The Next 2.5 Hours, Zack Snyder Style

When 2.5 hours of driving turns into an 8 hour adventure. We begin after a restful morning at Hershey Winery: watching the sunrise, walking Cody, doing a vacation-style workout, with some work interspersed.

All was going as planned…until…the truck didn’t start. Battery is dead. No problem, we have USAA. We called, the guy arrived within 20 minutes and the truck started right up! Great, let’s get going. Crap, we need the truck key to unlock the back where the gear is. We thought ahead to bring the spare set of keys, but of course we can’t find them. So, we waited 20 minutes before turning off the truck – that should have been time enough to charge the battery.

Nope! Totally dead, again. So we asked the guy at the winery, maybe we could get a quick start again like last time.

Nope! Tried several times, even letting it charge for 5 minutes. No problem, call USAA again. Longer wait this time, of course. Same guy, we could see the head shake in his eyes. Started up right away again, so we drove to the nearest mechanic to replace the battery.

Side note – the roadside assistance guy used a JNC0660 – Jump-N-Carry to start our truck. Twice it started right up. The nice man’s car? Got nothing from it. The assistance guy said he’s had it 4 years, uses it several times a day, and only needs to charge it once a week. Yes, we will be ordering one.

Ok, now that the intermission is over, we’re all set to hook up the trailer and get going to the next place. Leaving at noon became leaving around 3:30, but that still gets us in by 6. No problem.

Nope! So the storm we would have missed was in full swing by the time we got going. It stuck and accumulated, so driving became slow very quickly. We took our time, stayed with the trucks, like everyone else. Construction added some more time. Even Cody is exhausted, and all he does is sleep.

It’s at least moving until…we see signs for an “incident” ahead and the dreaded dark red on Google maps. We stop for gas because we need it, and make it ok to the pump. By this time, everything is snowy and slushy. We held our breath at the stoplight, but the truck did us proud this time – no issues pulling the trailer through the snow. We’re at a crossroads – do we continue down 76 and deal with the traffic?

Nope! Google shows us another way, and we choose to take it since it’s quicker and does look like it’s a more direct route to the state park we’re staying at for the night. So…we go left. And into windy back roads for 40+ miles. At night. In the snow. Yep, not a great choice Google, Ben and Megan. If you’re familiar with western PA around the turnpike, there aren’t many exits. So once we were on these roads, we were committed to this route.

At one point, I started to think I would find out what would happen if the truck couldn’t pull the trailer up the hill. Would we just sit there unmoving, or would we roll backward? The lowest speed up a hill with the gas pedal floored was 23. The truck did great, and I can say that now that it’s over. But at the time, I could just see us waiting for USAA yet again, blocking a road until we figured out a solution.

So yes, we saw the ETA shift from 5:50 to 6:30, all the way to past 8pm. Nerves frazzled, we finally get to the state park. Unsure where the entrance road really is – everything is covered and there are no tracks! – I just go for it and turn left. Luckily, we stay on pavement. We continue up the road, past the closed office, and follow signs to the campground.

The road is untouched – no tracks from other cars. Luckily, the PA state parks email you the site number, so we know where to go. Honestly, at this point, we would have pulled into any free spot and called it ours. And we would have had our choice – completely empty! No one in sight. That’s the one perk about camping in cold weather. We made it, all settled in.