2011 Trip across the US
2012 Trip across the US
2014 Trip across the US
2015 Trip to Alaska
2015-16 Southwest Trip
2016 New England Trip
2016 - 17 Southwest Trip
2017 - 2018 Trip to Pick Up A New Escape Trailer & More
2018 - 19 Trip to Winnipeg & the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta
2019 - 2020 Trip to the Southwest
2021 - 2022 Trip to the Southwest
2022 - 2023 Trip to the Hungry Mother Rally
2023 - 2024 Trip to the Southwest
2024-25 Trip to the Southeast
1 October, 2025:
It is early, but the first step of this winter's adventure is to get the trailer registered. NY requires yearly registration of trailers (mine is $62.00 per year) as well as a yearly inspection. A short 5 minute wait at the Oswego Motor Vehicle office; sometimes I've waited almost an hour.
It is also the day the Oswego School District mails me my yearly school tax bill. This is one of the few bills that have to be paid with a check & you can't find out what you owe on line - although the will let you use a credit card they add a fee for the pleasure. You drop the bill with the check through a hole in the school district garage door. They will mail you your receipt, which, with the way they collect it is probably a good idea! Today, for the first time in years, there was someone at a counter inside the door so I got my receipt stamped rather than mailed to me.
The trailer is ready for the trip, although not packed. Only a few springtime projects including replacing the kitchen window, purchasing ($101.00 including a $9.50 tariff) & programing a new remote for the awning, I washed & waxed it earlier this week - even thought it is a 2017, it is still shiny. I also painted the hubcaps with white Krylon spray paint. They were getting pretty ugly, and while I could replace them with chrome versions, I felt that was a bit too much bling.
If I make it through a zillion doctor appointments alive, the plan is to head out on October 19th, spending the night at the Guidos, then on, with a couple of stops, to the Hungry Mother Rally in Virginia. After the rally I plan to take a little more than a month making 2-3 day stops on the way to the La Paz County Park in Parker, AZ for the months of January & February.
October 10, 2025:
I've been mowing the leaves as they fall off the maples along the front. One is almost done, the other two are holding on.
I hope the various projects along our road are not going to cause a problem leaving on the 19th. They are replacing the culverts under the road in the swamp & raising the road by 2', hoping that this will put an end to the 2-3 times a year that the road floods. The repaving shouldn't reach as far this way as my house since we are at least 5' above the swamp. The first of the three new culverts has created a pond that the neighborhood great blue heron loves.
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Yesterday they almost finished putting the 2nd culvert in place. One to go. In addition to the new swamp drainage, a sewer line is going down our road from a development above the swamp to a connection to the city of Oswego sewer system a couple of miles away. The development's sewage treatment plant has failed and the cost of replacing it was more than the new sewer line. They are paying for the bond that will pay for the work. The truck with the sewer pipe arrived today, but left without dropping anything off.
Luckily for my driveway & drains it is going on the north side of the road. Since the natural gas line is also on that side of he road lets hope they are careful digging! It is interesting that the development is paying for the line so no one on our street will be allowed to connect to it. A group from the street talked with the town engineer about making it a larger pipe so that others could use it but the answer is no. If & when we will need sewers a new system will have to be put in place. Seems silly not to plan ahead, but the funding sources doesn't allow for practicality.
October 18, 2025:
Mostly packed - the only things left are what I need to use today & in the morning. The 2 projects on the road are still ongoing. They have finished with the three 3' diameter drains at the swamp, but need to clean up & restore as well as raise the road 2'. The sewer install hasn't reached my house, but they have managed to hit a water line & shut down our street's water for half a day.
I filled the bird feeders, shut off the outside water faucets, and did a final mowing of the leaves. My son will have to do at least one more mowing since the oak tree likes to hang on to its leaves.
Starting mileage for the truck is 91,977.1 & 63,082.2 for the trailer.
Until Tomorrow -
This page is maintained by: vermilye@oswego.edu
Last Update:
October 19, 2025