Where are you headed this year?

[Joseph]

I was reading a post where Digger was completing a trip and his last stop was Key Largo. That got me to thinking about summer vacation. It’s not too soon to be thinking about that is it? :D I was wondering if some of you were thinking about or planning upcoming trips. I know Kempert always heads out west to parts unknown and I hope to do the same for a few weeks myself in June. Being as the DW fell in love with the Black Hills last year we will be returning there for the entire time this year. Last year we were at Custer State Park for only a few days and she made a really bad face at me when we left. :eek: I have amends to make. :) Anyway, if you have a moment, where are you headed? Be safe and happy camping to you.

[Bluegrass]

We have several trips planned for this year.

The first starts next Wednesday. It will be a long weekend to Lake Havasu for a bluegrass festival. We'll stop in St. George on the way down and back. It will also serve as a "checkout" trip to find anything that went awry with the TM over the winter.

In June we'll make our annual trek across Nevada to the Father's Day weekend bluegrass festival in Grass Valley, California. This year we're planning to stay a few days at Granite Flat campground just north of Lake Tahoe on the Truckee river on the way.

In early September, the biggie will be a trip from here (just south of Salt Lake City) to Yellowstone for a few days, then on to Hamilton, Montana (just south of Missoula) to do a little fishing on the Bitterroot with friends who live there. Then across Montana to the Black Hills. DW has always wanted to see Mt. Rushmore. I'm a Western history nut, so there is lots there for me. We were thinking of staying at Rafter J Bar Ranch. Any opinions about that place? Finally, we'll head back home through Wyoming catching as much of the pioneer trail as possible - along the Sweetwater, through South Pass, and then down to Fort Bridger and back home. Probably a 3 week trip. Maybe a little longer.

Another possibility is to move this trip up a bit into August and catch another bluegrass festival in California the weekend prior to the Petaluma TM gathering which we could then catch and meet some of y'all.

Suggestions, experiences, and warnings are quite welcome!

[Al-n-Sue]

We were thinking of staying at Rafter J Bar Ranch. Any opinions about that place?

Our little camping group from Colorado Springs stayed at Rafter J Bar several years ago - the week before Memorial Day. It was deserted and we had a wonderful time. September should be similar. Rafter J Bar is a very nice campground and is just a few minutes from Rushmore. We stayed in one area that had some small cabins and a couple of non-campers came with us and stayed there.

We'd go back in a heartbeat.
Alan

[Al-n-Sue]

We will do numerous weekend or extended weekend trips close to home this year. Fortunately the Front Range of Colorado has a lot to offer - all within a few hours of home. We'll do an early trip to a new state park - Cheyenne Mountain - which opened a few months ago. We'll hit other close state parks - Mueller and Golden Gate - and a private park or two. The TM owners in Colorado are very active with a "rally" each month. We'll hit several of those.

We are looking at a potential longer trip after Labor Day to the western slope - if anyone has any suggestions for something around Grand Junction I'd be interested in hearing your ideas.

I'm still a working stiff with little vacation so have to stay close to home and do weekends.
Alan

[Wavery]

We are heading to Point Mugu State Beach in a few hours. In March we're going to San Clemente and Joshua Tree a few weeks later. April will find us in Newport Dunes for an Easter rally and Dana Point for another rally a few weeks later. May will find us back at Point Mugu (our home away from home).
June 21-23 will find us at Pt Mugu again. The following weekend will find us in Bridgeport. July 4th will be Big Bear Lake and so on and so on.... I'm getting tired just thinking about it....:cool:

[wbmiller3]

We're going to eastern New Mexico in a couple of weeks, and then to the Deep South later this year. Haven't gotten to the fall trip yet.

[PopBeavers]

Somewhere to ride ATVs and motorcycles offroad. Not sure exactly where or when yet.

[Bob&Karen]

We've got a couple trips planned this year - around the first week of April, we're planning on heading down to Lake Hartwell in Georgia for a couple of days and then, from there go on to either Hunting Island State Park outside of Beaufort, SC, or Savannah, GA. Will be gone about a week.

Will do numerous local weekend and long weekend trips throughout the remainder of spring and summer.

Since this October will be our 25th wedding anniversary, we're planning a three week sojourn around the end of September/first of October. Plan is to leave here (northeast TN) and drop south, then head west on I-20/I-10 - no particular destination in mind - just go until we don't want to go anymore. We've done the desert southwest many times before, and have some favorite places so I'm sure we'll stop at those places again. However, with three weeks and never having best west of Tucson, AZ, I'm sure that possibly San Diego may be in order. Wherever we go, we'll have a great time.

Bob

[coulter]

Our first trip this year will be 10 days to the Arches National Park area of Utah over spring break.
Then we have a weekend trip here in Mo, to Lake of the Ozarks in late April. Then early June in the Branson area
Late June and early July will be spent in Colorado, first Turquoise Lake in Leadville then State Forest State Park. We think we will head to the Tetons after that, and we're not sure where we will go from there.
I was planning to stay within a 1000 miles of home after the 5000 mile trip we took to Prince Edward Island last summer.. but these low gas prices are tempting my resolve. :)

[Al-n-Sue]

Enjoy your trip to Colorado. Beware of mosquitos at Turquoise Lake! You'd think at that altitude you wouldn't have a problem - but we were there in June a couple of years ago and were eaten up! What campground are you staying at?

State Forest is great - we saw several moose when we were there in July '07. We were in Ranger Lakes campground.

Alan

[coulter]

Enjoy your trip to Colorado. Beware of mosquitos at Turquoise Lake! You'd think at that altitude you wouldn't have a problem - but we were there in June a couple of years ago and were eaten up! What campground are you staying at?

State Forest is great - we saw several moose when we were there in July '07. We were in Ranger Lakes campground.

Alan

We will be at Molly Brown, right along the lakeside:D I just love it there! I made my reservations in January lol.. Then we will be at Ranger Lakes Campground, State Forest is one place I've never in all my trips to Colorado been to so I'm excited about that also.

I HATE Mosquitoes! But no great experience comes without sacrifice :) I carry 5 of those Off lamps and spread them all around, they seem to help a lot, plus bug spray, what more can be done? I've already been attacked here this year in MO by the darn things.

[markandanne]

Like Al-n-Sue, we're planning to do a couple weekends with the Mile High Trailblazers club; in our case, Chatfield state rec area, Mueller state park, and a private campground in Oct. We're also planning to check out the new campgrounds at Cheyenne Mt. state park at the end of May.

The big trip will come later in the summer. We have a family reunion in Maine during the first week in August. The plan is for me and the girls to drive across country and back by ourselves with Mark flying out for the reunion week. Planning on driving at a fairly leisurely pace each day and staying each night where the girls and I can go swimming and unwind from the drive.

We'll fit in more if we can but this is what's on the calendar at the moment.

Anne

[Beak12]

Well we have hopes---
March A long weekend at Lake Jennings (San Diego) 5 miles from home.
April--TM Ralley at Campland on the Bay (San Diego) 6 Miles from Home.
(unless in the Hosptial)
April--Flight to Dallas TX for a long weekend with Family
June---11 day trip to Lk Tahoe
June---And if the Doc says I can travel a 3 month trip East -Destination
the Chautauqua Intitution, Chautauqua NY. If I can't do 3 m
months we will fly east for 2 weeks at Chautauqua.

That is all so far.:D

[arniland]

This summer we want to visit eastern Canada. We plan to start in early August up the east side of lake Eire, cross into Canada and up to Toronto. Then stops in Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City before swinging over to Nova Scotia. Then make our way back down the Maine coast before swinging inland to avoid I-95 for the return to Maryland. We figure about a month....nowhere near enough time.

Most of this is new territory for us, so please offer advise if you've done any part of this before.

Arn

[wbmiller3]

Nova Scotia has a beautiful national park called - spelling not guaranteed - Kejimakujik. It's definitely worth a visit. It's been a decade or so since I've been but I'd like to go back.

[countrygirl]

We have a trip planned for this weekend. We are planning 4 day trips to Georgia, Alabama, West. Va., Central Florida and also 2 weeks in Missouri.

[Northwoods]

We have 10 days in June reserved at Pulltite Camprground on the Current River in the National Qzark Scenice Riverways. We'll take two canoes, our 90 lb. chocolate lab and as many of our 4 adult kids and their families as can come. We've camped there for 42 years and love it. They have recently added 2 new shower/toilet buildings.A real luxury. No electric, but sites right along the river.We'll take a side trip or two to the many springs and caves in the area.We love to boondock, and for us, this is the perfect spot. It's hard to get everyone together with busy work and school schedules - and now two of the 8 grands are in college. Can't wait. Olga and Ken, Northwoods, Florissant, MO

[jbh1993]

We are headed to topsail in Florida July18 thru the 24th. I would love to have some more Trailmanor campers there. Come join the fun.

[B_and_D]

We are planning to visit Lake Paulina (pronounced "Pah" "line", like a straight line, "ah") in Oregon with my cousins in June, maybe swing down through Lake Almanor on the way home (if we have time).

Then we have reservations for Seacliff State Beach for 4 nights (10 miles from home) in July, and two one-week reservations for Lodgepole in King's Canyon, one in July and one in August. I'm not sure if we're going to keep both of those sets of reservations. If anyone wants to be informed if we cancel, let me know. It's for a 33' driveway length in the no-generator area with room for a tent.

It's going to be a busy camping summer and we're looking forward to it. I need to get some new tires and I always put stuff off like that until the last moment.

[Queeniereads]

No doubt we will be in Maine at/near the trolley museum for a few weekends and maybe to the regional TM weekend in CT in May, but our first big trip will be to Branson MO for the TM Jubilee at the end of June. By Sept. we hope to have our house sold and be on the way to FL, so that will be our very very long trip. Hope to see some of you in Branson!

[Joesjunk]

My wife and I plan a cross country trip from mid July through September. We will visit Yellowstone NP, Glacier NP, Lake Louise, Vancouver, Seattle, Creater NP, and all points in between and then back to North Carolina. I'll post the schedule and planned stops when we are closer to the final version.
A rough guess is about 10,000 miles and 70 days:eek:. Hope to see some of you along the way.

[Al-n-Sue]

In an earlier post I gave a vague list of our plans for the summer. Our plans are pretty firm now with reservations made and groups formed. Almost all are weekends or 3 day weekends and close to the front range of Colorado.

April - the last weekend we take our "shakedown" trip to Cheyenne Mtn SP just outside of Colorado Springs. It is a new park and was intended to be a showcase for the state parks system. Unfortunately they ran out of money and have scaled back. But, the campsites are finally open and they are all concrete pads, full hookups, views of the city and plains, a very nice camper services building with laundry, showers and flush toilets. It is close to town so any problems can be resolved with a trip to the dealer, Camping World, or WalMart!

May - Mother's Day - our camping group from church will be at Mountaindale RV park south of Colo Spgs. Full hookups, wifi, and again close to town. Close enough that I will drive in to work on Friday so we can get an extra night away.

June - 2nd weekend we host the Mile High Trailblazers at Mountaindale RV park. A trip to the Antique Capital of Colorado will be on the agenda.
3rd weekend our church group goes to Golden Gate Canyon SP. Iris's will be in bloom.

July - 2nd weekend our church group goes to Mueller SP - our favorite. The Mile High Trailblazers will be there also, so we'll be doing double duty!
July 31st/Aug 1 we go to Grand Lake to Elk Creek campground. We'll take in a broadway play at the Rocky Mountain Repertory Theater.

Labor day weekend - this is the biggie of the year. We'll do 5 nights at One Mile campground on the Taylor River near Gunnison. A trip to Crested Butte and some 4-wheeling may be in order.

We'll probably add a trip in September or October (or both) depending on when our 3rd grandchild comes. :D The 2nd one is coming in August which is why there are no campouts in August! Grandma has to be ready to travel!

Lots of weekends but not much driving. Other than One Mile, the farthest we travel will be 2 1/2 hours to Grand Lake.

[O2BOutside]

Just recently, like a month ago, I bought a 2009 3023 and I love it. Picked it up at the dealer and went drycamping! Boy, did I learn a lot in that trip. :rolleyes: Next weekend we're heading to Pismo Beach in California and staying in our first RV park, not sure about that I think I am more of a boondock camper.

I am glad I found this thread and it is giving me a lot of good ideas. We plan on a week long trip to Arizonia in April to visit my brother and probably another weeklong in the fall. Of course, there will be several long weekend trips scattered in between.

[B_and_D]

Just recently, like a month ago, I bought a 2009 3023 and I love it. Picked it up at the dealer and went drycamping! Boy, did I learn a lot in that trip. :rolleyes: Next weekend we're heading to Pismo Beach in California and staying in our first RV park, not sure about that I think I am more of a boondock camper.

I am glad I found this thread and it is giving me a lot of good ideas. We plan on a week long trip to Arizonia in April to visit my brother and probably another weeklong in the fall. Of course, there will be several long weekend trips scattered in between.

Which RV park are you going to in Pismo? We've been looking to an alternative to Pismo Coast Village. We always stay there when we're passing through. It's a very nice park, great location, nice, new, clean bathrooms etc. but we'd like to find something a little more low-key.

[O2BOutside]

A friend recommended Pismo Sands RV Park because it is low key. Not much into the party scene anymore. Here is the link http://www.pismosands.com

[B_and_D]

Thanks for the link. I'd like to stay there next time to try it out. Please let us know what you think of it when you get back from your camping trip. Low noise levels are what we're looking for; we like our peace and quiet.

Have fun!

D

[O2BOutside]

Here is my report on Pismo Sands RV park in Oceano, CA. This was my first RV park. I liked that it had a pull through at each site. I noticed I had the smallest RV in the place and felt dwarfed by some very BIG rigs. I found the people at the check-in to be helpful and friendly. Bathrooms and showers were clean and smelled nice. Had full hookups which was a relief. I dreaded the thought of having to go to a dump station since I had never been to one. So, learning about how to handle that aspect of RVing at the site was nice. Quite a crowd gathered and they speculated about how the Trailmanor would set up. I think they were quite surprised by how quick it was. So overall it was a pleasant experience. The park was not within walking distance to the beach. I actually found a better and cheaper place to stay at the next time we go to the coast. I like to geocache and had a cache on the beach. I parked at Oceano State Park to go find this cache. Low and behold it had hookups! Nice sized trees, spaces were a good size and it was cheaper. There were also showers at the site.

[halpal]

We'll be heading out to the western states in about 3 weeks. We plan to take about 3-4 weeks and take a good look. We just returned from a month in Sebring, FL in Feb. In July we'll be going up into Ohio for family reunions, then into Michigan, Illinios, Wisc, Minnesota, and then we'll head back south to NC.:new_Eyecr

[PopBeavers]

I can't help but giggle every time I see someone sya they are going out west, but will be no where near California.

Sorta like me, in California, saying I'm going back to to Utah for vacation.

From my perspective, the west starts at the continental divide That is what determines if the creek flows west to the Pacific or east to the Atlantic/gulf.

Have a great trip out here.

[B_and_D]

Thanks for the trip report, I think we may check that RV park out. Oceano (like the other CA state parks on the beach) gets pretty full during the summer and on weekends, so if you are planning on staying there it would be best to get reservations. They have water and electricity, but no sewer hookups. We've stayed there before, once in our cabover camper and once in a tent. It's so foggy down there sometimes that it makes tent camping pretty unappealing! You go outside in the morning and everything is dripping wet. We took our son there when he was about 1 1/2 and he got into the firepit the instant we turned our backs on him (we had not had a fire the night before) and made quite a wet, sooty mess out of himself. I don't think they had showers back then so it was off to the beach to clean him off. He was not a happy camper :o!

We like that area of the central coast, it's so different from here.

[ng2951]

We are to the Resurrection...Well its a Cowboy Action Shoot at Tin Star Ranch in Fredricksburg, TX. Should be a hoot...

I should add that all the cowboys and cowgirls line up their chairs to watch Foard and Sassy 3326 assembly show!

[Myronroo]

We will be going to KS the middle of June to visit family then on to Branson MO for the TrailBlazer Jubilee. We are also planning a trip to Pigeon Forge TN in early fall.

[jasongold]

We're planning to head from southern California on June 14th to New York, Massachusetts, DC, Virginia & back. All told we'll spend two months on the road with a four year-old and a two-year old. If we all survive I'll post some pictures.

Does anyone know if a screened in gazebo (they're about $80 at Walmart) is used much back east - mosquito country?

Jason

[Beak12]

We spent 9 months doing the east coast in our 37' class A and did not seem to have problems with anything other than what folks back there call (no see ums). And they were bad. Bites all over our legs. How you fight them I don't know. :rolleyes:

[commodor47]

Jason,

A screen room of some type will come in handy - depending on where you stay - if only to give you a little more sheltered living space. We do have pesky mosquitoes in our area.

Will your travels bring you anywhere near Western MA?

JAW - best way we've found to discourage the no-see-ums is with a fan. They seem to have trouble getting around in moving air - can't easily land. They are small enough to pass their screen test though!

Dick

[Queeniereads]

We had terrible mosquitoes in Maine last summer, and they are often hefty in RI, too. ANd, I remember the ones in NJ while I was growing up. So, with youngsters, give them that extra play-space with protection of a screen. I don't think you will be sorry! Q

[roned2]

Our big trip will start on the 17th of May from the Toronto area and take us south through the states from Michigan to Washington state and back through Canada- BC, Alberta and Saskatchewan before returning stateside for the trip home. We plan to be on the road 6-8 weeks in all. We will be armed with mosquito netting jackets and lots of insect spray. Hopefully the snow will be gone out west.

[PopBeavers]

We have no big trip planned yet. Mostly our trips are somewhere to ride ATVs and motorcycles in the forest. We have reservations at Bass Lake for Memorial weekend and Labor day weekend.

Labor day will be a modest family reunion with my wife's cousins and our 5. Should be around 20-24 people. We had a blast last year. This will be the second reunion. The primary use for the generator is to run the Margarittaville machine at the end of the day.

We will definitely not be going anywhere near the I80 corridor in the Sierras. I do not want to deal with that construction.

[Aggiebob]

We are leaving on Friday to venture from our area in Ft.Worth, Texas headed to Orlando and other parts of Florida for a 14 day jaunt. First loooong trip pulling our 2720sl but anticipate no problems.

[PopBeavers]

We are leaving on Friday to venture from our area in Ft.Worth, Texas headed to Orlando and other parts of Florida for a 14 day jaunt. First loooong trip pulling our 2720sl but anticipate no problems.

We went for a week long trip, once so far. My strategy was to stay two nights at each location, to reduce setup/tear down time. We would travel one day and sight see the next day.

The next time I will stay at least three nights in each location. I think I would enjoy the trip more.

The exception would be if I was trying to cover a lot of ground without sightseeing along the way. Then I would move every day. A good example was if I wanted to spend two weeks touring New England. The 3,000 mile journey just to get there would be a bunch of overnight stops for me.

I would like to hear your impression of this after you return.

[Al-n-Sue]

Is that a Texas A&M Aggie? If so gig 'em!

Have two kids with Aggie rings!

[Al-n-Sue]

We will do numerous weekend or extended weekend trips close to home this year. Fortunately the Front Range of Colorado has a lot to offer - all within a few hours of home. We'll do an early trip to a new state park - Cheyenne Mountain - which opened a few months ago. We'll hit other close state parks - Mueller and Golden Gate - and a private park or two. The TM owners in Colorado are very active with a "rally" each month. We'll hit several of those.

We are looking at a potential longer trip after Labor Day to the western slope - if anyone has any suggestions for something around Grand Junction I'd be interested in hearing your ideas.

I'm still a working stiff with little vacation so have to stay close to home and do weekends.
Alan
Since I wrote this in Feb we've made some trips and have a couple still planned. Our Labor Day trip will be to One Mile Campground, near Almont, CO on the Taylor river, and will be sandwiched between non-camping trips to Nashville to see our newest granddaughter, and a trip to Dallas to see our next newest granddaughter!

And it looks like we may get a trip to Albuquerque for the Balloon Fiesta in Oct - just before DW has shoulder surgery! It will be an interesting fall!