Sigarms
Super Member
Took my one son up to the Finger lake region in NY. 25 years ago, I use to work up there, and out of all the places he was offered to go this summer (pretty much anywhere in the US) he chose Watkins Glenn after I showed him pictures of the area. Some things I've learned on our trip...
1 - No matter how familiar you think you are with an area, ALWAYS keep a Rand McNally road atlas book of the US in your car. I drive a lot for work, and the Waze app is great on your phone, but when your in another state, and even if you think you know the area, phone maps suck for understanding the correlation of all the points you want to visit as you only follow your phone blindly knowing you'll get there. I'm use to I-81 from Tennessee all the way up to Canada past Watertown. Thing is, when I hit Harrisburg Pa, it took me 322 to go north into NY instead of I-81, and from there, I was pretty much lost until I hit I-90 to visit a good friend and Niagara falls.
2 - Although I don't like Waze to figure out where everything is at, it can be a life saver when it comes to accidents and stopped traffic. Coming down I-81 just north of Roanoke, there seemed to be a big accident just south of Roanoke this past Saturday. The app got me to 220 S to Martinsville on some backroads that would have been a bugger using a road map.
3 - No matter what state you live in, there will always be people who drive like idiots living within their own state. My son actually preferred not to drive in NY because truckers on I-90 had a very bad habit of just whipping their truck into the passing lane without using their turn signals. Cut a couple people off who had to hit their breaks on our drives.
4 - If you want to drive 90-100 MPH on the interstate (particularly I-81), don't expect to do it during the day. All day long people trying to pass on the right side in heavy traffic flying, weaving "in and out" just to gain a couple hundred of extra yards only to get stuck behind cars. I consider myself to have a heavy foot, but 70-80 MPH is generally my max (generally on I-81, 70 MPH is the going speed limit, and 10 miles an hour over is fine with me).
5 - ALWAYS make certain you have jumper cables in your car along with other car maintenance items (do a car check before you leave). Had to get a batter replaced in Watkins Glenn. Took my dads car and I assumed he always kept that stuff in his trunk (he use to LOL). He did have a portable air compressor for air, but no jumper cables. That said, been a member of AAA for over 35 years now, one of the best presents my parents got me when I became a driver. I did the same thing for my own sons.
6 - Best part of the trip for the boy was Niagara falls. If you go, go during the weekday. It was packed on a Weds, middle of the week, and the guide said this was NOTHING compared to the crowds on the weekends. Best $230 I spent was a day tour for us. Parked at the aquarium, got picked up, drove to multiple locations / parking lots by a shuttle bus, and everything was taken care of. Son loved walking to the base of the falls to feel the power of that water coming down. If I would of tried to wing it as a tourist and just show up with the car, I probably would have been agitated dealing with the traffic and crowds (I'm not a big people person when theres a crap load of people LOL). Since we didn't have a passport, we had to stay on the American side. I can understand why people say the Canadian side is better now.
7 - I forgot how much I hate drivers from Quebec
8 - Son noticed pretty quick how much larger the deer are in New York compared to NC.
9 - Son also noticed how rust affects cars up north vs cars down in the south. Son was amazed at the "newer cars" with rust on the bodies (things they notice as they get older, and they never noticed that when we use to go to Vermont LOL).
10 - Forgot how rural NY can be even though I use to live there. Visiting an old friend around Oneida who has 70 acres. He took us out in his RTV, and apparently the Oneida nation has a buttload of land used for RTV's. We were probably out a good couple of hours and never back tracked anywhere to get back to his farm.
11 - 5 days in the hotel, never used room service to clean the room. Left a decent tip Saturday morning when we left. Never would have happened if the wife went along. She had to stay and take care of my dad. My time is the end of August when she goes north of Savanah to a nice beach with her mom for two weeks.
12 - Lots of big cameras on the traffic lights going up from Harrisburg to Mansfield. Cameras all over the place actually. I see some in NC, but not like on this trip out of state.
13 - My buddy I spent time with was meeting a state representative today to make some complaints. Listening to my friend, although NY is a nice place to visit, I really wouldn't want to live there, which he confirmed my feelings on that after living there a long time ago. Nothing has changed.
1 - No matter how familiar you think you are with an area, ALWAYS keep a Rand McNally road atlas book of the US in your car. I drive a lot for work, and the Waze app is great on your phone, but when your in another state, and even if you think you know the area, phone maps suck for understanding the correlation of all the points you want to visit as you only follow your phone blindly knowing you'll get there. I'm use to I-81 from Tennessee all the way up to Canada past Watertown. Thing is, when I hit Harrisburg Pa, it took me 322 to go north into NY instead of I-81, and from there, I was pretty much lost until I hit I-90 to visit a good friend and Niagara falls.
2 - Although I don't like Waze to figure out where everything is at, it can be a life saver when it comes to accidents and stopped traffic. Coming down I-81 just north of Roanoke, there seemed to be a big accident just south of Roanoke this past Saturday. The app got me to 220 S to Martinsville on some backroads that would have been a bugger using a road map.
3 - No matter what state you live in, there will always be people who drive like idiots living within their own state. My son actually preferred not to drive in NY because truckers on I-90 had a very bad habit of just whipping their truck into the passing lane without using their turn signals. Cut a couple people off who had to hit their breaks on our drives.
4 - If you want to drive 90-100 MPH on the interstate (particularly I-81), don't expect to do it during the day. All day long people trying to pass on the right side in heavy traffic flying, weaving "in and out" just to gain a couple hundred of extra yards only to get stuck behind cars. I consider myself to have a heavy foot, but 70-80 MPH is generally my max (generally on I-81, 70 MPH is the going speed limit, and 10 miles an hour over is fine with me).
5 - ALWAYS make certain you have jumper cables in your car along with other car maintenance items (do a car check before you leave). Had to get a batter replaced in Watkins Glenn. Took my dads car and I assumed he always kept that stuff in his trunk (he use to LOL). He did have a portable air compressor for air, but no jumper cables. That said, been a member of AAA for over 35 years now, one of the best presents my parents got me when I became a driver. I did the same thing for my own sons.
6 - Best part of the trip for the boy was Niagara falls. If you go, go during the weekday. It was packed on a Weds, middle of the week, and the guide said this was NOTHING compared to the crowds on the weekends. Best $230 I spent was a day tour for us. Parked at the aquarium, got picked up, drove to multiple locations / parking lots by a shuttle bus, and everything was taken care of. Son loved walking to the base of the falls to feel the power of that water coming down. If I would of tried to wing it as a tourist and just show up with the car, I probably would have been agitated dealing with the traffic and crowds (I'm not a big people person when theres a crap load of people LOL). Since we didn't have a passport, we had to stay on the American side. I can understand why people say the Canadian side is better now.
7 - I forgot how much I hate drivers from Quebec
8 - Son noticed pretty quick how much larger the deer are in New York compared to NC.
9 - Son also noticed how rust affects cars up north vs cars down in the south. Son was amazed at the "newer cars" with rust on the bodies (things they notice as they get older, and they never noticed that when we use to go to Vermont LOL).
10 - Forgot how rural NY can be even though I use to live there. Visiting an old friend around Oneida who has 70 acres. He took us out in his RTV, and apparently the Oneida nation has a buttload of land used for RTV's. We were probably out a good couple of hours and never back tracked anywhere to get back to his farm.
11 - 5 days in the hotel, never used room service to clean the room. Left a decent tip Saturday morning when we left. Never would have happened if the wife went along. She had to stay and take care of my dad. My time is the end of August when she goes north of Savanah to a nice beach with her mom for two weeks.
12 - Lots of big cameras on the traffic lights going up from Harrisburg to Mansfield. Cameras all over the place actually. I see some in NC, but not like on this trip out of state.
13 - My buddy I spent time with was meeting a state representative today to make some complaints. Listening to my friend, although NY is a nice place to visit, I really wouldn't want to live there, which he confirmed my feelings on that after living there a long time ago. Nothing has changed.
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