An early start to our latest end – up at 7 am so that we could finish loading up. Thankfully we’d loaded most of our bags into the car yesterday, so we just had the last of our toiletries and carry-ons to pack up.
We had initially wanted to stick around for another horseback ride or at least a hot breakfast, but we were ready early and so we decided to just grab a few mini-croissants and cinnamon buns from the refreshment station instead.
Why head back so early? Well, we realized a few days ago that we’d be attempting to cross back into Canada mid-afternoon on the Friday of a summer weekend. That could mean long delays – hours long, potentially. So better to leave sooner and remove that risk.
The upside is that our charging stop in Herkimer – roughly 152 miles away – is right next to a Denny’s, so we’ll be able to get a late breakfast there instead.
And we’re off!
Back on the highway past Albany, and then off to Herkimer. No real surprises – by leaving early we managed to skip the worst of the roadwork that we encountered during the drive down.
My wife kept an eye on the Electrify America app, but thankfully no one else was using that station. But we still had another station in mind further down the road just in case our preferred charger was taken – such are the perils of extended road trips in an electric vehicle!
We arrived in Herkimer a little more than two hours after we initially set off – and were surprised to find only one free charger available at the Electrify America station there. A Bolt EV plugged in shortly before we turned off, and a F-150 Lightning was also plugging in – and had parked so badly that they blocked the fourth spot.
With all these vehicles charging, we were only pulling a paltry 67 kW – roughly 1/3 the charging rate that we got on the way down!
During earlier road trips, I might have given up and tried to find another charger. But chasing chargers is a nightmare, and a slow charger now is usually better than a fast charger later. Besides, 70 kW still gives us an extra 5 km of range per minute charging – so it’s not as slow as one might think. We decided to stick around for second breakfast and see where we were by the time we wrapped up.
Off to Denny’s! Of all the restaurants in America, this is certainly one of them. I had a grand slam breakfast with hashbrowns, rye toast, eggs over easy and sausages:
While the kids had chocolate chip pancakes with bacon (my son) and sausage (our daughter):
The sausages were both burnt and overly salty, but otherwise it was a perfectly serviceable breakfast. It only cost about US$35 for all of us, so we can’t complain about the pricing.
We wrapped up perhaps 35 to 40 minutes after we arrived, by which point the car was charged to 90% – 95% by the time I finished talking with the gentleman parked next to me. His F-150 Lightning (not the poorly parked one) was his fifth EV, and he was getting excellent range even while towing with it. (240 miles on an 80% charge, if I remember correctly.)
All four stations were taken by the time we left – and indeed the F-150 driver had waited for a space to vacate before he was able to charge.
We considered our options for driving onward. The ‘fast’ option was to drive past Syracuse, but this would take an extra 30 miles. Or we could retrace our earlier route – the ‘hypotenuse’ option that represented the straightest line from Herkimer to the Landowne border crossing.
With road construction resuming once more, there was perhaps a minute’s difference between the two routes – and the more direct option would allow us to avoid having to charge again. So it ended up being a no-brainer.
Despite this, Google Maps made it immensely difficult to choose the off-highway route. Yes, we could have told it to “avoid highways” but then it would have avoided the highway that we needed to cross at Lansdowne.
Thankfully, my wife remembered which exit we needed to take to get on that route – and it all fell into place once that was done. But I have no idea why sometimes Google offers a wide range of alternate routes and sometimes none at all.
Anyway, back on the road – which was every bit as scenic as before.
The other upside of driving backroads is that it’s also more efficient. The sweet spot for EVs seems to be around 80 to 90 kph (roughly 50 to 55 mph). We were also on a slight downhill slope for the return trip, and it wasn’t long before our 30 miles of extra range grew to roughly 50 miles – enough for me to ignore how our children were running their seat heaters in an air conditioned car.
All was going well – or so we thought.
Roughly four hours into our journey, the ETA suddenly jumped by 10 minutes. Then by another 15 minutes. There is – maddeningly – no way to browse Google Maps on your phone while using it in CarPlay, so we were unable to find the source of the delay but the border seemed the likely option.
It wasn’t long before we were back on the highway again, once more watching out for “loose” cattle along the I81. We reached the border just before 1 pm, and were pleasantly surprised to find three booths open. It only took perhaps 15 to 20 minutes until we were back in Canada again – though the lines behind us had doubled in size by the time we made it through.
Then we found the source of the delays – bumper-to-bumper traffic all along Highway 401. It moved at a relatively fast clip, but still dramatically slower than what you’d find on a typical weekday.
While we still wished we had time for that one last horseback ride, I’m glad we didn’t. It’s hard to imagine what that trip might have been like if we’d left much later – we’d have run into road construction on the way to Herkimer, a full EV charger, a jammed-up border crossing at Lansdowne, and molasses-like traffic on the 401. All this easily could have added 2 to 3 hours to the drive.
And now that we have returned home, what’s our verdict on Rocking Horse Ranch and Legoland?
First, we definitely understand the appeal of Rocking Horse Ranch, particularly for those who love horseback riding. While more expensive than many of the family-oriented properties we’ve visited – including both Great Wolf Lodge and Club Med Charlevoix – their all-inclusive-but-for-drinks model represents an excellent option for those who want to go horseback riding (or banana boating) over and over again. The range of activities – and the short line-ups – also really encouraged our kids to try new things and make new friends.
Apart from pricing, the main drawback of Rocking Horse Ranch is in its 1950s-era accommodations, including the lack of private kids spaces, the always-roaring bolt-on air conditioners, and the small, saggy mattresses. Neither of the adults slept particularly well, and that has a real impact on how much one can enjoy the trip.
Crossing the border also added an unwelcome X factor to the journey – it meant that the trip could easily take an extra hour or two longer than expected, even if everything goes smoothly. Perhaps one day Canada will add a Nexus lane at Lansdowne like their American counterparts have, but we’ve been hoping that for years now.
And Legoland? I think every die-hard Lego fan should visit a Legoland at least once, if possible. This was high up on our son’s list and I’m so glad we could finally make it out here. No, the rides are not Disney-grade and there’s always a risk with the weather, but we got to visit so many different rides, shows and experiences in a short period of time. My main complaint here is eye-watering pricing for simple purchases like a cappucino ($8.99 plus tax) and a Lego driver’s license ($27.99).
In short, we had a lovely trip but I doubt we’ll return to either Rocking Horse Ranch or Legoland NY any time soon. And that’s okay. There’s too much to see in the world for every spot to make it onto our list of regularly visited destinations.
Thank you for joining us on our latest getaway, and I hope you will check back later this month as we continue our list of lessons learned from our Antarctica to Zimbabwe trip. And come early October, we will be on our way to the South Pacific!