Leaving Monday for 4 1/2 months. How much do we pack?

[Tampajohn]

I think I am going to look for a dump truck to haul all the stuff wife wants to take for 4 1/2 months. Just follow us, bread crumbs, with all the junk we throw out as soon as we get on the road. Leaving Tampa, to Lansing, to Los Angeles and then reverse. I am thinking of Rt. 66 since we are going to follow it as much as possible when heading south. Grapes of Wrath, comes to mind and how did those people do it?. We have places to stay along the way, family in Ohio and Michigan and also Los Angeles. Thousand Trails also provide us a home even though we have to drive out of our way to get to them. Passport America and National Parks also give us more places. Thank God we are not with money. I can not imagine what those people went through traveling leaving the dust bowl. We are so fortunate. John.

[Redtail Cruiser]

John,

It sounds like a great adventure. Please keep us updated during your journey. I'm sure you will learn alot about what you could have left at home and what you really needed. John Steinbeck's, Joad family trek was a good analogy. lol;)

[hillbillyhotel]

john
something i have seen others do,
will not need all your cold weather clothes till you get to mich, and same with all shorts and such till you get out west,
maybe ship usps ground some of the items to each location,
also think about someone at home,(neighbor,kids,freind) to ship part of it back as it becomes un-needed,
kinda lets you restock and unload while on a long fun filled trip,
learned this trick from app trail hikers ,

[rvcycleguy]

A weeks worth of clothing is good for us. Laundry supplies. Decide if your eating in or out? Ceramic or oil filled heater is best. Much quieter than the on board furnace and since you pay for electric, might as well use it. We use an electric blanket under the sheets. ( But not the ones wayneo is using....) Carry bottled drinking water. We carry and use a wifi hot stop for all our imternet needs. Tools for tire repair. Roadside assistance membership.

[Tampajohn]

Nov 10th Off like a heard of turtles. Leaving in the morning and only traveling less than 100 miles to Three Flags RV Thousand Trails in Wildwood, Florida. First day is usually the toughest until we get organized with our daily routine. We will stay a couple days at Three Flags and then to Yemassee, Ga., about 300 miles from Wildwood, where we will again stay a couple days again. By the time we hit Yemassee, we will have things pretty down pat. First night we will be sorting stuff in the camper. It is usually one of our most stressful nights of our trip. Pictures will follow.

Yemassee, South Caroline, Oaks Pointe South
Nov. 11th All day trying to organize the camper. We pitched a lot of stuff. Absolutely brought too much stuff. TV antenna did not work, and tried to hook up rabbit ear with no stations close. Sure glad I had the cell phone and was able to tether it to channel 13, Tampa. Watched some of the trial of Dante Morris. What a shame those officers loosing their lives. Brought a portable ice maker, sure do use it. Bobbie has an electric wine chiller. Works great, one bottle of wine and it cools it quickly. I also put a can of grape soda in it, it cooled it to 43 degrees quickly. I am trying to eliminate wires. What a mess. Also signed up to Hulu Plus. We will see how that works. Too lazy to hook up satellite dish. Back on the road tomorrow. High tomorrow at Yemassee is suppose to be 52 with lows in the upper twenties. Guess it is time to get use to the cold. Snow in Ohio yesterday. Maybe we will get lucky and miss the snow and only have to deal with the cold. Never camped in the 20’s before.

Nov, 12th Woke up to 29 degree temperature. Sure did appreciate the electric blanket. It was as toasty as could be. As the rule goes, bring an extra of any thing that is mechanical, a space heater broke and I had an extra one. We did not fire up the propane furnace, but the small heaters worked fine. Yemassee is a beautiful Thousand Trails campground. Trees every where. I was going to set up the satellite dish, but too many trees to try to get a signal. Instead, I stole there cable. We will stay here for a couple days and then move on. Amazing how much extra we have brought. I keep picthing stuff in the dumpsters and moving stuff in the overhead storage on the Isuzu. Hate to toss too much, do not know what we might need in the months ahead.

Nov. 16th Mid 40’s Damp and foggy.

Leaves are falling, but a large amount still on the trees. Forest Lake is one of the most beautiful Thousand Trails campgrounds we have stayed. We stayed here this past summer and returned in the fall. Surrounded by trees, we enjoy walking with the dogs through out the large park. Funny thing happened here last summer the morning we were leaving. I heard Bobbie arguing with some guy. He indicated that she did not pick up after the dogs which she is always diligent in doing so. He indicated that he was an Eagle Scout and would not lie. He saw specifically the dogs walking and pooping at the same time. I proceeded to tell him what to do with his observation and went on. I think this Eagle Scout needed glasses. Our dogs do not walk and poop. They squat and poop.

I will never take Ambien again to sleep. I had a dream last night that seemed so real I could not believe it. Knowing how short they are of bus drivers, I dreamed I went to the bus garage, got a bus, and took a load home from Shields Middle School. Back to Scotch, no more Ambien. Funny part, I work up and went back to sleep only to continue the nightmare. Camping and Ambien, not a good mix. LOL

Nov 17th Arrived at Daughter Sheri. Really good to see them. Weather was quite serious with temperatures being around 65 when arriving, but tornado warnings were posted. Sky really looked strange. Around 7 PM a band of showers went through but fortunately no damage for us. Winds were up to 40 mph and lot of homes without electric, but we were as cozy as a bug in a rug. Stayed there a couple of days, but watching the weather, thought it best to get to Michigan to see mom as soon as possible. Next weekend a cold front suppost to hit Michigan with temps in the mid teens. Need to be back in Ohio before then.

Nov. 19th arrived a my Brothers. It got cold with temps in the mid 20’s. Went immediately to see Mom and she was doing well, about the same as when we say her this past summer. We plan on visiting every day until we leave on Friday. Max health appears to be better with his attitude great. We ordered pizza from down the street. Bobbie's favorite pizza in the whole world. It is pretty good. Had two heaters going to keep warm.

Nov. 20, Sure glad we had the electric blanket. It got cold last night and the hose froze supplying water to the camper. Will fill the water tanks once the hose thaws out. Heaters work great. Planning on staying 2 more nights and then head back to Sheri’s. Start getting things ready for Thanksgiving, plus it is expected to be really cold in Michigan this up coming weekend. Still no snow and we can work with the cold.

[CampingFools]

If it's any consultation, we spent 7 weeks this summer touring the Pacific NW in a 2417, which allowed for NO extras at all. None.

It was a great trip, though, so we've upped the ante to 10 weeks this summer traveling through the N Plain states.

[Tampajohn]

Finally got to what we consider warmer weather, Little Rock, Ark. I just looked at the weather for Texas and they expect in the upper teens in the next few days. Bummer, where can I find warm weather. Plan on taking a few more weeks to get to Los Angeles. Not burning up the road by any means.

The TM has worked great. We have been warm the whole time. Even in 14 degree weather, the furnace handled it with ease. We used electric space heaters when we had ample electric available. I am really impressed with how well it has done. Electric blankets helped also. John

[ArkyDoodle]

Where did you stay in Little Rock??

[Tampajohn]

We are passport America members and we stayed at Downtown RV. It cost us ten bucks per night. Bit noisy and right on the river. But cheap enough. Put on by the city and completely safe. Stayed 2 nights to kind of recoup before hitting the road. Now we are at a Thousand Trails, Lake Tawakoni for 2 days and then hunkering down for 4 days at another Thousand Trails, Lake Whitney for 4 days, both in Texas. Waiting for the storm to pass. Next stop will be Monohan Sandhills State Park for a couple days and the heading to Quartzite, Az.

[Tampajohn]

Funny part about this whole trip is wife and daughter are FSU fans graduating from there and I am Ohio State all the way, that being my alma mater. I also graduated from USF not FSU. Anyway, big battle in the family with the Rose Bowl and we are planning on being there. I have my Ohio State Hoodie ready and wife her FSU sweatshirt. I know my daughter and her husband both graduated from FSU, so I am staying in the TM and let them all live in the condo. The dogs like me anyway. :)

[TrailManorMan]

Go buckeyes, I hope:)

[Tampajohn]

We are held up in Texas just north of Dallas waiting til the storm passes by. I think I know a song like that. It is getting cold here at Lake Tawakoni Thousand Trails and suppose to be ice tomorrow and the next day. I refuse to drive pulling a trailer in ice. Any way, you can see how bored I am passing time in our TM. I have done everything I can think of including trying to plug every hole that might let air in. Back to Michael Connelly books, Now reading The Drop. Any suggestions on what to do in a TM for 4 days til the weather clears?

[Redtail Cruiser]

Think warm thoughts and read a couple more Harry Bosch tales..;)

[agrv8n]

I feel for you guys! We are stuck here in SC with high 70's today. Supposed to cool off this weekend. Stay safe!!

[moaboy]

Tampajohn, of all your camping memberships TT, PA etc. do u recommend one over another?
If u r spending most of ones time out west?

Appreciate hearing from others that cover the country as well.

Thanks.

[Tampajohn]

Each one has it advantages. Thousand Trails is limited on how many campgrounds they have. If I was going to point A to Point B, I would use Passport America. Downside of passport America is there are some really dumpy campgrounds. I think that campgrounds that have difficulty renting spaces otherwise, go to passportamerica. We have found them ok for just a quick overnight instead of a Walmart, but we have run into some really dumpy ones where we would not want to spend much time. Thousand Trails has it own issues. We are on the road for 4 months and they work out pretty well for us. Our daughter lives in San Pedro and the closest one is Soledad Canyou, 70 miles away. Wife goes and stays with the daughter for 3 or 4 days at a time and I babysit the dogs. But distance is a problem and on the otherhand, we can not find anything closer except the Arbors which is a mobile home park. We are currently kicking the idea around, are we going to sign up for TT next year or not. We have driven some extra miles to get the their campsites and are they worth the extra miles driven. We have stayed over 60 days at TT and we have two zones for the price of one which cost us $525. Less than 10 bucs per night, but we have driven some extra miles to take advantage of them We really prefer National Parks, COE, or Florida State Parks, but then again, we are driving out of our way. I guess each have their advantage and disadvantages. Next year we will only be gone for 3 months to California and two months from Florida to Michigan in the summer. Not many TT or PA on I75 that makes it worth while and again driving out of our way. On I 10, not many TT except in Texas where we have to drive out of our way. We have stayed at some dumpy PA, but just for overnight. Inless we really get a deal on TT at the home show next year, we will probably not sign up for it. They were selling them for $375 for two zones at the show last November. We will probably keep PA for sure, cheap enough. Hope that helps and is not too lengthy. John

[Tampajohn]

Let me add a couple things also. I am trying to be as delicate as possible in saying this, but it needs to be said. We are currently in Soledad Canyon Thousand Trails (TT) and there are sure some seedy people here. I do not know if they live here full time or what the situation actually is. The park is currently about 3/4 full and very few in and out. The rule for the zone membership is 2 weeks in and one week out or no more than 4 days in and you can continue from one park to the other. We tried to book the Wilderness and could not get in there for the two weeks. We are going back to the arbors and then to wilderness for 4 days and then to Idllywild TT and then back to Wilderness for a couple weeks and back to the Arbors. There are some problems booking some of the TT parks since they are full and popular depending on the time of year. I might add that Soledad is one of the most need of repairs of any TT. They are currently working on it and suppose to have it up and repaired by summer. They also indicated they ran out over 25 people for TT violations last month. They are trying to fix up the place. Bathrooms are in need of repairs, but they are working on them. It is not dangerous. The guy next door has been gone for over a week with all his stuff out and no one has bothered it. Zone members are suppose not to leave there rigs overnight empty. I do not think TM owners are interested in booking any of these parks full time. That is why I feel somewhat comfortable in making the remarks I did. I have found some of the parks whether east or west (repair issues and type of clients), do have their problems, but depending how much one would use it, It is a pretty good deal for us especially this year.

[scrubjaysnest]

Our experience, late 80's to early 90's, is the resort memberships are a waste of money. The CG's are usually dumps and hard to get into.

Our preference is USFS or BLM, ACOE, NPS, with State Parks a last resort.
For this year we are planning a Trip to UP and will avoid I-75 as much as possible. Since we tend to stay off the interstates and plan routes between CG's on US highways or State Roads the CG's are generally not out of the way. We will do the "Trace" this year, staying at the free NPS CG's. South of Nashville we will drop off the "Trace" and head up Bandy, a CG in the Big South Fork Nat'l RA; NPS.

[hillbillyhotel]

hey scrubjay
we love bandy creek @ big south fork also, not been there since 2011 we had went abour ever other yr for about 8 yrs,
if you are going to be south of nashville, mybe check out henry horton sp, i would rate an above avg state park,right on the duck river, if you still carry your canoe, you will have a good time, grt fishing there also.

[moaboy]

Thanks, helpful info. Seems to be a trade off of a good park or camp ground that is handy but more expensive or using a m'ship for a place that is cheaper but perhaps out of the way. And I guess that is a problem - a good but cheap and well located park is going to be in high demand thus harder to get into...I guess it depends on where one is going and how much time one is spending on the road...
Anybody else have experience with any of these campground memberships?

[Tampajohn]

We are currently at Wilderness Lakes, Thousand Trails, Menifee, California and the park is really nice except for the dairy farm next door. Every once is a while you get a sniff. The park is packed, but it is 80 miles east of Los Angeles where the grandkids are. Daughter and I meet halfway and I take care of the dogs while she visit the kids. We went to Sun City, Ca and played bridge Monday. Lot of activities around and mostly Class A rigs here. I think I am one of the smallest campers here. Shame, we can not find anything close to Los Angeles that is reasonable in price, but that is the way it goes. We did stay at the Arbor in Long Beach, but they only have 3 spots that are not permanent and could not get back in since they were taken. $145 per week. Anyway be thankful for what we have. I will sign up for zonecamping next year for sure since we it provides us with a home. John

Will be home on April 1st, Left Nov. 11.

[scrubjaysnest]

We are currently at Wilderness Lakes, Thousand Trails, Menifee, California and the park is really nice except for the dairy farm next door. Every once is a while you get a sniff. The park is packed, but it is 80 miles east of Los Angeles where the grandkids are. Daughter and I meet halfway and I take care of the dogs while she visit the kids. We went to Sun City, Ca and played bridge Monday. Lot of activities around and mostly Class A rigs here. I think I am one of the smallest campers here. Shame, we can not find anything close to Los Angeles that is reasonable in price, but that is the way it goes. We did stay at the Arbor in Long Beach, but they only have 3 spots that are not permanent and could not get back in since they were taken. $145 per week. Anyway be thankful for what we have. I will sign up for zonecamping next year for sure since we it provides us with a home. John

Will be home on April 1st, Left Nov. 11.

We start heading for Tx around Mar 1; who knows are paths may cross. Also want to try and get our GCVW below 11200#

[MamaJBee]

I put my TM down when it was in the 30s, and it really didn't like going down. Fought me hard, when it came to clicking in the down positions, and made me nervous.

Is it always like this, in cold temps? Need to open it and pack it again for hubby's trip to warm Daytona (darn him!), and it is looking like it will be in the teens and low 20s when we do....

Thanks! Love reading about everyone's posts!

[commodor47]

You might want to check the upper shell seals. A few of our seals will tend to collect water after a rain and if it is cold enough will freeze. Once they freeze it becomes difficult to close as the seals are too thick to slide past the box or the inner shell. The easiest way to check for a frozen seal is to squeeze it. To prevent the seal freeze I run water pipe heat tape (operates on 120 volts) along the seals and that will melt the ice. Periodically check the tape to make sure it doesn't get too hot for the seals.

Dick

[LoveToCamp]

Hmmm. I have put mine up and down many times in sub-freezing temps, and it has not been any different than when it is 90°. You may have the water problem Commodore mentions.

Can't think of anything else, unless you have thick enough foam on the rear bed, so that it compresses easily when warm, but is stiff when cold.

[Padgett]

Just an observation but having a SUV, Van, or Pickup with a shell is like having a shed.