We’re on a we’re-so-tired-of-winter search for spring.
It has not been easy. It took almost 800 miles, heading straight down I-75 from our Michigan home.
At the Wal-Mart parking lot where we spent the first night in Findlay, Ohio, we parked next to a pile of snow. The overnight temps were in the upper 20s. This was our first time at a Wal-Mart. Except for a couple of big trucks, we were pretty much alone. It was not particularly scenic and there was lots of traffic noise. “You don’t need an al
We spent much of the weekend in Georgia at a soccer tournament one of my grandsons was playing in and found yet another use for our Roadtrek eTrek – as a place for the younger brothers and their friends to hang out in.
It wasn’t planned. They just sort of took it over once they discovered how much fun it was. And between games, I became babysitter-in-chief.
We went through four bags of popcorn. Pretty much a case of bottled water.
We charged iPods and iPads and watched TV and the DVD. Oh yeah
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
RVers think of the Mercedes Sprinter van as a great motorhome. Indeed, the resurgence of the RV industry and the boom in Class B sales can largely be traced to the popularity of Sprinter-based RVs, like those sold by Roadtrek and other RV makers.
But for the past several months in in the service bays of American RV in Grand Rapids, MI, a stripped down Sprinter van has been converted into something much more: A mobile medical suite to be sent to Haiti as part of a church mission project.
jonan
Here’s another edition of “How We Roll,” answering RV questions from readers about our travels in our Class B motorhome.
In this episode, we talk about how to do online bill paying and mail forwarding.
I mention in particular the mail forwarding service of the Family Motor Coach Association. You can get details here.
We also answer a question about sharing the driving responsibilities, something we strongly suggest so one person doesn’t have to do all the mileage alone.
We post a new “How We
So, what’s your worse nightmare about an RV trip? Having a mechanical breakdown in the middle of, say, Montana, at the start of a weekend?
Trust me, it’s not so bad.
I can say this because it happened to us last weekend, just as we were leaving Glacier National Park and the Many Glacier area, about as remote a place as you can find, where even the cell phones don’t reach.
This was the culprit … the sensor (black) at the right of the fuel rail.
There is one inescapable thing about RV trave
Upgrading your RV to solar power
Advances in power management and solar power have made big news in the RV world of late, especially with the new eTrek and CS-Adventurous models built on the Mercedes Sprinter chasis by Roadtrek Motorhomes. New and efficient power control and management systems have put these advanced new Class B motorhomes on many a wish list [...]
Roadtreking - A Journalist takes up the RV lifestyle - People and Places Encountered on the Open Road
<a href="http://Roadt
This is the time of year folks are shopping for an RV and planning their first trips of the season. We have questions about both in this week’s edition of “How We Roll” in which Jennifer and I answer reader questions.
We travel in a Class B motorhome. I’ve written lots on why we chose a B. But if you have a large family, you may want something larger.
As for where we stay, we always opt for beauty and remoteness over crowded campgrounds.
We share more about both questions in the video.
Send
I’ve never been one to worry much about the weather. If I have something planned and the blow-dryed weather guys on TV are breathlessly warning us that a snow storm or some weather situation is about to cause the sky to fall, I usually scoff and just go on with my plans. Weather forecasters like to scare us and keep us tuned in for ratings. I know this from firsthand experience back in my local TV reporting days when they’d scramble “storm teams” and bombard the public with 24 by 7 weather alert
It’s no secret that many of us RVers are, ah, shall I say, horizontally challenged?” With obesity already at epidemic levels and good, nutritious food hard enough to find, our laid back on-the-go nomadic travels can sure pack on the pounds. Sometimes, it’s time to get reprogrammed, to find a way to jump start a new and healthy living style.
That’s what Jennifer and I found deep in the rolling hills of south central Tennessee, two hours south of Nashville at a place called the Tennessee Fitness
In this week’s edition of "How We Roll in Our RV," readers want to know how we fight boredom while doing all that driving, and what kind of meals we eat in our RV while traveling.
I offer my suggestions on finding eBooks, something we both really enjoy listening to while making long drives.
Jennifer shares some of her favorite meals for traveling.
Keep those questions coming in. We’ll do our best to answer them.
We try to do a new edition of How We Roll each week.
http://youtu.be/VKhQzs1acJ
In the heart of central Kentucky – not far from it’s famed bluegrass country – is an area known as the Bourbon Trail, a confluence of seven distilleries that produce the bulk of the world’s Bourbon. Formally designated by Congress as “America’s Official Native Spirit.” The distilleries offer tours and tastings and offer a perfect RV getaway.
http://youtu.be/W_wm129Uk30
Bourbon has a rich history and proud tradition that dates back to the late 1700s. For more than two centuries, no family has
In this edition of How We Roll, Jennifer and I tackle questions from readers asking about how we dry bath towels while we’re on the road. Jennifer shows some hooks I attached with stick-on tape and a very simple but effective bungee cord clothesline we have in the bathroom. She also recommends fast-drying micro fiber towels.
Besides the bungee-clotheline (which hangs and dries two full-sized bath towels very effectively and out of sight behind the bathroom door), I have strategically stuck on p
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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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
At first glance, the 250-plus Roadtrek Class B motorhomes gathered at the 40th anniversary corporate rally in Branson, MO look alike. But when you start walking among them, you soon realize that these touring coaches are not as alike as you may have first thought.
Each Roadtrek is tweaked, modified and personalized. To various degrees, of course. But all have been individualized. Sometimes it’s as simple as a vanity license plate. Maybe some bumper stickers. With others, it’s something more ela
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
Roadtrek Motorhomes has released a new all-season, solar-powered 40th Anniversary edition of it’s 190 Popular coach that features a redesigned, higher interior and a stunning Mocha Steel tri-coat paint job that looks like diamonds have been embedded into the finish.
Roadtrek President Jim Hammill says the new model, revealed to attendees at the corporate anniversary rally in Branson, MO, continues a trend towards green energy use and extended dry camping through solar power. Pricing information
Apps. There are so many apps that empower our smartphones and tablets to do new and creative things that it’s almost impossible to keep up with them. This week, I have three new apps that you may have missed that you will surely want to add to your RVing collection.
The coolest photo enhancing app I’ve seen in a long time is Instagram’s new Hyperlapse, a very nifty little download that lets you create very smooth and fun time lapse videos. It takes a clip you shot on your iPhone, stabilizes it
Two very different questions from readers this week as we continue our “How We Roll in our RV” segment:
Jennifer answers a question about cooking while traveling in our eTrek and I assure a reader that the fabled black flies that invade Michigan’s Upper Peninsula every summer should not deter him from traveling to one of the least-visited but most beautiful places in North America.
I did a video called “The curse of the U.P: Black flies” last year you may want to check out.
Got a question ab
“How’d you end up doing this?”
If I could have had a quarter for every time we’ve been asked that about our roadtreking.com RV blog we could buy another motorhome.
But since enough people seem to be interested….Here’s how:
This Roadtreking RV blog is a dream come true for me. Decades in the making, but now being lived out like one giant movie, seen through the wide expanse of my motorhome’s windshield as North America rolls on by. We can stop anytime, explore anywhere.
And we do, sharing it
With more and more RVers heading to the great outdoors this time of year, it’s time to sound two warnings. Depending on where you are, it’s now either snake season or tick season.
For some parts of the U.S., it’s both.
Both creatures post particular problems with pets. And humans, too, if they get bit. And both are very active right now.
And RVers, who are out there camping in the woods and wilds and deserts and fields, could very easily come into contact with them. RVers with pets need to be
It’s time to head west to Wyoming and, eventually, Yellowstone National Park. And this year, instead of repeating past routes, I thought it would be fun to get your suggestions, to crowd source our trip by drawing on the collected wisdom of our readers.
In other words, tell me where to go.
Here are the particulars:
’ll be leaving Kalamazoo, Mich., about 9 AM Friday, June 14. I need to be in Gillette, Wyo., by mid afternoon Monday, June 18, for the annual Family Motor Coach Association Reunion
RV rallys can be small or spectacularly huge. FMA's 88th Family Reunion and Motorhome Showcase in Gillette Wyoming, in June 2013 was one of the big ones. There were more than 2,300 coaches, 5,000-plus RVers and several hundred other vendors, dealers and exhibitors. Gillette’s massive 1,100-acre CAM-PLEX exhibition center was jammed with motorhomes literally as far as you could see in any direction.
Big rallies like this are not for everyone. Camping spaces are cramped, with rigs parked just a f
Kampgrounds Of America’s rebranding of its campgrounds based on their features and amenities has kicked off with the Billings, Montana KOA Campground, which officially becomes the Billings KOA Holiday Campground.
The change is the beginning of a new brand structure for the 51-year-old iconic North American camping company. Three new brand segments will better identify the specific offerings of KOA’s 485 campgrounds for the millions of North American camping families that use KOA each year.
Ove
