The month of October has surprisingly become huge for RV campgrounds, resorts and parks around the U.S. thanks to Halloween.
Maybe because for many in the northern states, its a chance to do one more trip before the RV has to be winterized and put in storage.
Instead of just one night – Oct. 31 – many parks dedicate the entire two or three weekends before Halloween to the big event.
We visited a campground near us this past weekend – Addison Oaks Park in Addison Twp., about 45 miles north of
Halloween RV Campouts
The month of October has surprisingly become huge for RV campgrounds, resorts and parks around the U.S. thanks to Halloween. Maybe because for many in the northern states, its a...
Roadtreking : The RV Lifestyle Blog - Traveling North America in a small motorhome
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That’s because the brand-new miniature K-cup coffee maker I bought for our motorhome didn’t work this morning and I was all set to celebrate our first night in our new Roadtrek eTrek with a hot cup of coffee.
Fortunately, the Kentucky Horse Park campground where we’re staying just off I-75 near Lexington, has a store and it was open, and they had plenty of coffee.
Crisis averted.
I had wanted to boondock on our first night to put the batteries and solar power features of this new motorhome
Great West Vans Revamps 2013 Legend Lineup under New Ownership
Canadian Type B RV maker Great West Vans was bought out last year by one of their suppliers and the new owner, Dave DeBraga, has big plans for the company’s Legend brand of Mercedes Sprinter models.
DeBraga, the owner and new President of Great West Vans, was all over the Florida RV Supershow in Tampa in January, meeting customers and sharing his excitement for the luxury Legend series of Sprinters sold by the company, now based in
Of all the traveling we’ve done on this 4,000-mile Verizon Great Lakes Roadtreking Shoreline Tour, Lake Superior’s North Shore in Wisconsin and Minnesota has provided the most diverse scenery to date.
Up there, as we rounded the US-side of the lake and started heading north to Canada, especially north of Duluth, we were overwhelmed by the sheer size of the Big Lake the Ojibwe call Gitchegume.
It is so big it has tides.
That was the first thing we learned as we moved from the Porcupine Mou
There’s a reason it’s called Superior.
There is no other lake like it in the world. It is truly immense, so big that it contains more water that all four of the other Great Lakes combined. You’d need two more Lake Eries to equal the water in Superior.
Superior is so big we will need two reports to cover it all for our Verizon Great Lakes Roadtreking Tour.
In the video above, we head out from Saulte Ste Marie, Mich., where Superior flows into the St Mary’s River and, eventually all of the
The one thing we have learned on this Verizon Great Lakes Shoreline Roadtreking Tour is that very often, a surprise is literally around the next corner.
So it was when we got off the car ferry in Manitowoc, WI, directly across Lake Michigan from Ludington, MI
As we made a right turn out of the parking lot, we spotted a submarine. What on earth is a submarine doing in Manitowoc, WS? We had to find out. The sub is docked out front of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, a fascinating place dedicated t
Of all the eight states that touch the Great Lakes , Michigan – with 2,147 miles – has the most coastline. So as we rounded the bottom of Lake Michigan from the Indiana border and made our way into Southwest Michigan on the last leg of out 10-segment adventure, there was a sense of déjà vu about it all.
Around us were beautiful blue waters, sand dunes, lush green agricultural fields and even a wine trail, much like we have seen to different degrees on all of the lake shorelines we’ve visited ov
Michigan’s UP is hemmed in by three of the Great Lakes. Everyone knows about Superior and Huron but the lake on the UP’s southern border has some great camping and exploring opportunities, too.
So. after three weeks of travel on our Verizon Great Lakes Roadtreking Shoreline Tour, we have now arrived at the fifth of the big lakes – Lake Michigan.
Lake Michigan touches four states and is the only one of the Great Lakes that doesn’t share a coastline with Canada.
We started out following it
Our Roadtrek Etrek now has its sea legs.
Sometimes, to really appreciate something, you have to immerse yourself in it.
So it was with Lake Michigan as we’ve been traveling around the Great Lakes Region these past several weeks on our Verizon Great Lakes Shoreline Roadtreking tour.
No, we didn’t go swimming in it. The heavy ice up this past winter has left it and the other four Great lakes, abnormally cold. And normal is cold. This summer, it is really cold.
So instead of getting wet in the
One of the things about traveling by RV that makes it so much fun is the serendipity, the unscheduled things that you just happen upon and, in the moment, take advantage of because, with an RV, you can.
Such was the town of Glenwood Springs along I-70 180 miles west of Denver, home of the world’s largest hot springs pool.
The hot mineral water has been drawing visitors from all over the world since 1888, when a resort and original spa officially opened for business. But even before that, the U
Getting Ready to Roll-Grand Canyon Country Here I Come
This past week has been a busy one for me. I have been sorting out, packing up and checking that all systems are go in my cute little RV. I...
Roadtreking : The RV Lifestyle Blog - Traveling North America in a small motorhome
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Man we got high near Telluride!
At 9,500 feet in elevation, the Matterhorn Campground just south of Telluride, CO was the highest place we’ve overnighted yet on this Great Roadtreking Family Vacation of 2013. Son-in-law, Dan, noticeably felt the effects of the altitude and all of us noticed a bit of dizzyness on exertion, especially when hiking.
The Matterhorn Campground is just off Colorado Highway 145, about an hour and a half’s drive from our stay at Mesa Verde National Park. Run by the USD
I use a lot of cameras while we travel North America in our Roadtrek RV. One of my favorites is the GoPro Hero, a very tiny high def camera that I can mount to the side of my vehicle, wear on a bike hemet or attach to just about anything.
The folks who make the camera just released some free editing software called GoPro Studio. I couldn’t resist downloading it last night and throwing in a few of our driving shots from this summer. The music comes with the template you download, so no complaint
There are fulltime RVers and then there is Campskunk.
Most fulltimers travel in Type A motorhomes or Fifth Wheels. They also tow a car. And though their RVs are as long as many a subdivision house, they are still a rare breed, disposing of only what they can put in storage or pack in their 36, 40 or 43 foot long RV. They’re generally celebrated by the RV community, looked up to and envied for their independence and vagabond freedom.
But imagine doing it in a 22-foot long Class B campervan. Tha
Fridges and Freezers, oh my
A few weeks ago we were at Mingus Park on the Oregon Coast. Mingus Park is in a really, really hilly part of the coast; there’s not much of a...
Roadtreking : The RV Lifestyle Blog - Traveling North America in a small motorhome
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As we’ve traveled across North America, visiting wilderness areas and National Parks, one park consistently came up at the top of the list of must-visit places suggested by fellow RVers: Glacier National Park in far northwestern Montana.
Now that we’ve been there and spent most of a week exploring this dramatic and spectacular park, we know why.
But our adventure here didn’t start out well. We visited in mid-August, after school had started in much of the country. We thought the crowds would
For Your RV Bucket List: Glacier National Park
As we’ve traveled across North America, visiting wilderness areas and National Parks, one park consistently came up at the top of the list of must-visit places suggested by fellow RVers:...
Roadtreking : The RV Lifestyle Blog - Traveling North America in a small motorhome
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Florida’s panhandle is a special place. And the area from Panama on the East on to the Alabama border on the west may be the most special. It’s called the Emerald Coast, named after the stunning color of the Gulf of Mexico. Check out our video to see why we were so taken with this area.
Our base for this trip was the new Destin West RV Resort, located on Okaloosa Island in Fort Walton Beach.
http://youtu.be/2jQ_OR-tPxI
We lucked out with an awesome spot, yards away from the 27-mile long Choc
I’m lucky. To tend to the mechanical work on my Roadtrek eTrek on the Sprinter chassis, I have two great technicians: Daryl and Josh. Plus Eric, a great service manager who always manages to squeeze me in.
I was just in the other day after a check engine light came on. Wouldn’t you know, it was one of those erratic issues. When I drove it into Hoekstra Transportation in Troy, MI, I felt somewhat sheepish. The warning light had something to do with a sensor that we had replaced about 20,000 mile
The surveys show well over 75% of all RVrs travel with dogs. In fact, many said because they want to take their pets with them is one of the major reasons they bought an RV in the first place.
Jennifer and I are the same. We enjoy the company of our Norwegian Elkhound, Tai, and bring him with us on most of our trips.
But there are times while we’re on the road that Tai doesn’t quite fit in.
Take the long trip west that we’re now on.
Tai will be great for most of it. But the first part, a we
There’s a real battle going on out there in the RV world and it pits some powerful interests against those who resent paying for services they don’t need and only want to take advantage of the generous offers of places like Wal-Mart, Cabella’s, Cracker Barrel and other businesses that not only allow but welcome brief overnight stays by traveling RVers.
But for more than a decade now, campground owners and their national association have quietly been working behind the scenes to convince local g
"How lucky I am to have known someone who was so hard to say goodbye to.” – Anonymous
I write this with tears steaming down my face. Our noble friend and companion, Tai, has crossed the Rainbow Bridge – that sappy, mythical but nevertheless comforting place where much-loved pets go to await their masters. He would have been 12 this December.
I debated whether I should do a blog post about this. But Tai was so well known by the Roadtreking community that he was a celebrity in and of himself, of
Every RVers worst nightmare: When your dog gets skunked
We’re not going camping this weekend.
Blame it on a skunk.
That’s because the night before we were to leave, Tai, our Norwegian Elkhound, was tagged at close range by a strolling skunk that has declared our front lawn his territory, despite the grey and black furball that patrols it with vigor.
It was a busy night for Tai. First, he nailed an Opossum. Actually, he just thought he took out the Opossum. The ‘possum was playing, all curled
We all have places we want to see, to explore and experience. A bucket list. At the 40th Anniversary rally of Roadtrek Motorhomes in Branson, Mo., no matter how
experienced a traveler we found, we also found that every traveler still has a bucket list.
Just ask the question … what’s on your bucket list? You’ll immediately get an answer.
Watch the video below. Is your bucket place dream trip mentioned?
http://youtu.be/zGnQS8tUNvg
About the Author: Mike Wendland is a veteran journalist who tr
