Launch day & senior moments

Friday finally came! We got up at six, started doing the final loading and our 6:30 AM departure came and went. We did finally get away – at 10 o'clock and then finally left Abby Oak Drive at 10:30 after a half an hour safety check because I was not sure if the brake controller and this the weight distributing hitch were working correctly . The little trailer pulled by the big black Volvo trundled slowly down the road and on to Washington's congested pre-weekend highways.
Nervous I was, as Yoda would say. But we made it along the beltway and headed toward Baltimore and around Baltimore's beltway because we could not use the harbor tunnel with the LPG on board.
Travel at 55 miles an hour was pleasant and uneventful until we reached the first Maryland toll plaza – where cars are usually five dollars. My jaw dropped when that third axle behind this cost us a total of $15. Onward we went, until the next toll plaza and the first senior moment appeared.
Since the sign said four dollars for cars, I was expecting maybe $12 with the trailer. So I got out $15 and handed it to the toll lady, asking her if this was the last toll booth in Maryland? She looked at me said six dollars, Sir, and quizzically looking at me said this is Delaware state. (a low tax state by reputation!)
New Jerseypassed swiftly by until we got to about New Brunswick, when an hour-long traffic jam substantially slowed our already tardy progress. By now it was two in the afternoon and clearly would be 4. pm. by the time we got to our planned route of the George Washington bridge across to New York City, followed by the infamous Cross Bronx Expressway (an open war-zone in the good old days).
Both Betsy & Prudence thought crossing by the northerly Tappan Zee bridge far up the Hudson river would be a better choice. This we did! Then we spent an extra 45 min. on small town roads trying to find our way to the Saw Mill River Parkway.
Senior moment number two! Onto the sawmill river parkway where at the entry it said passenger cars only, we went! And we enjoyed several miles beautiful green curving roadway, where the trailer tracked nicely behind the car and we were enjoying the drive. How rude it was for the young lady police officer to turn on her red lights and siren and pull us over just a few miles down the road! Sir! this road is reserved for passenger cars, she said. You mean that doesn't include passenger cars with trailers? No sir . But just continue onward on this ramp and you'll be able to find your way to the interstate, she said , with a smile reserved for those too old to quite understand modern laws.
Senior moment number three! We were driving happily along interstate 84 headed across Connecticut toward whatever is in eastern Connecticut and thought we were about 25 miles from our reserved campsite. The phone in the car rang and as I said hello a lady introduced yourself as being the camp site manager and asked if we were getting close. Yes we said, we're only about 25 miles away and should be there soon. She said, where are you and we replied New Town. She didn't seem to understand that, so we tried it with the local accent - Nuuuuton. The reply was, oh you are a long way away yet that's about 75 miles from here. To make a story short I had entered wrong campsite data into the GPS and ours was on the other end of the state - about an hour and a half away – we thanked her profusely for calling, and Betsy was kind enough not to say any of the umpteen things she could've said about my mental state, memory, organizational ability and general mental state.
At 9:30 pm we pulled in for our first night - 405 miles from home, and after 11 hours.
The trusty Volvo did great towing; the trusty new r-pod did well being towed. We heated chicken stew in the microwave and fell to sleep listening to the owls of Connecticut asking whoooo we were? Not too bad.....