Coast-to-Coast-to-Coast Road Trip !!!

[wagnerda]

Hi Again,

Finished up in Minnesota - 5 nites of running the propane furnace to keep warm - lots different than a couple weeks ago in New Mexico... According to the little red/green gizmo on the tanks it has finally emptied the first tank (30lb) and is pulling from the second. I almost can't believe how long one tank lasts even when running the frig and occasionally the furnace. I filled both tanks this Spring and it is finally on tank 2.

So, we had the big family BBQ for Dad's birthday down at Jay Cooke State Park in Minn. My dad used to work there years ago after he first retired. Minn had a seniors-type program where they hired people over 65 to work parttime at parks where 2 people would split the job so he worked like 3 1/2 days per week doing the site clean-up, bathrooms etc etc. He got to drive the green park ranger truck around, clean out the fire pits at each site, rake leaves and he always said it was one of the best jobs he ever had. So naturally, since it was nice, the "bureaucracy" had to come along and mess it up. The Minn DNR was short on money or whatever, so they had so many cutbacks that he was only allowed like 3 minutes per camp site per day for cleanup etc and that wasn't enough to do it properly (my dad likes things done right) so after about 5 years there he left, but we still like to go back there camping etc.

They have a real nice old stone picnic pavillion there called Oldenburg that you can reserve for the day for $30 so we did that, and even had beautiful fall weather for the day. About 50 friends, in-laws and outlaws showed up for the festivities (those that were out on parole or who at least made bail for the day) and we had 3 grilles going to feed the herd. Worked out real nice.

Then we spent a couple days back at my folks place then then headed down thru Wisconsin to Illinois and then to Ohio.

Some photos for perusal:

#1 - At Jay Cooke Park - lots of Minnesota pine trees (no Verizon)
#2 - Oldenburg Pavillion
# 3, 4 - Plenty of food
# 5 - We had just crossed into Illinois and saw the Weiner Mobile on the road.....
# 6 In Dayton Ohio, one of the nicest KOA's we have been to...

[ROBERT CROSS]

I'm green with envy

[Don Cook]

So jealous. Wish i was right behind you. Good travels
DC

[wagnerda]

Hi again,

Lots of hills in between OH and NC.... Only went up to about 4,000 feet altitude, but think we did that about 25 or 30 times. We came down I-75 from Ohio to Knoxville, TN then across on I-40 to Asheville, NC and stopped at the KOA.

We wanted to go and see the Biltmore Estates as we had never been there before. So we got the tickets and took the tour... Nice big house - especially after a month in a 19' Bambi...

Also, it is easy to see how they pay for the place - entrance tickets to Biltmore were $45 per head so a little on the pricey side... But besides the house that includes tours at the winery (I recommend the Limited Reserve Merlot) etc etc and all around the grounds so it was a nice day spent there.

Next stop will be the Outer Banks down by Rodanthe on the National Seashore.

Pic is the Biltmore Estate main house.

regards:

[wagnerda]

Hi again,

Couple of days behind in posting... Actually am now back home at my dining room table so will see if I can catch this up with a couple of posts...

Made it in to the KOA at Rodanthe, on the Outer Banks of NC. The Outer Banks are one of my absolute favorites and I have been coming down here more or less every summer (and a couple of winters) for 30+ years. If you have never been here, there is a National Seashore that is about 200 miles long and just the width of the islands (the Outer Banks are like a long chain is islands hooked together). Anyway, what I like most is you can pull over along the road at various stops, go up over the sand dunes and be absolutely all by yourself on the shore - nobody anywhere in sight. Really nice.

Anyway, had a little rain on/off, but it is always a little windy here so weather changes fast. And it is only about 30 miles from Kitty Hawk (Wright Bros etc) which I think is one of the places with the highest constant wind velocity in the US. Somehow the Wright Bros knew that back in 1903 before computers ???

If you are ever down here, stop in at the "Top Dog" which is a nice little restuarant/cafe/watering hole on the south side of Rodanthe. You will not be disappointed.

regards,

pic 1 - At the KOA about 200 ft from the surf
pic 2 - From the dunes back to the campground
pic 3,4,5 the seashore
pic 6 - the Top Dog

[wagnerda]

Hi again,

Janes Island State Park in Maryland. Its over on the eastern shore of Chesapeake Bay, down by Crisfield MD.

This campground is only about 3 hrs from my house, so it is one of our regular weekend getway places. Usually when we come down here we have our 14 ft canoe also on top of the truck because the main attraction here is they have "canoe trails" all thru the marsh land here. You can go on trails that are nicely marked up to 6 miles long and don't have to go out onto the open Bay if you don't want to, so it makes for really nice canoeing.

The also have kayaks and canoes you can rent if you don't bring your own.

Well, next stop is back home and the Airstream up at the year-around campground...

[wagnerda]

Back Home !!!

Finally... Long

[wagnerda]

Ok, back at the house and the Airstream is back in the year-around campground... :-)

I had figured the route to be about 7,400 miles but according to the speedometer it shows 8,500+ miles covered so I guess I was wandering around a little more than I thought...

Once I get everything all figured out I will total up the gas etc and see how it all did.

I have a few initial thoughts, and will have to figure them out. First is I think I want to get a "sway-control" setup as I do not have that, I just have the load-equalizer (Reese setup) and I think the big trucks were pushing me around too much. Sort of the combination of only a mid-size truck and 18-wheelers crusing by.

Anyway, I will think about it some and then probably post a thread in the towing section about my experience with a Ford Ranger and a 19 footer for long-distance towing to include 11,150 feet in the Rockies.... In summary, I will be deferring my plans for an Alaska Hwy run until I get a new tow vehicle in a few years... And yes, when I get a new tow vehicle I will be going for some "Big Detroit Iron"...

Anyway, nice to be back home and get ready for the next run.... Maybe Key West FL in Jan or Feb ???

regards, Dave....

pic of the Airstream at my year-around campsite in Freeland MD...

[wagnerda]

Hi again,

Couple of stats for the trip:

Total Miles -- 8,568
Gas Burned -- 654 gals
Avg mpg -- 13.1
Avg cost/gal -- 2.95 (usually mid grade)
Avg miles driven per day -- 252
Engine Oil used -- zero, line on dipstick never moved (Mobil 1 Synthetic)
Trans Fluid used -- zero, line never moved
Radiator Coolant used -- zero, never overheated
Windshield Squirter Juice -- about 3 refills

So all in all it worked out quite well. A couple of things I would do different for next time was I think I had too many "daily moves" in that although the miles per day were fairly low (252) the majority of the time I was only 1 nite at a campsite. Then I would go the next day to another one and setup again.

What I have been trying to adapt myself to is going to a campsite and having each stay be a minimum of 2 nites. I found it worked much better at the sites I stayed 2 nites or more nites in that I would get to the campsite, un-hitch, and then the next day have the day to run around the area -- even a hundred miles or so and even back-tracking sometimes - without the Airstream and then come back by evening, hitch back up and then leave the next day. Even if I ended up driving 400 miles that next day I liked it better.

I guess I have not yet adapted to the concept of using the Airstream more as a "base" when camping, and to do more "bob-tailing" without the Airstream. I would easily say that out of the 8,568 miles that the Airstream was being towed for over 8,000 of them. So, I guess for my next trip I will try and factor that in better with longer stays at fewer sites and more driving in/out of the campground to area attractions without the Airstream.

regards, Dave

[ROBERT CROSS]

THANKS FOR THE GREAT ADVENTURE

We experienced the same feelings after returning from our RT66 trip several

years ago, would like to do it over and spend a lot more time exploring.

It was like a Horizontal Disney World, so much to see and do, not enough

time to take it all in!

Glad you made it home safely, and your trip had no major problems....Bob

[TBRich]

Dave...thanks so much for sharing your great trip/adventure...what a memorable time you had...and the number of miles you covered...wow!

Thanks for taking us all along with you so we could enjoy it with you...

May you have many more happy trails!

TB