Fwd: 🚀 Backyard Starship 33 has landed!

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John Mosman

Flatten the Curve

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: JN Chaney <jnchaney@jnchaney.com>
Date: Wed, Jul 1, 2026 at 8:03 AM
Subject: 🚀 Backyard Starship 33 has landed!
To: <john445@gmail.com>

Van stands at the edge...

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Hey John, Backyard Starship Book 33, Escape Velocity, is officially here! Thirty-three books in. One incredible community. Thank you for being part of it! If you haven't started this best-selling series, book 1 has over14K ratings and is available for free in Kindle Unlimited. Keep reading for more details... ESCAPE VELOCITY In the crush of defeat, Van faces his end—and the end of the Fist of Orion. But the GKU has overplayed their hand. Arrogant, vicious, and cruel, their massed attack pushes Van to a place he swore to avoid. Violence. Vengeance. And a policy of scorched earth that will burn down networks built upon power and greed. Alongside his stalwart family and crew, the Fafnir and her fleet are unleashed in a campaign that will bring centuries of arrogance crashing to a bitter end. And the earth is right in the middle of it all. The rules have changed. The goal is the same. Freedom for humanity, freedom for the stars, and a war that answers, once and for all, who is in charge of the greatest new power the galaxy has seen in thousands of years. He tried using diplomacy. He tried using peace. Now, he's going to use the Fist of Orion, and the stars will never be the same. *Now available on Amazon US, UK, CA, and AU READ NOW BACKYARD STARSHIP 29 ⇢ AVAILABLE 7/7 Money and power. Van knows it makes the stars go around, but in the wrong hands, it can lead to disaster. Armed with new ships, new fighters, and an iron will, he'll lead the Fist of Orion to one last fight against an ancient enemy—the Stillness. PREORDER Want more freebies and your own AI? Click here to fill out your survey and get additional content and goodies. With 47K members and counting, we're a pretty active group. It's free and you can get behind-the-scenes info on my books, have group discussions with other sci-fi junkies, share cat memes, or just have fun. JOIN HERE Follow for updates:

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The End

Our big trip this year was to Acadia NP in Maine. The park is breath taking! This trip we stopped at the  Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Baseball Hall of Fame, and Daryl's House.

This was a great trip and sadly our last. For health reasons we are selling our RV and simply dealing with medical issues going forward. Our years of camping and RV'ing were so fun, we will miss it so much.

Take care out there!

Yellowstone Trip 2021

 Our long trip this year was to Yellowstone National Park which we did in July. What a great trip, on our own, renewal and wonderful places. We planned to make Fargo the first day out but settled for Baraboo, WI staying at a Cracker Barrel. Staying was fine and we ate our breakfast there. We were able to use our bump out so sleeping was fine. I would recommend Cracker Barrel for one night stays, just make sure to call ahead.

The next morning we headed out to our next stop, another "one-nighter" on the way in Casselton, ND. We stayed at Governor's Inn  

RV'ing 2022

 We already did our "shakedown" trip at our usual Rock Cut State Park outside of Rockford IL. Everything in the camper worked as it should. I had a breathing issue with my allergies and went to the emergency room about 1:00 am. After a quick check in, the wait was at two hours, I felt better and we headed back to the campground.

Our big trip for 2022 starts this Friday, heading east all the way to Arcadia National Park. Most of our stops this years are touristy things: Niagara Falls, Baseball Hall of Fame, Daryl's House, Bethel Center for the Arts (Woodstock) and ending with the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame. 

The trip is still over 2,000 miles, but slightly shorter then last year's trip to Yellowstone NP. With gas and diesel fuel pricing rocketing skywards, we will paying a premium this year. DEF, needed for diesel engines is now in short supply and fortunately we have a box of it in the car we will tow. 

We will provide updates as the trips gets going!

Morrison-Rockwood State Park June 2021

 

We took a short, two hour drive, out to Morrison-Rockwood State Park for the weekend. While the weather was hot (90 degree plus) we found this state park very pleasant. The park is about fifteen minutes commute from Clinton, IA.  After hearing  how all campgrounds are packed across the country, this was about half full. Site #46 was clean and well shaded as most of the sites. 

After the two hour drive west on I-88 we passed through the quaint town of Morris. The Victorian houses on the hillside are spectacular. This is just one example. The downtown street is being redone and from what we could see have restaurants, bars, and shops. 

Driving up the streets behind the Victorian homes shows nice, suburban homes. This weekend was Garage Sale weekend with man homes with items out for sale. 

We ate lunch at Family Chef, which was packed for lunch. The folks there are friendly and this seemed where "everyone knows your name" is for real. 

On Saturday we went for a planned short hike hoping the woods a bit cooler. We actually got lost. The trail has numbered stakes to follow and at one point we realized there no stakes and we were turn around. With temperatures in the 90's we worried about wandering around to long. We finally came out by a road and fortunately a couple on horseback came by and we asked for directions. They looked at the map turned in their saddles and pointed, you should be that way at the next road crossing. They were correct, hikers saved!  

Yes, you would think the key fob car horn would have worked, but we were out of range. Thank goodness for the horse back riders!

We headed back to our site, took a nap and then Michelle fix a yummy dinner for the worn out hikers!

Lake Carlton is a fishing lake and even in the heat, many trying their luck. We had ice cream from the small restaurant and headed back to our campsite at dusk. We headed home on Sunday and can recommend Morrison-Rockwood State Park,

Rock Cut State Park

We completed out annual shake-down trip to Rock Cut State Park outside of Rockford, IL. We are still waiting for the tow bar to arrive so I drove the car behind our camper. This way we would have easy local transportation. I was surprised that the loop was not fully occupied for the weekend, to early yet? 

Our site was #432 which is well maintained. My only beef was the men's bathroom and how disgusting the toilet. Do people just 'dump' all over? Geez. I am finding the outhouses a better option. 

On Saturday we had lunch with my daughter and grandsons. The restaurant is located on the Rock River. Catching up after a long year of Covid was wonderful at an outdoor table. We then visited the marina where she parks her new motor boat. She is a new boater and she and the boys are having a ball.

My friends Scott and Lynne came down and we spent time at Traxler Park in Janesville along the river. Scott came back later to our site for a nice evening of catching-up.

All in all, a very nice weekend. Shake down for 2021 went well along with family, friends and Sir George operated tip top.  Our next trip is in Illinois to Morrison-Rockwood State Park, a new state park for us. 

A new season starts, more camping to follow!

Mechanical Update II

Tail lights are replaced and refrigerator is working. We are packing Sir George and heading to Rock Cut State Park for our shake down trip! 

 Where for 2021 (or places reserved so far)

Rock Cut State Park, IL

Morrison-Rockwood State Park, IL

KOA Milton, WI

Governor's RV Park Campground, ND

Red Tail Campground, ND

Rock Mountain RV Park and Cabins, MT

Cedar Ridge RV Park, WY

More to follow!

Mechanical Update

 Our 2021 maiden voyage is scheduled to our usual 'first trip of the season' to Rock Cut State Park in two days. We are dealing with some mechanical issues and timing.

First, the CRV was outfitted with the tow bar electrical system. We are still waiting for the tow bar itself to arrive. For our first trip I will drive the car and my wife the camper to Rock Cut. It is only an hour up the road and we are planning to see the grandkids and my daughter after many months. Also my best friend should be around. So we need the car for those travels.

The replacements for the rear tail light assemblies are in and being installed today. Our refrigerator stopped working earlier this week. After lots of back an forth on the Thor forums, our camper place found a circuit board not working and hopefully replacing that in time for this weekend's trip. If not we can just use a cooler. Sigh.....

Who?

 

John and Michelle

Water inTailights

We store our camper in our driveway over the winter months with a full cover. When uncovering Sir George for 2021 we discovered water inside the taillights. In addition, some of the break, LED lights were not functioning. 

We found a local shop, Ehrhardt's Trailer Sales who provide sales and services for RV's. located in Des Plaines, IL. We dropped the camper off on Saturday and dropped off the keys. Hopefully we have found a good shop for any future repairs or additions in the future. Review to follow.

Closer and Closer

With warmer weather we are becoming excited about the upcoming camping season. Just think, next month is our first trip! Understanding our focus has moved from hiking (but not excluding short hikes) to more RV'ing, I have found some fun things to keep up with it all. 

RV Lifestyle is a great blog about RV life run by Mike and Jennifer Wendland. They cover every facet of RV'ing from campers to gear to great places to visit. They also do a weekly podcast and have a You Tube channel. Great stuff and very useful!

"RVTrip Wizard"is the most comprehensive tool for planning RV-safe routes. You can use RV Trip Wizard to map out a trip, research campgrounds and overnight stops along the way, track your expenses, and locate points of interest in the areas you're visiting." 

This is a pay service but seems well worth the price. Our big trip this year is to Yellowstone NP and this service was great in routing and finding campgrounds. It seems most campgrounds have further information with photos and reviews. I entered in my camper's dimensions and the software will keep us from low bridges, etc.

RV Magazine: I have no opinion yet as the first one has not arrived for a new subscription. I will provide an update when it does.

Car Towing

[Not our car or dolly]

We used a tow dolly for towing behind our camper. I have driven the car over the edge twice which is not a cheap fix after calling a tow truck. I can not trust myself anymore not to drive over the edge again. So.....

Our very expensive solution is to flat tow a vehicle. I traded in my 2013 Honda Accord with 28k on the odometer for a 2014 Honda Accord with 100k. We took on a rather small four-year loan and now have a vehicle to flat two. 

The package we are having installed, the tow bar with the braking and lights is around $4,500. One one had a large cost but for an activity we so enjoy. 

2021 camping starts next month!

Covid Interruptions

 Our camping this year was very truncated due to Covid-19. We managed some short trips and one long vacation.

In June we managed one trip to Wisconsin at Wisconsin Riverside Resort in Spring Green, WI. This is a private campground with pool, restaurant and mini-golf. The sites are packed together without any barriers in between. Our best friends live in Spring Green and this resort is easy for us to catch up. We also spent an evening with friends watching the Summer Solstice - good food and great company.

August saw one trip to Rock Cut State Park in northern Illinois. We usually start the camping season at Rock Cut to "get the bugs out", but snuck this one in.

In September we took our long trip up to the North Shore of Lake Superior. We had a great trip. We drove the camper to Duluth and rented a car. Earlier in the season I put the car over the car dolly again which cost $600 for a wrecker to clear off. Without some type of guard on the dolly, we will be renting.  

Our first campsite was in Two Harbors, MN at Penmarallter Campsite another private campground. The sites are right off Highway 61 and traffic can be noisy. We hiked a few hours on the Superior Hiking Trail, toured the lake shore and had a relaxing time. 

Then it was back to Grand Marias for the last half of our trip, Here we stayed at another public camp ground, Grand Marias Recreation Area located right on Lake Superior. We ate and walked around town to the tourist stores and, of course, I bought a hat and Michelle a sweatshirt. All was done with social distancing and the like. 

To Be Continued

Short Season Plans

                                 

The world is sure changing and impacted our camping for this year. Being outside feels like a safer way to vacation this year and easier to stay socially distanced.  We had one trip early in the year to a private campground in Wisconsin to visit friends.

Due to child care issues, we had to delay even scheduling any trips. That said, we are again staying at some private campgrounds.

Our next trip is later this month to Rock Cut State Park in northern Illinois. Usually our first trip of each camping season is at Rock Cut. It is close to home and used to shake things out with the camper and equipment for the season.

Another issue is towing the car behind the camper. For out first trip our I, again, drove the car over the dolly. Only $600 to fix that situation. Now I am to nervous and hopefully we can get a stop piece put on the dolly, yet that does not look possible for our September trip.

We are returning to one of our favorite areas in September along the North Shore of Lake Superior. At this late date, we were unable to find any sites at any State Parks between Duluth and Grand Marais. So for us, adventure camping is at private campgrounds. Our first few days will be in Two Harbors, MN and the remainder in Grand Marais.

  Two Harbors

                                                      Grand Marais       

Our plan is rest and relaxation plus spend some time on the Superior Hiking Trail doing day hiking. To overcome the car situation, we are renting a car in Duluth so we can putz around without moving the camper except for set-up and tear down at each campsite. 

We are looking forward to a relaxing and fun vacation up north!

2020 is Here

Sir George sits in the driveway still covered. We just went inside him for the first time this year to find some batteries. Sadly, we are unable to book camping sites due to the virus. Our big trip for the year was to visit my sister in Memphis then head east and revisit Nashville. Of course we hoped to start the year at Rock Cut State Park in Rockford, IL. We usually make this our first camping so to work out any bugs and kinks with our equipment.

Our other plans were for mostly in Wisconsin. The camping was designed around events or activities. Some of those include Waukesha Blues Fest, East Troy Railroad Museum and a friend's Solstice celebration. For each of these we can camp on private property and so no worries about reservations.




We were hoping to get up to Door County if possible, but with the world up in the air, we shall see. After a month of social distancing I am so ready to be in the woods and out in nature. We will keep you posted.