Anne, (I think it's your writing)
Be very careful in Ashtabula. (I was born there during WW II) You don't want to get any on you.
What's your basic itinerary? How long are you out?
You have a place to TC on our property in No. California if you want. Plenty of space.
We're in the Sierra Nevada about half way between Reno and Sacramento. You're going to get a lot more offers, I suspect, being the quintessential truck campers you are.
Oh, and I have a 30'x40' model railroad building ( trains within ) to show off.
You picked a tough fuel year to live your dream.
Our dream has been curtailed by the fuel cost crisis.
Keep us posted on your travels. Drive slowly. Boondock when you can.
regards, as always, jefe
* This post was
edited 05/30/08 03:38pm by jefe 4x4 *
'01.5 Dodge 3/4T, CTD, HO, Qcab, SB, 4x4, 6spd, D60, D80+Pwr Loc,
camper&tow pkg,Titan V, 285/75R-16 frnt, 33/14.5 Nitto super singles rr,
Rancho 9K's, Warn M15K winch. tows Jeep CJ8 rock crawler on 14' trailer
'98 Lance Squire Lite 165s, 8' 6" X Cab
Anne and Joe, you missed the wildlife by just one day. Apparently the bears are out of hibernation and are hungry. Double J hook now a u hook and we need to purchase new bird feeders. He (she) tried to climb the flagpole. At least they deposited fertilizer in the yard before departing. Dick
"04" CHEV 2500HD DURAMAX DIESEL REG CAB SRW
"03" LANCE 1025
12 YR OLD BORDER COLLIE
Thanks everyone for the public and private messages on places to stay. TC folk rock!. I'm missing not travelling with another TC or a pod of them.
DSekt, I wish I had been able to get wireless to check messages yesterday. We split a breakfast/dinner at Cracker Barrel in Sandusky last night thinking we would stay in the parking lot. It was just too close quarters. If we'd seen the note, we'd have loved to visit!
E&D - missing the bears wasn't a bad thing. We're still eating all the great salads, coffee cake and tomato soup cake you packed up for us. I think our refrigerator was fuller when we left,then when we arrived.
Here's the trip report so far. No photos yet as we've basically just been traveling to get to Amana, Iowa.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Left Dick and Elizabeth's at 8:30AM after a wonderful coffee cake and tea breakfast. Beautiful weather, clear and sunny with not a lot of traffic. I wish we could look back to see their TC following along with us but alas not this trip.
Took Route 90 over to Buffalo and then alone Lake Erie to Erie, PA. Miles and miles of grape vines for wineries but didn't stop to stock up on a case or two. Not much of a wine drinker and still trying to keep the weight down in the TC for diesel mileage. Decided to try to get to the other side of Cleveland, OH to a Cracker Barrel in Sandusky, OH for overnight. Went through Cleveland at 5PM rush hour. It was pretty busy but not like the Long Island Expressway. Sorry Long Islanders but once a TC has survived that drive there isn't much else
that can seem bad to drive in. Had supper there but decided the parking was too tight to be comfortable so headed on.
Next went past Toledo on I-80 and now are in a rest area on the Ohio Turnpike. Asked permission and parked in a corner under a shade tree. Why shade tree I don't know since it is 10PM! It is sort of like "Planes, Trains and 18 Wheelers" with the noise but bet we sleep well plus I have earplugs if needed. Tomorrow we skirt the bottom of Gary and Chicago,IL and head for Amana,Iowa which is the start of our west trip. We know we blew through a lot of good parts of many states but the goal was to see parts of the country we haven't gotten into yet.
Friday, May 30th
We're now parked behind the Amana Woolen Mill for the evening. Shame neither of us dance polka since tonight "Barefoot Becky and the Ivanhoe Dutchmen" are putting on a show. This little town is full of folks from all over the midwest in their polka dancing clothes. 80F but the camper is nice and cool parked under a tree with all the windows open. This is a very interesting town, one of the Amana Colonies settled by a group of German imagrees. Tomorrow we'll walk the town and probably buy a pound of bratwurst at the farmer's market before heading off. We plan on following Iowa's Loess Hills National Scenic Byway up to Sious City and from there over to Rapid City. From now on we plan on small
TC roads.
Some thoughts while we traveled. I'd never really known what "amber waves of grain" meant until I saw a field of winter wheat waving in the wind. It undulated just like the ocean but in green rather than blue. Also, we don't appreciate what the farmers do to raise their crops. We saw many out on tractors after dark working in the fields. More and more of the big farms are going into housing but there are still huge tracts of land being farmed. The vineyards are hand care and those stretched for miles. We saw a milk cow who had somehow gotten over the pasture fence and was on the interstate side of the field grazing. Wonder what will happen to her and the loss of an animal to
the farmer? MidWesterners go out of their way to be polite and helpful. Anywhere we stopped, folks came up having seen the Maine plate and wanted to know if we needed help or to tell us of special places to see. That happens also in the Northeast but not to such an extent.
Diesel has ranged from $5.08 in New York to $4.73 in Ohio. The mileage has been horrible since we have been fighting a head wind since we left Elizabeth's. Good thing we have saved for years for this trip. So far $542.59 for 111.4 gallons of diesel for an average mpg of 11.2, way under our usual 12.5. Still happy we are doing this trip and really looking forward tomorrow to the Loess Hills loop where we can get back on some of the real back roads with the TC. Photos next time we get to wireless.
Anne and Joe
2008 Host Rainier 9'6" dual slide on a 2005 Ford F-350 Diesel DRW
On the Road Again from Rural Maine Our travel blog with photos
DSekt, I wish I had been able to get wireless to check messages yesterday. We split a breakfast/dinner at Cracker Barrel in Sandusky last night thinking we would stay in the parking lot. It was just too close quarters. If we'd seen the note, we'd have loved to visit!
Geeze... Our place is just west, one road over. About 1/2 mile from the Cracker barrel..
Well..... if we backtrack we'll see ya Just got a phone call from ThinBlueSmoke who are a day ahead of us. They are in Nebraska at a COE. Might catch up with them tomorrow. Small world.
A terfefic (great) place to stay tomorrow night would be Mahoney State Park just West of Omaha, then you could visit the quilt museum in Lincoln and head up North on US 77 or 81. Skip the Leoss hills!!
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