Small States - Big Color

As we drove away from Plymouth Rock with our souvenir chunk we had chipped off while no one was looking....OK, just kidding. Our souvenir parking ticket was all we took with us, along with some memories and photos.  We left Massachusetts behind and began a convoluted marathon day of driving. We wanted to stay off I-95 through New York City as we had been warned by fellow RVer's that the condition of the road was deplorable and had caused damage to their vehicle and some of the contents of their RV.  Even more of a concern was pulling the trailer through there in afternoon traffic.

The other matter to contend with was the fact that there were still four states we hadn't made it to and they were along the way to our son and daughter-in-law's home in Crystal City (Arlington), Virginia, where we intended to spend a few days.  Our GPS kept insisting we take I-95, so it became one of those times when we were really sorry we didn't have a paper map on hand, especially in New Jersey.  Usually when we crossed a state line we stopped at the first visitor center and got a map.  New Jersey was not so accommodating, so we were paperless.  In addition to that inconvienience, I had put my handgun in the trailer for this excursion through the state who thinks no law abiding citizen should possess one.  Therefore, as badly as I wanted to, I was unable to shoot the GPS. 

We routed ourselves through Rhode Island and Connecticut where we saw probably the most beautiful foliage of the entire trip.  We entered New Jersey needing fuel and following our Gas Buddy app's advice we wound up on the Jersey Turnpike, AKA I-95, and got into an argument with the gas pumpers at the fuel islands.  This must be some kind of union job because in New Jersey you can't pump your own fuel.  By law someone else gets paid to do it and you have no choice in the matter. Go figure.  It would be nice if they spoke English because we had no friggin' idea what they were telling us to do.  Imagine a whale swimming upstream against a thousand minnows and someone directing traffic in an African dialect.  You get the picture.  Anyway, that incident is fodder for another post entirely.

We managed to get out of New Jersey without any bloodshed, crossed through a little of New York and Pennsylvania then back into New New Jersey before entering Delaware.  We traveled out to Rehoboth Beach on the Atlantic shore and stopped at the Cracker Barrel Restaurant, whom we had previously called and made arrangements with to park on their lot.  At the beach we saw a couple of the thirteen observation towers which were constructed during WW II to protect the Wilmington Shipyard from potential attack by the Nazis.

Without a cloud in the sky we left Delaware and set out for Virginia.

Crossing Chesapeake Bay on the bay bridge while pulling a 5th wheel travel trailer on a windy day  required total concentration.  Because of its height, the narrowness of the spans (there are no hard shoulders), the low guardrails, and the frequency of high winds, it is known as one of the scariest bridges not only in the USA, but in the world.  Eighteen wheelers passing on the left coupled with no shoulder and a low guard rail on the right made for a memorable experience, to say the least.

We made it to Virginia without having a stroke or heart attack.  Aside from the difficulties and challenges encountered it had been a beautiful travel day.  The following pictures, taken in Rhode Island and Connecticut, are what the whole trip was about: fall foliage in New England.  Since there are few if any scenic turnouts and the shoulders are narrow or non-existant, these next pictures were shot from our vehicle while driving.  The pictures require no words.  They speak for themselves.

 

Now, that's what I'm talking about!