Family Fun

By Mary Capo- St. Augustine, FL Shortly after my husband and I were married in 1969 (and blended our five children into a new family), he began regaling me with wonderful tales of “camping.” Having been a Girl Scout in my younger years, this wasn’t a foreign concept. However, I had trouble picturing myself living in a pup tent and cooking meals for seven people over an open fire. He assured me that camping had come a long way since those days, so we were soon the proud owners of something called a “pop-up.” I’ll never forget that first outing. It was a typical, humid, Florida July weekend with temperatures in the upper 90s. To introduce me to the new wonders of camping, my husband foolishly chose a campground with sandy, non-shady sites that would never have been featured in Highways magazine. I was miserable! I remember asking my boss the following Monday morning, “What do you think about seven people living in a one-room dwelling with no bathroom, no air conditioning and a block of ice to keep food cool?” He said it sounded like a terrible poverty situation. “No,” I replied. “It’s camping!” But I soldiered on, trying to be a good sport, until one day I discovered the amazing world of motorhomes. We had dropped by a dealership that also sold camping supplies, so while hubby was browsing for some sort of fitting or gadget or one of those things with which men are eternally entranced, I wandered outside. And there it was: A used, 23-foot Lifetime Motorhome.... Read more

Our Alaska Trip Part XXX The Cost of Our Trip

This is the 30th article in a continuing series about our trip through Canada to Alaska NOTE:  This was scheduled to run a few days ago.  It’s probably the article many of you have been awaiting … We have kept daily tabs on the cost of our 58-day caravan tour through western Canada into and around Alaska and back.  The tough part now is to find a way to make our spending relevant to everyone else.  But, let’s give it a try … Tour Company:   Our only set expense was the money we sent to Adventure Caravans to participate.  You might want to take the same trip or a shorter one if you decide to caravan, and you may, after comparing features, decide on another tour company.  There are too many alternatives to cost it out in a logical way.  Add to that each year the cost of enrollment will probably be different.  If you break it down into cost per day to caravan, that also has variables, e.g., what events and meals are included.  If the trip you select offers the cheapest cost, you will probably be getting a less enjoyable tour.  And since the Alaska trip is not something you will be doing often, you want to get the most out of your visit. On the cheapie side, you may decide to do it on your own [see Part XXIX].  Staying in Canadian provincial parks or on pull-outs available almost everywhere will save you lots of money over the caravan’s full-hookup choices. This isn’t meant to dodge the issue.  You need to look at the various tour companies’ routes... Read more

Our Alaska Trip Part XXXI Since You Asked

This is the 31st article in a continuing series about our trip through Canada to Alaska NOTE:  We’re staying in remote areas of British Columbia – plenty of bears but internet opportunities are elusive.   Time to reply to comments from recent blogs, Let’s start out with an imperative:  There is too much to see and do and too many miles of highway between disparate communities to make a two-week tour worth the effort.  Our trip was to Alaska, but it’s important to understand that the journey getting there and visiting different towns and attractions is as memorable as the places.  Memories of the abundant fireweed are just as vivid as the puffin sightings and seeing Mount McKinley under the sun (we can’t say enough about the fireweed and other wildflowers in June and July) and teal blue lakes along the highways.  Riding alongside the Canadian Rockies was as breathtaking as seeing a bit of the gorgeous mountains of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.  And if you don’t see the film in the Dawson Creek Visitors Center or spend time in the Native Heritage Cultural Center in Anchorage, you’re only seeing the surface of these incredible North American wonders. We know that our lifestyle as full-time RVers gives us a skewed perspective, but we strongly recommend visiting when you can spend at least two months in the North.  From the sampler we got as members of a caravan, we know we want to come back to color in the spaces between the lines. Before responding to your... Read more

A Camping Engagement

By Kate Hutto- Ocean Pines, MD It was 1966, and the Vietnam War was on. My boyfriend, Larry, had enlisted in the Air Force and was attending the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, while I was attending the University of Arizona in Tucson. In those days, we didn’t have cheap airfares or inexpensive phone rates. Larry and I were pretty much stuck with letters. But in the fall, through our letters, we decided to get married the following summer. My parents had recently purchased an International Harvester crew cab truck with a slide-in camper. My mother took pity on us lovers being separated, and since Larry was going to have four days off for Thanksgiving, and I’d be on break, she planned a trip in the new camper to Disneyland in California. In our family, we never took a trip with just a few people—we took the whole family. This trip included my mother, father, three younger sisters and even my elderly grandparents! Larry caught a ride with another serviceman from his base and met us at California’s San Clemente State Beach. It was a beautiful setting right on the Pacific Ocean (it’s still there!) and the perfect place for me to receive my engagement ring—Larry asked me to marry him on the front seat of the International Harvester. Meanwhile, back in Tucson, my mother had prepared Thanksgiving dinner with all the fixings for nine people, packaged it all in foil and put it in the tiny camper refrigerator and reheated it all in the tiny oven—no microwave... Read more

A Site in the Woods

By James Brand- Stanwood, MI It was 1948 and we’d been married less than a year. I wanted to show my new bride where I’d deer hunted. We had little money and a red 1946 Jeep. Her father had a friend who loaned us a pre-war Kariall Kamper, a precursor to the foldout campers of today. It was sturdily built, the canvas was still good, so we hitched it to the Jeep and, at 45 mph, and we headed for Drummond Island on the eastern end of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. We took the ferry across and sought out an old logging road I had seen while hunting. We set out into the brush and forest, four-wheeling all the way with the trailer bouncing along behind. It was tough going, plowing over briars and saplings and once in a while cutting a tree to get through. The “road” hadn’t been used in years, but we forged on until we came to a clearing on the bank of the St. Mary’s River. A beautiful sight with sunlight dazzled us from the water. With the deep forest around us, everything was so quiet except for bird songs and the wavelets washing on the beach, we felt like we were a million miles from everywhere. We camped there for maybe two or three days and that experience convinced us that we would do more camping in the future, and we did! For more than 60 years with kids and then by ourselves, we’ve covered the United States and the world in different types of RVs. Alaska, Canada, Mexico New Zealand, Australia, Denmark, Norway and Sweden. It’s been a great adventure all the... Read more

A Trip of a Lifetime

By Ellen Storer- Bluffton, SC My First RV Trip began in 1945 when my brave parents bought a trailer. This adventure started when I was 9 months old. We spent the winter in Florida and spring in Mississippi. Since we seemed to enjoy it, the decision was made to see the country. So, my parents, my grandmother and I, all of 20 months old, headed west. As I came to understand it, the few campgrounds available were very primitive, so water had to be carried, dish water thrown out the door— like tent camping. There were no coach batteries or propane to maintain the refrigerator, so blocks of ice had to be purchased frequently. There were no TV, AC, holding tanks, showers or washer/dryers. I had a special crib my father made, which hung from the ceiling at night and clamped up out of the way during the day. A 1942 Plymouth car pulled the trailer. Two-lane federal highways were the roads of choice, as the interstate highway system hadn’t been developed. Stopping at night or for several days at a gas station, some farmers’ field or a home driveway was commonplace. Conversations lasted well into the night between my parents and property owners, some of whom even did our laundry, showed my father the best places to buy a bushel of oysters and other local favorites. The four of us spent about two years full-time going to such wonderful places as San Antonio, Phoenix, Tucson, Mexico, the Painted Desert, Santa Monica Beach, Yosemite and the Grand Canyon with a Park Fee of 50 cents a month.... Read more

Living the Dream

By Chris Baur- Houston, TX Back in the 70’s most kids my age were interested in sports, hobbies, collecting baseball cards and the like.  Not me.  For reasons unknown to my family and the scientific community, I became fascinated with all things related to recreational vehicles, sometime around the age of ten.   The reason this may seem a bit unusual is that I had never been camping, and was living in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn New York, raised by a single working parent, my mother.  Although I had many responsibilities in helping raise my two younger sisters and looking after our house, my favorite pastime was collecting nearly every brochure from every trailer, motorhome and RV accessory manufacturer in the country.  I also wrote to every state, requesting their official highway roadmap and campground information on the hope of someday visiting their state.  We didn’t have much money, so I couldn’t join the Good Sam Club, but I was allowed a subscription to Trailer Life magazine and eagerly awaited its arrival every month to read the latest news and product reviews.  In fact, hardly a day went by that something related to my dream of RV travel didn’t arrive in the mail!  I carefully cataloged every bit of it and could quote you the cost, specifications and capacities on any rig, along with the towing and overnight parking regulations in most states east of the Mississippi.  I studied each brochure and kept careful notes and drawings in a book.  With... Read more

Continuing down the road to a DP (number 6-7 tie)

NUMBER 7-6 (tie) AMERICAN COACH ALLEGIANCE 40X I have a couple of thoughts on the selection of the Allegiance as our number 7 choice.  First, and in the interest of full disclosure, I currently own an American Coach Tradition and I have always been impressed with the quality of the construction, as well as the factory service.  I was somewhat surprised when I tallied the results of my survey of the various motorhomes and found the Allegiance so close to the bottom.  Keep in mind that I did not come up with a way to accurately measure or grade quality of construction and we limited our review to specific items.  Unfortunately, the Allegiance just does not measure up in those limited areas.  There may be other features that some will find valuable and for this reason, if you are considering purchasing a new diesel motorhome, I strongly suggest you at least consider the American Coach lineup. The Allegiance is a beautiful motorhome manufactured by American Coach, division of Fleetwood RV.  The coach is manufactured in Decatur Indiana, and the platform is a modified Spartan chassis known as the Liberty chassis.  The Liberty is a full featured diesel chassis with independent front suspension, air brakes, 4 air bag suspension, and a Cummins ISL 400 hp engine coupled to an Allison 3000 MH transmission.  The 40X is a three slide floorplan with one bedroom slide, and two in the front.  The basic floorplan is a “side aisle” and overall, the layout is quite nice.  The bath... Read more

One Tank Trip for Iowa Camping

This One Tank Trip seen in the Woodall’s 2010 North American Campground Directory. Iowa is thought by many to be at the center of America’s heartland, and they would be right; this is where the American ideal is alive and well. The Hawkeye State’s people are warm and friendly, who understand that you get a day’s wage for a day’s work. A great many farms run through this region, producing a sizable portion of America’s output of corn and soybeans, but there’s a lot more to Iowa than just cornfields and farming. Make Iowa your one tank trips destination and come see for yourself. Cedar Rapids is a perfect place to start off your vacation, as it provides a blend of city and country living. You’ve got the theaters, nightlife, and fine dining opportunities available in any big city, but there’s a small town feel at work here that gives Cedar Rapids a charm all its own. There are city parks, state parks, and wide-open county parks within Cedar Rapids, providing you with plenty of places to park the rig and sit for a spell. The Cedar Rapids/Iowa City Corridor is a hiker’s dream, with a maze-like network of interconnected trails that run through the city and countryside. There are car and motorcycle museums in town to attract even the most casual automotive enthusiast, and don’t forget to cruise through the local wine country and sample the incredible vintages they’ve got for sale. Getting back on the road, head south on the I-380 for close to 20 miles until... Read more

ALERT: Dangerous Fugitives at Large — $40,000 Reward!

UPDATED 8/12/2010 Here’s a disturbing news story that has direct implications for those of us who RV camp. Anyone RV camping right now should be alert! This especially applies to those of us who are currently in the Western states. On July 30, three male convicts escaped from an Arizona State Prison. Their female accomplice tossed them a pair of wire cutters over a perimeter fence. Since the escape, TWO males have been apprehended. But the third and his female accomplice are STILL AT LARGE. They have been on an apparent crime spree — and they are frequenting campgrounds and truck stops! Authorities are still searching for John Charles McCluskey, 45, and his accomplice, 43-year old Casslyn Welch. McCluskey was serving a 15-year prison term for attempted second-degree murder, aggravated assault and discharge of a firearm. #gallery-1 { margin: auto; } #gallery-1 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 50%; } #gallery-1 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-1 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } McCluskey is believed to have grown a beard and dyed his hair black. Welch is believed to have dyed her hair blonde. John Charles McCluskey Casslyn Welch Full body shot of McCluskey . Gary & Linda Haas Tracy... Read more

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