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Roadtrekingmike

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  1. Roadtrekingmike
    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 travel. Stuff happens. Things break. No matter how well something is engineered and how well it is maintained. Truth is, that’s part of the adventure.
    And it’s how that breakdown is handled that determines the end of the story. And in our case, it was handled very well. So well, I want to share it with you. Our breakdown led us to some of the most fun we’ve had on this long four month trip we’ve been on. We learned first hand there’s a great network of Sprinter dealers out there who really do go the extra mile to make sure Sprinter owners can put on those miles.
    What broke in our Sprinter-based Roadtrek Etrek was the fuel rail sensor. I’m not a mechanical guy but it has something to do with the way the engine gets fuel. Our unit failed and led to a stalling engine. The engine would start, but as you pressed the accelerator, it would be unresponsive for a couple of seconds and then just die. The check engine light has come on several times during this trip but would usually go off after a short drive. At Glacier, as it kept stalling in the middle of a cold rain on the side of a gravel road, it would start with increasing difficulty and cranking, but then cough and stall. I was about to hike out and get to a place where I had cell phone coverage so I could call for a tow, which would be covered under my Coach-Net road insurance.
    But eventually, I got the engine started by revving it up and keeping my foot on the accelerator as I dropped it into gear.
    There was one hairy moment. Literally hairy. As we started to drive out of Many Glacier, a car in front came to a sudden stop as a black bear dashed across the road. The people in that car naturally stopped and started taking photos as the bear nibbled on some roadside berries. I could not risk a stop so, keeping the engine going with one foot on the brake and one on the accelerator, I swerved around them and kept going. I’m sure they thought I was very rude. Wish I could have explained.
    After a half hour or so of driving at 70 mph on the main highway outside of the park, the engine seemed to be running just fine.
    We made it all 250 miles south and west to Missoula, Montana and Demarois Buick – GMC Truck, an official Mercedes-Benz Sprinter dealer. Travis Cook, the Sprinter Service manager, got us in before the shop closed down for the weekend, put a computer on the engine and verified the fuel rail issue. The soonest the replacement sensor would arrive would be Tuesday.
    So, rather than take the chance of driving on and another breakdown, we opted to stay in Missoula until the part arrived and could be installed. To make it easy for us, Travis supplied us with a loaner – a Mercedes-Benz ML350 SUV, a very nice ride.

    Downtown Missoula music festival

    I could have done some Christmas shopping for Campskunk at the music festival.
    We drove the Roadtrek to a campground about six miles northwest of town, where we kept it parked for the next four days. We used the little SUV loaner to take us sightseeing throughout the area, attending a music concert downtown, checking out a local museum, visiting the Rattlesnake Recreation and Wilderness area and even venturing out into nearby mountain communities for wildlife viewing and hiking.

    Downtown river surfers in Missoula
    Perhaps the most unexpected amusement we found was watching young people surf on the Clark Fork River at a place called Brennan’s Wave, where white water in the in the river in downtown Missoula underneath the Higgins St. Bridge draws wet-suit wearing adventurers. Here, kayakers and surfers alike frequent the natural wave machine, and give spectators a good show.
    We’ll share some of those Missoula-area attractions in separate reports.
    The point of all this is to say what we thought would be disaster turned out to be a blessing in disguise. We fell in love with this part of Montana and, thanks to the network of Sprinter service dealers around the country and our fall-back road towing insurance coverage, it’s all good. We need not worry.
    As we picked up our Roadtrek Tuesday morning, Travis, the service manager, remarked how well built Mercedes is. He told us how the Sprinters used by the Federal Express delivery service routinely get 350,000 miles. “They’d get more but the bodies start to fall apart after all that intense use,” he said.
    Our Sprinter has now racked up 60,000 miles in the almost two years we’ve been driving it. I can honestly say, it has been amazingly reliable and the best vehicle I have ever owned. We’ve taken it coast to coast, up and down the Rocky Mountains, camped in every weather condition imaginable from two feet of snow at 21 below zero in Northern Minnesota to 105 humid degrees in the Deep South, and it has brought is more fun and adventures than we can imagine.
    But there’s even another benefit from our extended stay in Missoula.
    After putting in the new part, they even washed the Roadtrek for me, something Jennifer has been after me to do this entire trip.
    My cost for the repair: Nothing. All covered under the Sprinter-Mercedes five-year, 100,000 mile warranty.
    It really was all good.
  2. Roadtrekingmike
    On top of the Bighorn Range in Wyoming is Medicine Mountain, desolate and nearly 10,000 feet high and only reachable during the warm summer months. And on top of it lies a mysterious and ancient Native American medicine wheel that precisely predicts certain astronomical events.
    This is not a casual walk. It is 1 1/2 miles from the parking lot to the medicine wheel. And 1 1/2 miles back down to the parking lot again. That’s a three-mile roundtrip hike, at altitude. The wind blows continually and very strong up here, seemingly from every direction.

    There is little UV protection at such heights, so wear a hat and cover your skin. Carry water. The hike is climbs sharply. Even moderate exertion at such altitude can be stressful for your heart, so take frequent breaks.
    That’s easy to do because the scenery is breathtaking. There is nothing but wilderness to see in any direction.
    On the day we went, skies were bright blue, with big fluffy clouds. But mountain weather can change very fast and storms on Medicine Mountain can be fierce.
    Once you reach the top, you will find a small marker attesting to the mystery of the place and a walkway around the wheel, which is encircled by a fence.
    The Bighorn Medicine Wheel is an 80’ diameter wheel-like pattern made of stones. At the center of the circle is a doughnut-shaped pile of stones, a cairn, connected to the rim by 28 spoke-like lines of stones. Native Americans use this site regularly for religious purposes and special ceremonies called vision quests. Sometimes, Indians remain here for as long as four days, without food or water.
    The stone lines of this medicine wheel precisely point to where the Sun rises or sets on summer solstice and where certain important stars first rise at dawn after being behind the Sun.
    Some 80 different Indian Tribes hold ceremonies here and Indian prayer bags, pieces of cloth and other religious and ceremonial decorations are affixed to the rope fence.
    The wheel s part of a vast set of old Native American sites that document 7,000 years of their history in North America. The surface stones here are believed to be 700 years old. Beneath it are multiple layers of stones and rocks and because this site is sacred to Native Americans, no digging is allowed
    So no one is sure exactly how old this wheel is. Like Stonehenge, it has been built up by successive generations who added new features to the circle. Archaeologists suspect that the function and meaning of the medicine wheel changed over time, and it is doubtful that we will ever know what the original purpose was.
    There is no charge to visit the medicine wheel, though it sometimes closes to outsiders during Native American ceremonies.
    I can’t imaging a Class A making the climb, or finding a spot in the parking lot. It’s an easy ride for Class B RVs, and probably Class C motorhomes, too.
    The site is not easy to reach. The nearest town is Lovell, Wyoming, 33 miles to the east. The GPS coordinates ate Latitude: 44 degrees 49′ 32″ N.; longitude: 107 degrees 55′ 15″ W.
    During summer months, there are usually two National Park Service employees there, one at the parking lot, another on top. Besides preventing access during Native American ceremonies, they are delighted to answer questions. They also protect the site from artifact thieves.
    On top, visitors are asked to be quiet and respectful, as if in church.
  3. Roadtrekingmike
    http://youtu.be/ikwYoAmuQQk
    I love kayaking. But with a Class B campervan-style RV, there just isn’t enough storage room to take one along. At least that’s what I thought until I discovered the Sea Eagle inflatable Kayak.
    Facebook friends on our Roadtreking page alerted me to it and I’m planning to order one before spring. The one I’m looking at is the SeaEagle 330. It weighs just 26 lbs. and packs down small enough to fit in the “basement” of my Roadtrek Sprinter van, the storage space under the bed behind the rear doors. Others claim it can be stored inside, in one of the cabinets. As the video shows, it’s a rugged kayak able to hold two people or 500 lbs and yet easy enough to be carried and paddled by one.
    Teri and Ken Jones of California demo it in the above video. A foot pump inflates it.
    The 330 comes with two seats that others have suggested I upgrade for greater comfort.
    Since so many places we go to have nice kayak-friendly waterways nearby, I’m thinking that $319 for the deluxe package with the upgraded seats is not a bad investment.
    I”ll read you comments here before ordering so if anyone has some suggestions or has had experience with them, I’d love to get them!
  4. Roadtrekingmike
    This could be the first Type B motorhome ever Henry Fords 1937 House Car.

    They supposedly only build a handful of these each year. This one is on a 1937 Ford Pickup frame and was found in a private garage in Minnesota in the summer of 2001 with only 19,000 miles on it.
    A collector named Graham Thickins restored it to original and drivable condition.
    Check out this story by Thickins to see lots of photos and get the details but it had an all wood lined interior with a metal skin wrapped around it. The roof is wood framed with heavy, waterproofed canvas, Door frames are solid oak, as are the window frames.
    Heres a pdf of an 1993 story on it.
    Thickins took the photos and has since sold it to another collector.
    It looks really nice, doesnt it?
    Source
  5. Roadtrekingmike
    Michigan’s Sunrise Side is one of the best-kept secrets in the Great Lakes.
    The state’s west coast Lake Michigan PR machine has done a better job of promoting the beaches and trendy little communities there while the Lake Huron coast along the state’s east coast has stayed purposefully low-keyed.
    And that has been just fine with the locals and the sharp-eyed tourists who love the area. That means there are no traffic jams. Prices for food, lodging and the like are usually more affordable than the tourist-dense Michigan west coast. And for RVers, that means more places to camp with more space, better views and less competition for the best spots.
    But the reason we like the Sunrise Side so much is because of the sunrises.
    Check out the pictures below.
    Some sunrises are an explosion of pastels. Others bright gold and yellow.
    Every one is worth getting up for.
    We’re now over 1,500 miles into our Verizon Wireless Great Lakes Shoreline Tour of the U.S.-side of the Great Lakes. And this leg, called the Sunrise Side, follows us from the start of Lake Huron in Port Huron, MI to the very tip of the Lower Peninsula Mitt in Mackinaw City, MI
    In so doing, we found what just may be the prettiest two coastal roads in the region.
    Granted, there may be shorter roads elsewhere that are more spectacular. But mile for mile, you just can’t beat US-25 from Port Huron to Bay City, and US-23, from Bay City to Mackinaw City. Most people take the I-75 interstate up the middle of the state. But the shoreline roads are much more fun and relaxing.
    Both hug the Huron shoreline and offer numerous pull outs, roadside, county and state parks with lake views, stairs down to the wild shoreline and, often, camping.
    On our trip we stayed in two places, electing to do the drive in three days.
    Our first overnight was at the East Tawas State Park, located on the Tawas Bay Point. The Tawas Point is one of the best bird-watching spots in North America, smack dab on a migratory pathway. People from all over the world come here in late spring to birdwatch.
    Many of the birds had moved on during our visit, though I was able to see a nesting pair of piping plovers, an endangered species. You can see them in the video.
    We also overnighted in Alpena, MI, staying at the privately-owned Campers Cove RV Park located on the Thunder Bay River. The campground offers kayak rentals and shoreline fishing .
    The video shows why we stayed in Alpena, to take advantage of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of Alpena, , an underwater preserve because of all the shipwrecks there.
    The three days we allotted for this seemed a bit rushed. If I was doing it over – and I will when we’re not on deadline or heading elsewhere – I ‘d make it at least five days.
    I’d add a stop just north of Port Huron at the Lakeport State Park and another just north of Rogers City at the P.H. Hoeft State Park
    Both are right on Lake Huron.
    And both offer great sunrises.
    If getting up early isn’t for you, we’ll talk about the sunsets when we hit Lakes Superior and Michigan later in the tour.

    Lake Huron sunrise

    Sunrise at Tawas

    The Tawas Point Lighthouse

    The Lake Huron shoreline along M-25
  6. Roadtrekingmike
    If you’re like me and the pounds have been hard to get off lately, maybe you have sitting disease.
    Yes, there really is such an disease. And it’s reached epidemic proportions, linked to all sorts of other ailments, the first and foremost of which is obesity.
    Blame it on our sedentary lifestyle. Our desk-bound working days. Our computer and Internet use. TV watching But the fact is, the average American these days sits — at a desk, in the car or RV, on a couch – eight to 10 hours every day. Sitting. Planted. Not moving. A thick and growing-thicker-by-the-day body of medical research is documenting terrible health effects from all this.
    I am always at the computer, blogging, updating social media. But added to that is all the time I have spend driving by RV over the past couple of years. Last year, I drove 35,000 miles across North America, doing stories about the interesting people and places encountered.
    Many days, I was behind the wheel 12 hours, only to stop for the night and sit right back down to edit video and write a story for the blog.
    You still may be laughing at the term “sitting disease.” Don’t. No less an authority than the Mayo Clinic talks about it.
    The experts are seriously concerned about the problem. That’s because when you sit for an long periods of time – over four hours – your body literally starts to shut down at the metabolic level, according to Marc Hamilton, Ph.D., associate professor of biomedical sciences at the University of Missouri. It gets worse. When muscles — especially the big ones meant for movement, like those in your legs — are immobile, your circulation slows and you burn fewer calories.
    That would be cause enough to gain weight.
    But as it turns out, sitting so long and so much does even more to those trying to lose weight and get in shape. Key fat-burning enzymes responsible for breaking down triglycerides (a type of fat) simply start switching off. Sit for a full day and those fat burners plummet by 50 percent, says says James Levine,M.D., Ph.D., of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and author of Move a Little, Lose a Lot.
    It gets even worse. The more you sit, the less blood sugar your body uses, meaning those sugars store as fat. Medical research research shows that for every two hours spent sitting per day per day, your chance of getting diabetes goes up by 7 percent. Your risk for heart disease goes up, too, because enzymes that keep blood fats in check are inactive. You’re also more prone to depression because with less blood flow, mood-enhacing hormones are getting to your brain.
    “For people who sit most of the day, their risk of heart attack is about the same as smoking,” says Martha Grogan, cardiologist, Mayo Clinic. Sitting for four or more hours a day has about the same adverse effect on your health as smoking a pack and a half of cigarettes every day.
    Yuck.
    Sitting disease even blunts the good effects of exercise. “We’ve become so sedentary that 30 minutes a day at the gym may not counteract the detrimental effects of 8, 9 or 10 hours of sitting,” says another researcher, Genevieve Healy, PhD.
    So, what to do about it?
    Standing every hour, moving around a bit, stretching, working standing up, walking around. Those same studies show that just short little two-minute standing breaks can counteract the effects of sitting in dramatic ways. Some people use stand-up desks.
    So, as far as sitting disease goes, I’m going to stand for it. Throughout the day. When I’m driving, we’ll stop every hour and a half or two at the most and get up and get out of the RV and move around.
    I’ll let you know how it goes. And for the record, I’m standing now as I type this.
  7. Roadtrekingmike
    Is there anything more exciting about leaving on an RV Trip? Anticipation fuels each mile. Excitement about what lies ahead runs high. The sights are new, the day’s drive full of expectation.
    Conversely, is there anything more mind-numbing than the drive back home? Been there, done that syndrome kicks in. The vacation is over. There are so many miles to go on a road we’ve traveled before.
    On return from many a previous trip, Jennifer and I would resolve ourself just to drive. To get home as fast as possible. We drove 728 miles home from Branson in one day after attending the Roadtrek rally this past May. We’ve driven 20 hours straight home from Georgia. Twenty-four from Florida.
    But as we finished the Great Roadtreking Family Vacation of 2013 – our two and a half week trip to Colorado – we determined to do things differently.
    I was towing a travel trailer that my daughter, Wendy, husband Dan and granddaughters Hua Hua and Rachel (and Charlie their Goldendoodle) used. They were following behind our Roadtrek eTrek in our Honda Pilot. Son Jeff had left a few days earlier because he and wife, Aimee, needed to be back at their jobs on Monday.
    Our trip from Colorado was a giant circle tour of the state, starting at Colorado Springs, working southwest to Mesa Verde, up through Telluride, the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, on to the Colorado Monument and finishing in the Rocky Mountain National Park. Except for a small slice of Wyoming, our return route was pretty much the same as our going out route – I-80 straight across the corn belt of Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois and Indiana to our Michigan home.
    I had planned to take three days to return, using the time to catch a couple of attractions on the way back. But those darn Rocky Mountains had a hold on us and we stayed an extra day.
    It was so hard to start back. Our exit from the state took us out US34, Big Thompson Road east from Estes Park. This little stretch of highway was like a final message from Colorado, asking “are you sure you really want to leave?” presenting us with some of the most beautiful scenery we’d seen anywhere. Bordered by the Big Thompson River and walled in by massive canyon walls, it was the perfect mountain drive. You don’t make good time on Big Thompson Road, especially towing a trailer around those steep curves. But you do enjoy every minute of it.
    We had a pair of walkie talkies that we used to communicate between vehicles. That helped with the boredom of the return drive. We delighted in the bison we saw after entering Wyoming from Colorado and the stark but equally beautiful contrast of the range land to the mountains we had just left. Then came the lush green and endless cornfields of Nebraska and Iowa, the tassled tops waving like an undulating sea in the wind. Beautiful.
    I found AM radio stations and listened to small town announcers fret about dropping corn and wheat prices in the increasingly dry weather as they speculated on the chances for rain and the quality of this year’s crops. You can tell so much about an area by listening to AM radio. Even the local advertisements are entertaining.
    We stopped at rest areas to walk the dogs and to have lunch together. Along I-80, Nebraska and Iowa have great rest areas, spaced about 25 miles or so apart. Except for the rattlesnake warning signs in western Nebraska, there were pleasant spots for the dogs. We kicked on the rear air conditioning in the Roadtrek and all of us – four adults, two kids and two dogs – squeezed into the back of the Roadtrek for communal meals.
    Wendy researched and found two great overnight spots for us for the return trip.
    In Nebraska at Exit 312, we stopped at the Mormon Island State Recreation Area, a quiet, very clean and spacious little campground right on the northeastern side of I-80. Named for the winter stopover used by Mormon emigrants heading westward, the state turned the ”borrow pit” used to provide fill for the interstate into a swimming lake, complete with sandy beach.
    We had a campfire and made S’Mores. I like my marshmallows on fire, burnt to a crisp, which the girls delighted in providing so they could “watch Grandpa eat fire.” I delight in making them laugh so I devoured way to many flaming torches of gooey sugar puffs until it was time for them to go to sleep.
    n the morning, we liked the place so much we lingered over another picnic table breakfast of bacon and pancakes. There were only one or two other RVs in the whole park. Most of the grounds were empty. But the park maintenance guy decided that he needed to start cutting the grass right where we were, instead of at the other, vacant end. His unmuffled mower shattered the calm of the place and stopped our conversation, kicking up a cloud of dirt and grass clippings that started to drift onto our food.
    Jennifer waved her arms and chased him away and we all laughed at the riled Mama Bear as the lawn cutting guy retreated to where he should have started anyway.
    Further west at Exit 284 in Walcott, Iowa, we stopped for an obligatory visit at the massive Iowa 80 Truck Stop, which proudly proclaims itself to be the world’s biggest. There is a full blown food court there with a slew of fast food restaurants and one sit-down restaurant that boasts a 50-foot salad bar and room to seat 300, as well as truck displays, a sprawling truckers warehouse store with everything from clothing to CB radios and the cleanest restrooms you will find anywhere along the Interstate.
    Our last night was spent just over the Illinois border, where, four miles from Exit 19, we found the delightful Geneseo Community Campground where owners Craig and Shari Weber runs one of the cleanest, neatest little campgrounds we’ve ever seen. The restrooms and showers look like they are part of a home and the wide grassy and shaded spots are just a stone’s throw off a bike path that follows the Hennepin Canal connecting the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers. Hua Hua and I walked the dogs along the path in the morning and marveled at the huge lily pads in the canal, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
    Then, six hours later, we were back in Michigan.
    Jennifer and I stopped at Jeff’s house and Kalamazoo for dinner and drove the last two and a half hours under a huge full moon. She popped us a bag of popcorn in the Roadtrek microwave and Tai , our Norwegian Elkhound, scootched forward, between the driver and passenger seats, perfectly positioned to catch the popcorn that dropped as we passed the bag between us.
    About 10 p.m., we pulled into our driveway.
    It was a surprisingly relaxed and peaceful drive home from Colorado. Partly because we shared it with family. But mostly because we decided to savor each mile, looking around, stopping when we felt like it and marveling at the countryside.
    So this RV trip – The Great Roadtreking Family Vacation of 2013 – has come to an end.
    The Roadtrek is unpacked. Laundry is now done The lawn has been cut and on Monday we set out on our next trip, visiting a few Southern states.
    Thanks for virtually riding along with us on this adventure.
    See you out there ....
  8. Roadtrekingmike
    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 over the past month on our Verizon Great Lakes Shoreline Roadtreking Tour.
    Here’s part 10 in our videos:

    And yet, there was an entirely different feel to this stretch of shoreline.
    Seemingly every few miles were broad, sugar sand swimming beaches that put anything in California to shame. A series of welcoming beach towns – Grand Haven, South Haven, Saugatuck – are right on the shore, with trendy shops and restaurants just a couple blocks east of the lake.
    Southwest Michigan and the lakeshore is also known for its vineyards. Acre after acre… so many, there’s even a shoreline wine trail that draws fans from across the country.
    But then, along I-94 we saw a billboard promoting a place called The Chocolate Garden, a place the Food Network has raved about, a place voted as the Number 1 chocolatier in America, located in the town of Coloma, a mile off the interstate.
    The best? How could that be, especially in a, well, an obscure place like Coloma.
    Turns out it is a technology story.
    Tina Buck, the owner, is a former advertising and marketing exec who started a small online business from her home making chocolate truffles. Not just any chocolate truffles, mind you. She has some secret ingredients and a way of cooking them that made her chocolates to die for.
    People slowly started ordering them off the Internet. Then the Food Network found out about them and, blown away by Tina’s chocolates, did a full blown story praising them. Then came the Best of America Award as the best chocolatier in America and the Chocolate Garden was on the map.
    People started showing up in Colima, looking for her. But she had no building. She handled it all in the kitchen of her home. Because of the demand, she built a small little store and that’s where we found her, selling the best chocolates I have ever sampled. We liked them so much we spent $130 and walked off with a shopping bag of them.
    “Technology has been crucial to our success, especially the Internet,” she said. “That’s what made all this possible. That’s how we got our start.”
    She relies on Verizons 4G LTE network and an Air Card to provide redundancy to her network. “It’s actually our most stable connection,” she said.
    The shoreline tour came to an end just south of Ludington MI. We had come down that far on an earlier leg, before crossing over to Wisconsin on a car ferry.
    In all, we drove the coastline of all five Great Lakes, traveled 4,062 miles and visited eight states across two time zones.
    I invite you to follow in our tire tracks.

    Southwest Michigan vineyards

    Tina Buck makes the best chocolate in America!
  9. Roadtrekingmike
    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 Detroit in Oakland County.
    The past two weekends were set aside for their annual “Boo Bash” and if they had any openings in the 174-site campground, they weren’t evident as I walked around taking pictures. Families in every sort of RV were there. Most had roaring fires – the temperatures dipped into the 30’s at night. But no one seemed to mind the cold. Kids young and old were in full costumes. Even dogs were in costume. There was a costume contest. Trick or Treating. A scary castle tour and hay rides.
    Jennifer and Tai came along with me and although Gtai seemed a bit confused seeing his canine pals dressed up as dinosaurs and clowns, he realized there was something festive and fun about the experience and had to be restrained from visiting each campsite I also think he knew they were handing out goodies to the trick or treaters and he wanted his share.
    There’s one more weekend before Halloween. Check it out. I bet a campground near you is hosting a similar event.

    Fall is a great time to camp. Addison Oaks Campgound in Mich.

    There’s a real =festive atmosphere at a Halloween campout – Addison Oaks Campground, Mich.

    Kids dress up for the “Boo Bash at Addison Oaks Campground.

    Even the dogs are in costume.

    Decorating the RVs is big fun.

    Yikes! – Addison Oaks Campground, Mich.

    And of course, its always fun to take a walk at the Addison Oaks Campground, Mich. – Jennifer and Tai enjoying the cool fall weather.
  10. Roadtrekingmike
    One of the biggest surprises we had last year in our travels was with KOA – Kampgrounds of America. On our trip west and then on other meanderings over the season, we had the opportunity of staying at about a dozen KOA campgrounds across the U.S.
    They were all good experiences, to be sure, but we couldn’t help but notice some big differences between the properties.
    And so today, when we see that KOA has re-branded itself by deciding to classify each of their more than 400 properties according to the level of service, the amenities and the facilities itself, we have to nod in agreement. Good idea, KOA!
    KOA Chairman Jim Rogers made the announcement in a news release to rvdailyreport and said re-branding will direct the right marketing messaging to the right guests.
    Here’s how the re-branding works.
    KOA Journey campgrounds are for on-the-move campers, those looking mostly for an overnight stop, located close to major interstates and highways. As much as 20 percent of all KOA branded campgrounds will be in this category.
    KOA Holiday campgrounds fir in as more of a base camp experience, a place to stay for several days, a weekend or as a local base at the end of the day as the guests explore local attractions. These will comprise maybe 75%. of all KOA campgrounds.
    KOA Resorts are the top of the line facility, making up around 5% of all campgrounds. These offer lots of amenities and top-rate facilities, a five star camping experience and a place where guests can hang out all day, relaxing and engaging in recreational activities.

    “This is not a good, better, best way of looking at our campgrounds,” said KOA President Hittmeier in the rvdailyreport news release.”It is designed to help guests better understand what they can expect from the facilities at which they chose to stay.”
    This makes a lot of sense to me. In our travels this past season, we experienced all three. My favorite KOA by far was the Badlands/White River KOA in Interior, SD, which we used as a base camp for two days while we explored the Badlands National Park just down the road. It had trees, which in the Badlands is a very big deal. They had great breakfasts and barbeque dinners and there were all sorts of dirt roads nearby that let me do some fun mountainbiking in full view of the breathtaking tabletop buttes and craggy bluffs. A large swimming pool was particularly welcome after hot, dusty days spent tramping in the Badlands.
    We also really enjoyed staying at the flagship KOA in Billings, MT, located right on the banks of the Yellowstone River. This was the site of the very first KOA and it offered all sorts of games and activities and some very deluxe, oversized patio campsites.There was a basketball course, min0 golf, two large playgrounds and, of course, an outdoor heated pool and hot tub.
    But in all the KOAs we visited, there was a consistency of service that we really appreciated, especially after a long day on the road. We were always escorted to our spot and offered help in backing in or setting up. The restrooms and showers at every KOA we stayed at were sparking clean, no matter what time of the day or night we used them. There was usually a store or facilities where we could restock on supplies or find food and refreshment.
    That reliability of excellence won us over. Knowing what to expect when you book a campground, and never being disappointed, is a great incentive to keep me coming back. The re-branding initiative will make booking a KOA campsite even more reliable.
  11. Roadtrekingmike
    We’re in northeastern Wisconsin and Minnesota in the midst of what the news media says is the coldest stretch of prolonged frigid temperatures to hit the continental U.S. in a century and yet, everywhere I go around here, the locals seem to shrug it all off and continue with their winter activities of snow shoeing, cross country skiing, hockey playing, hiking, ice fishing and dog sled racing.
    They seem to actually embrace the cold in an area where the snow is three feet deep and the snow drifts are taller than automobiles. I mean, they actually enjoy it!
    That’s because they know how to dress for it.

    Jennifer and I are here to take in one of the toughest dog sled marathons in North America after Alaska’s famed Iditarod – the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon that kicks off today in Duluth and runs for almost 400 miles all the way to the Canadian border and back across some of the most frigid and rugged terrain you’ll find in the lower 48.
    I’ve volunteered to help at a road crossing way up north near Finland, MN starting about 1 AM Monday and use my amateur radio capabilities aboard the Roadtrek eTrek to provide communications and keep track of the mushers as they pass by. The temperature is expected to be -26 F/-32C during our stint up there. Factor in wind chill and we’re talking -50F/-45C.
    So I better figure out how the locals dress to handle that kind of cold.
    And to do so I went to Northwest Outlet in Superior, WI, right on the Minnesota border and one of the Lake Superior north shore’s biggest outdoor and sporting goods outfitters. It just happens to be owned by Dave Miller, a regular reader of this blog, an avid truck camper and a fellow amateur radio operator. Dave read of my plans to be up here and invited me to stop by.
    And when he saw yesterday’s photo of how dirty and grimy our Roadtrek was after driving 700 miles to get here, he insisted that I pull into a heated garage next to his store that they use to install caps on trucks. Then Dave proceeded to hand wash the Roadtrek, even climbing a ladder and helping push off the snow and ice that had accumulated on top of our solar panels.
    Then, with a clean and shining Roadtrek hand dried and air blown so the locks wouldn’t freeze, he escorted me to a place where we could get some #1 diesel to mix with the #2 for the predicted super cold temperatures over the next couple of nights that I’ll encounter as I follow the sled dog race up in Minnesota.
    Jennifer and I never before met Dave or his wife, Mary. Yet them embraced us like family, even treating us to a terrific Italian dinner at a great restaurant called Valentini’s on the shore of Lake Superior.
    But before we ate, I got out the video camera and went into the store had Dave and Mary help dress Jennifer and I like locals, so we’ll be ready for the cold.
    You can see that in the video above.
    And you can find out how we’re doing by following my live Tweets on Twitter at http://twitter.com/roadtreking and here on the blog, though I’m not sure how good cell phone coverage will be where we’re headed and those detailed reports may be delayed a bit until I get into cellular range.
    But, with all the super warm winter clothes Dave hooked me up with, I’m ready to face the arctic vortex.

  12. Roadtrekingmike
    In central Kentucky, the Mammoth Cave National Park is not only a geological wonder that is unequaled in scope, it is also a great getaway for a long RV weekend, with a terrific campground, beautiful scenery and bike paths through a heavily forested area of gently rolling hills and the lush Green River valley.
    Located 15 minutes off I-65 at Cave City Exit (Exit 53) or Park City (Exit 48), the park encompasses 53,000 acres. But it is the 400 miles of caves beneath the surface that make it so dramatic, the largest such cave system in the world. It is probably even bigger. Cave explorers believe there are a couple hundred more miles under there still to be discovered.
    We visited the park in late August and the crowds were way down. Our ranger-led tour had 10 people. Just a couple weeks earlier, before school resumed, the same tour routinely had as many as 120 visitors.
    The vast chambers and complex labyrinths as deep as 250 feel below the surface are amazingly accessible, though visitors should be in reasonably fit condition. There are lots of steps – our tour of the New Entrance part of the cave starts with 243 steps straight down, on very narrow metal stairways built for the park service by a company that specializes in designing stairways for the cramped quarters on submarines.
    The New Entrance to the Mammoth Cave system is a lot older that it sounds. First excavated in 1921 and enlarged and enhanced repeatedly through the years, it begins with a bus ride over the top of the cave to the New Entrance. An path works its way to the bottom of a depression – an old sinkhole, really – and ends before a steel door.
    From there, you enter the cave, heading down the stairs, winding around huge rocks and sandstone formations, sometimes only a couple of feet wide. The tour includes a dramatic series of domes and pits, large trunk passageways, and a short journey through dripstone formations. You see and learn about stalactites (deposits that drip down from the ceiling) and stalagmites (deposits that rise upward from the floor) and view an impressive formation dubbed “frozen Niagara”that looks indeed like a frozen waterfall.
    Our tour lasted about two hours. My favorite time came when, deep underground in a wide cavern, the ranger turned out the subdued lighting that illuminated the pathways and walls. Total, complete darkness ensued, so dark you could not see your hand in front of your face. The ranger had everyone sit still and be silent. There was total silence, too. I swear I could hear my heart beating, the blood running through my veins. I know, I have a vivid imagination.
    This was just one of a several cave tours offered by the park service. It covers not quite a mile and goes up and down about 500 total steps. It has a constant, year-round temperature of 54 degrees.
    As we left the tour, we had to walk over a special decontamination platform that looked like a soft treadmill. That’s to sanitize out shoes and help prevent White Nose Syndrome, a fungus that has resulted in the death of over 5.5 million bats in the eastern United States.
    I saw only one bat in the caves, though 40,000 or so are said to live in the complex.
    We wish we had at least another day or two to have stayed at the park. We would have done all the other tours, as well.
    We had Tai, our Norwegian Elkhound, with us the day we visited. For $2.50, we were able to rent an outdoor kennel for him. We brought his water bowl and he had ample shade and actually, after a couple of yips when we walked away to go on the tour, seemed to enjoy it.
    We also visited the 105-site campground, just a quarter mile from the visitor’s center. Each site offers a paved parking area, a picnic table, and a fire ring. The campground has restrooms, fresh water, a dump station, garbage dumpsters, and a recycling station.
    Only three of the sites have hookups. For the others, there is no electricity or water.
    If you want full hookups, the routes to and from the park off I-65 have numerous commercial campgrounds.
    We’re seriously considering a return visit in early October when the hardwood forest around the park will be in full color. We’ll take out bikes, though bike rentals are available from the front of the campground store.
    *Spelunking anyone?
    *spelunking – Exploring cave systems, sometimes called caving or potholing
  13. Roadtrekingmike
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    Roadtreking - A Journalist takes up the RV lifestyle - People and Places Encountered on the Open Road


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  14. Roadtrekingmike
    And the Great Wendland Family Roadtreking RV Vacation is off and westbound, headed to Colorado and the American southwest in a caravan of two Roadtreks, a travel trailer and an SUV.
    Meet the Family
    Since you’ll be seeing and hearing about the six adults, two kids and three big dogs we have traveling in two Roadtrek Class B motorhomes, one Gulf Stream Travel Trailer and an SUV, I thought it might be good to introduce them to you. I should also point out that my third child, Scott, with his wife, Lauri and my four grandsons, live in Georgia and are not on this trip with us. Jennifer and I will be heading down to visit them next month.
    This trip to Colorado and the Four Corners area is made up of:
    Mike and Jennifer Wendland, and Tai, our 70-pound Norwegian Elkhound. You already know us. We’re on our second year of traveling North America in our Roadtrek and all our travel so far have been just us. We’ve wanted to share some of the adventures with our family but were stumped on how it could happen until Jim Hammill, president of Roadtrek, suggested to me a few months ago that all I had to do was tow a travel trailer with our Roadtrek eTrek. I had never thought of that. When I later shared Hammill’s suggestion with Jennifer, she immediately invited our our Michigan children and their families. It made no difference that we didn’t happen to have a travel trailer at the time. The fact that a travel trailer was the breakthrough solution was all Jennifer needed to hear. Now we could do a family vacation. Well, as of this week, now not only have a travel trailer, we bought one from American RV in Grand Rapids. Why did we buy one? Because with such short notice, all the decent rentals were unavailable from nearby dealers and American RV gave us such a great deal that we figured, hey, once the trip was over, we can always sell it and end up having it cost us out of pocket not much more than it would have had we rented one. So, we are now the proud owners of a brand new and very cool 2014 Gulf Stream Amerlite Super Lite 19BHC which we will tow with our 2012 Roadtrek eTrek motorhome.
    Wendy, Dan, Hua Hua and Rachel Bowyer, and Charley, their 60-pound Goldendoodle - Wendy is our firstborn. She is also a journalist by training, having worked and won reporting awards at the Flint Journal and the Detroit Free Press. She is now a full-time stay-at-home Mom, homeschooling Hua Hua, 10, and Rachel, 7, who she and Dan adopted from China. Dan is a music teacher in suburban Detroit. Wendy grew up camping. As a family, we had a pop-up camper, a 13-foot travel trailer and tents. This trip to Colorado and the southwest is all her planning. She has long wanted to visit the region and has mapped out a route that will take us first to Colorado Springs, then Mesa Verde and the Four Corners region of Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, the Black Canyon at Gunnison and the Rocky Mountain National Park. Wendy and her family will be driving our 2009 Honda Pilot SUV.
    Jeff and Aimee Wendland and their 125-pound dog, Sequoia – Jeff is our youngest child. He is the SEO Project Manager at Market Pipeline, a web design and development company in Kalamazoo, MI. Aimee is a teacher. Jeff also helps me with this blog and runs the Roadtreking Store website that sells Roadtreking-themed clothing and Class B motorhome accessories. He and Aimee love camping and the outdoors. Most of their experience has been in tents. Jeff has been curious about Class B motorhomes and Roadtreks in particular. So he and Aimee and Sequoia will be traveling in our caravan in a borrowed 2010 Roadtrek SS Ideal that we are privileged to use thanks to some friends at Roadtrek. This will be the first time they have traveled and camped in a motorhome and I’m betting he is going to be hooked.
    Trying to keep together as we head out promises to be a challenge. We all have GPS. I’ve brought along some walkie-talkies and we have mobile phones. Saturday night’s destination was the Amana Colonies and an RV park on the edge of town. The park had no shade but was pancake flat. We had a wide open area all around us and the camground even provided free hardood for campfires.
    The Amana Colonies are pretty fascinating places. They were basically religious communes, founded by German immigrants. The leaders chose the name Amana from the Song of Solomon 4:8. Amana means to “remain true.” Six villages were established, a mile or two apart, across a river valley tract of some 25,000 acres – Amana, East Amana, West Amana, South Amana, High Amana and Middle Amana. The village of Homestead was added in 1861, giving the Colonies access to the railroad.
    Farming and the production of wool and calico supported the community, but village enterprises, everything from clock making to brewing, were vital, and well-crafted products became a hallmark of the Amanas. Craftsmen took special pride in their work as a testament of both their faith and their community spirit. The Amana villages became well known for their high quality goods.
    Today the seven villages of the Amana Colonies represent an American dream come true; a thriving community founded by religious faith and community spirit. Declared a National Historic Landmark in 1965, the Amana Colonies attract hundreds of thousands of visitors annually, all of whom come to see and enjoy a place where the past is cherished and where hospitality is a way of life.
    Evocative of another age, the streets of the Amana Colonies with brick, stone and clapboard homes, flower and vegetable gardens, lanterns and walkways, recall Amana yesterday.
    When we checked into the RV park, they gave us tokens good for a pound of homemade German bratwurst at a local meat shop… our first stop before hitting the road this morning.
    We drove a tad over 500 miles to get there and enjoyed our first campfire of the vacation and a gorgeous, starry night in the midst of the vast cornfields surrounding the community. We had a communal dinner of salad, grilled chicken, pasta salad and some hot dogs and, naturally, S’Mores after dark.
    We’re booked at the KOA in Gothenburg, NE for Sunday and then the Cheyenne Mountain State Park in Colorado Springs, CO for a couple of days.
    After that, it’s down through the mountains to the southwest, doing boondocking as we can. Hiking, photography and as much wilderness deep-breathing as possible are on my agenda.
    If you are anywhere near us, we’d love to meet in person. And please pass along your suggestions here as to what we should see.
    Here we go …
  15. Roadtrekingmike
    The Nav-6: SUV/Minivan/RV and more
    Of all the different Roadtrek models out there, one of the most distinctive is the new NAV-6, an SUV that can be used as an RV.
    It’s really category-defying. A luxury SUV on the Nissan 2500 frame, it is expertly tricked out by Roadtrek with a built in kitchenette, complete with microwave, refrigerator, TV and sink with hot and cold running water. The NAV-6 has a roof that rises to make it big enough to walk around in without bumping your head. It’s also able to sleep five people. Oh yeah, it can tow up to 9,000 pounds.
    Jennifer and I visited the Roadtrek factory in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada and took it out for a spin. We had a lot of fun making our video as we drove firm the countryside to the city and back again.
    There is nothing on the road like this vehicle.
    “This is perfect for active families,” said Roadtrek President Jim Hammill. “It can haul kids to soccer games, be used for tailgating, running around town as a second vehicle or as an RV for a long weekend.”
    At Nissan dealers, it’s marketed as the NAV-6. At Roadtrek dealers, it’s the N6-Active.
    Howard Stratton, Roadtrek’s Vice President of Operations, says the NAV-6 is a game-changer built around the many different needs of active families. “Our purpose was to build true utility into this vehicle to support our customers busy life-styles,” he said.
    The unit we tested was set up for six passengers. But it’s available for seating for seven in three rows of seats. It’s just over 20 feet long, 7 feet, 10 in high and can fit in most garages -  a big plus.
    Two of the rows convert to a bed with plenty of room for two adults. An upper bunk setup can sleep two kids. And the front seats can be configured into a single bed.
    There are plugs and adapters everywhere for computers, iPads, video games.
    Just inside the rear doors is an external use hand-held shower head with hose. It’s handy for many things such as washing off caked on mud, dirty shoes, muddy paws, cleaning fish or  washing off sand and salt at the beach.
    Tables can be put in place up front or in the rear.  Or both. They’re perfect for card games, conversation, picnics.
    We see the NAV-6 as a home base while taking the kids to soccer games, the family to sporting events, the beach or on long road trips to vacation getaways. Chill out and take a nap or get out of the weather, fix your own meals, charge your i-devices.
    It’s a very innovative vehicle.
    Roadtreking - A Journalist takes up the RV lifestyle - People and Places Encountered on the Open Road


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  16. Roadtrekingmike
    One of the reasons so many RVers love Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is because of all the wildlife. And in recent years, the chance, albeit slim, of seeing a wolf has been at least a possibility that has made the place pretty exciting. For the introduction of the grey wolf into Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is one of the greatest wildlife management success stories in generations. Where there were none just a couple of decades ago, there are now around 700.
    On calm, clear nights, hearing the howls of a wolf pack is a thrill beyond description.

    And seeing them, as I did when three of them crossed in front of me while visiting Baraga County on a previous UP trip, is even more thrilling. They are truly magnificent animals.
    But the future is uncertain for Michigan’s wolves. Under a controversial policy that has sharply polarized many in the UP, the state’s Department of Natural Resources is moving ahead with a plan to allow the sport hunting of wolves in several areas across the UP, staring this fall. At the same time, citizen groups and wolf protection activists have countered with petition drives that would put the issue before Michigan voters this November, not once, but twice..
    The issue is highly politicalized. A state representative from the far Western UP town of Ironwood claims that there are so many wolves making their way into town that local residents are afraid to send their children outdoors and are forced to stay inside because of the danger. While wolves, like deer, have been spotted in town, we found no evidence of widespread fear, or of rampaging wolves for that matter. There are lots of reports floating around about pets and farm animals being taken by wolves, too, though, on examination, I found many to be wild exaggerations or outright fabrications.
    In one of the more sensational stories, a local man who claimed to have had livestock killed by wolves was actually found by investigators to have allowed dead carcasses of animals who died of apparently natural causes to lie around his land. Such a practice would lead to odors which would naturally attract predators. That man had previously been given three donkeys by state officials. Since donkeys are known to keep wolves away, they would have protected his herds. But when officials went to check on the donkeys, they found the animals were neglected, with untrimmed hooves that prevented them from moving. Two of them subsequently died and a third was found “in very poor body condition,” said a state report obtained under a Freedom of Information Act request by wolf supporters. ”This animal is very weak and likely dehydrated since there is no water provided to the livestock,” said the report. Officials removed the surviving donkey, which is alive and “in a very good new home.”
    The report noted that the farmer had also been provided over $1,300 in fencing material to prevent wolves from entering his property. “The fence is now gone and its whereabouts are unknown,” concluded the report.
    I mention all this because this same farmer was all over the news earlier this year showing off dead cows he claimed were killed by wolves and talking about how dangerous they were.
    I visited with lots of folks who live in areas populated by wolf packs who reported no issues.
    “I believe if this hunt goes through we will once again see the wolf all but extinct in the UP,” said Sandy Lahtinen of Ironwood. “When hunters take out an animal here and there, they will take out the alpha males and females. That leaves the packs leaderless and creates lone wolves and that’s when you see problems.” Lahtinen has wolves on her property. She is not worried about them. Snow, her 30 year old pony, and a tiny little puppy roam about in her front yard all day.
    In Marquette County, Jim and Jackie Winkowski raise and race dog sled teams. They know wolves are in their area. They’ve seen and heard them. “They are not interested in our dogs,” said Jackie. “They are not interested in being around people at all.”
    In the deep and very buggy woods of the Ottawa National Forest near Ewen, we went out looking for wolf signs with Nancy Warren, the Great Lakes regional director for Wolfwatcher, a nonprofit organization dedicated to wolf conservation.
    You’ve heard of the Horse Whisperer. Nancy is the Wolf Howler.
    She talks to the wolves by howling in their territory. “Wolves are very territorial,” she says. “Howling is how a wolf checks to see if he is in another pack’s territory. The local wolves will howl back, to tell him to move on.” Although we spotted wolf scat, we didn’t get any answering howls that day.
    How do we know it was wolf poop, you ask? The size (an inch in diameter) and the presence of fur and bones in the fecal matter, explained Nancy. Aren’t you glad you asked that now?
    Warren is opposing the coming wolf hunt. “Wolves that cause problems already can be taken out by landowners if they endanger livestock or people,” she said. “A hunting season serves no purpose at all. There are only 658 wolves up here. To kill wolves for sport is just not right.”
    Nevertheless, the Michigan Natural Resources Commission on Thursday again approved hunting of once-federally protected wolves in the Upper Peninsula under a new state law passed to circumvent a referendum on an earlier hunting law, as called for by an earlier petition drive run by wolf supporters.
    State officials dismiss the concerns of the pro-wolf groups. “We anticipate that this limited public harvest could both change wolf behavior over time — making them more wary of people, residential areas and farms — and reduce the abundance of wolves in these management areas that have experienced chronic problems,” DNR Wildlife Division Chief Russ Mason said in a statement. “We’re aiming to decrease the number of conflicts and complaints while maintaining the long-term viability of the wolf population.”
    The group Keep Michigan Wolves Protected said it was “deeply disappointed” by the commission’s decision. The group earlier submitted petitions for a November 2014 referendum on the earlier wolf hunt law. That’s what promoted the Natural Resource Commission to push through the hunting season, before voters could decide.
    “The voters of Michigan — not politicians and bureaucrats — should have their voices heard on whether our state’s fragile wolf population is needlessly hunted for trophies,” group Director Jill Fritz said in a statement. “The NRC should have delayed a decision until the November 2014 election and let the democratic process play out as intended. Instead they have thumbed their noses at Michigan voters and told them their opinions don’t matter.”
    Fritz’s group submitted ballot said it plans to launch yet another petition drive to collect at least 225,000 signatures needed to place the new law under which the commission approved the hunt Thursday on the November 2014 ballot as well. That means there will be two anti-wolf hunting proposals on the ballot.
    But no matter how the issue is decided, it will be too late to stop this year’s hunt.
    And that should stir up howls of protests from all those who don’t think wolves should be considered fair game.
  17. Roadtrekingmike
    I didn’t know what to expect when I pulled into Okeechobee, Fla., but I can defiately say that I didn’t expect it to remind me of West Texas, right down to the city calling itself ”Cow Town.” But this is a western style town in the middle of the sunshine state, it’s dry and windy and surrounded by wide open spaces and lots and lots of cows. Rodeos are a big deal here and the name of the best local restaurant tells you what the local culture revolves around. It’s simply called “The Cowboy.”
    In July, they have a big cattle drive – right down main streets of town. There are rodeos all year around.
    Okeechobee, with a population of just under 6,000, is located smack in the middle of south Florida, about equal distance from both coasts and hard up against the western shoreline of Lake Okeechobee, the largest freshwater lake in Florida and the seventh largest in the United States. But locals stress another claim to fame about “The Lake,” as everyone around her refers to it. It is the largest freshwater lake completely within a single one of the lower 48 states.
    The word Okeechobee in the tongue of the Seminoles who first settled here, means “big water.” It gets its water from the Kissimmee River, which links Okeechobee to Lake Kissimmee, some 60 miles to the west.
    Tourism has most been limited to fishermen – - the lake is also known as the speckled perch capital of the U.S. - and rodeo fans who come for the many Cow Town events, especially the big one in July. But a new RV resort here is bringing in lots of new seasonal snowbirds and passing travelers. That’s what led us here, a chance to visit the Silver Palms RV Resort, located a half mile from Lake Okeechobee on the town’s eastern limits. We came here from Naples, where we stayed at a sister resort, the Naples Motorcoach Resort. Both parks are owned by Sunland RV Resorts, which operate high end RV resorts in California and Bay Harbor, Mich.
    There are a couple of older RV parks in the Okeechobee area, and a KOA Resort park right across the street, but the Silver Palms caters to owners who buy a lot as well as renters. Overnight rentals start with a 40 by 70 foot spot on the grass with a concrete pad for $35 a night. Silver Palms is a master planned, gated community. Lot ownership starts at $55,000 and runs to $80,000, depending on size and location. An aggressive expansion will soon give the place well over 300 lots and a major footprint on the local economy, which has been clearly struggling, as evidenced by lots of shuttered businesses. There’s also a paucity of the traditional Florida tourist places like fancy restaurants and bistros and upscale shopping.
    This is the cow country out here and if touristy hustle and bustle is what you seek, better head elsewhere.
    If, however, you are looking to slow down, chill out, warm up and enjoy an area where the attraction is fresh air and lots of social activities with your RVing neighbors, this may be your diamond in the rough.
    What the town may lack in activities, the RV resort more than makes up for in planned parties, events and gatherings around the swimming pool, clubhouse and members lounge area. On the week we were there, there was an old car show on Sunday, Margarita Monday – with free drinks and nachos from 2-4PM, a Mardis Gras parade and potluck party with free hurricanes on Tuesday and a boat tour of the lake on Wednesday. There are also poolside lunches three days a week and a big Saturday night dinner party.
    And every day, starting early in the morning and going till dark, there are pickleball games. Pickleball, a racquet sport which combines elements of badminton, tennis, and table tennis and is played on outdoor courts, is reputed to be the fastest growing sport on America. The folks here take their pickleball very seriously but are always glad to explain it to a newcomer and offer newbie tips.
    These people may like to party. But they are also pretty fit.
    There are water exercise classes, line dancing lessons, a fitness center and fishing around several manmade lakes that are stocked with largemouth bass, some reputed to be in the 10 pound range.
    The RVs include everything but trailers and popups. There are Class A, B, and C motorhomes as well as lots of Fifth Wheels. The more deluxe lots have pavers and owners can decorate them how they like. Many have installed tiki huts and small cabanas that hold washer and dryers or are an extra sleeping room for guests. A lot of the residents also have their own golf carts. Some have scooters. Everyone seems to ride a bike, which they use to drive to the community trash container, located at a remote end of the resort.
    Again reminding me of Texas were the sound of cattle several times a day. A pasture borders the north end of the park and the black angus grazing there add to the bucolic, laid back vibes. A wetlands preserve borders the south end of the property.
    We hung out at the pool on the days we were there. One morning, I borrowed a bike and rode a dozen miles or so along the Florida Trail, also known as the Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail. Built atop the 35-foot high dike that surrounds the lake and protects the nearby community from flooding, this trail runs for over 110 miles. It’s pancake flat and offers beautiful views of the lake and surrounding wetlands.
    The weather here is usually among the warmest in Florida. Because of the flat ranch land around here, there is almost always a breeze. During our visit the first part of March, the daily temperatures were in the low eighties every day.
    We found the town and area to be refreshingly unlike any other place we’ve visited in Florida. It’s a great spot to relax. The residents I got to know during our stay here said they never intended to end up here but that the quieter pace of life and the friendliness of the people at Silver Palms kept them coming back, year after year.
    Occupancy of the resort seemed pretty close to 90% or so, hence the expansion project. The whole complex is extremely well maintained and the rest rooms and showers are spotless.
    Besides the many on site activities, the lake and the 110-mile bike trail were my favorite things to take in during our time and enough to bring me back someday. Below are some photos of the lake to show you what I mean. Our guide was Captain John Campbell, who has fished Okeechobee for more than half a century. He regularly takes folks out from the Silver Palms RV Resort and likes to weave in local history and information about wildlife as he takes them to the best fishing spots.
  18. Roadtrekingmike
    If any of you have been to the Roadtrek factory in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada for a tour, you would have an idea of what it takes to build a Roadtrek, how busy the manufacturing floor is and how passionate everyone there is about the product.
    For those who have not been able to make the trip (and we highly recommend that you do), we are happy to present a video tour for you on what it takes to build the #1 selling Class B Motorhome in North America.

    Jennifer and I spent two weeks in Kitchener, documenting the process every step of the way. We put the drone up for aerial photos and used three cameras (including a time lapse camera) to get shots in, around, under and above the entire conversion of a bare nose, stripped-down van into a fully-equipped cutting edge Class B motorhome.
    Along the way, we met many of the 260 Roadtrek employes and learned that the average start-to-finish time is a little over six days. The one we followed, because of some options, took nine days.
    Every Roadtrek is built with passion, pride, quality, technology and just pure love of the product, check out the video to get a glimpse of how it all comes together.
    We finished this project even prouder to drive a Roadtrek.
    We hope you enjoy the video!

    At the Roadtrek factory in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
  19. Roadtrekingmike
    Summer travel and vacation is upon us and as many of us hit the road, we’re sharing our travel with friends and families. Many of you know I also am a techology correspondent for the 215 NBC-TV Newschannel affiliate stations across the country.
    I do a weekly “PC MIke” Tech feature for the network and, these days, I am usually doing it from the back of my Roadtrek Etrek as we travel the country.
    In this week’s report, I featured three apps and Internet services that can map and track your travel routes.
    In this digital age, instead of postcards, more and more of us are posting real-time maps, photos, video and travel reports.

    The video above is from this week’s PC Mike segment. It features three ways apps and the Internet can help you share your traveling adventures.
    For iPhone and iPad users, check out the free Track My Tour app and website. You start a route and through the app, add updates as you travel. It grabs your GPS location from your device and displays it, and your comments and the photos you take on an interactive map.
    I’m doing one right now as I tour of the Great Lakes region. The app is free, though there is an upgraded version that lets you have some extra features. If you want to follow along, .. Click here to TrackMyTour!
    Meanwhile, here are sme other similar tech tools you may want to try for your RV travels.
    Check My Tour is a similar app, geared towards cyclists and motorcycle trips, though it will also work with regular roadtrips. It is for Apple devices but also Android smartphones.
    Then there’s My Trip Journal. This allows you to set up your own travel blog website. It maps your routes and lets you write reports and updates and allows you to have a travel journal that can be viewed by whoever you share it with.
    By the way, I also am a big user of Twitter as we travel. I live tweet from the road as we travel. If you use Twitter, you can follow me @roadtreking or send me a tweet with the hashtag #roadtreking.
  20. Roadtrekingmike
    MARQUETTE, MI – Winter in Michigan's Upper Peninsula is not for warm weather sissies. In the town of Marquette, hard on the shore of Lake Superior, nearly 149 inches of snow falls each winter. That works out to nearly 12 and-a-half feet of snow.

    Up here, from late October to mid April, snowmobiles are seemingly as common as trucks. But all that snow also enables another form of transportation: Dog sleds.
    Each February, Marquette hosts one of the nation's premier dog sled races, the UP200, a challenging 240-mile course that winds its way through cedar and hardwood forests, across half frozen streams, ice covered lakes and rugged wilderness to the tiny town of Grand Marais far to the east, before returning by the same route.
    Thousands come to watch. And the event has become so popular that it has spawned two shorter races at the same time, the Midnight Run, a 15 mile route to a nearby town, and the Jackpine 30, which covers 30 miles.
    This year, the 24th running, drew teams from Maine, Montana, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Alaska. The UP200 is a qualifying race for the famed Iditarod in Alaska, the Ironman equivalent of the dog sled racing world.


    But besides the professional mushers, this region of the Upper Peninsula also has plenty of home grown teams. Up here, many year-round folks mush for the sheer love of the sport, and their dogs, which are typically Alaskan or Siberian Huskies or mixes of the two breeds.
    Just outside of Marquette in the town of Qwinn is Snowy Plains Kennel, run by veteran mushers Jim and Jackie Winkowski. The couple owns, trains and runs 28 dogs. Jackie has written a series of children's books on their pack and the sled dog racing culture. They also offer dog sled rides to tourists.
    We met Jackie as she was autographing her books at the Holiday Inn headquarters of the UP200 and she invited us out to her kennel, which mushers call a raœdog yard.
    “They’re like our kids,” she says of her pack. “There’s a bond
    there that’s hard to explain.
    But it’s all built on love. They love us. We love them. And they love to run.”
    Just tending to the pack of sled dogs takes about four hours each day, says Jim. Training, which begins in earnest in the early fall, easily takes another three or four hours on the days they hit the trails. “We love them,” he says. “They are made to run. It’s in their genes. It’s beautiful to see.”
    I told him I’d like to get some video of them in action. He hooked up a team… just like that. I sat in the sled as Jim mushed. It was exhilarating and exciting. I was amazed at how fast the dogs moved. Jim guessed we were doing about 15 miles an hour. The ride was jarring at times. I bounced high enough a couple of times that I thought I’d lose the camera. After our run, I wanted to do it all over again.
    I now understand why people mush.
    Our visit to Snowy Plains Kennel helped us appreciate the UP200 and understand how much the mushers and their dogs are bonded by their love of each other and the trail.
    Earlier that day, I got to meet most of the dogs close up during the vet check, as a team of local veterinarians checked each dog and certified that they were healthy enough to compete.
    Twelve dogs pull each sled during the UP200. The two shorter races have teams of six or eight dogs.
    None of the mushers do it for the money. This year's purse for the UP200 is $28,500, with $7,200 going to the first place team and the rest divided among the field.
    That's not a lot of money when you consider that dog food alone for a competitive team costs about $600 a month. Typically, the teams train four days a week, running 25 to 30 miles each time.
    It takes a special person to race dog sleds. Frank Moe, a former state legislator and well known Minnesota politician and outdoor advocate, was one of this year’s competitors. So was Zoya DeNure, a former international fashion model who now owns Crazy Dog Kennels in Alaska.
    The race is a great one for spectators. There are lots of spots to get close to the dogs. Towns along the route build big bonfires. Local churches bake pies and civic groups and mom and pop restaurants sell hot soup and sandwiches. Downtown Marquette had 8,000 lining the streets for the start of the race. Other towns on the route like Munising, Harvey, Chatham and Grand Marais also draw spectators.
    And it all happens outdoors. This year snow fell pretty much all along the route from the start Friday to the Sunday finish. It was also very cold. Temps dropped to minus five a few hours after the Friday night start.
    But the folks who come up here to watch and participate in dog sled racing aren't wusses.
    Jennifer and I? Well… let’s just say we found the cold and snow to be, ah… very refreshing. We drove our Roadtrek E-Trek and were delighted to be able to retreat to it and its warmth several times during the day as we watched the teams at various locations.
    We’re off over the weekend to follow the teams on the trail and to get more of a feeling for the UP wintertime lifestyle and how RVers can enjoy it.
  21. Roadtrekingmike
    What a winter this has been. The arctic vortex or whatever we call the cold air that has been making repeated appearances throughout the Upper Midwest has kept many an RVer housebound before the fireplace.
    Not us. We’re about to head up to Northern Minnesota along the Lake Superior northern shore where the temperature is expected to be -26F/-32C.
    I wrote about it earlier when the bitter cold forecast was causing our plans to waver. Many of you offered advice. Most said don’t go. Some said head south instead.
    Two or three said, follow the call of the north.
    So, we are. Adventure and the sheer challenge of it all has us packing parkas, boots and long Johns and ready to head out on the morning this post goes live.
    But, with so many suggesting caution, I thought I’d get some expert advice on how our Roadtek eTrek, powered by Mercedes on the Sprinter chassis, would handle the cold and what, if anything, I needed to do differently when operating it under such extreme conditions.
    So I headed to Hoekstra Specialty Vehicles in Troy, MI, one of the Midwest’s biggest Sprinter dealers. On the morning I drove my eTrek to them the temperature in my driveway was -14F/-25C.

    The above video gives you the details. Bottom line, I need to make sure the glow plugs have warmed up. That means turning the key without starting and waiting for the little pigtail-like icon on the dash goes away. As far as special fuel, Sprinter service expert Josh Biscarner tells me I need not do a thing, that the winter diesel blends are fine. Josh gives lots of advice in the video for you Sprinter users.
    So, off we go – Jennifer, me and Tai, our Norwegian Elkhound. Look for videos and posts as we head up I-75 to the Mackinac Bridge, then over to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and west through the Up to Wisconsin and then on to Duluth, our first stop on a trip that will eventually take us to the Canadian border.
    Yes, we do intend to spend a couple of nights in the Roadtrek boondocking in the wilderness.
    This is going to be fun!

    The glowplug icon is the curly little “pigtail.” In extreme cold turn the key to the on position, wait till the glowplug light goes out, then start the engine.
  22. Roadtrekingmike
    I’m not going to lie to you. We didn’t sleep in the Roadtrek eTrek last night.
    We spent the night in a motel in Escanaba, at the far western end of the Lower Peninsula’s northern Lake Michigan shoreline. I suppose if I looked around long enough I would have found a place to camp. But all the state and federal forests where we normally boondock up here in the UP were all but inaccessible because of unplowed roads.
    Somebody told me there was an Indian casino a dozen miles out of town but they were unsure whether they allowed overnight RV camping. So when we saw a nice looking Budget 8 that was dog-friendly and had reasonable rates, hey, we took it.
    But while we were in our room, we kept the eTrek’s diesel-powered Webasto heater running all night, so our food and water inside it wouldn’t freeze. And when I opened it up this morning to re-load the stuff we took into our motel room, it was a very comfortable 60 degrees in the eTrek.
    That’s pretty good, considering the outside temperature dropped to -12F/-24C overnight. But that’s nothing compared to where we’re going, north of Duluth, MN where, Monday morning from about 3 a.m. until noon, I’ll be volunteering as an amateur radio operator providing communications for the Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon. At the crossing I’ll be stationed at near Finland, MN, the predicted temperature at that time will be -26F/-32C. I will be in the eTrek, as will Jennifer and Tai. So this brief motel lollygagging won’t last once the race starts Sunday afternoon in Duluth.

    Our drive to Escanaba was about 428 miles and took more about nine hours. Roads were slick and messy downstate and the air was so cold the washer solvent kept freezing on the windshield. All the extreme cold has made for lots of potholes in Michigan and one of them dislodged a hubcap from my passenger side dualies. It was lost somewhere back along the snow banks that line the interstate.
    But it was a beautiful day with clear blue skies for almost the entire trip. Crossing the Mackinac Bridge offered spectacular views of the frozen Straits of Mackinac where Lake Michigan meets Lake Huron. Just as darkness set in a couple hours later, snow squalls started up. We found a great restaurant, Buck’s Inn, just on the edge of Escanaba and after a nice dinner, we were ready to call it a night.
    It is frightfully cold. Even Tai didn’t want to linger last night when I took him out to make yellow snow. I saw a grove of pine trees and some woods that I thought would be a good spot for his other functions but, no way, he wasn’t having any part of it. Back to the warmth he tugged me on his leash.
    During the drive up, I used Google Glass as a reporting tool to record my point of view and a windshield-mounted Go Pro Hero 3+ to get Jennifer and I inside the Roadtrek. Hope the audio isn’t too bad. I think I can improve that in future reports.
    But it was fun to shoot the video … taking you along as we rushed north into the embrace of the arctic vortex.

    Along U.S. 2 on the northern shoreline of Lake Michigan in the Upper Peninsula

    I lost a hubcap from one of Michigan’s nefarious potholes.
  23. Roadtrekingmike
    Colorado has so many great spots to visit but one you just do not want to miss is the Garden of the Gods Park near Colorado Springs. We’ve been there twice, once in the winter and once in the summer. Both trips were excellent and made us determined to come back again and again.
    The red-colored sandstone formations tower as high as 300 feet and walking trails lead right up to them.
    The Garden of the Gods Park is a registered National Natural Landmark that has been exciting tourists since the mid-1850′s. Before that, the Utes oral traditions tell of their creation at the Garden of the Gods and petroglyphs have been found from the 15th century.
    The area got it’s name in August of 1859 when two surveyors started out from Denver. While exploring nearby locations, they came upon a beautiful area of sandstone formations. M. S. Beach, who related this incident, suggested that it would be a “capital place for a beer garden” when the country grew up. His companion, Rufus Cable, a “young and poetic man”, exclaimed, “Beer Garden! Why it is a fit place for the Gods to assemble. We will call it the Garden of the Gods.” It has been so called ever since.
    At least that’s how the official story goes on the Garden of the Gods website.
    We stayed at the nearby Cheyenne Mountain State Park, one of the nicest state parks we’ve stayed at anywhere. Located just south of Colorado Springs, the park has 51 sites amidst 1,680 acres. It is located right beneath the eastern flank of Cheyenne Mountain, and border the plains of Colorado and offers view that are a stunning transition from plains to peaks.
    The land around the park is in remarkable natural condition and diverse wildlife viewing opportunities abound due to the property’s relatively undisturbed location. Because the park just opened in 2000, everything is nice and new.
    The Garden of the Gods is about a 25 minute drive from the park and can be seen in half a day. We drove up nearby Pikes Peak in the morning and toured the Garden of the God’s n the afternoon. Next time we visit, I plan to spend the day and use the bike trails that circle the park.
    What’s so amazing about the place is that the towering deep-red, pink, and white sandstone and limestone formations were originally deposited horizontally, but have now been tilted vertically and faulted by the immense mountain building forces caused by the uplift of the Rocky Mountains and, specifically, Pikes Peak nearby. Geologists have found evidence of many different geologic features in the rocks, deposits of ancient seas, the eroded remains of ancestral mountain ranges, sandy beaches, and great sand dune fields. Retired biology professor Richard Beidleman notes that the park is “the most striking contrast between plains and mountains in North America” with respect to biology, geology, climate, and scenery. Dinosaur bones have been found throughout the park.
    The park is amazingly accessible. We had no problem parking our Roadtrek eTrek in the many parking lots that ring the park. It is open to hiking, technical rock climbing, road and mountain biking and horseback riding. It attracts more than two million visitors a year and is the city’s most visited park.
    There are more than 15 miles of trails with a 1.5 mile trail running through the heart of the park that is paved and wheelchair accessible. Dogs on leashes are welcome.
    We walked the paved path and gazed upwards. We saw and photographed mule deer, first seen by Tai who sniffed them out and finally spotted them gazing in the shrubbery that abuts some of the larger formations. His barking drew a crowd of camera toting tourists but the deer obliged us all as we snapped away.
    If you go, make sure you visit the Garden of the Gods Visitor and Nature Center, at 1805 N. 30th Street. It and offers a great view view of the park from an outdoor terrace. The center offers all sorts of educational exhibits, staffed by Parks, Recreation and Culture employees of the City of Colorado Springs. A short movie, How Did Those Red Rocks Get There? runs every 20 minutes. A portion of the proceeds from the center’s privately owned store and cafe support the non-profit Garden of the Gods Foundation; the money is used for maintenance and improvements to the park.
    More pics:

    You can walk right up to the formations.

    The park is simply stunning.

    My son, Jeff, near his borrowed SS Agile, walking his dog, Sequoia, at Cheyenne Mountain State Park

    Our camping spot at the Cheyenne Mountain State Park. We towed that travel trailer out there with our Roadtrek eTrek for my daughter and her family.

    They call this formation “The Kissing Camels.” Can you see why?
  24. Roadtrekingmike
    RVers love their GPS units. Can you imagine traveling without one?
    But do you know that many of today’s most popular units can be customized to show the special places you are most interested in? Called POIs – short for Points of Interest – there are so many lists of them available now that downloading them to your GPS unit can make travel much more efficient and convenient.

    You need to have a stand alone GPS unit that can connect to your computer to be able to download POIs. Tom Tom, Magellan, Garmin and Rand MacNally all work with external POI files. There may be others. I use the Rand McNally RVND 7720 seven inch unit in my RV. My Roadtrek has a built in unit from Pioneer and it does a great job. But its integrated into my dash entertainment system and I can’t add files to it. The RVND-7720 is aimed strictly at RVers and it comes with guaranteed lifetime updates and the ability to add POI files. I connect it to my computer from time to time and it automatically downloads the latest maps, construction alerts and detours .
    But it also can download files called POIs. Many of you now I am also an NBC-TV technology reporter. I do a weekly segment for all 215 NBC affiliate stations called PC Mike and I recently did one on POIs in which I found several sources for POI files.
    What sort of POI files, you ask? Well, I downloaded a list of every Cracker Barrel restaurant (a great place to overnight, free). We downloaded the locations of all Olive Garden restaurats (Jennifer says the all-you-can-eat soup and salad menu item there is a good and healthy food choice, as long as I eat only one serving. We downloaded a list of health clubs (when we travel my job is to get her to a gym at least four times a week). I have a list of all WalMarts (overnight camping again), unusual highway attractions (I’m a sucker for giant balls of string and places like the Barbed Wire Museum) and a list of 14,357 campgrounds.
    All were free to download and install in my GPS and I can set my unit to alert me when I am approaching one of these POIs or search for them right from the screen.
    There are several places online where you can find POI files.
    We've gotten hooked on the POI Factory, a repository of downloadable GPS files that you can install on many of today's most popular GPS units, like Garmin, Rand Macnally and Tom Tom. Basically, you browse the categories and find Points of Interest you'd like. And then, as you approach them in your travels, you can see them on a map, find and get to them with turn by turn directions.
    Here's another resource -- the POI Plaza. This lists POIs from all over the world. Search by countries. It too works with lots of applications and GPS platforms, listing thousands of places and GPS coordinates. Pick the right format for your device and download it to your computer. Then, just plug your GPS unit into the computer and transfer it over.
    One more. Download POI. If you couldn't find files for your unit on the other sites, try this one. Just choose a country, the brand of GPS you have and download what you want. You're good to go!'
    Here’s my NBC report on POIs:
    http://youtu.be/A9j4sl9Tbvk
    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.
  25. Roadtrekingmike
    Jennifer and I love watching things grow, planting them, tending to them and then – with our vegetable garden – picking them when they are fresh and ripe and enjoying them.
    We’ve planted a garden for many ears but the last two years, because of our travel schedule, we’ve returned home from RV trips to find it mostly shriveled up from lack of water or, unpicked, gone to seed.
    Nevertheless, there we were this week, getting the vegetable beds ready again, hoeing, weeding, improving the soil and planning it out.
    The peas and the new strawberries will be in by the weekend. The rest, a couple of weeks yet when the threat of frost at night has gone away.
    We’ll do it again this year, despite a travel schedule that will have us gone all but a few scattered days pretty much from June through September.
    There is something that is just plain right about planting and tending a garden. It is deeply satisfying, relaxing, good for the soul.
    But this year, we will enlist some friends and neighbors to water and tend to our garden while we’re gone.
    Starting in a few weeks, we have trips planned that will take us to the east coast, all all around the Great Lakes in the Midwest and then a big trip to the mountains and national parks of the west and the Northwest. The veggies I plant over the next couple weeks will be ready for harvesting while we’re still out on the road.
    But this year, we’ll ask friends and neighbors to harvest it as it ripens. Hopefully , we’ll find some ready for picking on our visits home between trips.
    I’ve seen RVers who travel with small pots of staked tomatoes.
    With the limited space in a Type B, I’m not sure how feasible that is.
    How abut you? Have you traveled with fresh and container-growing veggies? f so, how?

    This is my garden. We grow in raised beds behind a fence that keeps the deer out. I’ve been getting the dirt ready for planting this week.

    This is last year’s garden, just before we took off on a long trip to Colorado. Most of it was lost because of neglect.
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