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.

What's up for 2020?

We hope to get back to hiking next year. After a bad sprain day hiking on the Appalachian Trail we decided overnight hiking is not going to happen for us. We bought good day packs, put items from our overnight gear in them and are ready to go. We used them a couple of times but Michelle and I need to get out there and hike.The kinks are worked out with our new camper (from 2018) and while hanging out at the campsite is fun, hiking is needed. More details as we work them out.

Camping Season 2019

This year was our first full year with our Thor Freedom Elite 24E. We had issues with starting and the radio working properly.

First the Sir George would not start even after turning the engine off for a few minutes. We had to call service several times to start in our own driveway. We wrongly believed the problem was due to the radio. The screen would faded up and down even when the camper was off. The radio draining the battery.

The radio would only receive stations that we were right on top or close to the transmitter. Living in Chicago the radio should easily received dozens of stations. So Camping World replaced the radio after much fuss with them. We got it back and they said all fixed. As we drove away we found the radio only received about five stations, back we went. They said it was because Camping World was in a small valley - yeah right.  They finally decided to change out the antenna on top of the vehicle.Camping World put on a  TV antenna and it finally works as it should.

Now why was the battery draining? Camping World kept it over and in the morning the battery was drained. So off to Mercedes Benz in Hoffman Estates, IL. They quickly determined the battery had bad cells and replaced it under warranty. Sir George has started ever since.

This year we started on Memorial Day with our usual shakedown trip to Rock Cut State Park not many miles away. In June we stayed at Gov. Dodge State Park in Dodgeville, WI. We were able to visit with our friend Scott and Lynn.

In July we headed to Kansas City and stayed West Bend State Park. My brother-in-law and his wife flew in. We did the tourist thing in Kansas City and attended a Royal's game which they actually won!

July also found us at Baraboo Hills Campground. My daughter's family and friends spend time there each summer. Many have permanent sites, there is a pool and along with many activities. Not our usual style of camping but always fun with family and friends.

Augusts found us in northern Wisconsin on Madeline Island sitting up camp Big Bay State Park. We towed our Honda Accord. The ferry trip to the island was interesting for how all the cars, campers and such we put on the ferry.

Our friends Scott and Lynn visited us here also. Good friends and good times. I did get seasick doing a tour of the Apostle Islands in a small, skiff type boat. Exploring Bayfield was fun, quirky shops and such.

We are getting more familiar with Sir George. This year we decided to store him in our driveway. He is all winterized and has a giant tarp protecting him from winter

More adventures in 2020!