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. |
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 |
The bear at Cadillac RV Park |
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 |
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 |
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!
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