DanLE46

Originally Posted by Bill

I did PM the guy about meaningful titles. Does that count as "cutting some slack"? This way it serves as an education both for ther OP and for others as well. Simply changing his title does not.

Bill

That does count for cutting him some slack but I submit to you that comments like that sets a tone that is less than friendly. A constructive suggestion would have been to make the change and in the "reason for the change" block put a comment along the lines of "Changed title to make topic clearer and easier for others find using the search feature". A seperate PM to the member explaining how/where to specify the title would have still been appropriate.

As in all posts on a forum this is just my opinion and the way the comment hit me. I may have been the only one to say something about it but from feed back I have recieved I am certain that I am not the only one who it hit that way.

I do feel bad to a degree as I know how much work it takes to moderate a board and it is a thankless job and with two jobs and a wife with health challenges I can not offer to help assist. Let me say that your efforts, wisdom, counsel and explanations are truely appreciated and are a big part of the "value" this forum provides (and why folks still check back long after they are no longer TM owners. There is still good gouge here and most of it has your signature attached.

My naivety "protected" from experiencing any sense of "feeling foolish". "Learning the ropes" of how to properly post was adequately accomplished by reading the broad variety of responses to Bill's response. "Proper, searchable titles" will accompany my questions/responses from now on, at least to the best of my understanding and ability.
The irratic market this late summer/early fall postponed our purchase of a TM for right now but that didn't prevent us from enjoying a beautiful 7,000+ mile trip for 5 1/2 weeks (mid Sept - late Oct) looping up through WI and MN, across ND and MT, to Seattle, WA, down through OR and northern CA, over to NV, and back home through AZ, UT, CO, KS, MO, and back to northern IL, van camping in our Express Chevy Van with our 65# Labradoodle and a couple bikes on back.
Many beautiful NP's and more than enough "coastal" and "mountain" driving to satisfy us (until next time).
DanLE46

[B_and_D]

Sounds like you had a great trip...are you sure that you really need something to tow?

I keep checking out cabover campers now that the kids don't go with us that much any more. It's way more incognito when it comes to stealth camping, but it's hard to find one that will be light enough for our Chevy 1500. DH loves the TM, but I really miss the days when we had a cabover camper. It even had a Thetford toilet, just like TM's have, but also a black water tank. I miss the gas mantle light built in, which gave off not only light but some heat, and the hand operated water pump over the sink, very quiet in the middle of the night. Very little need for battery power, just the simple things in life.

Originally Posted by DanLE46

The irratic market this late summer/early fall postponed our purchase of a TM for right now but that didn't prevent us from enjoying a beautiful 7,000+ mile trip for 5 1/2 weeks (mid Sept - late Oct) looping up through WI and MN, across ND and MT, to Seattle, WA, down through OR and northern CA, over to NV, and back home through AZ, UT, CO, KS, MO, and back to northern IL, van camping in our Express Chevy Van with our 65# Labradoodle and a couple bikes on back.
Many beautiful NP's and more than enough "coastal" and "mountain" driving to satisfy us (until next time).
DanLE46

Sounds like you had a great trip. Check out Prosser RV in Milwaukee or Obie RV II in McHenry Illinois. They have several TM's in stock, so when you are ready for the jump, you can contact them. We purchased from Prosser and he has been very supportive as we find little things that need attention.

We like doing what we did this recent Fall, BUT ... the cramped quarters in the Hi-Top Van leave alot to be desired when you want to settle in to a particular camp site for more than an overnight. We pulled a 20' upright for several years as well as several different pop-ups when our 4 kids were still home with us, but now we're ready to once again pull a trailer and likely still use the van as our primary TV (which will still allow us to use that van set-up for a few more extended side trips away from a more permanent and accomodating base camp from time to time). Our Labradoodle "Parker" would NOT want to give up his comfy ride on the queen bed in the back with the 'memory foam' topper and multiple pillows to snuggle up in. He knows when he's got it good!

I appreciate the heads up on the Milwaukee and McHenry dealerships. We've visited both of them years ago when we were considering the RoadTrec approach but settled for the towable so one can unhook and explore more readily in the TV. Our alternate TV is an older Durango we could use when we wanted to do some more serious off-road exploring once the TM was dropped at our campsite. Hopefully things will come together for us by the time the next travel season comes around and we'll be in a TM of our own.

DanLE46