Day 28 - A rough few days

Lake George, NY was quite nice, at least the first day. We got to the campground a bit before dark, got set up, and enjoyed the new Mario Odyssey game together. The weather wasn't too cold, and we were excited to check out the lake the next day before pressing on to Vermont. We got some local beers and enjoyed our night, and then headed out by 1 or so the next day to check out the massive Lake George and the 'Million Dollar Beach.' The lake and beach were quite nice, with clear water and skies, however the beach and nearby office were closed already for the season. At least this meant we didn't have to pay to be there, as usually it would be 10$ just to get in the lot.

Upon leaving the lake area, we wanted to grab some food before the 2.5 hour drive, and decided to try the A&W spot, which are rare to be stand-alone. They even had a delorean out front for some reason, but upon arrival, they too were closed for the season. We thought it was quite odd that a fast food place was closed, but pressed on to find other options. Then the RV started having some louder noises coming out of the rear end, and spooked us a bit. So, I pulled us over, and figured I could top off the rear end oil again, presuming a leak or something. Yet, upon taking the plug out, it was still completely full, so that wasn't our issue this time. I then tried to grease up the wheels a bit. In order to do this, I had the RV up on small, 1 inch blocks, which interconnect similar to large Lego pieces. To raise the other side of the RV, I had to start the engine and back the RV off of the blocks so that I could move them to the other side, and lift it again.

In my haste, I accidentally left my metal flashlight standing up under the rear outer tire, and upon backing up, I crushed the flashlight, causing a chunk to be cut deeply out of

the tire tread, and the flashlight was unfortunately destroyed beyond repair. The sharp end, near the button, of the flashlight had cut a large divot into the tread, tearing it down to the cord of the tire, which was fairly impressive. While the tire wasn't losing air, it seemed like it would soon, and I knew we couldn't drive very far or fast on it. By now it was 2:30, and we were still starving. But in order to get on the road that day, we had to try to find a replacement, rather than rely on our spare. Since we were in a fairly large town with plenty of tire shops, we figured it would be easy to find a tire, get it put on, and get back on the road. We had hoped to have the rear end/brakes inspected as well, since they would have the tire off anyway.

Unfortunately, it was quite difficult to find the right tire on a Saturday. Some places had the right size, but their tire had 'aggressive tread' on it, and we were discouraged from having one tire with aggressive tread, with the other 5 without. 20 phone calls later, I found a tire with tread that matched the other tires, but they were unable to mount/balance/install it the same day, as they were booked solid. By now it was 4:30, and we were still quite hungry and stressed. The first place agreed to install the tire for us (from another shop), as long as we could go pick it up in time, as they closed at 6 I believe. They would not, however, have time to look at the rear end, but only to install the tire. We were thankful for that by now, and had the tire installed for 30$.

Upon leaving, the rear end was still a bit noisy, so we opted to find a free place to stay for Saturday night (our first Kmart), with the intention of having the rear end checked out Sunday morning. Surely a shop would be open, but most were not. I woke up early Sunday, and called every place I could. Only one place claimed to be open and be able to help us, but they didn't open until 11. I called them at 11, an RV service place, and despite the very services I requested being on their website, they said they would not do it, but that a truck place across the street would. Of course, the truck replace place did not open until Monday, nor did any of the others, so we were stuck in Queensbury, NY for effectively a third night. It's a summer town, and the whole place was basically shut down for the season. On top of that, it rained ALL DAY Sunday, never letting up once. I think it was the most time we had ever spent in the RV without going out to explore, or at least walking around a bit. Thankfully, Stranger Things had came out just a few days prior, which gave us 8 hours of great TV, which we were able to play thanks to the solar power (which unfortunately wasn't recharging due to the overcast and rain).

On top of these difficulties, I woke up Sunday with hearing issues, and apparently had gotten an ear infection. It's not painful yet, but still here, and I'm fairly certain it's fungal or bacterial, and could really use a clinic - yet there aren't any here. Not a Minute Clinic at CVS nor one at any Rite Aid. Nothing but a hospital. I bought some ear drops and peroxide from the Kmart we were sleeping at, and gave them a try without much luck.

Monday morning, I was ready and had us scheduled for service at the truck service spot that was referenced to me. I merely wanted a brake inspection, and to try to find out what the noise could be. I attempted to lube up my U-joints before leaving, but they weren't servicable, so that wasn't the issue. We got to the repair place as soon as we could, and they were able to take a look right away, or at least attempt a diagnosis. The mechanic, also named Ben, asked me to drive around in the lot to get it to make the noise again. Of course, as these things go, the noise refused to surface for the whole 10 minutes of driving around the lot. I did circles and turns at many speeds, and still nothing. It was running perfectly, and I wasn't happy - an odd thing to be upset that it's working fine, but I knew the noise wasn't gone for good. I said thank you, and attempted to drive away, but he wanted to run inside to make sure I was "good" with his boss. I knew that meant to check if I had to pay, for him to basically stand outside and smoke, talk to his buddy, and use his ears to hear absolutely nothing. I should have driven away, but I did one more loop in a final attempt to get the noise to return, to no avail. He came back outside with paperwork, and asked me to pay, which I protested. I was told since I took him away from another job, I had to pay, which amounted to $54 - again, for practically nothing. That is what the brake inspection would have cost if I could have just gotten that upright. They never told me I would be charged for doing circles in their lot. Out of fear of having my license plate recorded, I opted to begrudgingly pay, but I was pretty furious. I just wanted it fixed.

We opted to press on, and Sarah took over driving. We got to Burlington, VT by 2:30 or so, and got set up. The campsite is nice enough, but apparently, due to the massive wind storm last night, the whole campground was out of power (and still is). The news mentioned this was true for much of Maine as well, as they suffered the most outages since their massive ice storm in 1998. The office was closed, and no one picked up when I called. A single campsite was written on a sign on the door as being open, so we pulled into that one. No one has been around to ask us for money, so perhaps they feel we don't need to pay since there is no power/hot water/laundry, which is what we were paying for, or else we would have just stayed someplace for free again.

It is now Tuesday, Halloween 2017, and we're a few days behind schedule. This means some long drives ahead of us (up to 4-5 hours per day), and I'm hoping the RV can take it. Tonight we'll be in Waterbury, VT, and staying with a friend. While it's only an hour drive or so, the next day we'll likely head to Augusta, ME, a healthy 5 hour drive, to try to make up some lost time (presuming the RV holds up). My dad did a great job of walking me through inspecting and draining/changing the differential and gear box, so I hope to have time to do that on a lunch break some time soon, to see if that could be the issue. My guess now is the brakes though, but we'll see.

We enjoyed a night on the town in Burlington last night, and hit up the Magic Hat Brewery, which was quite cool. They had quite the artsy set up, and even called their tap room 'The Artifactory,' which was kinda neat. We did the self-guided tour through the brewery, and enjoyed a brew or two before heading farther downtown towards the water. The brewery closed at 7, and it was getting quite cold, especially to be on a scooter. The waterfront was too dark to even see the water, but we could feel the chill in the air being close to it. We checked out a place for dinner called 'The Skinny Pancake,' per a recommendation, and it was fantastic - best burger of the trip, and Sarah enjoyed a good looking Veggie Crepe. As we were finishing our meal, they began to set up for a comedy show, which we had no idea about. It was free, so we decided to stay, and ordered an apple stuffed crepe with honey for dessert. Some of the comedians were pretty funny, but it was definitely an amateur show, and then they had open mic after. We didn't stay for open mic, as it was 10, and we wanted to see a bit more of the town. Most things were closed, but an Irish pub was open, so we checked that out briefly, and headed home to warm up the animals.

Today we press on to Waterbury, where we are guaranteed to have power and a hot shower. They also have a clinic, which I hope to check out for some antibiotics so I can hear again. It's a shame Halloween isn't on a weekend, and even more a shame we spent the weekend in the rain in a parking lot, but such is life. Next weekend will be better. I even took the Friday off from work.