July - Fourth, Cobscook and New Brunswick

July 1-5th, 2010 - Fourth of July at Fort Pickering, Winter Island, Salem, MA

Met up with a group of fellow truck campers for a boondock over the 4th of July. Since we are retired, we were among the first to arrive and picked a space at the edge of the field. This was the first test of the solar system and it performed beautifully, giving us all the lighting we needed, as long as needed and never dropping under 12.3 on the meter. What it would not do, of course, was to run the AC which was sorely needed - 95F and humid. We did run both the roof fans plus a 12 volt fan from a plug recently installed. Just too lazy to try to run the AC on the generator since we spent most of our time socializing under the pop up tents.

This is the lighthouse and harbor where we were camped and the tents set up for picnic and gatherings.

This was an unplanned event and spread word of mouth. We ended up with a dozen rigs, mostly truck campers but also two older bus RVs that are being restored. Can we pack campers in close to the breeze or what? These are the TC roofs.

July 4th dawned hot, bright and with a busy harbor. We socialized, sat under the tents and read, played Sudoku and just chatted.







Mikeee cooked an 18 pound beef roast on the grill and lobsters in the propane pots. Kevin and Paul opted for SIX plus pound lobsters and had a great time both cooking them and breaking into them. An ax was needed on the claws. As usual, too much food and beverages but the conversation keeps up. We sat up by the light house and watched incredible fireworks from Marblehead, Beverly, and Salem. You could actually see part of Boston's on the far horizon.

Too short a visit with friends as always but we headed back to Maine to clean the camper and restock for a quick trip to Canada.

July 6-8, 2010

We try to come up to Kingsbrae Gardens in St. Andrews, New Brunswick a couple of times a year. This is a 27 acre perennial garden with walking paths, ponds, more flowers than you can imagine and a cafe serving local foods. This year we chose to take the Airline out of Bangor as far as Wesley and then cut over to Route 1. Our goal was to stay at Cobscook Bay State Park which is right on the ocean. With no reservations, we figured we could get into the park but had no idea we would get a waterfront site.

Arrived at low tide, pulled out the chairs after a pretty good hike around the park and watched the tide come in. As usual, I pulled out the knitting.

Change in temperature from the weekend? You bet as it was 72F and sunny and the view is one of the reasons we live in Maine. This is what happens to the shoreline with a 25+ tide. Views are the same, one at low time, done at close to high tide.
Lots of wild life including brown rabbits, red squirrels, very loud crows and chipmunks. No moose or deer. No way to explain how relaxing sleeping in the camper is when the night temps drop into the 60s and there is utter silence.

Next AM off we head to St. Andrews, stopping at the 45th Parallel exhibit and then at a US National Monument to the settlers of St. Croix Island. Many large bronze statues here giving a real feeling of what it must have been like to try to survive a winter in the middle of such a cold river/entry to the ocean.

We crossed into Canada at the new border crossing in Calais, bypassing the old city totally and not getting into the tiny town roads. No problems crossing as there shouldn't be as we never have anything with us we shouldn't have. Kingsbrae was worth the drive and time, lunch was smoked salmon and seafood chowder. Walked through the harbor town of St. Andrews and are now camped right on the ocean at the tip of the peninsula between two huge A RVs. Friendly folks who are fascinated that we can live and travel in something as small as a TC. We look at the As and wonder how they can ever get anywhere but a major highway. To each his/her own. Here's a view out the TC door.

Home tomorrow with lots of our own garden work to do. Wonder where we will go next?

Celebrating the 4th of July

Hope most of you will be able to get out and enjoy your truck camper over the 4th of July. TCs and celebrations just seem to go together. Our holiday started June 30th with the arrival of TC friends from Maryland. They are on their way to Nova Scotia and stopped in for an overnight. We cooked up a big fish chowder and sat and shared tales of places to go.

Both Lances were squeeky clean even with being on the road for twelve hours. That Maguires wax does the trick.

Daryl, Barbara, Mary and Charlie just before heading off on the obligatory visit to LL Beans and then continuing their trek north. It's always fun to have fellow campers stop in.

We'll be headed off to camp with 6-8 other TCs on a beach. Fingers crossed it's not soft sand but the others are experienced beach goers and we've got shovels!

F350 in the driveway

Is this a gorgeous truck or what? Dream to drive, peppy, easy to handle, very very quiet engine. It's so quiet we miss the clatter sound of a diesel. This is a 2010 Ford F-350 DRW diesel with a 6.4 engine and 3.73 gears. Today we had an extra leaf spring added to help with the TC weight sitting well on the truck. Monday and Tuesday, the truck body gets a sprayed in LineX coat and the Torklifts and camper power receptacle get installed. Great trade in value on the old F350 and the incentives from Ford were just too good to pass up. Figure this will be our last camper truck before we go tottering off into the sunset.

Wonder where we'll go with this one?

Trading UP!!

Way too good a deal not to trade up on a 2010 Ford F-350 DRW long body Lariat diesel. Fingers crossed that the 6.4 with the 3.53 gear ratio will still do the job with the heavy camper.

Trade takes place tomorrow and then the scramble to get an additional leaf spring put in, Torklifts and the camper plug so we can get OTRA. We are going to miss Phil's Blueberry Hill gathering but should make the on-the-sand bookdock on Winter Island for the 4th.

Putting these two photos up so the plug installer can see what is on the truck/camper currently.

Meandering through ME, NH and VT in the TC

Fun long weekend wandering around through ME, NH and VT. It was a pretty rainy time but still so good to be on the road and seeing sights. Took off from ME and headed over the Kancamagus Pass, through the fog and clouds but always beside fast flowing streams.

After those mountains out west, the White and Green Mountain ranges are pretty tame but oh so lush and green.

It's so easy to think of these streams in the winter with the ice chunks and deep cold. Summer that water is probably as cold as January and the woods are often shrouded with fog.

These boulders dropped like pebbles are called erratics and were left behind by the glaciers eons ago. This one was split in half like with a chain saw but probably by water and ice.

We continued over to West Chesterfield, NH to Bill Penny's new truck camper facility, Truck Camper Warehouse. Bill is remarkably busy with lots of new camper deliveries. He worked us in for a 12 volt

receptacle in the camper so we could have better use of our solar and battery capacity. We were the first campers to use one of Bill's full RV sites behind the big building. Power, water and good company.

Massive thunderstorms and tornado warnings were everywhere so we decided to head a little closer to home. Ended up camped on the Saco River in North Conway right by the river. The weather alert radio went off a couple of times with storm warning but they never arrived.

One last spin around Lake Winnepausaukee and home again to get the camper totally cleaned out and restocked. All the accumulated stuff never used is now out and we are clean, packed and ready for the next trip.

GFI, Solar, Tall Pines and lots more

Time to catch up the blog on our Truck Camper travels. First - the mystery battery problem was dirty battery terminals. Once cleaned and sprayed with dielectric cleaner, the batteries charged again. More on this later.

Mid April is the time of year for the Mid Atlantic Truck Camper rally run by Ron and Michelle Humphries. What a great time it is to meet up with old TC friends, meet lots of new ones and learn of new places to go. We left Maine on Sunday, April 10th and overnighted at a Cracker Barrel in Fishkill, NY. Great service CB provides as they freely let RVers use their lots. We always enjoy a good meal and a safe night's sleep. Mysterious power and water leaks start and make us pretty uneasy. Stopped at Delaware RV Center and had the batteries checked. They tested good on a load test and we confirmed that the water leak was probably from a split low water hot water drain valve. Very dumb placement of the valves as hot and cold are side by side and virtually impossible to work on. Here's the valve after repair by Xtreme Campers in High Point, NC. They used PEX tubing and a knife handle valve.



On to Assateague National Seashore to camp on Bayside Loop C with TC friends Fran and Chuck from CT. As always it's amazing to see the wild ponies wander by, all the shore birds and enjoy the warmth of a southern spring sun. The pine pollen was so thick it looked like yellow rain and both of us started wheezing from the pollen.





A lingering TC problem cropped up once again - no heat from the gas furnace. Chuck was a RV tech in a former life and kindly swapped out the Suburban furnace board for us. Yes we carried a spare one plus an igniter and gas regulator. Furnace worked once, then quit again with none of us able to figure it out. Since there was now a cold driving rain, chickened out of a cold night and drove down to Sanford, VA to Tall Pines Campground to start the rally early. Plugged into power, turned on the cube electric heater and slept well.

By Wednesday fellow TCers were arriving in droves. Here is our Host with the North East party tent beside us, Joe watching new arrivals and a line up of our group.







Mystery electrical problem showed up again with batteries not charging. Lots of TCers looked and could not find what was going on. Finally friend Fireman Dave stuck his head way into the area with the converter and found a GFI way hidden in the back. Yeap - it was tripped. One push of the popped GFI and we are golden once again. Lessons learned - but a really poor placement of the GFI.

When we grow up, we want to be like the big boy TCers that go out on the ocean sands. These are some serious fishing rigs. This is Ron Humphrie's TC with front carriers, rod holders and serious back deck plus kids, dog, and extra water tank on top.



Our chief Wagon Master Mikeee T did his usual incredible job of cooking two huge beef roasts while Cathie T prepared haddock with crumb topping. We feasted, imbibed adult beverages and told tales of where we'd been over the last year. This feast was followed by the first of many poker games.





All too soon the rally was over, TCs scattered home from Nova Scotia to California. We head down to Xtreme Campers to see Mike Olesnevich and have him take a look at the water problem and gas furnace. He graciously worked us in on Monday AM. Travis immediately found and fixed a water pump diaphram problem we didn't even know we had. He then cut the very inconviently placed low water drain line and put in a new shut off. The gas furnace problem is proving to be a real mystery to everyone who looks. Mike and Travis found oil in the regulator from overfilled gas tanks which prevents free flow of gas to the furnace. Ah-ha every one went. Purge the tanks, lines and regulator. Fixed!! Unfortunately not. A third regulator went in, furnace worked over and over correctly so we called it good. In the meantime since we were already there, we had Mike put in a Kyrocera 120 watt solar panel and a Morningstar controller. The Host is prewired so we can add another panel later if wanted. Poor Mike suffered through my concern over the solar panel lifting off the roof in the wind from travelling. He quickly fabricated an airfoil, painted it white, applied an Xtreme Campers sticker, mounted it on the front edge of the solar panel and called it good. Obviously the panel didn't move.



Off we went to a Corps of Engineers camp area at Philpott Lake in southwest VA. Beautiful place and a great way to end our trip before pushing for home. Unfortunately the gas furnace quit again - it just won't light and times out after trying three times. The controller board, igniter, regulator have all been replaced. We'll look for a Suburban RV furnace repair place close to home and give it another try. After all we're headed to another North East TC gathering in Salisbury, MA mid May and it can still be pretty cold up here at night.



Today we cleaned the camper and didn't plug it into electric power. Sure was fun to watch the solar panel working and topping off the battery. More boondocking here we come!

Cape Cod Canal Camping March 2010

So what if we didn't have a bad winter in the Northeast? So we didn't really need a get away? Wrong! Don't say "let's go camping" to those of us up here in the cold or we just all migrate to a warmer spot for the weekend. Nine TCs had an impromptu weekend at Schusset Beach on the east end of the Cape Cod Canal.



Warm, sunny, very very windy but oh so gorgeous to be out again.



Farctic Ox and TwoMaineiacs set up the grills for a weekend of feasting. Trapper Dick, Sailor, Phil, Mikee and several others who don't post on RV.NET all showed up with our usual pot lucks and adult beverages. Phil made muffins which is why he's called "The Muffin Man".



We walked the beach, climbed on the jetty, got sunburned , tried to shield from the constant wind and traded tall tales of places to go and trips already taken.



How many people does it take to put up a windscreen? On Cape Cod - a lot.

Mystery of the TC Electrical System

Since winter seems to have disappeared we just couldn't stand to see the TC alone in the woods covered with ADCO cover and looking so forlorn. Friday AM took the cover off, batteries back in, mats in the bed of the F350, happy smiles on our face, and went to raise the jacks to load the TC. NADA! Nothing, no click, no whirr, no hummm, no nothing. Joe had been great this winter about putting a charge on the batteries every six weeks for six hours and being sure the distilled water level was good. He rechecked the connections, checked the transfer switch to be sure no mouse/squirrel/varmint had not eaten the wiring. No idea how they could since that part of the TC is under the floor, insulated, etc. but checked anyway. No signs of anything wrong. Fuses and GFI were good. Hmmmmmm......Joe and Mike T talked on the phone and Mike said to hook up the generator and see if the jacks would work. Yes they did. Loaded the camper on, drove around a little bit to see if the truck would charge the batteries more. NO battery power??!!! Batteries are Interstate and only two years old.

What the heck - it's loaded, it's a beautiful 50F degree day, Truck Camper Warehouse is open in NH and the rig needs a road trip. Called to be sure Bill Penny would be there and off we went. There is no snow in the southern reaches of ME, NH and eastern VT. The ski slopes in VT around Brattleboro were open since they are high and man made snow is keeping up with snow depths. Pretty streams were babbling along the back roads. Since the TC has no gear in it, no battery power and is still winterized we found a motel in Brattleboro. That one night stay plus restaurants of various kinds drove home the point of how much we love our Host camper and it's own bed/bath/kitchen. Sure missed traveling without using the TC as our home.

Bill was very busy delivering a Northen Lite, working on a triple slide Chalet he'd sold and talking to potential TCers. He caulked a suspicious seam for us, looked over the electrical, could not find anything wrong at all and said he'd have to mull on it a bit. We got to meet two couples new to TCing and referred them to RV.NET. One has been lurking for a year researching but hasn't posted yet. He'd just picked up his new TC last week.

Didn't take Bill long to say AH-HA, did a tiny repair and there was the electrical system fully working again. We had a pleasant trip home on small back roads and today Joe has started putting gear back in. We both really want to get OTRA - on the road again. The Mid Atlantic rally is only 39 days away.

Batteries were good, transfer switch was good, wires weren't broken, fuses and GFI were good. So.... can any of you guess what the problem was?

Truck Camper Magazine article - Ladie's Week

Is this fun or what? Our adventures in the camper are the first of the Woman's Month articles for Truck Camper Magazine. This is an online magazine with articles on trucks, campers, places to go, people, manufacturers, all associated with truck camping. You can read the article here - href="http://tinyurl.com/ykeo8kq and all of the magazine here - http://www.truckcampermagazine.com/



Gordon and Angela White are the editors/owners of the magazine. Joe and I had a great time talking to them at the fall Carlisle TC rally last year. Angela followed up with an hour long phone interview and I sent her a disk full of photos. Thanks Angela and Gordon! I hope the article helps other women become more at ease with driving and operating their campers.

Recompence weekend campout in Maine

Three hours of steady work got the TC back on the truck and ready to go over to Recompence Campground at Wolfe Neck Farm in Freeport for an impromptue weekend TC gathering. Joe's leg has improved greatly but not enough to let him go for the whole weekend. I needed a restful time in the camper so we figured I'd camp and he'd visit.

Eleven hearty New England TCs showed up for a glorious fall weekend in Maine. Friday was cold, windy but sunny for the most part. We got the fire going early on and, with various adult beverages, managed to stay warm.





This year the ground was muddy but not ankle deep as it has been before. No one sank out of sight and had to be pulled out though Paul said his was starting to list to the side. The cattle are no longer on the farm so we had no wide eyed calves mooing at us from the fence line.



Mikeeee brought his 10x20 tent which was set up as a gathering place and a wind break. As usual we shared a lot of good food and chat about places to go and see.



I took the women up to Bath for a yarn store trip and lunch at Kennebeck Tavern on the Kennebec River. Somehow we never all made a LL Bean trip this year but managed a few crafts shops and a lot of chatter. Relaxing weekend mostly spent around the fire.



Had our usual group breakfast on Sunday which the men cooked. Too short a time but so good to be back in the TC. Unfortunately our propane furnace failed so I did end up back at the house Saturday night to sleep. Too old to enjoy a 40F degree night? Yes! Mike's torn the gas heater unit apart and we're ordering parts today. Sure is nice to know someone so knowledgeable on the inner workings of all kinds of HVAC equipment.

Tempted to leave the TC on the truck awhile longer. Who knows if there is another weekend left to the year before the deep snows arrive.

TC off for the winter

Yes the TC is off the truck for the winter and almost totally winterized. Anti-freeze is in, everything perishable out and all the linens, etc. all boxed up and put up on the bed. Only things left to do are to shut off the gas, remove the batteries and (hopefully) remember to move the license plate from the TC to the truck. F-350 goes in Wednesday for service and then into the garage with the 1/4" to spare so the door goes down.

Why so early? Why did we miss the Northeast Truck Campers fall rally in Salem, MA last weekend? Well Joe came down with a pretty bad case of cellulitis in his lower right leg and spent 13 days in the hospital. The only good thing about it was we were in familiar territory with known hospital and doctors. We could have been in a back canyon in Utah or on a beach in Oregon and had to hunt for medical that would accept retired military health insurance. We'd have found it but if a medical problem had to happen, glad we were home.

The gear we took out isn't so buried in the cellar that we couldn't load the TC back up and head out during the winter. Time will tell. He's healing very well and quickly. walking easily again and getting pretty bored with spending most of his day with his leg elevated over his heart. Lots of trips left to the wound care clinic but he'll heal given a bit of time.

So...... be careful when you are out camping. Treat any tiny cut or bug bite as a source of infection. We never found what caused Joe's cellulitis but just be careful.

Wandering through PA and VA

Our fall NorthEast Truck Camper Rally was held at Western RV Park in Carlisle, PA. Chimmy and Cathy were great Wagonmasters and made everything run smoothly. We got there a day early and set up after spending a night at Cracker Barrel. how odd to say you slept at Cracker Barrel!!

Here we are all set up on quite a slope. Had to take the camper off the truck to get it level. Darryl (Headin'South) lent us a brace for the front end of the camper which stopped all wiggling. We picked up one later at Camping World. Thanks Darryl! plus those smoked oysters were great.



Lots of activities such as a dog show,



Bingo, way too many chances to sample local wine/beer, cheeses, etc. Pot luck was fun and everyone always brings their best. Five of us women even took a trip to Adam's County Winery and to a local yarn shop. Great time and since we didn't want the trip to end - we didn't.

After the Fall Carlisle PA Truck Camper rally, four of us continued on into PA and then into VA. What a joy it is to travel with like minded people who share the same things we like to do. Carlisle was a great rally and we got to meet new TCers and renew old acquaintances. We just kept on going with a bit fewer folk. It's a real joy to look ahead (or behind) and see a line of TCs riding along.



Camped overnight in Bedford, PA after stopping at a local winery. My wine of choice is single malt so the winery stops were educational. Our next stop was in Shanksville, PA at the temporary memorial to the 9/11 Flight 93 crash. That was a really sobering sight to see and made me even more appreciative of our freedoms. Plans are drawn for a permanent memorial but I wonder if part of that will be improving the farm roads to get there.

Next stop was "Falling Waters", a Frank Lloyd Wright designed house.



It was built for under $150,000 and today the operating and repair budget is over $4,000,000 a year. I loved the stone work and roof lines but it was not a house I would want to live in. Joe's head grazed the ceiling in several places and the general scale of the house was not user friendly. Gorgeous to look at but cramped to live in especially the bedrooms.

Interesting camp that night as none of our spots were any where near level and we ran out of leveling blocks and resorted to local rocks. Next day we toured "Kentuck Knob", another Frank Lloyd Wright house.



The exterior details were just perfect to fit in with the site - one of FLW's main themes in a house. The kitchen was almost laughable in size as he expected the home owner's to have most meals catered and only to serve snacks out of the kitchen. Beautiful homes to look at but living inside art must not have been fun if not functional. Our TC looked spacious after a few of the house's rooms.

We're now camped near Independence, VA at a friend of one of our TC buddies. Their summer house camp is beside a roaring brook and in a grove of old maple and oak trees. He's even built a suspension bridge over the brook.



We've had great down time with most of us reading, napping, and planning supper. Last night Chef Mikeeee cooked pork loin, steaks, and fresh veggies on our host's big BBQ grill. Life just doesn't get much better.

We're back in Maine after a great trip with good friends. Truck Camping's best benefit for us is not just the places we see, but the friends met along the way.