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!

The Travel Berkey

One reason Hubs and I wanted to get this particular floorplan in Wandering Wanda (Winnebago Adventurer 27N) was the amount of counter space and the fairly unique L shaped counter. We discovered on one of our trips that taking bottled water with us took up way too much storage space. When one of the vendors that we have purchased from in the past put up the Travel Berkey water filter/purifier system ON SALE, I knew the time was right to purchase one. These things don't go on sale often, and I got it cheaper from the vendor, TechnoRV, than on Amazon.com.*

Our counter space is rather unique in that the part of the counter with the sink does not move, instead the slide comes in and covers one of the double sinks, leaving the other sink available. In the past I've put our coffee pot in the sink to keep it safe while on the road. I learned the hard way, not to depend on my bungee cord setup. Now, I have room under the sink for the coffee pot and the remaining available sink carries the Berkey.

Travel Berkey comes with two filters that will filter 6,000 to 8,000 gallons of water. Better yet, when not in use for short periods of time, I can remove the wet filters, place them in a plastic bag and store them in the fridge for a few weeks at a time. For longer periods, they get dried out and stored in plastic bags until needed again.

Since our two earlier trips in 2019 in our Class C Dynamax required us to (a) carry a lot of water and (b) purchase more water along the way, we were glad to have this "appliance" with us on our last trip which was a 20 day trip up to the Hershey RV show where we purchased Wanda, up to Buffalo, New York area and over to Syracuse where we took delivery of Wanda and then home again. Travel Berkey holds 1.5 gallons, and we travel with our dog and cat. We also have a whole rig water filter and can add an exterior filter if we feel it is necessary.



*Other than being a customer, I have no connection to TechnoRV, Berkey Filters or Amazon.

Road Warrior?

On our trip home from Syracuse, New York with our wonderful Wandering Wanda Winnebago, we took the absolute worst road I have ever driven on and that includes roads in Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee. This particular route, I-81that runs north and south from Tennessee up to New York was pure unadulterated crap in New York and northern Pennsylvania. And I am not referring to road construction areas - just the road which was patched and patched and patched.

It got worse in Maryland and West Virginia in the construction areas. Remember, Wandering Wanda is 8'5.5" wide. Those construction lanes were extremely narrow. I hated driving in it. And, I do ALL the RV driving. I felt like I was fighting those horrible road conditions for most of that drive.

Once we got into Tennessee, it was much better and we were on the home stretch once we exited I-81 at I-40 and headed west.

Satellite Adventures

Yesterday I hooked up the satellite that came with our RV. This is not something we would have bought, but was included by Winnebago for the Hershey RV show. When we finally opened the box last week, which had been already partially opened, we discovered that the cable was missing. I ordered one off Amazon, which was delivered over the weekend and yesterday finally decided to tackle it.

The Wally receiver was already installed and on. Now, the directions clearly say not to plug that in until after you hook up the satellite to the connection on your RV. It took me forever to figure out where the plug was without dismantling everything.

I followed the directions and got a no signal message. Sigh. I knew it wouldn't be easy. Went back up in the cabinet, unplugged Wally and tried to pull it off the velcro to see if there were other issues. I pulled up the velcro instead. First thing I noticed was the HDMI cable was not attached. Attached that, plugged in the Wally and the install process began and failed. Unplugged again, pulled up the receiver again and checked the connections. Oh, duh, the cable connection was loose. I know they advise you not to over tighten, but this was barely on. Plugged back in and finally success.

We're supposed to get three satellites. We got one. I'm sure that's because we are surrounded by trees. Eventually, another satellite connected because the channels doubled. It worked and the picture was great. So, finally, disconnected the dish from the RV and stowed it.

I'm sure if we are in a campground that is fairly bare of trees, we'll be glad we have it. Most of the campgrounds we stayed at had cable, but there were a couple that had nothing, and no local stations either.  Our trip to Perry, Georgia last year comes to mind as the TV reception was really bad. Also, it was very cold and rainy on that trip. Not that I expect the satellite to work in bad weather. But hopefully, we will get some use out of it.

Water! Not Where I Want It!

This did not happen with Wandering Wanda the Winnebago, but with Izzy the Dynamax Isata 3 on our last trip.

Due to space constrictions and the fact that we would be driving the rig for several days before landing in one spot for more than one or two nights, we used our cheap Walmart pot that uses k-cups. The first night out, I filled it with water for the first morning cup. Next morning, I put a k-cup in, set the coffee mug underneath and heard it heat up. I got about four drops of coffee out of it. That's when I noticed that the coffee mat was soaked. Yeesh. Obviously there was a leak. It was still capable of making coffee, as long as you didn't load up the water until you were ready to brew.

Not once, but twice, I forgot to put the coffee cup on the brewer. Those little drip things do not hold 12 ounces of coffee. What can I say, I am NOT a morning person. Still we persisted with the crappy coffee maker knowing that at home that our compact Keurig was waiting for us. The first thing unloaded after the pets was that little coffee maker straight into the garbage.

Wandering Wanda's Adventures

This is Wandering Wanda Winnebago. We acquired her on our trip to the Hershey RV show and have owned her now for over a week. This rig is everything we ever thought we wanted in a motorhome.

Some of y'all may remember we started out a year and a half ago in a class B. One long thunderstormy weekend was all we needed to move up to a class C, a Dynamax Isata 3. We used Izzy the Isata enough to know that it didn't have enough storage. Hubby and I both have our own mobility issues, and it was getting increasingly difficult to maneuver inside the RV, especially while traveling with our dog, Champ and cat, Mouse. The research during our last big trip which was a 17 day trip up to Michigan to visit with family and friends. We actually looked at Winnebago Vista 29VE, which we liked, and which had great storage, but it really did not have the floor plan I wanted. What I wanted was the Vista LX 27n plan, but that was discontinued. We also wanted auto gen start, which would protect us in case of a campground power outage or for when we were not on shore power, we could set it up to protect the pets from the heat. The 2020 Winnebago Adventurer has the floor plan we want and the features.

It also has a bed that does not fold and storage that goes on and on. One of the reasons I like this floor plan is that it has storage all across the back which is accessible on three sides. Love it.

We took delivery of it in Syracuse, New York on Friday, September 20th. We were fortunate to get a couple nights (each night on a different site) at the Villages of Turning Stone Casino in Verona, New York. On the day we were to check out, we checked to see if there were any cancellations. There was, but it required yet another move, to a back-in site. It took a couple tries that first time, but I did it and we had a day to chill and have another delicious meal at the casino. We really needed that day, since Friday was exhausting for all of us, especially the pets.

We left the casino park on Sunday and spent the next three nights on the road. The first day was the worst, because I-81 in New York and Pennsylvania was the absolute worst. The last night on the road was very disappointing. We stayed at a park that we had visited on the way up, and both their restaurant and store were closed due to insulating in progress. It didn't matter, we still had some food in our pantry and fridge and we enjoyed our last evening on the road. Somewhere along the way, we discovered that our lights no longer worked on our awning and on the entry handle. Still trying to figure that one out.

We hope to have many more adventures in Wandering Wanda the Winnebago!