There are good days, and then...

...there are days that have some badness in them. Monday was one of those days. It had some really good moments, but when we got to New York, things went south.

<- Our RV tucked on the deck of the SSV New Jersey

We had planned to take the ferry from Lewes, DE to Cape May, NJ just for the fun of it. Then we did a little research on diesel prices, and found that southwestern NJ was a low point in our travels north. Diesel at the Flying J in Carney's point was 2.59, as opposed to 2.89 in northern New Jersey, so we checked a route avoiding the ferry and found it added about 40 miles to the trip. For the fuel alone, that probably wouldn't have been worth it. But that would save the $70 ferry fare as well. But we still wanted to ride the ferry, so we decided to take the ferry and then head toward where fuel was cheap.

We got up early enough, but goofed off too long. In order to make the 10:15 ferry, we figured we would have to leave around 9:30, allowing time to dump our tanks and arrive at the terminal 30 minutes early as we had been told. The last 1/2 hour was a race, as we both had to shower, and I had to pack away the satellite dish. But we made it, on the run.

The ferry ride was great. The sun was out, there were light breezes and a relatively calm ocean. We rode the rail together, watching Cape Henlopen fade away and Cape May appear. The ride is about 18 miles, and takes 1 hour and 20 minutes.Wonderful, wonderful.

We decided if we could find cheaper fuel after we left the ferry, we could buy it then choose an easy route toward the Jersey shore. We had targeted an Elks club in Manhawkin, NJ, for two nights. But we headed up the western NJ coast instead of along the shore. It turned out that we were only 20 miles from Carney's Point when we found a station with diesel at 2.63/gal, and we stopped for lunch and bought fuel there.

<- Arriving at the Cape May ferry dock

I probably shouldn't try to change my mind while I'm driving, because I don't readily grasp my options. Now, at about 2:00, I wanted to keep moving. It was too early to park in a Flying J station for the night, too far to go back to the shore, or Manhawkin. Consuelo found a Walmart in New Brunswick, about 80 miles up the road, so we headed there. As we got close to the exit off the NJ Turnpike, I askked her to see how far it might be to go all the way to our stop in Croton Point, NY. Another 80 miles. I felt like driving, so we kept going. Traffic was better than I expected. We took 287 around NY, and slowed to 15 mph a couple of times, but most of the 80 miles was at posted speeds. Consuelo called the campground and got us a site, since we were 2 days ahead of our reservation. Our route tooks us over the Tappan Zee Bridge. There, the trouble began. We were about 1-1/2 miles across the 3 mile bridge, when we heard a loud crash and bang. We both were startled, and Consuelo looked out the window and and saw our large, 22' long awning flying over the edge of the bridge. Then the rear end of the awning dropped to the roadway, and the rear arm was sticking straight out 8' from the side. There is NO place to stop aloing this bridge and we were in the middle of rush hour. Our only choice was to keep going.

<- The Cape May lighthouse

We slowed to 10 mph, and got over the line between the middle and right lane, to keep the arm from hitting the bridge. We crept along, with traffic whizzing by us at 55 mph, trailer trucks within inches of our left side. Consuelo with her head out the window, me watching the rear view mirror, until we got to a parking area just before the toll booths on the eastern side of the bridge. I got out and surveyed the damage. The arm that was sticking straight out was only held by a clip, so it popped right off. The other arm was still in the upright position, though bent and twisted. The 22' pole had dragged 1-1/2 miles across the bridge, and one of the end caps was scrapes up pretty good. The cloth had but 2" attach at the front. The rest had completely separated from its mount. Two NY State Policemen had stopped in the same area, helping other motorists who were having problems. One places some flares behing out car, to warn traffic that we were stopped there.I should have done that, but I was focussed on cleaning up and getting us out of there. I gout our ladder out, and cut away the cloth from its groove, got the front arm down, and stowed the parts below. The 22' pole, with the cloth wrapped around it, was a bit more of a problem. We opened rthe front door, and tried to get it inside. With the inside end over our stove, the outside was still 10" from going through the door. I removed the end caps and springs, and we just barely managed to fit it through the door. We then proceeded through the toll booth and paid our $20 (yikes!) fine (errr, toll). We can travel 100 miles on the NJ Turnpike for $8.80, but 3 miles across a bridge costs $20. Go figure.

<- The remains of our awning, taped to the window

That alone was enough to ruin a good day, but we weren't done yet. When we got to the park, we found that our campsite was about 8 feet too short, and the neighbor, who was not home, had plugged his trailer into our outlet. We fit into the site at an angle, and I plugged him into the 15 amp outlet. But he needed to cook and run his AC when he got home. We were fine with 15 amp, for the night, so I let him have our 30 amp outlet. Which he proceeded to blow. The he somehow found the master breakef for his post, but not ours. Now he had electricity, and we didn't. I ran a cord over to the next site and we had enough for the night.

The next morning, the office called, surprised that we were here 2 days early, and very surprised that we were in the short site. We talked with out insurance company to see what our awning coverage was, and found it was not much. We'll probably get this one repaired.

I haven't had a good shot of adrenaline in a while. Guess it was time.