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Roadtrekingmike

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Blog Entries posted by Roadtrekingmike

  1. Roadtrekingmike
    http://youtu.be/5A4VtXUCStA
    The hardest thing about finding a spot to camp in the wintertime in the north is finding an open campground. As we toured Michigan's beautiful snow covered Upper Peninsula in mid-February looking for a place to spend the night, all we found were Wal-Mart and Indian casino parking lots.
    Sorry, but those kind of environments are not our idea of camping. All the regular campgrounds we passed were closed and unplowed. The unplowed part is a big deal. Because on the level ground, snow measured 28 inches.
    So it was with great delight that we discovered that one of Michigan's premiere state parks, the 50,000-acre Tahquamenon Falls State Park between the towns of Paradise and Newberry, was not only open but had a dozen campsites plowed and available. First though, we had to see the falls.
    The Upper Falls, one of the largest waterfalls east of the Mississippi, has a drop of nearly 50 feet, more than 200 feet across and a water flow of more than 50,000 gallons per second. It was spectacular in the winter.
    The slower moving part nearest the bank was frozen. But three-quarters seemed oblivious to the cold -- a few degrees above zero the afternoon we visited. The amber color of the water is caused by tannins leached from the Cedar, Spruce and Hemlock in the swamps drained by the river. Mist coats trees and rocks on the shore. The entire scene is breathtakingly beautiful.
    After a dinner at the excellent restaurant and microbrew at the Upper Falls -- also open all winter and doing a brisk business from snowmobilers -- we made our way to the Lower Falls campground, about four miles to the north.
    While we slept that night the temperature outside dropped to minus four. We were amazed at how warm we were in our Roadtrek eTrek, warmed by a Webasto Dual Top diesel heater. We also plugged in a small ceramic heater to keep the floor warm when we made our way out of bed to use the bathroom. Speaking of which, instead of water, you flush the toilet with antifreeze. The water you need, you just take in plastic bottles.
    The next morning, as a gentle snow fell outside, we felt pretty rugged, spending the night in such cold. Then we looked around. There were other campers in the park. Two of them were in tents. You can meet them in the video above. The park was beautiful. The State DNR keeps about a dozen spots open and plowed.
    While water is turned off at the sites, electricity is available. And a couple of clean pit toilets are also available. Winter camping may not be for everyone. But why not try it? I bet you'll be surprised by how great it is.
    source: www.roadtreking.com
  2. Roadtrekingmike
    The just-concluded Memorial Day weekend in the U.S., a week after Canada’ Victoria Day, means that summer has begun – even though the official start is still a couple of weeks later. And Roadtrekers were out and about over the last weekend so we did another one of our “One Day in the Life of a Roadtrek” photo shoots.
    The rules were simple: Take a picture of your Roadtrek wherever you happened to be at sunset local time. Then email it to me.
    We got a great assortment this year from all over North America.
    Some were on beaches. Some in the mountains. One was in a body shop getting work done. A few were in owner driveways and one was at a special ceremony that launched sky lanterns to honor the 41 Marines of 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines, who gave the ultimate sacrifice during the War on Terrorism.
    Enjoy the video slide show.
    See you out there.

  3. Roadtrekingmike
    We’re about to set off on a 3,500-mile trip that will take us farther than if we drove across country, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. And although we till visit eight states, we will never really leave the Midwest.
    We’ll be driving much of the U.S. shorelines that touches the five Great Lakes.
    I’ve wanted to do this trip for years.
    ow, thanks to Verizon Wireless and in partnership with Pure Michigan, we’re about to set off, starting from the Lake Ontario shoreline near Otswego, NY, and then making our way to Lake Erie and Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan; continuing in Michigan along the shorelines of Lakes Huron, Superior and Michigan, and also visiting Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana and Illinois where Lake Michigan also shapes a vibrant coastline lifestyle.
    We’ll travel in our Roadtrek Erek motorhome, Jennifer and me and our Norwegian Elkhound, Tai, breaking the route into 10 different segments, and writing about the interesting people and places we encounter, sharing our reports, photos and videos here, as well as on the Verizon Wirelsss blog and the Pure Michigan blog. We’ll also tweet and post in Facebook and social media.
    The cool thing about this is, other than a general rote that will take us close to the Great lakes shorelines, we have no plans, no schedules, no firm appointments.
    This will be totally serendipity. We’ll stop whenever something catches our eye, talk to people, learn about the places we visit and try to document the amazing beauty, recreational opportunities, shoreline lifestyle and significance of the Great Lakes. Because of technology – that’s where Verizon comes in – I’ll be totally wired and connected the entire route, able to post pretty much from wherever we are, no matter how isolated or remote.
    If we were to drive the shoreline of the entire Great Lakes where they touch Canada and the U.S., it would be an amazingly long trip. We can’t, do that, of course, because some spots have no roads. But if we could, it would be a near 10,000 mile trip.
    The significance of the Great Lakes is staggering. According to the Great Lakes Information Network, an informational clearing house on the Great Lakes group supported by U.S. and Canadian governmental agencies and various civic-minded organizations,the five lakes contain:
    One-fifth of the world’s fresh surface water (only the polar ice caps and Lake Baikal in Siberia contain more); 95 percent of the U.S. supply; 84 percent of the surface water supply in North America. Spread evenly across the continental U.S., the Great Lakes would submerge the country under about 9.5 feet of water.
    More than 94,000 square miles/244,000 square kilometres of water (larger than the states of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire combined, or about 23 percent of the province of Ontario). About 295,000 square miles/767,000 square kilometres in the watershed (the area where all the rivers and streams drain into the lakes).
    The Great Lakes shoreline is equal to almost 44 percent of the circumference of the earth, and Michigan’s Great Lakes coast totals 3,288 mi/5,294 km, more coastline than any state but Alaska.

    As we travel, we’ll camp in our Roadtrek, sometimes find hotels and B & B’s, sample local food, attend festivals, meet and profile the locals and soak as much in as possible. We plan to do all this in a month’s time.
    Got any ideas or suggestions? Use the contact form to send them in.
    And if you happen to see us out there, honk, wave or come say Hi.
    The adventure starts Thursday, June 12.

  4. Roadtrekingmike
    In this edition of How We Roll in our RV, we tackle two completely different questions:
    Jennifer answers a reader named Karen, who wants to know how the Roadtrek eTrek we have works out for her putting on make-up. Jen shows the mirrors she uses along with a handy sticky pad called the Dash Stick that holds a magnifying mirror in place.
    My question came from a reader named Maggie, who asks about how to find a rental Roadtrek to try out, something Jen and I wish we could have done before we bought. If so, we would have purchased a Roadtrek a full year before we did. The best way to find rentals is through the Roadtrek dealer network. You can find the closest one to you here.

    Meantime, if you have a question for us to answer in a future episode of How We Roll in our RV, just send it to openmike@fmca.com.
    And for a complete archive of all our How We Roll in our RV segments, click here.
  5. Roadtrekingmike
    As we wait to set off on our next trip, I’m thinking about all the things I like about this new small motorhome lifestyle we have embraced.
    Waking up to sunlight streaming around the edges of the shades of our Roadtrek and the smell of that first cup of coffee brewing as I start the day.
    The first peek out the window at our surroundings. We boondock a lot so often, it’s wildlife I see. I love to sip that coffee and quietly watch the world wake up.
    The smell of bacon frying as I start to make breakfast on the picnic table outside.
    Taking Tai for his morning walk in a new campground or forest.
    Walking with Jennifer, exploring our surroundings, hand-in-hand
    Doing my morning blog work from a campchair next to the Roadtrek.
    Watching the landscape which unfolds like a high definition movie on the other side of the windshield as we head to our next destination.
    Changing our mind on route and stopping on a whim to spend the night at a spot we didn’t expect to find but looks inviting
    Quiet, two-lane state or county roads, the “Blue Highways” that let us see the small towns and farms and wide open spaces far off the hurried interstates.
    Finding a local “Mom and Pop” restaurant or market or local produce stand that lets us experience local and regional foods that aren’t pre-packaged, frozen or microwaved.
    Taking a nap in the middle of the day in our “look-at-the-sky” chairs outside the Roadtrek.
    Meeting new people who share our live of travel and the outdoors. Everybody has a story. Everybody has something to teach us.
    Watching a sunset from a new place.
    Seeing the clouds pass by in a bright blue sky, with some birds way up high coasting on the thermals. Or seeing the stars in a jet black sky far from big city light pollution. This is why we call our tilt-back chairs “look-at-the-sky” chairs.
    The smell of a campfire
    Watching the fire sitting next to Jennifer, with Tai behind us with his back to the fire. Not saying a word, just being together, content, relaxed and listening to the wood crackle and burn as it turns into a bed of hot red embers
    Hearing an owl late at night just before we drift off to sleep in our king sized bed atop the four inch mattress topper that makes it so comfortable.

    There you go. That’s my list. What would you add?
  7. Roadtrekingmike

    RV Restorations

    By Roadtrekingmike,

    RV Restorations
    One of the really, really awesome things about going to trade shows is finding the small, out of the way corner where the restoration people live. Some of these are...
    Roadtreking : The RV Lifestyle Blog - Traveling North America in a small motorhome


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  8. Roadtrekingmike
    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 I’ve found for couples is Twyxt. This app started out as a lovey-dovey, touchy-feely app to send sweet nothings to each other during the day. But it now has so many added features that it is downright useable. It shares calendars and to-do lists and photos, memos and notes and even a private messaging system as well. If one person updates, the other person’s Twyzt screen is also updated. It’s free, for the iPhone and Android devices.
    Android and iPhone users looking to stay connected to family members will want to try the Life 360 app. It bills itself as a Family Locator App… and more. It shows on a map where other family members are at any given time. This is great for RVers. You can connect with each other by private text messaging and keep other family members up to date on your plans or share your schedule.
    iPhone, iPad and Android users will appreciate the Cozi Family Organizer. It sets up and shares a family calendar, sends out reminders, has a family shopping list, a to-do list and even a family journal. It’s very easy to work…and it’s free.
    So there you go.

  10. Roadtrekingmike
    Like a lot of RVers, I’ve been reviewing memories and photographs this winter. That’s what we do during the down time: Go back and look at our photos and thus get excited by the places we’ll be going once the weather arms up.
    If you’re like me, I bet you have a lot of photos of your RV. We take pictures of them in the places they take us.
    That got me thinking about pulling a bunch of them and putting them together in a slide show.
    So, here’s about 100 of them, taken all over North America over the past year – a year which had us drive close to 40,000 miles.
    I tried to make sure each photo shows the eTrek. Some have scenic backgrounds. Other not so much. But the eTrek is the star – front and center of every photo.
    Putting this montage together got me excited. I cant wait to see what 2014 has in store.
    Hope you enjoy this, too.

  11. Roadtrekingmike
    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, the onboard bathroom came in pretty handy, too.
    My dog Tai loved the attention, getting pretty much non stop pets from kids – his favorite type of human.
    Several Moms and Dads from the team also poked their heads inside and were duly impressed. But I think what they liked most about it was they knew where their kids were.
    Me? Hey, kids are my favorite type of humans, too.
    http://vimeo.com/61458975
  12. Roadtrekingmike
    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 about How We Roll? Just send it to me at openmike@fmca.com.
    Besides our other reports, we try to roll out a new How We Roll every week.
    http://youtu.be/yXzjL26D7I4
    About the Author: Mike Wendland is a veteran journalist who travels the country in a Roadtrek Type B motorhome, accompanied by his wife, Jennifer, and their Norweigian elkhound, Tai. Mike is an FMCA member (F426141) and is FMCA's official on-the-road reporter. He enjoys camping (obviously), hiking, biking, fitness, photography, video editing and all things dealing with technology. His "PC MIke" technology segments are distributed weekly to all 215 NBC-TV stations. More from this author. Reach mike at openmike@fmca.com.
  13. Roadtrekingmike
    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 elaborate, like interior redesigns. But each motorhome reflects the personalities of the owners.
    http://youtu.be/VZDKdJgii_I
    And many of them actually name their coach. Listening to them talk about their RV, you can’t help but notice they often refer to it by its nickname, as if it has a personality, too.
    In this report from Branson, I walked around and chatted up folks to learn about the way they have made their Roadtrek uniquely their own.
    What becomes obvious at a gathering like this is how these RVs are so much more than machines to their owners. They represent freedom. Adventure. Friendship. And each motorhome represents miles of memories.
    Check out the video above.
  14. Roadtrekingmike

    Do RVs Dream?

    By Roadtrekingmike,

    It sits out there in the driveway with the season’s first snow flurries dusting its windshield as the last of the leaves fall from the trees.
    Inside the RV, there’s the faint but sweet smell of the antifreeze I ran through the plumbing last week. The doors to the refrigerator and the freezer are open to air out. The food and coffee in the storage cupboards are emptied. Only a Roadtreking sweatshirt and a Family Motorcoach Association nylon jacket hang in the once crowded wardrobe.
    My wide brimmed hat with the pins and buttons collected from national parks and scenic attractions hangs by its neckstring behind the driver’s seat, waiting, seemingly, to be put on and to begin another trip.
    You can see your breath when you step inside.
    Tai, our 10-year-old Norwegian Elkhound who has had the best year of his life seeing the country in the Roadtrek, guards and patrols it like a treasure. Sometimes he lies down on the driveway, right outside the sliding door. If it’s going anyplace, he seems to be saying, it’s taking him.
    The Roadtrek eTrek that has carried us across 33,000 miles of North America over the last 12 months is ready for the cold Michigan winter.
    It would shiver if it could.
    Inside our sticks and bricks house is a calendar now filled with planned trips for the coming year. But first comes the slowest travel time of the year, the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving and then Christmas.
    So right now, it sits parked and – am I imagining this?- looking lonesome and forlorn.
    Do RVs dream?
    Silly question, I know. But we do imbue them with personalities, naming them, referring to them by gender specific pronouns. We look at them and think of the places we’ve been, the places we will visit. They represent freedom, adventure, the excitement of pulling out and the call of the open road.
    They sure make us dream, don’t they?
    Soon, loyal eTrek ... soon.
  15. Roadtrekingmike
    On June 22, 2013 – at sunset local time from coast to coast, across the U.S., into Canada, as far north as Alaska – 19 different Roadtrek owners took a photo of their Roadtrek.
    Some were parked at campgrounds. Others in their driveway. Some drove to a special setting near their hometowns. I was at a rodeo in Cody, WY with mine.
    The point was to get a photo of our Roadtrek motorhomes at sunset, wherever we were.
    We’re thinking about doing this sort of thing a couple of times a year. Maybe for special occasions like the 4th of July (for Americans).
    What do you think?
    This little slide show shows what came of our first effort.
    Should we do this again? When? Shall we theme the photos?

  16. Roadtrekingmike
    Protecting your digital assets
    In this information age, gathering up and securing the most important information – the critical passwords, user names, insurance, savings and important documents we have – is a vital task...
    Roadtreking : The RV Lifestyle Blog - Traveling North America in a small motorhome


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  17. Roadtrekingmike
    In this edition of “How We Roll,” Jennifer answers a question about budgeting and how much it costs us to take a typical week to 10-day trip. In these days of $4+ fuel, that’s the killer to any budget that involves mileage. Jennifer shares our actual costs and ways we try to save money.
    Then I tackle a stinky question ... about odor control and how we’re trying something called the “Geo Method” that mixes water softener and household detergent in a gallon of water that is poured down the toilet.
    We heard about it through our Facebook group and decided to try it out. So far, so good, though Jennifer had me cut back on the amount of detergent because we use concentrated soap and she didn’t want a bunch of bubbles coming out of the toilet every time we flushed.
    Got questions? Send them to us openmike@fmca.com. We try to roll out a new How We Roll every week.
    http://youtu.be/ulJ78aTL0kE
    About the Author: Mike Wendland is a veteran journalist who travels the country in a Roadtrek Type B motorhome, accompanied by his wife, Jennifer, and their Norweigian elkhound, Tai. Mike is an FMCA member (F426141) and is FMCA's official on-the-road reporter. He enjoys camping (obviously), hiking, biking, fitness, photography, video editing and all things dealing with technology. His "PC MIke" technology segments are distributed weekly to all 215 NBC-TV stations. More from this author. Reach mike at openmike@fmca.com.
  18. Roadtrekingmike
    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 even granite rock formations that make for sheer-walled, red rock canyons following the undulating twists and turns of the Rim Rock Drive that traverses up and down and through the preserve for 24 miles.
    That’s what the Colorado National Monument really is – a preserve, located just west of Grand Junction, CO and south of the mountain bike mecca of Fruita. It offers panoramic views of towering red rock structures with almost two dozen spots to pull over for photos. There are also lots of hiking trails.
    We stayed in the James M Robb -Colorado River State Park a quarter mile south of I-70 at the Fruita exit. The park has five sections, but only the Fruita section and the the Island Acres location 15 miles to the west offer camping The National Monument is another half mile down the road. There is also a great dinosaur museum nearby.
    t takes about two hours to see the major sights on the monument drive, though three hours is probably a better minimum amount of time to devote to your tour.
    There is an 80 site campground on the monument grounds, though there are no electric or water hookups, something my newbie son and daughter and their families need their first time out. If it were just Jennifer and me, we would have stayed up in the campground. But we have no complaints about Colorado State Parks. We’ve been very impressed with the ones we have stayed at.
    We did our drive through the monument in a mid afternoon. Then we found a great Mexican restaurant in Fruita with an outdoor patio that let all off us eat there with the dogs tied up at our feet, under the table. Usually, we have to take turns babysitting the dogs and one or two of us have to stay in our air conditioned Roadtrek while the others shop or eat. So it was a real treat to all be able to eat out together.
    So know we know: The Colorado National Monument is not a statue. It is a place, run by the U.S. Parks Service just like a National Park.
    If I had my way, I’d give it a new name: I’d call it the Colorado National Treasure.
  19. Roadtrekingmike
    On this Thanksgiving, I’m thankful for many things that have come our way since we embraced the world of RVing.
    I’m thankful in a new way for the awesomeness of God’s creation, for the many places we visited that I had never seen before. For the majesty of Yellowstone National Park, the beautiful sunrises and sunsets we witnessed in the Bighorn Mountains, the Pictured Rocks National Seashore in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the Emerald Coast of Florida’s panhandle, the sandhill country of Nebraska, the vastness of the prairie and the magnificent wildness of the eagles, elk, Grizzly bears, wolves, deer, wildfowl and woodland critters we have watched this year.
    I’m thankful to live in a country that gives us freedom to travel and has set aside vast tracts of carefully-protected wilderness for its citizens to enjoy.
    I’m thankful to new RVing friends we have met… Alan, Stu, Pam, Kristi, William, Alice, Robert, Ginny and those who share so much on our various Facebook groups. I’m thankful for the Family Motor Coach Association and especially Jerry Yeats, Pamela Kay, Robbin Gould for all they do for Motorhome owners including the annual reunion we had this summer in Indianapolis. I’m thankful to the Roadtrek International Chapter of the FMCA and new friends, ****, Frances, Tim, John and all those on the Cyberrally e-mail group, especially Jerry, from Livonia, who called me on my cellphone when I was stranded on the road in South Dakota to give me the advice that undid my operator error and got me traveling again.
    I’m thankful to Roadtrek itself and the men and women in the Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, factory who have welcomed me for my video work this year. Jim Hammill, the president, is unlike no other president of a big company I have ever met. He is accessible, refreshingly outspoken, brutally honest, always innovating, lots of fun and passionately committed to a product that is built on an unwavering quality standard and the loyaly of its dedicated customers. Vice President of Operations Howard Stratton and Engineering guru Jeff Stride have patiently shown me the manufacturing process and its commitment to live out the legacy of excellence of the founding Hennemeyer family.
    I’m thankful to all the readers who have embraced me as I have begun this blog and my social media work. Almost 31,000 now follow me on Twitter where I’m @roadtreking and over 2,000 have liked my Facebook Page at http://facebook.com/roadtreking They have encouraged, corrected, guided and welcomed me as they have offered story ideas and shared their RV adventures. Two of them, Les and Kathy, drove to an RV show I was visiting in Novi, MI this fall to meet me and give Jeniffer and I a gift. In all my years as a journalist, I never experienced such an affirming act of kindness related to my work.

    I wish a Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. See you down the road.
    What are you thankful for this year? Let us know under comments.
  20. Roadtrekingmike
    We're in the midst of prime time for RV shows.
    Starting in January and running until early March, dozens of RV shows are staged in cities across the country. Jennifer and I have attended a slew of them this year as we, along with tens of thousands of other RVers, await warmer weather.
    One thing you can expect to find at just about any RV show – besides motorhomes, travel-trailers, fifth-wheels and lots of salespeople to haggle with -- are exhibitors like campground operators, RV accessory makers and all sorts of other big and little things that enhance the RV experience.
    We put together this little video on some of the fun things we've stumbled across. Most of these clips are from two shows at the big RV Supershow in Tampa, Florida, in January and the Michigan Association from in early February.
    When you can't be out there RVing, attending an RV show just may be the next best thing.
    http://youtu.be/DapwHtEpiBM
  21. Roadtrekingmike
    My Giant Permanent RV Bed
    One thing about full timing is that you have ample opportunities to evaluate the comfort of your RV’s sleeping arrangements. In our 2003 190 Popular with the dinette setup, we...
    Roadtreking : The RV Lifestyle Blog - Traveling North America in a small motorhome


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  22. Roadtrekingmike
    There's nothing like the sight of one of Yellowstone National Park's magnificent bison to slow traffic.
    These shaggy giants seem oblivious to the traffic. They cross the road where they want. They go where they want. The National Park Service says humans need to stay far away from bison. But they don't. People, in quest of a photo, get very stupid.
    As you can see on
    , people are stupid. Every year, someone gets hurt. Sometimes very badly. Bison can kill.For these animals will charge. They usually warn you that they’re perturbed by stomping their feet or nodding their heads. But stupid people dont seem to care.
    That doesn't mean you can't get good photos. Just keep your distance.
    Yellowstone's bison are awesome creatures. But remember, they outweigh you 10 to one. If you get too close to them, they don't take kindly to it.


  23. Roadtrekingmike
    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 have time to see the land and marvel at how wrong I was.
    It’s drop-dead gorgeous and, even on the turnpikes and interstates, the route we took to Cape Cod revealed wide open spaces, beautiful rolling hills and mountains and little towns and villages peppered with antique shops, the pleasant lines of New England architecture and history everywhere. We need to come back and spend more time.
    But our destination was the Cape and here we are, attending the FMCA Roadtreking International Region 2 rally held at the Sweetwater Forest Campground in Brewster, MA. There are over 100 Roadtrekers here for this event and getting to meet many for the first time has been a joy.
    The campground is huge, with private full hookup flat spots nested in trees amidst a hilly forest.
    We arrived Sunday afternoon.
    “I look so forward to just hanging around the camping spot, just sitting and relaxing,” I told Jennifer as we pulled in.
    She was silent for a second.
    “I don’t think so,” she finally replied. “After you drive me half way across the continent to a place surrounded by what are supposed to be the most beautiful beaches in the world, I don’t think ‘just sitting around’ is going to be on your agenda.”
    Okay then.
    So bright and early the next morning, we made our way to the Atlantic shore.
    The Cape Cod National Seashore was our destination, 40 miles of pristine sandy beach, marshes, ponds, and bicycle trails along the Atlantic-facing eastern shore of Cape Cod. We drove the whole seashore, stretching from Chatham to Provincetown, At numerous places we pulled off, and walked portions of the beach, touring an old Life Saving Station at the tip of Cape Cod, and taking in both National Parks Service Vistor Centers. There’s plenty out here for history buffs, too, with sites associated with the Pilgrims, Marconi’s first transatlantic wireless station and numerous lighthouses.
    Shipwreck lore abounds on the cape. So many ships have piled up on the hidden sand bars off the coast between Chatham and Provincetown that those 40 miles of sea have been called an “ocean graveyard.” Indeed, between Truro and Wellfleet alone, there have been more than 1,000 wrecks. In the early 1800s, there was an average of two wrecks every month during the winter. The loss of life seemed especially sad when a sailor managed to get ashore on a winter night only to freeze to death after he got there. In 1797, the Massachusetts Humane Society started putting up huts along the most dangerous sections of the Massachusetts coast in the hope that stranded sailors would find them and take shelter. It was not, however, until 1872, that a really efficient lifesaving service was put into operation by the United States government. Stations were erected every five miles on the beach.
    On November 11, 1620, the Pilgrims got their first look at the New World when they saw Cape Cod. In Provincetown, there’s a huge monument commemorating the Mayflower Pilgrims’ first landing in the New World in Provincetown. Here the Pilgrims spent five weeks exploring the tip of Cape Cod, before they sailed on to Plymouth. They also drew up and signed the Mayflower Compact, which established the rule of law for the new land.
    In the waters within sight of shores you can often spot whales, pretty much every season of the year. Three different species are prevalent. Signs warn swimmers and waders that Great White Sharks are also plentiful in the water, coming to feed on the seals. The signs suggest people not swim with seals present. Good advice..
    We drove over to the Nauset Light at low tide and spent a delightful couple of hours watching seals bob in the surf. They seemed to be watching us as curiously as we watched them.
    If that red and white lighthouse looks familiar, that’s the one you see on the familiar Cape Cod potato chip bags sold nationwide..
    Growing lush and wild are Cape Cod beach roses in beautiful and fragrant whites and reds. Back off the beach a bit, rhododendrons grow as high as house rooftops. Cranberry bogs can be found in Brewster.
    The cape also the place that, next to Walden Pond, most captivated Henry David Thoreau. I love this description of the place: “The restless ocean may at any moment cast up a whale or a wrecked vessel at your feet. All the reporters in the world, the most rapid stenographers, could not report the news it brings.” That’s from his book on Cape Cod, published in 1850′s.
    I thought of Thoreau as I stood ankle deep in the frigid waters of the Atlantic (it won’t warm up for another month yet), gazing out to the east and remembering my favorite quote from the naturalist/philsopher/poet/historian. Of these waters and this very shoreline where I was standing he wrote: “A man may stand there and put all America behind him.”
    I turned around, looking west at rolling grass covered and flower studded sand dunes. Beyond them, it’s 3,000 miles to the Pacific, where in a few months our Roadtreking travels will also take us, God willing. What a vast country this is, hemmed in and surrounded by these great oceans.
    Our visit to the cape couldn’t have come at a better time. The beaches in early June were all but deserted during the week. School out here doesn’t get out for summer for another 10 days. After that, the place fills up with vacationers from Boston and New York, the roads are congested, beach access fees are charged.
    But this week, in early June, it was very much like the place Thoreau gushed over.
    One warning: Ticks. This is a particularly bad year for them on the Cape, and, indeed, throughout the eastern seaboard. We picked two of them off Tai after a five minute walk. The photo is one of them that was crawling on me, and I didn’t even stray off the beach path.
    In Provincetown, we stopped for lunch and had the best lobster rolls we ever had.e worse, too, since it was the first time we ate the iconic Cape Cod fare. Alas, the second description seemed to apply the closest as Jennifer and I both got sick within an hour after eating the rolls. Fortunately, we were better by the time we returned to the campground and joined other Roadtrek International campers for dinner.
    That evening, Jennifer and I spoke to the group, showing “The Making of a Roadtrek” movie we recently finished and then sharing our experiences in over 60,000 miles of Roadtreking over the past two years.
    The Cape, our new RTI friends and delightful weather made the trip east a time of relaxation and fun.
    We’ll be back. Now it’s off to discover the rest of the country.
    Come back tomorrow to learn about our next adventure, a 3,500 mile tour of the Great Lakes shoreline.
  25. Roadtrekingmike

    Why we boondock

    By Roadtrekingmike,

    Why we boondock
    It sounds like it’s raining. But it’s not. It’s the sound of acorns dropping from the oak trees all around us as we boondock in the middle of the woods...
    Roadtreking : The RV Lifestyle Blog - Traveling North America in a small motorhome


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