Quick now, when I say we visited the Colorado National Monument, what did you think?
Unless you’ve been here and seen it, I bet you thought is was a statue of some sort, didn’t you?
I know I did when my daughter, Wendy, first insisted we include it in our list of ”must sees” during our Great Roadtreking Family Vacation of 2013.
The monument is not what we expected.
It is nothing short of stupendously beautiful, a long stretch of spectacular rock monotliths cut deep into the sandstone and ev
I’m often asked about the favorite things we’ve done in our Roadtrek eTrek. At the top of my list is mountain climbing.
We used it to drive to the top of Pikes Peak, some 14,114 feet high.
It’s a long haul up and when we entered the road that would take us to the top off Highway 24 west of Colorado Springs, we had to have the ranger help us drive around a barrier meant to keep larger vehicles from attempting the climb. At first, they tried to wave us off. Then they saw that our Roadtrek RV was
Climbing Pikes Peak in an RV
I’m often asked about the favorite things we’ve done in our Roadtrek eTrek. At the top of my list is mountain climbing. We used it to drive to the top of Pikes Peak, some...
Roadtreking : The RV Lifestyle Blog - Traveling North America in a small motorhome
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I’m about to check off a couple more items from our RV travel bucket list, trips that will take us coast to coast on a summer travel schedule that will have us going from Cape Cod to the Oregon coast, with numerous stops and detours along the way.
The Cape Cod trip is from June 8-11th as we attend a sold-out Roadtrek International chapter rally of the Family Motorcoach Association that will be held in Brewster, MA. Jennifer and I will meet and visit with over 100 other Roadtrek owners, sharing
Charging your Electronics in your Camper
When we first started traveling in our camper van it seemed like we always juggled to keep our electronic devices charged. It was easier if we were plugged into shore...
Roadtreking : The RV Lifestyle Blog - Traveling North America in a small motorhome
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I love kayaking. Except for occasional rental places I find in our travels, though, it’s pretty hard to do while Roadtreking.
I’ve been tempted to get an inflatable kayak but, well, I want a real one, with a composite body. The problem, though, is how do I carry it?
My friend Gary Hennes from Minnesota has solved that problem with a roof mount and a Hullavator mechanism that effortlessly lifts the kayak up to the roof of his 2006 Roadtrek RS-Adventurous.
He got his from a local outfitter nea
It was 3 AM and we were deep in the woods, camped on a friend’s 200 acres of fenced and posted private property off an obscure fire trail more than two miles from the nearest paved road.
I jolted awake. I heard a vehicle with a slightly knocking engine. bumping and scraping on the underbrush of the trail. Then I saw its headlights, slowly making its way down the trail towards us.
Jennifer was still asleep. So was my Norweigian Elkhound, Tai. Fine watchdog he was.
There was no reason for the o
As spring and warm weather approaches, this is again the time for a semiannual spike in carbon monoxide deaths and propane issues for RVers.
This week at a KOA in Nashville, a couple was found dead in their RV by relatives who drove to the campground after not being able to reach them for several days. Carbon monoxide poisoning was the cause, said authorities, caused by a their propane burner.
In Washington State the week before, a propane tank explosion inside an RV east of Lacey sent a coupl
I confess to being a bit of a snob about the east. My journalist days often took me up and down the eastern seaboard, mostly to big cities where crime, decay, overcrowded neighborhoods and a general malaise of discontent seemed to be the chief characteristic of the people and places.
Such is the danger of journalism. Seeing bad news makes you skeptical. Seeing too much bad news makes you a cynic. And being cynical is not a good way to live.
So it’s good to visit the east now in an RV, where we
Campskunk’s back on the road in a new RV
After many long months, I was finally able to give my captors the slip and am now safely across the border at Port Huron and proceed west a few miles...
Roadtreking : The RV Lifestyle Blog - Traveling North America in a small motorhome
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Ever wondered how Campskunk got his name?
Or how it is possible for he and his wife and their cat to life full-time in a 20-foot camper van?
Then click on the Campskunk interview below. It's the latest in our series of live chats via Google Hangouts. We chat for an extended period about full-timing, life on the road and how to manage grocery shopping, doctor and dentist appointments and bill paying without a permanent address.
I also ask Campskunk why he chose a Roadtrek for his home.
I’
The 40th anniversary Roadtrek corporate rally is going on this week in Branson, MO, with more than 500 Roadtrek owners and 250 coaches gathered for a week’s worth of fun celebrating the four decades the very popular Class B motorhomes have been sold.
Attenders from across the US and Canada were greeted with cloudy skies and heavy rain warnings on arrival Monday, but that didn’t deter many from taking advantage of a free Roadtrek wash organized by the company.
Check the vanity license plate mes
We were on I-69 a few miles north of I-94 in Michigan, headed off for a 10 day swing through Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia. We came close to ending it on our first day.
Bang!
Like a small explosion, a tire on a huge semi-tractor rig blew, just as we were about to pass it. Instinctively, I braked and swerved left onto the shoulder, just as a huge chunk of tire came careening into my lane, right about where the windshield would have been if I hadn’t hit the brakes.
In my rear view m
A horrific, fiery crash along I-65 in Kentucky that claimed six lives has focused new attention on the need to be able to break through automotive safety glass to rescue people trapped in smashed cars.
The six people who died were in an SUV from Marion, Wis., traveling north near Glendale. The vehicle caught fire after it was rear-ended by a tractor-trailer.
Lynn and Roger Brucker, from Dayton, Ohio, were driving home in their Roadtrek van when the crash occurred behind them. They had slowed b
When we first started out 18 months ago, I have to admit, I had my doubts about a life of RVing in a Class B motorhome, sometimes referred to as Type B to do away with all the negative stereotypes that come with the word “Class.”
Anyway, I was sure it would be fine for weekend getaways but as the this blog took off and it became apparent that we were going to be traveling a lot more than I first planned, we secretly wondered whether the 23-foot Roadtrek we travel in would be big enough.
Now, w
We’ve been in Redmond, Ore., most of the week attending the Family Motor Coach Association 90th Family Reunion and Motorhome Showcase (a rally). The aerial photo above, taken by the FMCA, shows the 1,500 coaches parked here at the Deschutes County Fair & Expo Center.
There’s about 3,000 people here and, like all such big gatherings, there are lots of folks to visit with, motorhomes to tour, evening entertainment programs and vendors to haggle with.
We spent a great night socializing with t
The temperature outside my Roadtrek in the driveway of our Michigan home was 34 degrees this morning.
That’s the coldest yet this season and a reminder that soon, there will be no putting off the fact that it needs to be winterized.
We still have a couple of long weekend trips planned and I am hoping that I can do them without pushing antifreeze down all the pipes. It’s funny, really, because even when the RV is winterized, there’s no reason I can’t use it. You just carry drinking water and us
One of the biggest challenges for couples and families these days is staying connected…and keeping busy and often confusing schedules coordinated. When you throw in an RV and lots of traveling, life can really get complicated.
That’s where smartphone technology can really help. I have some great apps I juts shared with my NBC-TV audience this week that will help you stay in touch with your spouse and other family members and bring some organization to those busy schedules.
One of the handiest
Apps to help you find fall colors
The annual fall foliage show is now underway as trees across North America begin turning color. I have some online resources available that can make your fall color RV travels...
Roadtreking : The RV Lifestyle Blog - Traveling North America in a small motorhome
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At FMCA's Family Reunion in Redmond last week, I presented a seminar called Apps for the Open Road in which I share some of my favorite apps and online resources for RVers.
Now we RVers all have our favorite technology devices, with Android and Apple smartphones and tablets accounting for the vast majority. Most apps now come in versions for different platforms. Most, but not all.
I am a pretty diehard Apple fan. Though I’ve used Android gizmos, I keep coming back to Apple, especially the iPho
Apps for on the road RV travel
The RV season is in full swing now with folks traveling to rallies, vacations and long weekend getaways. To help make those trips more fun and travel more convenient, I thought I’d share three more fun apps and web tools that I’ve been having fun with lately. This report was put together for my other [...]
Roadtreking | A journalist's RV travels across North America - Traveling North America in search of interesting people and places
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Ah ... the Sound of Silence.
There really is a sound to it, you know. On a boondocking trip deep in the Michigan woods in Ogemaw County, we heard it good.
There was the crackle of our campfire. A hoot of a distant owl. The yips of a pack of coyotes somewhere far to the west. The gurgle of the Rifle River moving over a stretch of rocks just downstream from where we were camped. The whooshing sound of wind whipping through a stand of pine.
And on that clear night, the sound of boondocking silen
Anticipation, they say, is half the fun.
I think there’s a point there. Thinking, planning, dreaming and looking forward to the next trip is indeed pretty exciting.
And as Jennifer and I look at the calendar, we have a lot of miles we’ll be traveling in some pretty diverse places.
Here’s what’s on our Roadtreking road map for the next month:
Northern Minnesota – A Jan. 23-29th winter camping trip to Duluth, MN via Michigan’s UP from, and then north to the Canadian border as we do reporting
“Not all those who wander are lost,” so wrote J. R. R. Tolkien in The Lord of the Rings.
It is so true when it comes to RVing. We love to meander, to take roads less traveled, off the Interstate. But even the Interstates are fun, especially out of urban areas.
As Jennifer and I made our way west this week to attend the Family Motor Coach rally in Gillette, Wyo., we realized something about our wanderings:
We love to drive.
That is so weird for me to write because when I commuted to and from
Another reason to RV: It saves money
I knew RVing made a lot of sense for us as we travel about North America. It gives us freedom, mobility and we get to bring most of the comforts...
Roadtreking : The RV Lifestyle Blog - Traveling North America in a small motorhome
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