Pennsylvania - Day 17

Erie KOA, PA

Tuesday, 17 April 2018

I woke up this morning with a nightmarish feeling that even if the roads are fine today, it’s still going to be cold tonight and the Appalachian Mountains are between me and the rest of the state and I drove through a lot of really steep grades to get to this side and there might very well be ice on them and oh my god.

And then I thought maybe the prediction of snow flurries was a little overstated and having added tonight on to my stay here was unnecessary.

And then I opened the door for our early morning walk and found at least an inch of snow on the ground.  This was at 5:15 AM.

On the morning weather forecast, the guy said this was typical lake-effect snow.  Well, it’s been lake-effect snowing all day long - I measured 5” on the picnic table at noon and it’s still snowing.

Note: April 17th

When I decided to spend April in Pennsylvania, I actually had a passing thought about what a shame I wouldn’t be able to get the Erie experience of lake-effect weather.  Be careful what you wish for.

On the plus side, the dogs LOVE the snow.  I expected Dexter to have trouble since his coat is so thin, but he’s happy as a clam.  And Gracie sheds years and bounces around like crazy.  It’s nice to see them so happy.

At noon, I went over to the office and added yet another night on to my stay here.  I figured that even though it’s supposed to be in the 40s tomorrow, it’s supposed to go back to the low 30s at night, which would freeze any water left on the road, and I still have mountains to traverse.

I may end up homesteading up here if this keeps up.  Erie seems like a nice enough place.  And the weather is certainly interesting.

Finances

Since I unexpectedly had some time, I figured out last month’s finances.  For the period from March 15 to April 14, I spent the following:

     $829.42 transportation related costs (mostly gasoline)

       890.03 housing (park fees and propane)

       518.55 consumables

       163.07 miscellaneous (tennis shoes, drug store items)

  $2,401.07 monthly total

I’m averaging 10.5 mpg consistently.  I did have one time of 20 mpg, but that included 2 nights using the generator, which meant I was going nowhere while using gas.

Gas prices were at a low of $2.27 in SC in mid-March, and a high of $2.95 in PA everywhere.  There’ve been news reports about gas prices, actually, saying the price is likely to rise considerably as the summer goes on.  Always something to look forward to.

But I can see why living in an RV is so attractive to people.  Leaving out the gas prices, I didn't spend much money for a month of living expenses.  And I know campgrounds give better rates for long-term stays during the off-season.