The Journey Begins... With a Bit of a Rough Start.

18/11/2016

After many delays, we finally crossed the border at Gananoque (Thousand Islands) around 6pm tonight. We are headed in the direction of Syracuse. Initially we planned on making it all the way to Locust Lake State Park in Pennsylvania but with the delays we didn’t make it out of New York. Luckily there are many places along highway 81 that you can stop at to avoid driving all night. We parked at a rest stop near Whitney Point, New York.  

Morning view from the rest stop

19/11/2016

We headed towards Philadelphia, PEN today to visit Brookes friend Neil. On the way we changed our plans and headed towards Locust Lake State Park. We were driving in a blizzard with wind strong enough to blow around the van on the highway. Arriving at Locust lake State Park really felt like the trip actually was beginning. We were 11 days behind schedule but having our first meal made in the van, playing cards, singing along with the guitar actually made it feel like we were on our way and done with the delays.

So far both Brooke and I (the short ones!) keep hitting our heads and hips on the van. We are covered in bruises. Beka keeps pinching her fingers on the old style seat belts and the corners of the cupboards are the bane to my already very scarred head.

Sometimes you try to find interesting ways to unscrew things... until you realize the swiss army knife has a screw driver on it.

20/11/2016

Waking up this morning to a gorgeous view of Locust Lake in a winter wonderland was refreshing and peaceful. The hemlocks were drooping with snow and the ground was sparkling.  Beka and I braved the cold and went for a bit of a dip in the lake. It was FREEZING! Beka was screaming the entire time until she got back into the van. My feet didn’t defrost for an hour.

We assumed that because the park was closed we didn’t need to park normally. The night before we had parked the van horizontally, giving us a great view when we walked out the doors in the morning.  As we were about to start a hike around the park the park ranger (Brian) pulled up and told us to park normally.

Locust Lake State Park 

We had a nice chat before heading out on our hike around the lake. It was a nice approximately 20 minute hike that was perfect for not spending too much time in the cold and getting on the road in pretty good time. The snow looked gorgeous in the forest and over the lake. I am definitely a fan of doing this trip in the season when parks aren’t busy.

Locust Lake State Park in a winter wonderland

Today we headed further south along highway 81 towards George Washington National Forest... BUT we didn’t make it. All of us are getting more and more frustrated as things never really work out as we planned them. Our RV battery died today so we realized we needed to actually hook up our van tonight. Many of the parks are closed for the season and we don’t know what ones still have access to hydro.  This meant stopping just north of George Washington National Forest in an RV park called Cedar Creek. The RV park means we have access to water and hydro to charge everything up again but it’s really crowded and I really just want to be outside in the wilderness. 

Van life combined with the constant delays is getting frustrating and definitely takes some adjustment to get used to. With three of us in one space there is very little room to store anything and we are constantly tripping over shoes and bags. All of our storage space is constantly blocked from being opened by bags and shoes. I am realizing that although I am not a clean freak by any means I might be a bit OCD about organization. I’m not really sure how to cope with this yet. I’ve tried organizing things in the van but it just doesn’t seem to help and I am constantly doing it. 

Brooke is also finding the space a bit cramped but mostly from the perspective of dealing with such a tiny kitchen when she loves to cook and prepare meals with a lot of space. Beka is finding the tight space stressful because all of us are getting frustrated and we have all had very little chance to relax.  For me writing this journal is a way to get things out of my head and relax at the end of the day. 

Beka trying to relax with a bit of colouring