We're on the road again

[brightday]

Originally Posted by escape artist

Hi: Ruthe... On entering "Caulifornia" do they still mark and measure how much fresh water you have onboard? In Covid times do they still care? Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

I picked up my trailer in October. At the California border, I was asked about fruit but not about water.

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by Ruthe

For those of you who haven't read my blog -- just beware of obeying traffic laws -- we got pulled over because in California a car towing a trailer can't go more than 55 mph even if the speed limit is higher.

Interesting. I looked up RV/towing laws and it seems that only West Virginia has a similar restriction of 55 mph with trailer. Unlikely that this is obeyed with any regularity.

[cpaharley2008]

I had to drive between Baltimore and Washington DC and there is a road traveled called the Baltimore/Washington Parkway, and the speed limit was 55 but everyone traveled at 75. It had limited access and egress and I swear you could run out of gas and not lose your place in the line of traffic as the guy behind you will push you because they drive that close to your bumper. No one car per 10 mph space, how about one foot for each 10 mph speed. You could not tell what kind of car was behind you because they were too close. I'm sure Mike L or Myron can corroborate this.

[Vermilye]

I had that problem when I was stationed at Ft Lewis in the Seattle / Tacoma area. The morning fog was heavy enough that I slowed down the first time. Discovered that the proper way to drive I5 was to get close enough to the guy ahead of you so you could see him, even if that was 5' - 10' at 60 MPH. Of course they did have a fair share of chain pileups...

[arniesea]

Originally Posted by Ron in BC

Ah, the dreaded double nickel we endure it on our annual milk run for the whole length of CA.

If a person was actually to do 55 all the way they'd probably end up road kill.

It took awhile but from my observations it seems that the trucking industry has adopted 62 mph as their equivalent of 55 mph. I just set my cruise control for 62 and run with them for miles on end.

Ron

I usually run with the trucks on interstates wherever I go unless the right lane is so beat up I can't stand it. Figure those folks know the local enforcement customs.

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by arniesea

I usually run with the trucks on interstates wherever I go unless the right lane is so beat up I can't stand it. Figure those folks know the local enforcement customs.

Yup, sometimes the right lane is so beat up you don't want to be there. But moving over to the other lanes still lets you run with other trucks. Sometimes I feel like I"m the meat in a truck sandwich. Always happy to see signs that tell trucks to keep right except when passing.

Ron

[HABBERDABBER]

Looking forward to 2 weeks of mucking about in Northern Wisconsin starting next Sunday. We've supplied up for much of the trip, will be rendezvousing with Thoer and Leon of E21's in an underutilized state forest campground for a spell. I hope it is still underutilized. Precautions are prudent, the virus ALWAYS WINS, and like everybody, I wish things were back to normal. They may be, in 1-2 years, but it is simply a different world and experience NOW. Life has always been a risk...these days getting gas, groceries or other mundane efforts may be a deadly risk. Do what you can to minimize risk, but nowadays, it's everywhere, in an invisible bundle of RNA virus.


bon voyage, and bon chance

[Mike Lewis]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

I had to drive between Baltimore and Washington DC and there is a road traveled called the Baltimore/Washington Parkway, and the speed limit was 55 but everyone traveled at 75.

Ah, yes-- the B-W Parkway! When I started my job in Maryland in 1985 the 40-mile-long parkway was undergoing repairs. It stayed under construction for the next eighteen years! This had to be a massive racket of some kind.

I've told this story before I think-- once I was driving south on the parkway when a pickup a good distance ahead of me lost its bed liner. The liner sailed up into the air at least thirty feet, seemed to hang there, then started falling. Fortunately for me it landed in the median. The truck never slowed down.

[gbaglo]

At least we're not under a tarp in a Syrian refugee camp. That's camping.

[Rossue]

Originally Posted by gbaglo

At least we're not under a tarp in a Syrian refugee camp. That's camping.

Yeah, as my friend Ayman would say(after visiting family last year) "Don't complain".

[HABBERDABBER]

Just another 1st world geezer lament.

I've often gone there, but it is a sad state of affairs, that someone always has it worse.

[Ruthe]

As the same time that cases of Covid 19 are increasing, we are contemplating the trip back to New Jersey. We are looking at the northern half of the country and we wonder if anyone has a feel for whether state and county parks are open as well as private RV parks.
Getting around Chicago is always the biggest challenge but we are thinking that possibly there is less traffic than usual due to people staying home. Does anyone know?

[Iowa Dave]

Hi Ruthe
When or if you come through Iowa, the state, county and corps of engineers parks are all open in Iowa. Attendance is fairly light on Weekdays. If you come through on interstate 80, you might want to end the day in Scott county and stay in Scott county park which is close to the Mississippi River . A reasonably early start for the day (say 8 AM) would put you into Chicago about 11. In many trips through Chicago on weekdays I find traffic volume the lowest during the day to be between 10AM and 2PM. The exception is in Fridays where that day traffic picks up after noon. Saturdays are busy all day, Sunday is good all day ( no morning rush) till about 3:00 PM when the returning home rush really picks up. That’s been my experience. To check other areas of Iowa you can check mycountyparks.org I think it is. Hope this helps. Iowa DNR handles the state parks and I know you are familiar with the Corps
Operations so that ought to cover things on the government side. I know very little about private campgrounds in Iowa as I’ve never stayed in one.
Iowa Dave

[fudge_brownie]

Dave mirrors my observations. I-80 both directions from the Indiana/Illinois state line is full of trucks. They have kept running. Auto traffic has returned to near pre-Covid levels.

I am a big fan of Cabelas for overnight stops. N. Indiana is a difficult area to find an accessible stopping place. Like Dave I avoid private CG’s.

[Iowa Dave]

Hi Paul
How have you been? I stayed in a Cabelas in Billings, Montana a couple years ago, not
too bad. That’s the only one I’ve stayed in. Pokagon state park near Angola Indiana has lots sites but is very busy. Pretty park though. If you drop down on I65 as you enter Indiana and take highway 30 across there are some campgrounds towards Fort Wayne including Chain of
lakes State park. Pretty nice.
Hope you are doing well.
Iowa Dave

[HABBERDABBER]

My experiences with Chicago traffic is it CAN be bad, anytime, any day, depending on unfathomable causes. With road re-construction season on the I system, that can be a hindrance thru town. They do work at night too. I avoid Chicago and take a 45 minute longer route if I'm heading South (I39 S to I74). All thru farm country, some construction but no grid lock like Chi-town. Stress free. I'll pay the piper.



We've camped in Iowa and Wisconsin state forests and parks this season and all were open but operating under different rules. Wisconsin requires reservations at the state parks, but not state forests. Iowa seems to have limited reservation capability of sites now and more 1st come, 1st served. Most camp facilities are open. Plan your route as best you can. I don't think you'll have a huge problem.

[Ruthe]

Thanks for the suggestions. As for Chicago, we have tried a lot of things -- going south out of the way didn't work so well for us. The best thing that worked was when we went east to west from Indiana and arrived in the Chicago area around 5 A.M. But going in that direction we gained an hour so we didn't quite have to get up in the middle of the night. I think we'll be okay in general -- it's just hard with Covid hanging over us.

[Donna D.]

Ruth, on my Big Trip in 2018, I stayed at the KOA Chicago, which is actually in Union (west of Chicago about 56 miles NW). Nice park. We took the Metra to Soldier Field from Woodstock which is about 12 miles north of Union. I'd stay there again: https://koa.com/campgrounds/chicago/


BTW, I didn't find the Chicago traffic to be all that bad, but then again, I also drove/towed through downtown Montreal during rush hour (as a comparison)

[cpaharley2008]

I believe NJ now has a 14 day quarantine period and Pennsylvania is adding more states to their quarantine status daily. Hope you make it home, may have to sneak down down to WV, MD and the north thru Delaware.

[Ruthe]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

I believe NJ now has a 14 day quarantine period and Pennsylvania is adding more states to their quarantine status daily. Hope you make it home, may have to sneak down down to WV, MD and the north thru Delaware.

We have no trouble quarantining in NJ but it sounds like if a state has a 14 day quarantine period then we could only pass through it and couldn't stay in RV parks. How is this enforced?