One Week Away! Or Not Quite Boondocking!

We took our first real trip in our class b Coachmen Nova 20C to an FMCA convention in Perry, Georgia recently. We left Sunday, March 12th and returned home the 19th. This was our second trip to a rally in Perry, so we knew what to expect. We had electric only (30 amp) so used water from our tank, and paid for the honey wagon to empty our waste tanks and the water truck to fill the fresh water tank.

It’s an experience to travel with a dog and a cat in an RV, especially considering that it’s a van. The pets did so well. I swear they were happier in the van than in the class a we had. 

Once in camp on our way to Perry, after getting a late start, we did the shuffle. This entailed pulling our Keurig out of the “pantry” and then sliding dog and cat food in. We took a break on Monday, to acclimate everyone and make sure everything worked as expected.

Tuesday morning we filled our fresh water tank, emptied the waste tanks and took off on the final leg of our trip, stopping at a Publix supermarket to stock up on bottled water, fresh fruit and other last minute items.

Check in was a breeze. At our first rally in 2019, we were first timers and waited a while to check in. This time, there was one camper in front of us, so we only needed to wait for the parking cart to return from parking that vehicle. We had a nice chat with the volunteers while we waited. Hookup was a breeze, since we only needed to connect our 30 amp power supply. 

What is it like to be surrounded by large motorhomes in a camping situation, you ask? Just fine. We were sheltered from some of the wind during a storm on Friday. We had nice “neighbors” who didn’t seem to mind our dog barking at them. He didn’t keep it up, thankfully. We think that he thinks our RV is a giant crate and he behaved very well when we left the rig to attend seminars and other activities.

The Nova is so easy to drive and we got an early start, that we made the drive home on Sunday, stopping to rest, eat and let the critters out of their crates. 

Hubby says that any desire he had to boondock is gone. I could still do it for a night if necessary. 

Currently we are planning more trips, and making adjustments to the interior and exterior of the Nova. More on that in another post!

Copyright 2022-2023 ACK for Noah the Nomad

Photo Says it All!

I think the photo says it all.  

We took Noah out for a shakedown cruise, spending two nights in a charming little campground in Crossville, Tennessee.  You can see we had perfect weather, and I mean perfect! Until more big RVs started rolling in last night we were booking that side of the lake with a 2023 Winnebago Travato K. Noah performed wonderfully and gave us a couple days of R and R, which were sorely needed. 

Looking for somewhere else to camp before FMCA convention in March!

Copyright 2019-2022 ACK for Wandering Wanda Copyright 2022 ACK for Noah the Nomad

Meet Noah the Nomad!

 We sold our Winnebago Adventurer 27N. No, we aren't giving up on traveling. We bought Noah, a 2023 Coachmen Nova 20C, class B coach. 

Covid set us back. Those 2+ years when hubby's therapy classes were cancelled, he lost mobility he had gained. Now that the therapy classes have resumed we're ready to start traveling again. Neither of us were excited to get back in our giant (to us anyway) class A motorhome.  So the search began.

Reviews, YouTube videos and a visit to an RV dealer who happened to have the coaches on our short list in stock, and we settled on this cozy, comfy, compact coach! Alliteration intended.

While we considered a lithium upgrade, we loved the super quiet 2800 Onan generator.  We're back to a wet bath, but it's larger than the one in our Roadtrek Zion which was our first entry into the RVing world. 

We are wondering what we'll have to purge from our travel accoutrements, but really aren't worried about.

Our model has the rear motorized couch, and it's the most comfortable we've ever been in an RV.  

Noah drives like a dream and our dog, Champ, approves!

Copyright 2022 ACK for Noah the Nomad

Keeping Busy During Stay Home

Our wonder Wandering Wanda Winnebago (our Adventurer 27N) sits in our driveway waiting for us. We were supposed to leave tomorrow for Sevierville for our weekend with our Happy Tennessee Travelers Chapter of FMCA. After that, we were heading to Greensboro, Georgia. But here we sit. Hubby and I are both retired and have our own health issues. We really don't need to risk adding anything else.

In the meantime, I bought some food containers for Wanda to store pet food, cereal and coffee pods. My order of new Tervis mugs from Amazon hasn't shipped yet. My frustration at finding stuff in the grocery stores when hubby and I shop is great. My younger daughter has been wonderful for tackling most of the grocery shopping. I can't tell you how much I appreciate that.  I did do a dry run in the RV pantry to see how things would fit, and I am very happy with my purchase. Today I washed the containers before trying them out with actual food in them. 

Last week, I was tempted to shave my head in my growing frustration with my growing hair. When you wear your hair short to begin with, and hold off on getting it cut to fit with your travel schedule, you can imagine how unruly it gets. I actually posted on Facebook that I was seriously considering it. But I still have the unruly head of hair and it is getting longer as I type this! The governor is set on reopening Tennessee next week in phases, but I'm just not sure I want to risk it yet. More bad hair days ahead!

I managed to hang some pictures last week in the RV. I swear I have more to put in there, but have no idea where I am storing them.  Maybe I counted wrong? Sometimes I feel like the Stay Home order has fried my brain.

We have tentatively rescheduled one of our trips, the one to Greensboro, Georgia. In July. OMG! It's gonna be a hot trip.

She's Home!

We picked up our Wandering Wanda today from the repair shop. She has had her recall addressed, her water issue fixed, and now has operating awning lights. What with COVID-19 rampant in Tennessee, we wondered whether or not she would be ready before repair shops shut down. Our repair place is working weird shifts and you have to have an appointment to pick it up. Last week I drove her to her appointment alone, with hubby following in the car. Today, I drove her home, hubby again following in the car. 

There are times when I wish I had learned to tow anything. If I had, we might be hauling a fifth wheel, except for the fact I don't like all the steps. Or towing our car. At this stage in my life, I have no desire to learn.  

2020 Travel Plans

Hubby and I had planned a couple of trips late in April. The best laid plans ... and while we haven't yet cancelled our reservations, we wonder if there will be any trips this year.

While we wait for the COVID-19 pandemic to play out, our Wandering Wanda is in the shop, having some warranty/recall work done. Fortunately for us the dealer received the parts before Winnebago shut down production. Our driveway looks so empty without her and I am going into serious withdrawal. I think when we get her back, we will do some serious driveway camping.

We are fortunate to live in a small town, and are only blocks from our daughters, so it's nothing to walk past their house, giving them a heads up and do some social distancing chatting. Our younger daughter was nice enough to do some grocery shopping for us. They don't seem to want the old folks shopping.

We have tried to get out to the drive-thru/curb pickup restaurants just to keep some people working. Today we picked up some stuff for our pets. Some of our time the last two days was working on recall commands with our dog. It also gets him running and expending some of the boundless energy he has. It is at times like this that I appreciate having a fenced yard.

Please, everyone, keep safe.

2019 Was a Great Camping Year

For Hubby and me, 2019 was a busy year. We traveled more this year and longer than on any other trip, ever!

We started the year in our 2019 Dynamax Isata 3 which we purchased in the fall of 2018. We took our first long trips with the pets - Champ, our mutt, age 4 and Mouse our now 8 year old cat - which were very interesting. We found out neither really likes to travel in vehicles, especially Champ. And he can be quite vocal about it!

Izzy, our 2019 Dynamax Isata 3.

The first long trip was to Perry, Georgia for the Family Motor Coach Association annual convention in March. We had a great time and the time there was the longest we had ever spent in a motorhome, or any camper for that matter. During this trip, we looked at other motorhomes at the RV displays to see if there was anything small enough, yet larger than what we had (Izzy was just under 25 feet) that might suit our needs better. I did see some floor plans that I really liked but there didn't seem to be anything on display smaller than 30 feet in a class A.

In April, we spent the weekend with the Happy Tennessee Travelers, a chapter of FMCA, that we had joined at the Mountain Glen Campground. It was convenient, being down TN-111, but it was very hilly inside the campground and probably none of the campsites were in any way, shape or form level. And it stormed really bad during the night with heavy winds. To top it off, the power went out in the morning, which meant we had to run the generator to pull in the slides and break camp.

On May 1, 2019 we left Tennessee and headed up to Michigan via Kentucky and Indiana for visits with family and friends. During this trip, we looked at other motorhomes at the RV displays to see if there was anything small enough, yet larger than what we had (Izzy was just under 25 feet) that might suit our needs better. I did see some floor plans that I really liked but there didn't seem to be anything on display smaller than 30 feet in a class A.

Izzy at Haas Lake Campground, New Hudson, Michigan

 Our first night was in a small campground in Clarksville, Indiana. I knew from the review that it would be tight in that campground, and wow, was it! When we rearranged our trip, we didn't realize that we would be traveling right before the Derby and that the campgrounds would be full. But, it was just one night, and we couldn't wait to get back on the road again. The second and third nights were in Elkhart, Indiana at the Elkhart Campground. The weather took a turn for the wet and cold and it would be the trend for this trip.  We had the opportunity to take a tour of the Thor Motorhome plant, which was interesting and we got to see the difference between a diesel pusher frame and a gas engine frame. Izzy was a diesel class C, but the engine was in the front, as the cab was a truck.

The bear at Cadillac RV Park

Next up was New Hudson, Michigan and the Haas Lake Campground. We had a nice pull through spot across the road from one of the lakes. It was a beautiful site with a great view. However, the roads inside were dirt and the road leading into the RV park was a dirt road. Our rental car got very muddy, as the Izzy on our way out. We met up with family and friends every day we were there. Our stay was nine nights. It was exhausting and great fun. We were so glad to have the time to visit.

Next stop was Cadillac, Michigan where we stayed at the Cadillac RV park for two nights and got to visit with my older sister. It was good to see her since we had not seen each other in years.

Our last stop in Michigan was the Dutch Treat Campground in Holland. This is a little family owned park with a pool, laundry and very close to where one of my cousins lives. We got to visit with our west side of Michigan relatives.

Our last night was at the White River Campground in Cicero, Indiana. GPS led us past this park, but once in it, wow! This place was beautiful with a river site and level concrete pads and full hookups. We had enough time to hookup and take Champ for a walk and then the skies opened up.

In June, we again met up with the Happy Tennessee Travelers for a weekend at the Clarksville RV Park. This was a cute little park of I-24. We'd never been to Clarksville before, so this was a nice weekend, even though it rained every day and one storm brought down a limb on a truck hauling a fifth wheel. A local business helped out by lifting the limb off the truck, and they were able to hook up and drive off.

Our May trip, convinced us that our Class C motorhome was too small and did not have enough interior storage. We were also over having to fold up the bed for travel. There was not enough exterior storage either, and we were becoming increasingly frustrated about where to stow stuff when driving. By August, we decided we were in the market for a new motorhome and made arrangements to go to the Hershey RV show.

Lee Hi Travel Plaza view.

The first night on the road was at the KOA campground in Bristol-Kingsport area, another rather hilly campground but they had a restaurant on site and delivered right to your campsite. The next night was at the Lee Hi Travel Park. It had stunning views, ample camping and an IHop! It was pretty awesome if you only looked at the views, otherwise you looked at trucks!

In Hershey, we stayed at the Hersheypark RV park. We rented a car for 24 hours so we could shop for groceries and go to Hershey Chocolate World. I guess that is the downside of not towing a car. We had a great tour at Hershey. Hubby uses a cane for balance (this is new) and we were given red carpet treatment, they plopped him in a wheelchair and we got to ride in a special car that was handicap accessible.

At the tour at Hershey

Wednesday came and we were able to take the shuttle to the RV show. We did find our new motorhome there but had to take a look at Winnebago's new handicap tricked out motorhomes, for future reference. We had been researching new RVs for several months and hoped to see Winnebago's Adventurer 27N gas model. Yes, we did see one and fell in love with the floor plan and all the storage. We ended up buying the show model and made arrangements to pick it up in Syracuse, New York which would be somewhat convenient for us since our next stop was Akron, New York.

In Akron, we stayed at Sleepy Hollow Campground. Best of all, we got to visit with hubby's cousin Dave who lives in Williamsville, New York and one of my very distant cousins who formerly lived in Lancaster, New York and now lives in Akron. We'd never met him before, but enjoyed spending the morning with him.

Wanda at Villages at Turning Stone

We had made arrangements to pick up our new RV, subsequently named Wandering Wanda Winnebago, in Syracuse on September 20th. We found a great place to say in Verona, New York at the Villages at Turning Stone Casino. This was an absolutely stunning campground, but very busy. We were able to get reservations for Thursday and Friday but would have to check out on Saturday. Since we spent Thursday driving to Syracuse from Akron, and Friday closing and transferring stuff from Izzy to Wanda, we were exhausted Friday evening. We had boxes in all the compartments and some inside with things to unpack. That first night in Wanda we seriously questioned our choice.  Saturday morning was beautiful, things got put away and for the first time in our glamping experiences we weren't tripping over each other. Feeling optimistic, we walked to the campground office prepared to beg for a third night.  We were pleasantly surprised to discover that someone had checked out early and we could book their site and move whenever we were ready. Did I forget to say that this was the third campsite at this park? All were great, but the third one was a back-in campsite. I backed our behemoth (8'5.5" x 28'5") into that spot, leveled it and we set up, cleaned up and went to lunch at the casino and celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary a week early!

Sunday began the long journey home. We put nearly 1000 miles on Wanda on the trip home, driving south on I-81 on some of the worst roads in New York and Pennsylvania that we have ever driven. Since this was only the second time I had Wanda on the highway, it was a little nerve wracking driving through road construction, but the first two days were gorgeous days. The third day was pretty windy. We stayed at campgrounds in Pennsylvania, Virginia and our last night's stay was at that KOA in Bristol-Kingsport. We had a terrible spot, very unlevel, the store and restaurant were closed due to work being done and we had to make do with what we had  in the RV. Fortunately, we have a much larger pantry and all was well.  Last day out was uneventful on I-81 and I-40. We were so glad to pull up into our driveway. I managed to get the RV backed out onto the street, and backed her up in basically one try. Dog and cat were glad to be back in the sticks and bricks home.

View from the restaurant at CMSP

We took one more trip in Wandering Wanda to Cumberland Mountain State Park in Crossville, Tennessee. It's one of our favorite places to camp for a couple of quick nights. I like the peacefulness and hubby enjoys the Homestead restaurant. We met our Knoxville cousins for lunch and introduced them to the park. Of course they fell in love with it, it's gorgeous.

Camping in Wanda is so different from the previous RVs we have owned. It was during a very rainy trip in our Class B to this same park, that we discovered that the RoadTrek was way too small for two adults, a dog and a cat. The Class C Isata was better, but just was still lacking in important storage space. The Class A Adventurer is perfect for us and we hope to spend many years enjoying the freedom she provides!