Drooling over teardrop trailers

[iris lilies]

Flowers, it is wonderful to read that such experiences are still possible. I remember the blueberries we picked for blueberry pancakes near Cadillac Mountain in Maine were a special reason to travel that route along with the sea-side shanties selling fresh lobster. Love these reminders!

That sounds beautiful!

I had a long held memory of Gooseberry tart in England in my teens. Decades later, when DH and I took a narrow boat trip on the Shropshirere canal, someone was selling giant gooseberries.

We bought some (canal stand, untended, just leave your money there) and DH put together a tart from the flour, sugar, and butter we happened to have. The boat had a tiny oven. I can’t say that tart was all that great, but the experience was!

[happystuff]

We spend 5-6 months on the road. Last trip was Kissimmee prairie state park, a dark sky and birders paradise. Out of the forty or so campsites here, there are huge rigs down to a young man amateur astronomer sleeping in his car with several huge telescope setups. The young couple next to us were sleeping in the back of their truck with a large screen tent with cooking stuff. We have met full timers in tents. there are some really old campers here people have spruced up. Old casitas are popular. Some people bike and carry everything with them. We like to invite them for coffee and a hot breakfast in the AM if they aren’t heading out. Once, on the Appalachian trail people would hike in to shower and use the Internet at the national park office. Once we were in Montana and a rig pulled in that was so huge and deluxe we looked it up and the base price was $500,000. It was towing a deluxe fancy Jeep which was probably more expensive than most of the rigs the rest of us were in.
It is very rare for us to have Internet or cable as we stick to state, national and county parks. What I love is the diversity of the people, scenery, and cultures as we travel the country.
Some parks are so remote you better have everything you need with you. All in all, we love it. And by the way, there are many single women and men on the road. Some work in the parks for months at a time, some work locally, especially in season for the area. Nothing like waking up to elk wandering around your campsite, seeing a bird you have never seen, or seeing a sky so full of stars you feel like you are in outer space.

What a wonderful description! Thanks so much for sharing. Once I'm through with working, I would love to hit the road for a while. Something to think about at least.

[Tradd]

For me, if I had the trailer bug, I could rent one for a trip and probably get over that bug.

Current Escape can’t tow anything. Don’t have tow package or big enough engine.

[Teacher Terry]

The longest we went without internet on a month trip was a week in national parks and I read a lot of books. A week was long enough. I like the amenities of private RV parks. We had a grizzly run by our RV in the grand Tetons with a ranger right behind it yelling at everyone to get inside. Luckily we had not stepped outside yet.

[Alan]

The longest we've been out has been about 6 weeks and that was last summer. We'll do another 6 to 8 weeks this summer during my wife's summer break. Once she retires (hopefully after one more school year) our plan is to spend half the year on the road. We're currently sticking mostly with private RV parks but once we go out for longer periods we'll start doing a fair amount of boondocking just to keep expenses down. We'll need to install a few solar panels and upgrade our batteries before we do that, we currently travel with a generator big enough to keep the AC running but haven't had to use that yet.

I've said before that we don't consider what we do as camping, it's more like exploring all the country's nooks and crannies comfortably, and so far every day is an adventure.
We can't wait for our next trip.

[razz]

Tarts can be amazing foods to enjoy. I fell in love with Portuguese custard tarts when visiting there in 2015, tried a few sources around my area and they did not live up to my memory... until a new local Portuguese bakery opened about 20 mths ago. Their tarts are so gooooooood! I felt badly when they closed shortly after later due to covid protocols. I do hope that they survive once places can fully open again. Their Portuguese buns are wonderful as well.

[flowerseverywhere]

Wanted to add that one of the problems with all RV’s are the more mechanical parts, the more that can break down. Simple sometimes can be easier to store and maintain.
‘our longest trip was almost six months, from Florida all the way to Glacier, Banff and Jasper. Lots of stops along the way.
you also see many things that cannot be described. Like the amount of plastic trash you find everywhere. The precarious situations some people live in. The rising sea level effects on the Keys and Miami. Many instances of racism. Going to a small town that is poor and seeing what a food desert looks like when you stop in a grocery store and see a poor selection and quality of fresh produce and huge bags of cheap Cheetos and sugary cereal. Seeing how many towns with empty factories and motels as the highways passed them by and factory jobs went to Mexico, China and other countries. The remarkable Permian basin and the oil fields.
as I said, a slice of life that has made me far more empathetic of how some people struggle just to live and how hard people work when given the opportunity. .

‘’I would do it full time but DH likes having a home at least half time.

[razz]

Is it possible that doing it part-time helps to see things more clearly. It is wise to have a contrasting life cycle to keep your eyes alert. I remember traveling from southern Ontario up to Thunder Bay and around the Great Lakes. The first two days I was enchanted by the rocks, the water and the trees - glorious scenery; but by the third day, it was starting to feel, "Oh help, is there nothing but rocks and trees on this route". We knew it was time to stop and gain a fresh view and perspective. Another lovely reminder of the height and length of the Mackninac Bridge. over a long stretch of water. That was my introduction to the enormous degree of trust in engineers, their designs and the workers.

[Tradd]

4E8FC9EF-1A16-4942-8F89-38434A298FE3.jpg

Is it possible that doing it part-time helps to see things more clearly. It is wise to have a contrasting life cycle to keep your eyes alert. I remember traveling from southern Ontario up to Thunder Bay and around the Great Lakes. The first two days I was enchanted by the rocks, the water and the trees - glorious scenery; but by the third day, it was starting to feel, "Oh help, is there nothing but rocks and trees on this route". We knew it was time to stop and gain a fresh view and perspective. Another lovely reminder of the height and length of the Mackninac Bridge. over a long stretch of water. That was my introduction to the enormous degree of trust in engineers, their designs and the workers.

The Straits of Mackinac are gorgeous. My favorite place to dive. Being on a boat going under the bridge was freaking awesome. This photo was taken from the dive boat two years ago.

[jp1]

Gosh darn the USMC for souring DH on camping

I'd love to have those experiences!

Your DH sounds just like my father. ‘Camping? No thank you. I did a lifetime’s worth of camping in the army.’