After leaving Southwoods, we quickly and easily made our way to I-90 East destined today for Arrowhead Marina and Campground in Glenville, NY, about 225 miles.

After an uneventful drive we took exit 26 off the thruway and after passing thru the toll booth and a short stint on I-890 to get across the river (Mohawk), we picked up Route 5 West for a very short distance to Van Buren Lane on the left.

A short distance down “No Outlet” marked Van Buren Lane we encountered a tight right hand turn almost directly across railroad tracks! Nothing we couldn’t handle, just not what we expected for a campground listed in the Big Rigs Best Bets directory. Hope those crossing gates don’t activate in the middle of our turning maneuver!

Just a short distance further on, we turned left onto the campground road and into the campground/marina which is located on the banks of the Mohawk River.  We checked in at the office trailer located right next to the river and we were given the choice of a pull through site or a back in site.

Since the pull through sites only had 30 amp, we opted for a 50 amp back in site.  Just as a note, they only take cash or check, no credit cards. Luckily we had our check book with us.

The few pull through sites here (30 Amp & water) looked pretty long but were narrow, the back in sites for the most part were shorter and just as narrow.

We had to dance around with a couple of trees (both on the site and across from it) to make it into our assigned site #33. On the drivers side, with the slide extended we were just a foot or so away from our neighbors picnic table, although the other side had good spacing. I think #33 was one of the worst sites here in regard to spacing.

Each site was gravel, surrounded by grass, and had a picnic table and a small fire pit, ours also had a pad.  Due to the recent rains, our site was a little muddy but not bad.  There were a lot of big rigs in here (probably because of the Big Rig directory) and we had no major issues getting around, but this was certainly not the most spacious of campgrounds, although the setting was very pretty. During cloudy weather it probably gets a bit gloomy with all the tree cover and come dusk we did have to fight off the skeeters (mosquitoes).

We started talking to the couple, Gary and Lynn, next to us who had a new-to-themWinnebago motor home which they had purchased recently.  Since they are full timing, they want to upgrade to a newer unit at some point so they were quite interested in our Aspire.  Believe it or not, they have 10 children.  Their youngest, Mackenzie, who is 18 is traveling with them along with a dog and 3 cats!  Another daughter, a very pregnant Erin and her husband, Jason and their two year old little boy were staying in another camper on the other side of them.

While Rob was hooking up our coach, Gary was telling me they had 26 grandchildren.  Well, it turned out not really, later that evening, Lynn told us they only had 17. Whoops that’s not right either, according to Mackenzie and Erin, there are 16!  But then it was 15 because that number includes Erin’s yet to be born baby. Seems to be an ever changing number! Guess it must be hard keeping track of everyone.  Whew, imagine what a family get together must be like!

They also told us that two days before during a major rain storm (the one that we were following), they had received a knock on their door telling them that they needed to be ready to evacuate.  The Mohawk was within 4 feet of being at flood level!  Luckily, they didn’t have to evacuate but I guess it was pretty scary for everyone!

As mentioned in the previous post we were taking a look at an over 55 apartment in Albany for Rob’s dad and had to be at Avila by 4:30 pm so we had to cut our conversation short but we told them we would be glad to give them a tour when we returned.

The Avila facility is quite a nice place with a resortish atmosphere. This over 55 community consists of an apartment building, a “lodge” and private “cottages” with rooms ranging in size from 700 sq ft to over 2500 sq ft. While it accommodates most elderly living situations it is not an assisted living facility, although there is a nursing home on the campus. The pricing structure is quite unique but I won’t go into it here, lets just say there is a clear cash flow advantage compared to the Atria assisted/independent living facility Rob’s dad was looking at in East Greenwich, RI.

After checking out Avila, we stopped at Subway to pick up some subs for supper that night then headed back to the campground.  Once Rob had everything hooked up, we invited Lynn and Gary on board. They had never heard of Entegra but were very impressed with the quality of everything.  They are contractors (they had been in Glenville for about a year working on a job) and Gary has done a lot of woodworking so he was particularly impressed with the quality of the cabinets. After exchanging contact information and promises to stay in touch, they left.

A short while later, just as we were about to have our subs, there was a knock on the door – we were invited to join them for burgers.  Burgers vs. subs – hmmm, no big decision there! Turned out to be a night of good food and great company!  Lots of laughs!

When we went outside in the morning, we found a bag of potato chips (inside joke there) and a note.  Gary and Lynn had received a call for help from a friend late last night so they left early and we didn’t get a chance to say goodbye. We went to the Scotia Diner for breakfast which was only a few miles away.  We had forgotten that it was Father’s Day but luckily when we arrived we were seated right away.  Another good breakfast especially the sausage!

When we got back to the campground, we took a walk down to the river. Another couple stopped to tell us about the flood scare a few days before.  Apparently the boats were just about at ground level and the current was so strong they could see logs and uprooted trees whizzing past down the river.  As you can see from the photos the boats were now sitting in the mud.

We returned to prep for departure on the final leg of our journey, leaving about 11 am.  Oh joy, the sharp turn and the railroad tracks again!

Overall the campground was okay, shady sites but not a lot of amenities.  Next time I think we would take a pull through sites so it would be easier getting in and out. The dump station was easy to access and a hose was provided for flushing. Do be careful of power here, due to past flooding some of the power boxes are not quite right. Ours on site 33 looked new, but Gary mentioned he had to be moved around due to power issues.

Back up on the thruway, traffic on I-90 was heavier than we expected but even so it was smooth sailing.  We arrived home about 4 pm. As usual with the new coach, we unhitch before entering our lane due to the narrow quarters and tight turn into the driveway. Once into the driveway, turning the bus around is not quite as simple as with the Discovery due to the additional wheelbase and tag axle – there’s a 6 or 8 point turn involved and a close encounter with a telephone pole.

Overall, it was a good trip! we had forgotten how much fun the RV life can be – can’t wait until our next adventure!

Now it’s time to get back to work so we can finally get the house on the market.