Search Results for AT (326)

Toga! Toga! Toga! Saratoga Springs, NY

Ashley Longnecker / July 29, 2015

Hello Saratoga Springs, NY!! We wanted to stop here on our way to the Adirondacks because Jon had friends in the area so we figured we would stop for the week and visit with them and see what Saratoga has to offer.

The campground we chose was one of our LEAST favorites so far - Adirondack Gateway Campground. So many resident campers in really run down lots and just looked quite trashy. The employees were helpful though. They even blocked off a one way road for us to go down and get our trailer backed into the spot. We were actually in one of the best spots on our loop and we had plenty of room for our truck. It was a little crowded, but we have friends here so we are going to make the best of it!!

We were able to meet up with Tom Jaeger of Packet Tide and Jack McDade who created Statamic. We first met up with Tom and his wonderful family at their house for some evening swimming (the kids) and some ice cream. They were so kind to have all of us over and let the kids mess up their play room. It was so nice to get to talk with adults again. Thanks for being so kind to our family Tom and Sara!

A couple days later we were able to go to Jack McDade’s house and meet his awesome family. We had the most amazing burrito bowls there. I still think about that grilled chicken :) Our kids were able to play with their boys and they even showed our kids how to play a Skylander’s video game. It was good to meet them and have conversations while the kids played together. Thanks, McDade’s for having us over!

While we were in Saratoga we meet up one day with Tom at his office and a friend of his who was from Ohio but he and his family were on their way to Maine so they stopped in to say hi. We grabbed some pizzas downtown and walked to a nearby park and ate and talked. Then we got to walk around to some natural springs in the park to let the kids try the different spring waters.

The most expensive birthday present ever!

Ashley Longnecker / July 21, 2015

After our stay near Rochester we wanted to slowly make our way to Albany/Saratoga Springs area to visit with some of Jonathan’s friends. We stopped in Bristol for a week so that Jon could get caught up on work after having some time off in order to get the RV worked on and visit with family.

We are all in love with up state New York. It was an absolutely breathtaking drive to Bristol Woodlands Campgrounds. With my birthday coming up in a couple days I just wanted to be somewhere pretty and near a town with something fun to do.

We pulled up to the camp ground, and the hosts were wonderful. There was a small problem with the site that we were supposed to have. The guy who was in our site decided to take off and leave his camper there in our spot even though he was supposed to have moved it that morning. So, they tried to accommodate us into a site meant for travel trailers, not large 5th wheels. After many sad attempts to back it in we were getting very frustrated with the whole situation. The truck was working real hard and acting up again then I saw it happen.

It began dumping transmission fluid all over the ground. Not just a little, it was a steady stream coming out. I told Jon we need to get the trailer in there or go somewhere else cause we are loosing a ton of fluid. After a few more attempts we decided to just drive back up the hill and take a moment to figure out what to do next. Only, the truck wouldn’t move. It wouldn’t budge in any gear. Craaapp! I just knew it, we blew our transmission. Ken, the manager, drove 20 minutes to the nearest automotive store to get us more transmission fluid thinking that would help. After pouring in several gallons we tried again to no avail. 

At this point, we had been here for 2 hours and still not in a spot, and now our truck wouldn’t move...we are stuck on a hill. I called a tow truck and they said they’d be out in about an hour and a half. The kids (and I) were HANGRY, I was so upset about the truck, and Jon was so frustrated with not being able to get into the spot we were supposed to have...THEN THE RAIN CAME! The manager could sense our frustration and invited us into the office and he went to buy the kids a pizza. Again, Ken the manager is awesome.

How could we forget Niagara?

Ashley Longnecker / July 21, 2015

We totally forgot to mention in our post about our stay in Rochester that we also drove to Niagara Falls one day! Although it is very touristy, it was definately on our list of places to visit. None of us had ever been there before so it was super fun to have that experience together. We were shocked that at the top of the falls - it was so quiet. The water just fell off with out a sound. It was almost creepy how quiet it was. We got our tickets for the Maid of the Mist and Cave of the Winds and were ready to get wet!

First up, Maid of the Mist. You're packed on a large boat with a bunch of people (not too croweded) and they take you to the bottom of the falls. Prepare to get a little wet! There was so much mist it was hard to get a good shot of it, plus I really just wanted to watch it and experience it with the kids. Sometimes you need to just experience things and not take pictures.

Hamlin Beach, More Air Conditioning and Fun with Family

Jonathan Longnecker / July 17, 2015

After our overnight at the Ferryboat place, it was onward and upward towards Rochester to get our second AC Unit installed. Since we only had a couple of days before we were scheduled at the RV shop we decided to try a State Park.

We love, love, love state parks, but they often don't have sewer hookups which kind of limits how long we can stay there. They can also be really hard to get a 38' rig in. In fact, it can be so hard that certain husbands may get really angry and just give up and pout. 

To be fair, there were a host of issues we ran into. The first one being that the parkway leading to Hamlin has about 5 or 6 bridges that were too short to fit our rig under. Thankfully we got through one of them in the center (it was an arched bridge), but then had to take the long way around. Also, they didn't have water hookups so we filled our fresh tank (too full apparently) only to have it spilling out on the road the whole time we were trying to back in. We had no idea what was going on so that was stressing us out.

At this point I was super frustrated, but Ashley kept a level head and found some seasoned travelers to help us out in the next loop over. Turns out one of them drove trucks for a living and I watched dumbfounded as he backed the dang thing into the spot his first try. I will confess, I felt like much less of a man at that moment.

THEN we realized that Beebop, our F350 had burped out a couple of quarts of transmission fluid from all the pushing and pulling. Turns out we must have pulled the emergency break on the trailer making a tight turn, causing the truck to work super hard, sparks to fly out the back of the RV and everything smelled like it was on fire. We didn't realize what was going on until a few minutes of that. Can't be good, right? We took it to a local Ford dealership the next day, and they said it had just gotten overheated had an emergency overflow. Everything else looked good for a 2002 engine with 220,000 miles, they said! Turns out they were idiots - but we'll get to that in a couple of posts.

I know it sounds like of hot drama so far at Hamlin Beach. And we were just getting into our spot. But thankfully, the park turned out to be the most beautiful place we'd ever seeen (so far).

Situated right on Lake Ontario, it was like a beach, a lake and a park all rolled into one. The weather was perfect, the sunsets were gorgeous and it had a great laid back vibe. Enough talking, let me show you.

The 2015 Tiny Shiny Home Travel Route

Jonathan Longnecker / July 14, 2015

Below you'll find a map showing our travel route in 2015. Click on a marker to get a link to any articles we've written about that area. We'll keep this post updated so you can follow along with us. Enjoy!