Today was a “get to the destination” day as quickly as possible. We took I-95 from the campground to I-287 which goes around New York City. We didn’t see an RV from the time we left the campground in Connecticut until way past New York City. As we drove the interstate, getting closer to NYC, the traffic got thicker. We were surrounded by 18-wheelers and commuters.
Two hours after we’d left, we noticed that we hadn’t seen an RV in hours. Then we took a “service plaza” exit to switch drivers. It’s like a rest area with a gas station/mini-mart except this one had two options…”cars” or “buses/trucks”. Where were we supposed to go? We opted for the “buses/trucks” and parked between these huge 18-wheelers.
At one point during our trip we almost took a smaller highway, Hwy 15 aka The Merritt Parkway, to avoid traffic and to take it a bit slower BUT just as we were about to take the exit, there was a sign with a list of restrictions (too much for one sign) and the bottom one said, “height restriction 8 feet”! We’re 11 feet high. So much for our plan!
Turns out that the Merritt is restricted to passenger vehicles ONLY, with a height limit of 8’, a width limit of 7’6”, and a length limit of 24’ – we are larger in every single dimension.
Starting in upstate New York, we’ve run into problems with bridges with height restrictions, bridges with weight restrictions and places with width restrictions. It requires the navigator to read all the signs while the driver just keeps it between the lines. The roads in VT, NH, RI and CT have been narrow on the local highways. Often the road is not wide enough for an RV or a truck. They ooze onto the other lane and the other drivers just have to deal with it.
We met Peggy’s cousin Bill, and his son, Bob, and daughter, Laurie, at the Sunset Diner in Green Brook Township, NJ. Close to Middlesex where Bill lives and with a large parking lot for a surprisingly crowded area. We had a nice time catching up and sharing a bit of our adventure with them. Gas in NJ was the cheapest we’ve seen on our trip – under $2.00/gallon in some places.