Today was scheduled as a leisurely run up the Hudson River’s east bank, through Poughkeepsie, and then on to Albany, where we’d make a right and head into Vermont. First, though, we spend a leisurely hour or so wandering around on the shoreline of the river, enjoying the scenic-ness of the nice little state park there on the Hudson.
We hit the road around 10:30, crossed over the railroad tracks, and headed back north on Highway 9 through the little burbs along this side of the Hudson. We skirted Bear Mountain, and then Peekskill and Fishkill went by, and we stopped for lunch in a grocery store parking lot in Wappinger Falls. I’d always wanted to see Wappinger Falls, because if you’re a W C Fields fan at all, you know that in the movie “It’s a Gift”, he plays a put-upon grocer who invests in an orange ranch with some inheritance money from late uncle Floyd, and moves his entire brood from Wappinger Falls to California.
Wappinger Falls
After lunch it was a short distance up past Poughkeepsie then we passed Hyde Park and Rhinebeck. I have to admit I wasn’t as impressed as I thought I’d be – I’d not ever been up in this part of the country. But it was just a couple miles of roadway, then a little burb, and then more road through the woods, and then another burb, and so on. And we hit every single red light. After Poughkeepsie, the road angled away from the river and it was just plain old Hudson Valley for a bunch of miles, nothing really notable. Up nearer to Albany, we hopped on interstate 90, and then crossed the Hudson towards Albany, went up along the banks for a mile or two, and then jumped back across at Troy.
Merging on to I-90 south of Albany
Crossing back over the Hudson, into Troy
In Troy, we hit one of the roughest stretches of road I’ve ever encountered. First off, it was straight uphill. There was a tight merge area at the top, and traffic was slowed down to just under a crawl. There was a traffic light every 40 feet, and potholes every 8 inches. We’d rumble up hill a bit, hit a big pothole and then stop for a light. Then cross the light, hit another pothole, and get stopped in traffic. Took us 45 minutes to go 3 miles. And the dark grey clouds overhead threatened to dump rain on us at any second.
We finally got past the slowdown, whatever it was, and headed east on Route 7 towards Vermont. Rolling country side, slightly scenic, but not overwhelming. Up ahead, Hoosick beckoned. The Big Moose Trading post advertised wondrous things.
We stopped, because we HAD to. Parking the Bounder in the lot next door, we explored the rows of Vermont Maple Syrup, Hard Candy, Pine cones, gee-gaws, gim-cracks and other assorted paraphanalia, all cunningly packaged to look like an old country store. We loaded up on swag, took one last look around and clambered back into the RV to head into VT.
I turned the key in the ignition, and nothing happened. Absolutely nothing. Damn. Tried again, still nothing. I knew that on occasion, the starter in these old 454 engines would seize up when it got too hot, and thought maybe that was it. So I crawled under the thing with a ball peen hammer and whacked at it a few times, and then tried again. Nothing. Not even the slightest hint of a crank. I’d had starters go out on me before on a Suburban with this engine, and usually, when your starter goes, you hear a distinctive fast “click-click-click-click” from the solenoid as it tries to engage, but it was odd that we heard nothing whatsoever.
We called Hal. He thought it might be a loose wire in the ignition wiring, so I fiddled with this and that, and still no good. Back and forth we went for about 45 minutes, trying everything our little minds could dream up. Finally, I gave up on that idea, and called Good Sam, our roadside assistance provider. As is usual, we went back and forth for about 20 minutes while I explained the problem, and they tried to hunt down a mechanic at 6:30 on a Friday afternoon in the summer. Finally, they said they found someone who would come out the next MORNING, and take a look at it. There was nothing else to do. Luckily, we were parked in a fairly level spot in the parking lot of this place, so I went into the store again and explained my situation, and they were very gracious, saying we could stay there overnight with no problem.
So we made some dinner, sat around a bit, and hunkered down for the evening. I noticed a good-sized tire-and-battery place next door that looked like it might have mechanics working at it, so I resolved to check there in the morning and see if there would be anyone who could take a quick look at things.
So ended Day 2.