Let's Just Go Somewhere: Heading Further North

After saying our good-byes to Ken and Bonnie on Monday morning, we began heading north to our next destination: Watkins Glen, New York. A lot of our friends and family might assume we were going there for the NASCAR race next weekend but actually we're just heading further north in search of cooler weather!

We rode on Hwy 15 north out of Harrisburg all the way up to the Pennsylvania/New York State line. The weather was nice and Hwy 15 follows the Susquehanna River for a good part of the way north.

We also drove around Williamsport, PA, where the Little League World Series would begin in just a couple of weeks. We remembered how much we enjoyed going to that with Ken and Bonnie last year. As we continued north on Hwy 15, we began riding through the Allegheny Mountains of Pennsylvania.

I was pleasantly surprised how nice Hwy 15 was. As we got closer to the New York border, we began to come out of the mountains a little bit.

The roads in New York were not near as nice as they were in Pennsylvania. Highway 15 becomes Interstate 99 in New York State and it was very rough and bumpy. We were using our new Garmin RV760LMT GPS which seemed to work pretty well. It kept us off a road that would have had more of a downward grade to contend with. It doesn't appear to show altitude or current time which is a little disappointing but I like the touch screen and quicker response better. We'll see...

We arrived at Clute Park & Campground around 12:45 and got checked into our site quickly. Clute Park is a city park which has full hookups and located in Watkins Glen. We were lucky to get a site with the NASCAR race coming in this weekend; but of course, we're leaving before it gets really crowded. At $55/night, it is pricey for what you get but we are within walking distance of downtown and very close to the things we want to see and do.

After getting set up, we drove to the race track just to see what it looked like.

This field will probably be filled with campers in just a few days.

We could see parts of the track which is a road course.

We didn't realize how hilly the track was.

We stopped by Wal-mart on the way back to the campground. I thought we were back at Daytona or Bonnaroo when I saw all the beer for sale. :)

After supper, that evening, we walked across the street to the park and looked out on Seneca Lake for a few minutes.

Then we walked into downtown Watkins Glen which is all decorated for the upcoming race.

We stopped at Ben & Jerry's and tried one of their new flavors: Coconut Seven Layer Bar ice cream. It had bits of fudge and caramel and butterscotch and, of course, coconut. It was delicious.