Well, hell, after staying in the New York area for nearly 12 weeks, we are finally back out on the road to venture new paths. Our plans changed a number of times through out our stay. Originally we had scheduled to spend three weeks in our hometown, then a month traveling around the New England states and then back to our hometown for a weeks worth of goodbyes. Our first change came after a periodic maintenance visit for the rig revealed an aging radiator. Three days to fix at a cost of $3500 turned into 7 days to fix and $5100. While we waited for our home to be reassembled, I came down with a summer case of bronchitis which hung on for about three weeks. So came changes two and three. Change four came during a surprising visit from the youngest grandson as we toured the borders of New York. A usually homesick little boy, it turned out he was having fun and agreed to stay with us while we visited Gettysburg. The final change came to add on a few days to say goodbye and hopefully relax before hitting the open road.
As many of you may already know, we primarily use a nationwide camping membership called Thousand Trails (TT). Since the beginning of our travels, TT has given us a place to stay for two to three weeks at a time. The campgrounds always had our favorite kind of site. They were the kind of sites that had electric, water and sewer hook-ups or full hook-up. The campgrounds weren't packed, even on the weekends and we were always confident that we could find a great place to call home for a while. It wasn't uncommon for us to plan our stays nearly two months ahead of time. We could also change our plans as our travel direction changed. Over the past few months and since our recent departure from New York, it has become increasingly obvious that reservations into the TT parks are becoming more difficult to make. There is either no space available for periods longer than three days or sites large enough to fit our rig. We've also noted that we cannot make reservations far out in advance. After having several discussions with people in the camping industry and other campers alike, it would seem that since the climax of the pandemic, the world of camping families has grown dramatically. We have heard that, much like car dealerships and manufacturers, sales of RVs have skyrocketed. We spoke to one person who watched, for a week, five to fifteen travel trailers and fifth wheels leaving a dealer lot every day. It's hard to miss those, fresh off the lot, dealer stickers plastered all over the aluminum exterior of your neighbors rolling hideaway. We see more campers and motor homes traveling the highways as we make our way to our next campground. These clues, combined with the fact that it has become more difficult to make reservations, reveals to us that, as a result of the pandemic, campgrounds have become filled to capacity with these new adventurers. Things are getting a bit cramped.
As a result of this by-product of the pandemic, we are in search of a supplement to our membership with TT. We use discount campgrounds associated with Passport America and we also boondock, but these can either get expensive or not provide long enough stays, respectively. Coast to Coast camping membership has a reputation of being a private and an unadvertised program. Our stop in South Dakota includes a promotional tour of their campgrounds and member contracts. It is our hope that Coast to Coast (C2C) will not only give us more of our usual flexibility with scheduling, but also give us more camping options in the Midwest and plains states as TT has no parks in these regions. We'll keep you all informed of the outcome.
With this new headache of ours, it has been difficult to return to our normal routine on the road. The last month or so has not been filled with much exploration due to little time in one place, or mindful money saving practices. We did enjoy a very brief but very exciting visit from our friend Jeff and his daughter while we stayed in Indiana. We browsed the Amish market and communities as well. Our stay in Minnesota yielded dark shadowy shapes that appeared to be moose in a zoo, though I'm not sure either one of us, (Tez and I or the moose), were impressed. We made brief stops in Illinois and we now sit 40 minutes away from the South Dakota border for a couple of days for an elusive package. In the meantime, we will visit Walnut Grove, the place made famous by Laura Ingalls and her "Little House on the Prairie" series. We plan to continue West into Wyoming and maybe Washington, unless we change our minds again or something else changes it for us.
Oh my, how could we have forgotten!? Changes to the rig! Remember our near catastrophe with the awning in Iowa, last year? After putting it off for some time, I was able to collect the helpers and we spent the afternoon replacing the patio awning. It went as well as could be expected, slower than usual. It also revealed a shredded mechanical failure within the awning tube. Luckily, we found one reasonably priced in Minnesota and we replaced that, too. Renovations have been ongoing as well. After putting the idea of switching Tez's office space around, we have gone full-on remodel. "Wait, can you do that in a RV?" Apparently, you can, with some consideration. We'll have to save that for another blog post as my everything is about to finish up with work and we're going to see a walnut grow. Oh, I'm sorry. We're going to see Walnut Grove.
Forgive me, Laura.
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