailer towed to another hotel or campground.
We decided to walk to dinner and...tried the shortcut...um....ya... we could not get through so turned around and walked on the road
Dinner was at the Tandoori Grill. Food was good, but everything else was marginal. And...there was a quick major downpour while we ate. We ate outside but were protected by the large decking and overhang.
Late Wednesday afternoon, the Ford Dealership said we had problems with the right bank and needed 1 new fuel injector and o-rings. We told them to replace all 4 in the right bank. The truck may be ready on Thursday.
Needless to say, this was a stressful day and we were wiped out.
Thursday, June 27 we spent time catching up on computer work, wandering around town, and enjoying the lake.
Many calls with the Ford Dealership during our late lunch/early dinner. They were now getting blow by during testing the truck. They would do more work and call us Friday to let us know the status.
At this point we opted to go to the movie (Rocketman) and spend one more night in the hotel. All the while we have been coordinating with our buddy Todd who we were suppose to pick up at the Bangor, Maine airport on Saturday. He will be joining us for our Bar Harbor part of the trip.
We were trying to make lemonade out of lemons : )
Yes, Craig is hiding behind the pole. This was pretty typical for how this part of the trip was going : )
Friday, June 28 rolls around and...chatting with Ford, more work needs to be done on the left bank, they don't have the parts, ordered them and...now it is Monday the truck should be done.
So..we stayed three more nights in the hotel. More coordinating and changing of plans with Todd. More catching up on computer work, riding bicycles downtown for dinner, and caught a free concert in the park.
Saturday, June 29 here we are. We opted to ride the bicycles in the other direction (South) and check out a few bike paths and trails.
The good thing is we can ride directly from our hotel and hop on the Warren County Biway, then connect to the Feeder Canal Trail. We then went and rode the trail at Rush Pond and mountain bike trails at Gurney Lane Mountain Bike Park. It was probably a 22 mile ride altogether, was fun and some gorgeous scenery! Below are good examples of each trail.
We opted to stay in for the evening watch a movie and eat out of the trailer. About 9:30pm we lost all of the power in our hotel room. We were charging the bicycle batteries and blew a breaker. Of course, the night staff didn't know where the breaker box was and had no one to come look into it, so we pulled out the flashlights and did a little computer work, reading, and went to bed early.
Meanwhile, our buddy Todd that we were going to pick up in Bangor, Maine flew out today from Cincinnati. After two plane delays, MANY hours of sitting on the tarmac, and waiting to figure out what happened to his luggage...it went to Bangor, Maine...he got stuck in Philadelphia. Todd decided to rent a car and drive to Lake George to meet us. By now, it is 11:30pm so Todd drove about an hour and then stopped for the night at a Rest Stop.
Sunday, June 30. Our power came back on in the hotel about 9:30am (all they did was flip a switch, too bad they couldn't do that the night before). Todd arrived in Lake George by noon and we were ready to start fresh for the day! We wandered around in downtown Lake George and the boys were being silly. Okay, I told them to be silly for the camera : )
This is way cool. The Lost Radeau, The Land Tortoise, is a 1758 Floating Gun Battery Boat that sunk and is resting on the bottom of Lake George near Million Dollar Beach.
Monday, July 1. We have checked out of the hotel. Todd has checked out of his hotel and we are all ready to roll. Just waiting for the call from Ford around noon saying the truck is ready, we'll pick it up, hook up the trailer and be off to Bar Harbor. While eating lunch along Lake George, we got the call from Ford and...there is a hole in the cylinder wall and we need a new engine. Yes...a new engine. After much discussion with Todd, it was decided that he would continue on to Bar Harbor for his vacation and we would stay in Lake George. At this point we were still on the fence between replacing the engine or buying a truck. And we put $3,000 into it at the Ford dealer : (
We decided we did not want to spend another night in the Roadway Inn for a variety of reasons, the primary reason was the water in the sinks, toilet, and shower was yellow. Although they said they were flushing their system, after 5 days it was still the same.
We called Fred at Warrensburg Car Care again (he is the owner and gave us his personal cell number) and he moved our trailer to Ledge View RV Park who we had been communicating with this whole time about should we move or not. Since we expected to be leaving each day, we had decided to stay in the hotel. However, in hindsight, we should have moved after day 1.
Patty at Ledge View was phenomenal! She treated us like family and gave us a spot we could stay until July 11 if needed and then she would find us another spot. We picked up a rental car and at this point, we had not made a decision on what we would do.
Tuesday, July 2 and Wednesday, July 3. After evaluating our options, looking at trucks in Queensbury and Warrensburg, NY, phone calls with Idaho DMV, visits with NY DMV, and many phone calls with Ford dealers in New York and Idaho, we opted to fly home and buy a truck in Idaho. Our buddy Dan hooked us up with Cory at Corwin Ford in Nampa and they had the perfect truck we wanted. Yes, NY had trucks but not the right size engine, bed, and color so we figured if we are spending the money, we might as well get what we want vs. settling for something we did not want. Besides, a trip home meant we could see family and catch up! And yes...we would drive the truck back to New York and continue on our adventures!
We called Ford and told them we were picking up the truck and all of the parts. We thought they would put the engine back together even if it did not run. Nope...the engine was all in pieces and those pieces are in a box...and yes...we paid about $3,000.
We called Fred again and had him tow the truck from the Ford dealer to his yard. Fred has a tow truck business, storage units, and more. Wow, we were so lucky to have been put in contact with Fred. He was so helpful and bending over backwards to help us, connect us with the Ford dealer in Warrensburg, and offering a storage space for the truck! This is where the truck will stay until we get it shipped back to Boise or sold.
Once we made this decision and booked our flights back to Boise (Saturday, July 6), we decided to take a day trip to Saratoga Springs. What a really cool town! We had fun wandering around the town and having dinner. We found a great park, Historic Congress Park and sat on a bench for about an hour watching the ducks swim and play. What a great therapeutic setting.
Thursday, July 4. Even if we were not in Bar Harbor for the 4th as planned, we were still near a lake. We rode the motorcycle into Lake George and watched the fire works over the water. During the day, we were packing up the trailer and getting things ready to leave Lake George on Friday and fly out on Saturday.
Friday, July 5. We packed up the trailer and called Fred again to tow the trailer to his storage units. We were also able to store the motorcycle at Fred's in his personal storage unit. Once we fly to Boise, buy the truck, and drive back to Lake George, we will pick up the trailer and motorcycle from Fred. We cannot believe how incredible Fred has been. Not only did he towed us 4 times, given us great recommendations, let us store our truck, trailer, and motorcycle at his place, he is going to hold onto the truck and help us find someone who will either buy it as is or have it shipped back to Boise for us. In the picture below that is Craig walking to our trailer.
On top of that, Patty at Ledge View RV Park has been incredible! Instead of us doing a one way drop of the rental car at the Albany airport on Saturday, Patty helped us return our rental car and gave us a ride to our hotel in Albany. Since our flight was at 6:10am on Saturday, we wanted to stay closer to the airport vs. 1.5 hours away.
While waiting for Patty to get off work, we hung out by the pool and then enjoyed a great dinner with Patty in Albany.
Saturday, July 6. We hopped on a plane bright and early and flew back home to Boise, Idaho.
That evening we had dinner at my sister Kathy and Dave's house. THANKS Dave and Kathy for the visit and dinner! Great catching up and seeing you two!!!
Sunday, July 7. We met Cory at Corwin Ford and purchased our new 2019 F150 XLT. Craig and Cory had many conversations over the last few days and Cory was able to find exactly what we wanted. We have named the truck Big Red.
That evening back in Boise, we had dinner at our house with Russett, Corbin, Bill, Ginger, John, and Rea. Thank you guys for bringing all of the food, taking care of us and catching up!!!
Monday, July 8. We had the truck registered, licensed, insured, transferred money between banks, and completed miscellaneous odd and ends around the house.
That evening we met our friends Dan and Natalie for dinner. Dan is the one who put us in contact with Cory at Corwin Ford. THANKS Dan and Nat for your help, advice, guidance, support, dinner, and Stacey Cakes Ginger Cookies!!!
Tuesday, July 9. Day 1 of the drive from Boise, Idaho to New York. 165 miles.
Natalie and I decided the night before that we both needed a quick hike for our souls. Bright and early we hiked Table Rock before Natalie went to work at 8am. Craig and I then finished running errands and hit the road to start the drive back to New York. On the drive, we will be taking the main route of Interstate 70. In each days log are the States that we crossed that day.
We stopped for the night at Mom and Dad's (Udy and Charlotte) in Rupert, Idaho and went out to a great Mexican dinner! Of course, since we were in town we stopped real quick at Burger's Etc. where I worked in high school. Had to get a picture of the truck with the sign : )
Thanks Mom and Dad for being our first stop, and providing lodging, dinner, breakfast, and your support!
Wednesday, July 10. Day 2 Rupert, Idaho to Littleton, Colorado. 677 miles
We stayed the night with our cousin's Mark, Crystal, Clark, Camille, and Brynn who we visited last year in our first loop across the US.
Thanks you guys for letting us stay, dinner, breakfast, and especially Camille and Brynn for painting my toenails. I love the multi-colored toes!
Thursday, July 11. Day 3 Littleton, Colorado to Columbia, Missouri 744 miles
Spent the night at Comfort Suites in Columbia, Missouri
Friday, July 12. Day 4 Columbia, Missouri to Milford, Ohio 482 miles
We stopped in Milford, Ohio to visit with our friend Todd. He is the one who we were suppose to vacation with in Bar Harbor. We were able to see and visit with Todd, Drew, and their mom Judy. We enjoyed a great family style dinner at The Schoolhouse Restaurant and stayed the night in Homewood Suites.
Thanks Todd, Drew, and Judy for everything!
Saturday, July 13. Day 5 Milford, Ohio to Dunmore, Pennsylvania 568 Miles
Spent the night at the Sleep Inn & Suites.
Sunday, July 14. Day 6 Dunmore, Pennsylvania to Lake George, New York 234 Miles
We wanted to get close enough to Lake George the night before so we would have a short drive today. This allowed us to go to Fred's storage units in Warrensburg, NY where the truck, trailer, and motorcycle were stores. We transferred everything from the F350 to the F150, loaded up the trailer and went to Ledgeview RV Park. Patty was able to get us into the same spot which gave us the opportunity to reload the truck, trailer, and make changes to the hitch setup for load balancing.
I cannot believe I did not take a picture of the truck and trailer together. Since it was their first meeting, this was a special occasion. I guess that tells ya how tired we were.
Monday, July 15. Lake George, New York to Bar Harbor, Maine
This morning we went to see Fred again in Warrensburg and pick up the motorcycle. Once we coordinated with him and said our goodbyes to Fred and Patty at Ledgeview, we hit the road for Bar Harbor. FINALLY...and that update you can read in a separate entry. Let's just say we made it safely to Bar Harbor about 9:30pm at night. Whew....
We never made it to Quebec City and will not be able to on this trip. We have a volunteer commitment in Canso, Nova Scotia on July 23 and wanted to spend some time in Maine, so...we will visit Quebec City another time.
Total miles from Boise, Idaho to Lake George, New York was 2,860.
In summary, we lost about two weeks from our planned route, however we were able to easily adjust our plans. We met some incredible people along the way, specifically Fred and Patty who were both amazing and treated us like family. Speaking of family, we were able to fly home and visit with our families even if it was for a brief time. And...we got to see the entire United States from the air and then...from the ground!
We will continue to work with Fred on the F350, but for now...we are moving on with our trip!
A HUGE THANK YOU TO ALL THAT HELPED SUPPORT US DURING THIS TIME!