Monday, October 10, 2011 - Travel Day to Staten Island

Headed west on a few backroads, having decided to dump at a Rest Area on I-91 south of Hartford. About ten miles before reaching there, one of the tires on the RV lost all of it’s tread, so we had to pull over, change the tire, then find someplace that had a replacement that was open on a holiday. Fortunately, all was accomplished in relatively short order, delaying us less than 45 minutes or so. We found the dump as well, and flushed out our tanks. Eventually we arrived in Staten Island just a little behind schedule. One shock though was the cost of going over the bridge from NJ. $52.50 and for the RV and $32.50 for the horse trailer!!! Just to get on the island!!! Didn’t have enough cash, and they didn’t accept credit cards, so the woman just said that a bill would be sent to me, as my tags had been recorded when I pulled up!! Really?? I guess the reason the tolls are so high is to pay for all the high tech billing apparatus! Is that the face of redistribution of wealth? Charging a fortune to pay for all the bells and whistles of collecting that fortune? How many times does that money change hands? I don’t know why I’m surprised, our whole complicated federal tax system is the exact same thing. Well, enough of that rant, suffice it to say that we made it to our designated stable, Richer Farms at just 5:00. We set up next to the barn with a not so glamorous view of their truck parking area, but at least it’s NYC and they’re on the edge of a park where we can ride, weather permitting. Had to sleep with earplugs in because of the noise, not surprisingly.