I left out of Country Oaks, just me in my car, and headed north on the Garden State Parkway. I took Exit 127 about two hours later. picking up Rt 440, then 287 and finally 206. It’s a route I hadn’t traveled in quite a while, but was still very familiar, as it was a frequent ride back in the day.

For the first time ever, I was going on a girls getaway weekend. My friend, Linda, was wanting to take her new-to-her 5th wheel out and decided a girls only weekend was called for. Her friend, Jodie, was also along for the ride.

Linda had a lot of stuff already loaded before I arrived, but we still needed to add some stuff. Linda and I picked up the 5th wheel from her storage place and parked it in her community so it would be easier to complete packing.

The following morning, we double checked the list. She had her own list, as well as the departure list from Jo & Ben, the original owners. We did a walk around and I explained how I make sure all is secure for moving; basically I start in one area and work my way around, making sure everything I see and all items in cabinets are ready to go. We also double checked everything outside. Linda insisted on doing it all herself, and just asked me to speak up if she missed something.

I had the 190 mile route to Myers Park in Lansing, NY set in her new Garmin RV GPS. I’ve got to say I’ve got a little GPS envy going on – the screens on the new ones are so nice!

We made the trip with no issues – even remembered to stop twice to retorque the lugs on her new trailer tires. Linda did an awesome job driving in her first big trip! We arrived with plenty of daylight left to park in. I had her pull over and we took a short walk to see the best way to approach parking in the back-in site. I let her think on it for herself and she came to the same conclusion I did, which was awesome! Thankfully, it was a fairly easy site to get into, with no obstructions to worry about. Jodie jumped out of the truck to provide another set of eyes, just in case.

It took her two tries, but she got it parked with no difficulty! She is truly a natural!

Next, she went through the set-up process, and we only got one thing initially wrong. She dropped the back jacks before disconnecting, but it was easily corrected. Another thing was the middle jacks didn’t want to go down, but after a phone-a-friend, she decided it was ok to leave it for now. We had a couple of gentlemen camper neighbors come over to offer assistance, and while we were appreciative, Linda didn’t really need it – she’s got this!

The site was water/electric only with a nearby dump station we could use on the way out. We had a conversation about how to use water somewhat conservatively, so we didn’t fill the grey tank before we were leaving. Neither Linda or Jodie were used to having to do that, but it was necessary, since we really didn’t want to have to go dump before leave day, four days away.

We celebrated the successful drive, arrival and set-up with our first of many bottles of wine. It was a beautiful evening! There was a band playing in the park, so after awhile we went for a walk to get a closer look. They were pretty good and there was a good size crowd. Some were in camp chairs, some at picnic tables, some on the ground and some were up dancing. After listening for a short time, we continued our walk along Lake Cayuga. It was a nice cool evening and a beautiful setting.

The following two days, we visited a bunch of wineries and tastes a lot of wine. Day One we stayed on the east side of the lake and stopped at Long Point Winery, Aurora Ale & Lager (where I picked up a growler can of stout for Bill), and Bright Leaf Vineyard. They all had gorgeous views of the countryside and lake.

That evening, after a delicious dinner of shrimp scampi, we visited an art show being held at Cornell University in nearby Ithaca. Finding suitable parking for Linda’s big dually was a bit of a challenge, but we managed. The art was interesting, and the views were fabulous!

The following day we visited more wineries and tasted more wine. Americana Vineyards had some really delicious wines, as did Cayuga Ridge Estate Winery.

Afterward, we got our bathing suits and headed to Taughannock Falls State Park. Linda and Jodie went for a swim, while I opted to hang out on the shore. The water was cool and clear.

We had seen an advertisement that Treleaven Wines was having a live band, so after dinner we found our way there. While they were good, country music isn’t my thing.

Watkins Glen State Park was on our agenda our last full day. Rather than talking about it – I’ll let pictures show you all about it.

Departure day was a flurry of activity. Linda, once again, wanted to do everything herself, me speaking out only if I see something totally wrong. She ran through her checklist and did a great job getting everything put away and hitching up.

Before leaving the site, Linda decided to check the torque again, and also check the pressure in the tires. Good thing she did! Apparently when the shop switched out her tires, they filled them to only 80psi. I wasn’t sure what the pressure should be, but I knew it sounded low. We called Bill and he said they should be at 100-110psi. No problem – Linda had a newly purchased air compressor! Except the cord wouldn’t reach the trailer! Bill said we could wait and fill at a truck stop, so Jodie and I found a couple of options that weren’t too far away.

After pulling out of the space, Linda drove up to the dump station. Time for the gloves! We walked through the steps and Linda handled it all! She did a great job! No spills!

The first place we stopped at had an air pump, but it’s max psi was only 70! Next option was an actual truck stop, but their compressor wasn’t working! Thankfully there was a very nice trucker that offered help and his on-board compressor had us at the correct psi in no time!

The remainder of the ride home was uneventful. Linda got us parked in the same lot in her community, as the next day she was hosting an open house, inviting her friends to come to tour her new home-on-wheels.

Since my cousin Tommy lived only an hour away, I decided to go and visit him the next day. It had been about eight months since Cindy passed away and I hadn’t been back since. I brought us Jersey Mikes for lunch. We enjoyed a nice, but tears filled visit.

I arrived back at Linda’s in plenty of time for the open house. She had about 25 people come to tour her 5er! It was so nice to see all the support from her community!

We were up early the following morning to bring the trailer back to storage. Linda did a great job backing into the spot. I helped her figure out how to walk it over a little at a time to get it exactly where she needed it to be. Mission accomplished!

No time to rest yet! Next up was packing up some items we were bringing Billy into the truck. Since her house was for sale, she needed to empty it out and had lots of extra stuff.

After getting the table and chairs, wing-back chair, shelving, bedside table and desk into the back of the truck, we aimed our vehicles at Lancaster, PA.

Four hours later, we had arrived, emptied the truck and were having a late lunch at Caribbean Wave, our fav spot for authentic Jamaican food. Linda left for home with a full belly, while Billy and I went back to his apartment.

The following day I headed to Hickory Hollow. It was an awesome girls weekend and visit with my son – but I was happy to be home! Happy to see Bill, Michelle and FREYA! Baby snuggles!

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