Orange is not an RV'ers Friend, or, those orange cones are there for a reason!

Today we left the Escapade grounds in Essex Junction, VT to head toward Springfield, MA for the FMCA-Family Motor Coach Association (www.fmca.com) Rally next week. Before we left, we had our motorhome weighed by Smart Weigh (www.escapees.com/smartweigh). Knowing our correct weight and height is important for everything from how much tire pressure we should have to knowing if we're too tall to go under bridges. Believe me, we don't want to get stuck! This is a four corner weigh, which is the most accurate. (We've weighed at truck stops but have never quite trusted the results.) The news was good; we're not carrying too much weight.

Being the shunpiker's that we are (the definition of a shunpicker is one who shuns the turnpikes in favor of traveling the back, more scenic roads) we decided to forgo the interstate as long as we could. This took us along some beautiful scenic roads, but also roads that were narrow. We also went through towns where there was no place for us to pull off. Keep in mind we are 40' long with towing a car so that makes for a total length of 55' or so. If we pull off, we have to be able to turn around in a fairly large parking lot. Lots of times we look and it appears to be OK, and then we get into trouble if the lot is smaller than we think. We lucked out a couple of times today. We finally were able to pull off the road in Chester, VT for lunch and ate at the Country Girl Diner, which is an authentic railroad car diner (built in 1944) that's been around since 1966. The food was good and this is a local gem. I wish we had been there for breakfast, that menu looked good as well.

Which brings me to the orange cones. The reason they are there is that our roads need repair! We've been in 14 states so far this summer and every single one of them has both good and bad roads! Yes, construction is a pain in the butt, but a necessary evil. I know we all hate higher taxes, but someone has to pay to fix our roads. (And yes, even the states that have toll roads have roads that are in bad shape.) When you drive a home down the road, every bump counts. I don't like the road construction anymore than the rest of you, but when you hit a new stretch of pavement after a bumpy road, it is heaven! Rant is over, thank you.