Archive for October, 2005
October 12, 2005 at 9:43 pm · Filed under Travel / lifestyle musings
One of my favorite blogs right now is “The Adventures of Tioga and George” at www.vagabonders-supreme.net . George is a hard-core RV traveler who, with his trusty class C (Ms. Tioga) and a “team” of other equipment, roams the western states. George’s major claim is that he never stays in campgrounds (well, hardly ever). Instead, he makes camp at roadside parking lots, hidden turn-outs, industrial parks, repair shops, and virtually anywhere else that he thinks he can park overnight.
For all his quirkiness, George has captured the spirit of the way Airstreaming used to be, back in the 1950s. Airstream manuals from the 1960s to present day contain some variation on this statement:
“You’ll learn the knack of finding wonderful out-of-the-way parking spots in fields, filling stations and just about anywhere that the ground is level and firm.” Back in the 1950s, campgrounds were scarce and it was common practice to find a parking spot in any convenient spot, for overnight stays.
Today we live in a more crowded world and it is correspondingly more difficult to find quiet, safe spots to sleep. We are supposed to stay in commercial campgrounds. But a lot of us who are traveling through find the campground experience to be annoying, with lengthy and invasive check-in procedures (“names and ages of everyone in your party, please, also make and model of your car”).
Besides, we have no interest in “camping” when are staying for one night — we’re just PARKING. I don’t use the mini golf, the swimming pool, the fire ring, or even the water hookup when I’m just passing through. Little wonder Wal-Mart, Camping World, K-Mart, Flying J, and other businesses who welcome overnight RV parkers are finding such popularity.
In our more complex world, George still manages to find his free night camping spots and enjoy them, by staying below the radar of society. His blog tells it all. He calls it “vagabonding.”
As we have matured in our traveling sophistication, we too have started to learn how to skirt the traditional and often irritating campground infrastructure. Our version of vagabonding is to courtesy-park wherever we can. Fortunately with an Airstream (and a certain amount of gregariousness), that’s not so hard.
Basically, we are opportunistic. Our friend Dr. C made it known for some time that we were welcome to visit his driveway in South Bend. When we found a vinyl graphics shop (to put decals on the new trailer) in nearby Mishawaka, a trip was born. We’ll stay for free here in the driveway until our mission is complete.
It just so happens that Brad Cornelius, who works on the magazine from time to time, and Comprehensive Communications (distributors of the Internet-in-Motion box I’m using to connect to the Internet right now) are both in the Chicago area. Chicago is only about 90 miles west from here, so guess where we are heading next? Brad can’t offer us courtesy parking, but he has researched a Wal-Mart nearby that will welcome us. We’ll spend a night or two and move on.
Our next destination is probably Denver. This is not a random choice, either. We have friends and relatives in the Denver area. That means plenty of options for courtesy parking, or at least local tour guides and meals out. It also means money saved for all those night we don’t spend in campgrounds, more entertainment, and a better look at the local area. These are some of the things that make full-timing great.
So when we get to California, do you know who we’ll look up? George and Ms. Tioga!
October 11, 2005 at 11:42 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
We fled Jackson Center this afternoon. We had a final bug on the new trailer (water heater shutting off), which was simply a matter of adjusting the air mixture, and then we spent the rest of the morning getting organized. We were finally ready to hit the road by 4 pm.
Normally I’d hang back and go the next morning, but let’s face it, there’s not much going on in Jackson Center. The factory closes up at 3:30 and I think they roll up the sidewalks at 9 pm. On Mondays “JC Pizza” (one of the three restaurants) is closed, and that leaves a pair of greasy spoons and the local movie theater. We went to see Wallace & Gromit in the old single-screen theater Monday night, so we’d pretty much blown through the local entertainment scene.
So it was with great eagerness that I hitched up the new 30-footer and hauled it outta there. Nice trailer, no problems. Tows as well as you’d expect an Airstream to tow. We had a pleasant four-hour tour through cornfields of Ohio and Indiana and then arrived at the home of our notorious cohort “Dr. C” in South Bend. We’ll be here a couple of days.
October 10, 2005 at 8:08 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Today things went nuts. I ran out at 7:30 a.m. to tell Service about a few bugs in the new trailer. They said they could get on it right away, despite the fact that Monday is their busy day. So I made a quick run over to Marketing to schedule the signing of paperwork relating to the loan of the new trailer, and then back to the trailer to tell Eleanor that Service was coming for the trailer RIGHT NOW. We had 10 minutes to grab everything we needed including a sleeping child, and stuff it all in Vintage Thunder.
It went downhill from there. I had to do a last-minute fix on the Argosy’s water pump, then run over to Service to get more stuff out of our trailer, and when I got back Vintage Thunder’s new owner was standing there waiting for me. Of course the Argosy was a mess — littered with our junk, and not cleaned yet. I took the buyer and Emma for a walk around the campus so Eleanor could work on the Argosy in peace. Every 20 minutes we swung back by the trailer and Eleanor would tell me of yet another item she needed from the new trailer, so we made lots of trips back-and-forth between the Terraport and the Service department.
At noon we took a break to start some laundry at the local place, and have lunch at “Hobo’s” restaurant. (Not the most promising name, but it’s either that or JC Pizza and JC Pizza is closed on Monday.) Then the Service guys needed me (and the truck, to get the hitch adjusted) so Eleanor had to walk three blocks to the laundromat to put stuff in the dryer, and later make a second trip on foot to get all the laundry out.
At 3:30 the trailer finally came out of Service, the buyer had done the factory tour, and the laundry was done, so we all converged on the Argosy and tried to simultaneously (a) entertain Emma; (b) clean up the Argosy; (c) get the new owner hitched up to go. Of course, the hitch on the Argosy needed adjustment to fit his truck, and the tools required included two enormous wrenches which we didn’t have. Amazingly, right then one of the Service guys walked up to bring us our power cord, and he volunteered his personal tools to get the job done!
We finally got a chance to walk the buyer through the Argosy about 4:30 pm. Then we had to take our Bill of Sale over to the corporate offices for notarizing and also sign some paperwork related to the new trailer. A SNAFU ensued regarding my insurance company’s failure to fax a declaration page, and by 5:30 pm we gave up on that process and headed back to get Vintage Thunder on the road. The new owner was headed off to the KOA in Dayton by 6:30 pm, with a grin on his face, and then I had fifteen minutes to check voicemail & email, and then walk downtown once more to see “Wallace & Gromit’s Curse of the Were-Rabbit” at 7 pm — something we promised Emma we’d do tonight.
So here we are, sorting out the mess in the trailer we made today, having eaten only popcorn since Hobo’s, and a bit stressed out all around. Thank goodness for Wallace & Gromit, otherwise Eleanor and I would have exploded.
I need to resolve the insurance paperwork tomorrow, find the Owner’s Manuals that go with the new trailer, return Dan The Service Guy’s tools, get the interior set up for traveling, and do a few hours of real work too. With all that I don’t know if we will get out tomorrow, and at this point we are all thinking a day to catch up might be a good idea.
So we are re-thinking whether we will head to South Bend IN. We might just head southwest toward Denver instead. I need to settle in somewhere for at least two weeks to catch up on work. What a life! We all hope it gets easier after this.
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