Sioux City, Iowa to Buffalo, Wyoming

Tonight is June 4th and we are in Buffalo, Wyoming. Decided to stay at a KOA campground overnight to catch up on internet, laundry and to get off the road a bit earlier than we usually do. There is a cold, driving rain and we are hopeing that this rain at 4,500 feet elevation is not snow at the 9,000 feet elevation we will be tomorrow. Here's a catch up on where we've been.

June 1st
What a truly amazing country the USA is. Neither of us has ever traveled west and it is quite the journey. Today we left Iowa and took Route 20 from Sioux City over into Nebraska. Talk about the heartland of farming - mile after mile of huge farms, cornfields, and cattle feed lots which you could smell a long time after you passed them.

North we then went on I-81 to 18 to 281 to finally I-90. In Chamberlain, IA we stopped at an Iowa Information Center which also was an interpretive center for part of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Good artifacts and a lot of decorative panels added to the interest.



All along I-90 there are places where the earth just drops away in the distance and all you see is a curve with sky and a thin line where the land just stops. We'd never been in a place that you couldn't see something in the distance. We're very curious as to where all the cattle are that should be grazing the pastures. Yes there are a lot of beef cattle but the land is so vast there surely could be more.

The weather radio sounded an alert just as we were getting a bit anxious of a huge thunderstorm ahead of us as we neared the Badlands. Did we feel it could be a tornado? No but what do we know! NOAA put out an alert for a severe ail/thunderstorm but fortunately it passed to our south.



and gave us a rainbow over the Badlands



We kept thinking of the pioneers walking across this land and coming upon the Badlands as a barrier to progress. Fortunately the Badlands don't go as far north/south as a big mountain range but the sinking feeling seeing that range must have been a real downer. We walked out on three separate trails in the Badlands, each quite different in geological features. Many rabbits and ground squirrels but fortunately no rattlesnakes though there were many warning signs. It is a lot
hotter than our normal New England and this is still the cool side of a western summer.



Tonight we are in a Badlands campground near Interior, SD so we can catch up on laundry, internet and a rest time. Tomorrow we go up to Rapid City to several museums and then to find a camp spot inside of Custer State Park.

June 2



Thunderstorms all night with big boomers and lightning but the TC is snug and dry. Sure glad we took the time before we left to recaulk a few questionable seams. Looks like rain for the next week but so what!

We saw pheasant, quail, what I think were partridge, rabbits, coyotes and one lone buffalo on the trip through SD so far. Gonna have a bison burger. We're headed off for an oil change and museums in Rapid City.

June 2
Sitting in the parking lot of a hotel in Hill City, SD using internet.

Oh what a day! Today made the entire trip worth every gallon of diesel. We'd stayed overnight in Interior, SD and slept through a big thunderstorm with lighting and some hail. Little blobs of hail still on the ground in the morning but the day turned into bright sun and 70+ temps. There is almost always a wind in the west but it keeps the bugs down. As we only got through a small edge of the Badlands
yesterday, we wanted to drive through more. Leaving Interior on Rte. 44 we found a one lane dirt road that cut back up to the Badlands at Conata. With the rainstorm last night, this was one slick, red mud road.



Why there is a town name I don't know as there is nothing there but an intersection. We drove over cattle grates and started towards the Badlands in the distance. Along the way there were pronghorn antelope,



herds of cattle, many hawks, prairie dogs and beautiful flowers. This 20 mile drive was one of the reasons for coming west, to see what it must have looked like before suburbia descended. We'd hoped to find such a road into scenic wonders and this was a gem.

The truck and TC however need a major bath. We stopped after reaching pavement and scrapped off pounds of red, heavy mud but need a power washer to get it back to semi-clean.



On to Rapid City to the Ford dealer for an oil change. We'd called ahead and they graciously worked us in and did the work quickly. From there we went to the Journey Museum which had geology, paleontology, early plains settler and Lakota Sioux exhibits. We spent a good deal of time here as the exhibits were well documented and interesting.



After lunch at a bodega with spicy chili and fry bread, we headed for Mt Rushmore. The drive takes you from 3,200 feet elevation in Rapid City to 5,500 feet at Mt.Rushmore. The climb is long, slow and done in tow haul for the most part. Sorry South Dakotans but your state allows billboard advertising and they got pretty thick and ugly. The tiny town of Keystone is just prior to Rushmore and is one solid tourist trap with screaming billboards. There is no way to easily avoid
Keystone unfortunately.



I was oddly moved by the rock sculpture at Mt. Rushmore. I had expected just tourist hype but it was a very patriotic display especially as you walk through a gallery of all the state flags to the main view point. We'd thought of skipping it but glad we didn't. Plus there were a total of five TCs in the parking area !!

We'd called Custer State Park to be sure the Iron Mountain Road, a portion of Rte 16 we wanted to take from Rushmore to a Park campground would take the TC. We are under 12' barely but count ourselves as 12' tall. There were three tunnels on that road, all over 12' but just barely.



The road snakes and twists back on itself in hairpin turns. FUN road to drive. We're tonight in the Game Lodge campground and have taken the Host off the truck.



Tomorrow we will drive more of the Custer State Park roads including going through the tunnels that won't take the TC. One is only 8'4" wide and the man camped next to us tonight scraped one of his dually fenders going through. Wonder if we have a steadier hand? We're most interested in driving the Wildlife Loop to see buffalo, mountain sheep and wild horses.

NY to Iowa

Thursday, May 29, 2008
Left Dick and Elizabeth's at 8:30AM after a wonderful coffee cake and tea breakfast. Beautiful weather, clear and sunny with not a lot of traffic. I wish we could look back to see their TC following along with us but alas not this trip. Here's Dicks toy shed and part of Elizabeth's gardens.



Took Route 90 over to Buffalo and then alone Lake Erie to Erie, PA. Miles and miles of grape vines for wineries but didn't stop to stock up on a case or two. Not much of a wine drinker and still trying to keep the weight down in the TC for diesel mileage. Decided to try to get to the other side of Cleveland, OH to a Cracker Barrel in Sandusky, OH for overnight. Went through Cleveland at 5PM rush hour. It was pretty busy but not like the Long Island Expressway. Sorry Long Islanders but once a TC has survived that drive there isn't much else that can seem bad to drive in. Had supper there but decided the parking was too tight to be comfortable so headed on.

Next went past Toledo on I-80 and now are in a rest area on the Ohio Turnpike. Asked permission and parked in a corner under a shade tree. Why shade tree I don't know since it is 10PM! It is sort of like "Planes, Trains and 18 Wheelers" with the noise but bet we sleep well plus I have earplugs if needed. Tomorrow we skirt the bottom of Gary and Chicago,IL and head for Amana,Iowa which is the start of our west trip. We know we blew through a lot of good parts of many states but the goal was to see parts of the country we haven't gotten into yet.

Friday, May 30th

We're now parked behind the Amana Woolen Mill for the evening. Shame neither of us dance polka since tonight Barefoot Becky and the Ivanhoe Dutchmen are putting on a show. This little town is full of folks from all over the Midwest in their polka dancing clothes. 80F but the camper is nice and cool parked under a tree with all the windows open. This is a very interesting town, one of the Amana Colonies settled by a group of German imagrees. Tomorrow we'll walk the town and probably buy a pound of bratwurst at the farmer's market before heading off. We plan on following Iowa's Loess Hills National Scenic Byway up to Sioux City and from there over to Rapid City. From now on we plan on small TC roads.

Some thoughts while we traveled. I'd never really known what "amber waves of grain" meant until I saw a field of winter wheat waving in the wind. It undulated just like the ocean but in green rather than blue. Also, we don't appreciate what the farmers do to raise their crops. We saw many out on tractors after dark working in the fields. More and more of the big farms are going into housing but there are still huge tracts of land being farmed. The vineyards are hand care and those stretched for miles. We saw a cow who had somehow gotten over the pasture fence and was on the interstate side of the field grazing. Wonder what will happen to her and the loss of an animal to the farmer? MidWesterners go out of their way to be polite and helpful. Anywhere we stopped, folks came up having seen the Maine plate and wanted to know if we needed help. That happens also in the Northeast but not to such an extent.

Diesel has ranged from $5.08 in New York to $4.73 in Ohio. The mileage has been horrible since we have been fighting a head wind since we left Elizabeth's. Good thing we have saved for years for this trip. So far $542.59 for 111.4 gallons of diesel for an average mpg of 11.2, way under our usual 12.5. Still happy we are doing this trip and really looking forward tomorrow to the Loess Hills loop where we can get back on some of the real back roads with the TC. Photos next time we get to wireless.

Saturday, May 31st



Picture perfect day with blue, blue sky and bright white clouds drifting along like puff balls. No storms in sight but the fields were flooded in many places with tiny corn plants under water. The work the farmers do to plant every square inch available is amazing. What cannot be planted is left in cover for the field creatures and to act as erosion control.



We spent most of the day in Amana, Iowa walking around a town with no commercial blight, clean, friendly, lots of perennial gardens in bloom. We visited the butcher, baker and the candle stick maker plus the quilt shop, the woolen mill, the micro brewery, the general store and a couple of barns. This is one of four colonies founded by the Germans in the 1800s. The buildings are mostly made from sandstone and hand planed wood beams. I'd recommend a visit to this town as long as you aren't looking for a theme park experience.



Instead of heading north from Amana up to Route 20 and across Iowa to Sioux Falls and then over to Rapid City, SD, we cut over on I-80 to the Loess Hills Scenic Byway which parallels I-29 south to north. Loess is the remnants of the ice age rock debris that has been ground into gravel and sand and pushed into hills by the Missouri River. The flood plain of the river is many miles wide and ends at the pushed up hills which look like sand covered with some vegetation.



We're camped for the night at the Preparation Canyon State Park which is sort of near Moorhead, Iowa. I'm uploading this thanks to a camper with an air card. We don't get far from our technology do we? 80F at 8:30PM Central time. Doesn't get this hot in Maine on July noon.

Tomorrow we head up to Sioux City to catch Route 20, not an interstate but a country road through Nebraska and then north to Murdo, South Dakota where we will get on I-90 over to Rapid City. Looking forward to the Journey Museum and the Sioux Indian Museum. We'll then go to Mount Rushmore and camp after in Custer State Park. I want to wake up and look out the window at buffalo!

On The Road to the West

After many years of planning, we are finally on the road to the western part of the USA. First 350 miles was just turnpike driving over to Elizabeth and Dick's house in NY. These are TC friends met several times now at rallies. Great dinner and hours of chatting and a super night in the TC.



They live on big acreage with lots of room for toys like TC, tractor, boat, gardens, perennial and vegetable gardens. Today we are headed west through PA headed for Ashtabula, OH and the Maaritime and Coast Guard Museum.

Spring Rally in Andover, VT

What a great time we had in Andover, VT at the North-East Truck Camping Jamboree last weekend. We've finally gotten the truck camper all cleaned up inside and out, reprovisioned and the extra stuff taken to VT taken out. We're planning a long summer trip and are trying to lighten the load to haul along.

We went from an empty field to a total of 31 truck campers with over 65 people!


Part of the crowd



We had classes on propane compartment leaks, refrigerator maintenance, fly fishing, DeLorme mapping for route planning and seam caulking/maintenance. We played "Fishy" a form of Bingo, held a 50/50 raffle and raffled off a multitude of great door prizes. Here's Mike T talking about refrig maintenance.



The Friday night hot dog roast was a smashing success with only a dozen dogs left over! We had drink/snack gatherings, pot luck supper, and the traditional men cook the breakfast morning.



We had great weather with only one gully washer rain storm but that was when we were in the rec hall having pot luck. Lots of old friends seen again and lots of new friends met. We're so glad we started truck camping.

Front basket added to the TC

Well we had to keep up with the Assateauge TC folks we met at the Tall Pines Campground rally. Many had these beautiful front carry baskets. However, we had to do it with a New England flavor, without the fishing gear pole holders and the coolers since we don't have too many of those wide, warm beaches we can get out on.



The front receiver is a Drawtite front hitch. Glad we had it installed rather than trying to do it ourselves as the bumper had to come off, fog lights out, and the frame drilled in two places. Even with an air powered drill, it took quite a bit to get through the front frame piece. Guy at the hitch place really knew what he was
doing but it still took him an hour total install with the right tools.



The receiver has a swivel so that the platform basket can be raised up 90 degrees and travels flat against the truck grill. We wanted the ability to carry extra though we won't be doing it a lot - thus the basket that can get out of the way. Doesn't stick out far. Basket is more a platform with a 4" lip, not a deep basket like Mike T and others in our North East Truck Camper group have.



Total weight added was 90 pounds (prior to loading it). Here we are trying to get lighter and we added. We'll try it out going to Andover for the North East spring rally next week by carting along some firewood in those plastic milk crates.

Spring Truck Camping Jamboree Info.

North-East Truck Camping Spring Jamboree
May 15, 16, 17 & 18, 2008



Horseshoe Acres Campground
1978 Weston-Andover Rd.
Andover, VT 05143
Tel: 802-875-2960

$25.00 a night, water, electric, dump station, cable available
No cell phone or wireless service available

N43° 17.02 W72° 42.52

Andover Wagon Masters:
Anne and Joe
TwoMaineiacs2@Yahoo.com

Events Schedule
Register at the big white tent and sign up for events. Seminars will all start at the tent. Coffee, tea, and hot chocolate will be available at the tent each morning.

Thursday, May 15th
Arrive, set up your rig and enjoy an evening by the fire, meeting new friends and seeing what old friends have been up to. Gather by the campfire late afternoon with each person bringing their own drinks and an appetizer to share.

Friday, May 16th
During the day, Cathie will be taking photos of you and your TC. She will print a copy for you and keep one copy (with your permission) for a group photo album.

9:30 -10:30AM Mike will perform a gas leak check in your TC propane compartment and provide a new 9V battery for your TC Smoke Alarm.

11:00AM Joe and Anne will show Delorme GPS mapping for road trips

1PM Dave will demonstrate fly fishing. Farctic Ox will show how to carry and use bear spray.

6PMish Our traditional hot dog roast! Those good old red snapper hot dogs will be provided along with regular hot dogs, all the condiments, cole slaw, potato salad and baked beans.
Gather by the campfire afterwards. Farctic Ox, Mike and Larry will talk about setting up solar power for TCs and what kind of system and battery bank works best.

Saturday, May 17th
Sign up to show off your TC if you wish. Prizes will be given for the most customized, the oldest and the one from farthest away.

Fartic Ox will hand out a scavenger hunt list in the morning. Turn it in by 2PM. The winner will be announced at pot luck.

10-11AM Mike will show hands on the best way to keep your refrigerator equipment clean and running well.

1:30PM Rob will install TorkLift Stable Load spring pads on a truck

3-4PM Cathie will lead us in games with prizes in the recreation hall.

6PMish Potluck dinner in the rec hall. After dinner we’ll draw the 50/50 and raffle a great group of door prizes. The fall Jamboree Wagon Masters will talk about the next two events and we will sketch in plans for 2009.

Sunday, May 18th

8AM – Community breakfast in the rec hall. It’s traditional for the men to cook and clean up!

9:30AM Farctic Ox will demonstrate his DUH system for easy loading and unloading his TC.

*************
Upcoming Jamborees
In 2008
September 18,19,20 & 21
Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park
Paradise Pines Resort
North Hudson, NY

Contact:
Dick and Elizabeth
barvan@frontier.net
************************
October 16, 17, 18 & 19
Winter Island
Salem, MA

Contact:
Mike Tassinari
tassiebb@comcast.net

Tall Pines and Assateague

We are home after a great truck camper RV rally at Tall Pines Harbor Campground in Sanford, VA. We ended up with ten rigs from New England attending. We all sure did enjoy not having any snow for a change. What a joy not to be buried in parkas, mittens, hats with ear flaps, and heavy boots. There was enough yellow pine pollen to look like snow but it didn’t need plowing and wasn't freezing. There were over 130truck campers attending plus the rigs the dealers brought to show. It was truly an amazing sight.

Here's Joe just after setting up our rig on arrival. We were between two other New Englanders with friends from Nova Scotia to Florida all around us.



Our group started off Thursday night with a feast of prime rib and fresh haddock cooked by Mike T under a 10x20’ open sided tent he’d brought in his front basket carrier. Fun to catch up with friends and hearing about JerBear and Paula’s winter TCing in Mexico.



It was fun going through all the new TCs the vendors brought and seeing what new products were available. We picked up a set of Torklift bump stops from East End Campers.

At the end of the rally, six of us convoyed over to Assateague Island National Seashore Park and camped by the dunes. Ponies and tiny Sitka elk were all around the TCs. The photo looks like the ponies are fenced in but they are wild and free.



Mike set up a wind shelter off his awning as the wind was howling. Long walks on the beach watching for the wild ponies and tiny Sitka elk, followed by a huge night time thunderstorm were the perfect end to a great trip. It was worth every hour of driving and each gallon of diesel. We’ll be going back to Tall Pines next year.

This fellow watched us drive off.

Loaded up!

Host Truck Camper is loaded up and ready for whatever adventures come in 2008. We're finding lots more places for storage than we knew of last fall. Since we traded so late in the year, we didn't have a lot of time to discover the best way to pack it up.



Over on RV.NET, Pete asked everyone to post their Bucket List of places to go before you cannot go anymore. Ours was pretty long - Oregon/Washington coastline, Glacier National Park, Alaska, British Columbia, Natchez Trace, the road through Colorado National Monument near Fruita, CO, Beartooth Highway, 296 from Cody to Yellowstone, all of Yellowstone, the Badlands, Mt. Rushmore, Custer State Park, Omaha Zoo, Devil's Tower, Cody, Wyoming. And then there is all of Nova Scotia and most of New Brunswick!

North-East TC Rally May 15-18, 2008

With all this snow/sleet/rain/freezing mess lately in the North-East,it's energizing to look forward to the Spring North-East Truck Camper Jamboree coming up May 15,16,17 & 18, 2008 (Thursday to Sunday) in Andover, VT.






Come join us and see lots of rigs, meet folks who are really into TCing and who are willing to share both their technical knowledge and information on trips they've enjoyed. This is a social gathering without vendors of equipment. If you haven't attended a rally, this is a great way to meet fellow TCers.

Here's our PLANNED schedule of events but PLEASE let us know if there is something you'd like to discuss or do. Some of our events are dictated by weather but we have a very large, dry wooden building right on the safari field for our use. This building also has bathrooms with showers.

EVENTS SCHEDULE
Thursday, May 15th
Arrival, set up your rig and enjoy an evening by the fire meeting new folk and seeing what your fellow TC buddies have been up to. It's pretty traditional to bring your own drinks and appetizers and share them at this meet and greet.

We'll set up a table for giving away TC related items that are good but you don't want or use anymore. If it's such a great item you want some $$ back, you can price it to see if anyone wants to purchase.

Friday, May 16th
Mikeee and Cathie have agreed to keep their big coffee maker full each morning so early risers will have a place to gather. Those of us already there will get to watch the arriving TCs ford the entry stream. Socialize during the day, perhaps visit either of the nearby Vermont Country Stores or hike in the Green Mountains surrounding the campground. Chester, VT is nearby and is a picture perfect New England town with book stores, a quilt shop, antique stores, and small local restaurants and cafes. It's a nice place to walk and visit.

Mikeee will help you inspect your TC to see if you need to re-caulk and we'll discuss the best products and methods of doing so. Joe and I will be available during the day to show anyone interested how DeLorme Street Atlas software can be used with a small GPS unit to both plan trips and to track yourself while on the road.

6PM-ish we will have a hot dog roast on Mikeee's special swords, ah skewers. Those good old red snapper hot dogs (and the regular ones) will be provided along with all the fixings. We'll gather by the fire afterwards. Farctic Ox and Mikeee have agreed to talk to us about olar power for TCs.

Saturday, May 17th
Today we will do tours of the different TCs in attendance (only if you wish to put yours on tour). Many of us have not seen different types of TCs and enjoy seeing the variety of floor plans and equipment.

Trapper Dick will demonstrate ham radio and how he uses it while TCing. Farctic Ox will lead a scavenger hunt. Mikeee will provide new 9 volt batteries for your detectors.

Two of our attendees will be planning games for the kids who are coming. Perhaps we can persuade Farctic Ox to once again show his DUH system of easily loading your TC onto the truck. We'll have a contest with prizes for the most customized TC, the one coming the furthest away, and the oldest.

Cathie has again volunteered to be the Saturday afternoon Activities Director. We'll gather in the meeting hall around 3PM prior to drinks/appetizers and evening activities and potluck. This meeting could include a Sudoku challenge and Bingo unless all us TCers eat the Necco Wafer used as markers again.

Our potluck dinner will be 6PMish in the community building. After inner, we'll have a 50/50 drawing and then raffle off some really superior door prizes.

Sunday, May 18th
Meeting time to be decided on the traditional community breakfast in the meeting building but probably around 8AM. We'll all provide the items to cook and share. Farewell - and see you at the fall jamboree September 18-21, 2008 at Jellystone Park Camp Resort/Paradise Pines in North Hudson NY.

As we get closer to time, we'll list things that we'd appreciate people bringing. You can reach us at TwoMaineiacs2@yahoo.com if you have a question you don't want in public. If you have a friend who isn't a TCer but has another type of RV, they will be warmly welcomed.

Anne and Joe

Host in the snow - waiting for spring

March 4, 2008 and somewhere there is spring - but not in Maine. Another snow and ice storm coming in tonight. All we can do is just periodically check the camper and longingly look at it out our front door. That grey lump in the distance past those mountains of snow is the Host - waiting to be liberated and back on the road.

Why aren't we on the road at the moment? Sure wish we were but we're home right now and shovelling an awful lot of snow. Dug a path to the TC today and opened up the rear zipper door on the ADCO cover. Not a sign of a leak, mice, or any problems that were visible. Sure wish the Host was on the truck and headed south. Couple more months and off we'll go again.

Host ADCO cover

This lump looks like one more boulder in the rock pile but it is the Host under ADCO cover until spring. Makes us really sad every time we look out the windows. We'll be anticipating an early spring rally at Tall Pines Harbor in Sandford, VA in April.

Dry camping on the Maine coast

Dry camping on the Maine coast

A most excellent, if cold, adventure this past long weekend. TC friends Cathie and Mikeeee T with Miss Della the Basset Hound from near Boston, MA and Toni and Ron from Cape Cod came up Friday night. We celebrated an early Thanksgiving and had a big dinner with a "bit" of wine and spirits. Fortunately our house power breakers and extension cords held for the two TCs in the yard and all slept warm in their own TC beds.



Next morning we had a yard full of TCs, two Lance and a Host. Packed up and hit the road. Stopped at a big craft show in Augusta, had lunch at a boat launch along the Kennebec River, and then stopped a bit in Bath, ME. Our destination was Recompence Campground at Wolfe's Neck Farm in Freeport, ME.

Even though the campground is officially closed, campers can stay at $25 a night with no facilities except a very cold outhouse. We lined up along the point of West Bay after driving through Wolfe's Neck Farm and being the center of attraction for herds of cattle who probably hadn't seen a TC convoy before.



We had two absolutely perfect days of camping. Days were in the high 30s, low 40s for temps, not a drop of rain, bright blue skies but a healthy wind that reminded you it was November, not July. Big flocks of seagulls and small flocks of geese and ducks were in front of the campsites all the time. Incredibly relaxing to sit by a fire and watch the tide come and go, gradually revealing the rock ledges and seaweed beds right at your feet.



We've got to thank Mike again for his help with learning how to properly use the Honda eu2000i generator. This was our first ever dry camp and it was occurring when the night temps were in the 20s. First night I just about froze because I didn't know that the furnace wouldn't drain the batteries overnight so was too conservative on setting the temperature. The extra insulation in the form of Dow Insulation board and space blanket under the bed helped some but there was still what felt like a draft between the mattress and cabinets. That space got stuffed with bath towels around 3AM! The other campers are snoozing away because they have their temps set higher and also have 12volt bed heaters. Guess what we are going to order?



Sunday we trucked over to LL Bean to see the new hunt/fish store and poke around a bit. Freeport can be a mob scene on a sunny holiday weekend so we didn't stay long. We did go down to http://www.grittys.com/ Gritty McDuff's Pub and enjoyed pub food along with locally brewed Christmas Ale, some of which found its way back to the TCs. Maine is blessed with a lot of small micro breweries and this is one of the best.



We returned to Recompence for a much warmer evening. We are thoroughly enjoying the new Host Rainier especially for the floor space. Each evening we hosted (no pun intended) the meal, fitting six adults, a spare small table and extra chairs in for dinner. I'm still learning the convection/microwave unit so heating up food was a bit of a trick on my part.

Only downer so far is that we aren't able to run the generator with the propane furnace going and then start the convection oven. The oven draws 13 amps and will only run for 6-7 seconds and then kick off if the furnace is running. Pretty easy to just turn off the heat for a bit while dinner is cooking. Dometic refrigerator worked perfectly off of propane.

Good company well enjoyed, lots learned about the Host and dry camping. Both the other rigs had full water with hot water heaters going even though the Lances did not have heated basements. Here we are with a heated basement but no water other than Coleman water carriers. We'd already winterized and chose not to drain out the antifreeze, purify and re-antifreeze for a weekend. Worked well but with all we learned, next time we will not hesitate to use the camper in cold weather like it is designed for.

The Host is now unpacked, off the Ford and covered up with the ADCO cover.


We'll keep the area around it snowblown this winter. Never know if we'll get an overwhelming urge to take off but spring isn't that far away. Right??

The new Host Rainier 9' 6" truck camper

For those of you wondering how we proceeded with our potential 2005 Lance 1121 sidewall problem ........ we traded it for a Host 9'6" Rainier double slide at East End Campers in Southold,NY.



On the way to VT to meet up with some truck camper friends almost two weeks ago, we stopped at a Lance dealer in NH to buy both a side and a rear awning. The dealer said our model had a potential sidewall collapse issue due to wood being used in the sidewall support rather than metal. We did not have the awnings installed because we did not want to spend money on what might be a problem camper. We never made VT, getting a phone call and having to make a U turn south to help with mom's health issues. After a week there, we headed north and decided to stop at East End Campers on Long Island, NY. Arrived on a Thursday morning after a horrendous drive on the LI Throughway and camping overnight near the dealer. Bill Penny, East End's owner, thoroughly inspected our Lance and said it did NOT have any sidewall issues, was a later model that was built with metal, not wood and had no signs of any leaks anywhere. Nice news to hear. We had him give us an estimate on a trade in for a camper that had more floor room and allowed more natural light in. Bill showed us 5-6 TCs including a triple slide Host with rear coach, a Host with a rear tent and a huge Okanagan that was big enough to be a 5th wheeler.

Bill let us wander around the whole lot full of truck campers which included S&S, Host, Okanagan, Northstar, Eagle Cap, Bigfoot and some used Lances. He had shown us the Host Rainier 9'6" model with double slide and wet bath early on but we dismissed it since we had a 11'6" Lance and thought we had to have something as large if we decided to trade. We wandered around, in and out of probably 20 different truck campers and ended up coming back over and over again to the Host Rainier. Brought our lunch from the Lance, ate in the Host, enjoying all the light from the huge windows and the big clear hatch over the bed. This model has a convection microwave, no oven, wet bath and incredible inside storage. When the two slides are out, there is enough room to dance. No more side stepping around the other person, easy walk by. We had Bill give us a trade price since he felt he would have no trouble at all selling our Lance 1121 as it was in such great condition. He is no longer a Lance dealer but did have some used on the lot.

We priced getting our Air Lift airbag brackets replaced, adding Atwood dually swing out brackets, a Honda 2000 generator, and a DT TV to the Host price. We had decided where we were comfortable with $$ trading and the price came in right on the money. So..... we camped on Bill's lot in the Lance Thursday night to do the trade on Friday. He had two other TCs to deliver that day but worked us in. Here's Joe waiting for delivery.



By Friday night we had the new TC, everything was moved over, somehow getting 11'6" worth of gear stuffed into 9'6" with less outside storage. Back seat of the Ford is still full of lots of "things" we shouldn't have been carrying anyway. Good way to lighten the load.

The Host is 2 feet shorter than the Lance and 1200 pounds lighter since it is aluminum frame, fiberglass bonded with foam insulation instead of wood/metal. It is 6" higher and the fit/finish inside is perfection. We spent hours in it before buying and could not find ONE thing to fix other than a missing window shade and a screw on an overhead light. Bill personally did what few minor repairs were needed and also recaulked every seam as a detail person would do. I cannot recommend this dealer more highly. He really cares about meeting your individual TC needs and putting out a good finished product.

Here we are on the ferry headed from Long Island to CT



Met up with TC friends in Salem, MA for this past weekend. We had six people in the Host watching the Patriots football game, all of us with room to move around and sit comfortably. Floor is even big enough to use outside fold up chairs.

We loved the Lance. It was our first TC and got us on the road and seeing North America. But it was time to either put some money into accessories like awnings, solar and a better TV, live with the tight space or spend a bit and upgrade for years to come.

See you on the Road!

Camped on the shores of Chesapeake Bay

Not to rub it in but we are camped totally alone on the shores of Chesapeake Bay at Tall Pines Campground in Sanford, VA.



Gorgeous sunset, flocks of Canada geese flying over, grilled supper, few drinks enjoyed at sunset.



After a pretty stressful week helping mom in the assisted living facility, this is a true relaxer. Tall Pines is the campground where th Mid Atlantic Truck Camping group holds their spring truck camper rally and it is for sure we will be back to attend. Beautiful, well kept grounds, friendly owners who made us feel very welcome. It's still 71 degrees at 8:15PM with a nice breeze off the water. If we were any closer to the Bay we would be in it. Tomorrow we will go over to Chincoteague to see the wild ponies and walk the dunes a bit and then head north again. We went through many small towns on the Eastern Shore after crossing the Bay Bridge Tunnel at Norfolk. Big RVs couldn't get in those towns but the truck camper was perfect size.

Photos from NH Truck Camper Rally

Playing with online technology. Let's see if I can link in to the Photo Bucket account where there are 97 photos from our North Conway, NH Truck Camper Rally. Great time had by all, lots learned and many new friends met.

http://s67.photobucket.com/albums/h288/TwoMaineiacs2/North%20Conway%20Fall%202007%20Rally/

with a guest password of TruckCamper.

North Conway NH Truck Camper Fall Jamboree

Arrived in North Conway, NH before noon for the start of the New England Truck Camper Fall Jamboree. 26 Truck Campers expected with the farthest away from Washington State. There are about a dozen campers here already and a pleasant time was had around the campfire trading places to go and tips on camper use. Really fun to put faces with the names from the Truck Camper Forum on RV.NET. We all had a great time teasing Mike T about being overloaded with his camper once again. Of course, he did arrive with a front carrier full of firewood. Great weather, no bugs, river has almost enough water for a canoe. Tomorrow we meet/greet and socialize. Tomorrow evening is hot dog roast with other communal meals to follow. As usual, our TC performed perfectly. The new Torklift with FastGun tiedowns are an amazing difference from the HappiJac system the truck came with. No sway, no bounce, just a solid feeling on the truck and camper being one unit. Feels good to be out travelling again.

Here's Mike with his foot recovering from the pins coming out and Pat unloading wood. More folk arrived quickly for the unload. Pat hosted us at her camp site and we all envied her Ford 550, Big Foot and trailer fitted out as office/spare bedroom.

North Cape Coast, Prince Edward Island, Canada

Wednesday, July 18th found us on the western leg of the North Cape Coastal Drive. From Cavendish we headed westward through beautiful farm country to Malpeque. This country could survive easily without food imports as they grown potatoes, corn, raise beef and dairy cattle and have the sea for food. Almost everyone has what looked like 6-8 cords of wood cut and ready for winter. On to Summerside to find the bag pipe college for my uncle. Missed the morning blowing? of the pipes but enjoyed walking around this small town. It is the closest to a tourist town we found and were glad to pull out.

Staying on the smallest roads we could find, we headed for the first lighthouse of the day at Cap Egmont. Met a couple in their F-250 without 5th wheel and chatted for a long time. They live about an hour from us in Maine and we traded good places to go. Are all RVers friendly? Found a local seafood wholesaler in Abram Village and talked them into selling us two pounds of scallops and cans of lobster pate. House sitter will be very happy with the bounty.

Found a dirt road that led off of the secondary road and found out that red dirt roads in PEI stick to your white vehicle very well. Lots of the roads were in pitted condition; this dirt one was smooth. Ended up in Alaska, PEI at a fish pier.



Next lighthouse was at Cedar Dunes Provincial Park on the west point of the island. Only meal we ate out was here with a lunch of seafood stew and broiled sole. Very good. The RV camping area in this park had big sites, was shaded by spruce and was also right on the beach.



Lot further drive than we had figured up from the west point up to the North Cape but interesting ocean and farm views along the way. PEI is experimenting with wind power and had many of the huge wind turbines along the sea coast. Finally arrived at the North Cape to see maybe 20 wind turbines of various shapes and blade configurations. University is testing which works the best. I had no idea that a windmill was so big. Decided to cut down Route 2 through the center of the point headed back to Cavendish. Of course we had a lot of road construction but I did spot a woolen mill. The MacAusland Woolen Mill still spins yarn for woven blankets and for knitters. Behaved myself and only bought one sweaters worth of yarn.

Tomorrow we head west towards Frederickton to probably go to Kings Landing, a recreated village of early life in Canada. No camping reservations as usual but we'll find somewhere to park the TC and then head home the next day. Fun trip so far, exhausting with all the walking and sight seeing but worth the diesel and the time. Again today we felt as though we had stepped back into a much gentler, agrarian culture with friendly people and beautiful land. We'd come again.

Canada Eh?

Canada Eh? We're off again travelling the roads in the Northeast USA and into Canada. In four days we have only seen one other TC on the road but tonight there are three older Coachman TCs here in the campground. Unfortunately my French is "don't speak it" and their English is about the same. We did communicate with hand gestures mostly thumbs down at the big As and Cs. Nice wine sharing though.

Sunday - First camp night was at St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada where we once again visited Kingsbrae Gardens.
http://www.kingsbraegarden.com/. The gardens alone were worth the trip. The RV park is within walking distance of the gardens and is basically a sand pit but inexpensive and right on the water. http://www.kiwanisoceanfrontcamping.com/. Wore a couple of layers off our shoes that day.



Monday - On to St. John, New Brunswick. This small city packs a vast amount of things to do in a small area. First was a visit to the "Reversing Falls".
http://new-brunswick.net/Saint_John/reversingfalls/reversing.html. The ocean tide and the river draining meet and form a waterfall which reverses and creates whirlpools. Again a few more layers off the shoes with walking down the stairways to the river. We watched two kayakers tackle the falls, not very successfully but we didn't watch a drowning at least.

Next on to the New Brunswick Museum as they were hosting an exhibit of early shipbuilding, railroading, and logging. Even though the TC is only 26 feet long, it intimidates most parking lot attendants so we were having problems parking. One man finally told us to go park for free at Harbor Station, the city arena for hockey and concerts. There is an amazing fully enclosed, tiled walkway that goes from the arena uphill over roads, through buildings and up to the older market part of town. http://new-brunswick.net/new-brunswick/maps/sjcenter.jpg. The museum was excellent (free!), fresh fruit at the old market even better. Thankfully the return to the TC was downhill.

From Saint John, we drove on to visit a quilting friend in Sussex and then down small roads to the Fundy Provincial Park. Big wooded sites, hiking trails right out of the campground but these old feet were put up on the picnic table that night. It is amazing how clean the air is in a spruce forest with that sharp pine tang.

Tuesday - up early to hike down to Pointe Wolfe and see the tides. Pea soup fog so we only made it half way down. No sense in keeping going, could barely see each other. On we traveled through the Fundy Coastal Trail headed for Hopewell Rocks and the 40+ foot tide change. Fog lifted as we drove treating us to scenes of farms, forests, beautiful valleys filled with crops and livestock. The one short cut we tried to take (well it WAS on the Delorme Map) quickly became a turn around. Not fun feeling a 6-1/2 ton vehicle sliding sideways on loose gravel. Four wheel drive got us turned around partially in a cow pasture and back to the main Fundy Coastal Trail.



Dead low tide was at 9:09AM and we got to Hopewell Rocks about 9:30. LONG walk down,down,down to the beach, going through pine forests, wooded walkways and finally a long corkscrew set of iron stairs. Those stairs ended on the "beach" which was comprised of rocky outcrops, deep red mud and gigantic "flower pots" of stone left over from rock eroded away by the ocean. You could literally see the tide coming back in. Lots of deliriously happy children covered in muddy ooze dancing around their equally unhappy parents. Climbed back up - slowly.




On through Moncton, Shediac and then a cut over off of Route 15 to PR955 - a mistake even though the views were good out to sea. If anything were ever going to fall apart on the TC, that road would have rattled it loose. Over the Confederation Bridge to PEI - Price Edward Island and a leisurely drive through small roads to Cavendish. We'll camp out of here for two days, tomorrow probably driving the north loop out to the top of PEI and also trying to find the best seafood place on the island. Have to take my house sitter a couple of pounds of fresh scallops. More when we get Internet access again

Boothbay Harbor, Maine is a working fishing/lobstering town even though it is better known as a summer tourist destination. We met up with 20+ truck campers for a weekend gathering in the rain at Shorehills Campground http://www.shorehills.com/. We're fortunate in being able to use all of Big Pine Point at the bottom of a fairly steep hill right along the Cross River. Many of our fellow campers had kayaks and paddled from the campground out to the ocean. Each evening we gathered by a roaring fire and told tales of our RV travels.

The Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens http://www.mainegardens.org/ are now open. We toured along on a docent's tour and got to explore just a bit of the 250 acres set within a tide water forest. The gardens contain many theme gardens but also sculpture and incredible stone work in the walkways and walls. If you are ever in the area, the gardens are a must see.

Fun to see so many truck campers together, get into many new rigs and see how everyone else sets up their camper. Many shared how they installed their CB radio set ups. We all heard the weather radios sounding off as a big, fast moving thunderstorm rolled through.