Charlotte Is Still The Navigator
Somebody has to plan the route, make campground reservations, navigate around traffic back-ups, find gas stations and manage GPS information on 4 pieces of techo nerd hardware. Not that we’re old school but we have paper maps too, just in case. And with Lucca’s keen oversight, we have half a chance that we won’t get lost.
Charlotte retired in 2019 from Sarasota Memorial Healthcare System. As the Manager of Process Improvement, she guided hospital staff through bunches of improvement projects. So our camping prep process includes multiple checklists, dozens of new storage ideas, fine tuning the wine cabinet and constantly striving for the best dog bed. None of that thrills Pam or the dog but the navigator feels better.
Charlotte loves the mountains of North Carolina. After she graduated from Appalachian State University, a part of her heart remained in the high country. The mountains are such a draw that for many years she traveled to the Blue Ridge to renew her soul. But now she’s adventuring to other mountains and did you know there are wineries everywhere?
Once it was a dream to own a mountain home. After plans were drawn reality set in. A 2nd home just didn’t make sense for twice yearly mountain visits. But there was an alternative… buy an RV, or FIVE over the years, that made casual visits feasible. Charlotte and Pam stumbled upon 2+ acres of land on a mountaintop in Ashe County. They bought it, installed septic, well, electric and created their RV happy place, Rascal Run (Named after their 1st dog).
Update 2023: After 20 years of enjoyment, we sold Rascal Run so we could be free to be on the run.
We are looking forward to seeing the world of mountains. We hope you’ll come along.
Pam Is The Driver And She Still Is
Somebody has to drive, worry about tire pressure, hitch up the vehicle, track gas mileage, sweep the roof, lube the “whatcha-ma-callits” and ask the navigator for a sandwich.
You may think the navigator has the easier job. That nice man said Cheyenne Bottoms, the largest marsh in the interior of the US, was minutes away. And so with navigational enthusiasm, we were off.
No Water, No Birds, No Marsh
Dry, isolated land punctuated by miles of long, bumpy dry dirt road. When we arrived at the dead end, we had just enough room for Pam to turn truck and trailer around to head back down the same desolate road. Oh, didn’t I mention that we did that with trailer in tow?
Drivers also need a sense of humor!! Luckily, Pam has one.
After 39+ years with Florida Power & Light, Pam retired in 2019. She was an environmental specialist. Pam used her knowledge and love of animals to ensure eagles, gopher turtles, ospreys and coastal waters were protected from construction and utility maintenance. She can spot an eagle’s nest while flying down the highway at 70 MPH. She would have loved that marsh.
Pam is a dog lover. RV’ing for 20+ years has always included a pup; Rascal, Tuscany and now Lucca. Most of the journeys have been through the southeast but Lucca will be the BIG trip dog. By the way, the driver fills the tank while the navigator walks the dog and picks up the poop. Both jobs stink!!
Many Ways To Camp…
“We Have Tried Most of Them“
Tent Camping
Years ago tent camping was an easy and inexpensive option for getting away for the weekend. The final tent camping experience included driving rain, wet everything, no escape from Florida heat, followed by a particularly awful bout of poison ivy. “Who’s done with tent camping?”
19 Foot Trailer
In 1998 we decided to skip the pop-up phase after watching our friends pop theirs up. We purchased a small, barely used Sunline. It was easy to pull behind the Jeep and masterfully bounded up the mountain slopes. Grandfather Mountain Campground and Raccoon Hollar were 2 of our favorite campground destinations. The ease of a small trailer was heavenly. “So why make a change 5 years later?”
Small trailers work well when your time is spent outdoors. However, heavy fog can swallow up the mountain’s majesty. This time the fog was so thick we couldn’t see our dog at the end of her leash. With pea soup surroundings, nowhere was the only place to go. After being bored, “socked in” and uncomfortable for 4 days, we took a trip to the RV dealership. It was time to upsize.
26 Foot Trailer
Is there really a difference between 19 feet and 26? Oh yes, a big comfortable couch instead of 2 chairs and a table. Pam bought her dream Tundra truck as the tow vehicle. We enjoyed our 2nd Sunline travel trailer and continued our mountain camping trips. About every 5 years the 2 of us adjust our travel needs. “So what happened this time?”
The Sunline was a great 2-person home. But once we bought our property and stopped staying at campgrounds, we wanted to share our retreat with our family and friends. Back in the day there were no slides to extend the living space and we needed a more-space-place. “How about a mountain cabin?” We hired an architect, met with a builder and gagged on the price.
Disillusioned we headed back to Florida. Somewhere along I75 we had an epiphany; a wicked great, more cost effective, idea. Yup, you guessed it, “We don’t need a house for people to visit, we need a bigger trailer!” And so we began a year long search for the perfect mountain home on wheels.
32 Foot 5th Wheel
We found our Open Range Roamer in Ocala. It was everything we needed. 2 recliners, pull out sofa, table and chairs, big kitchen & bar, walk-around bed, lots of windows to enjoy our mountain view. Pam purchased a Chevy truck with a 5th wheel hitch in the bed. “This time we got it right!!! Let’s party!!!” And for about 5 years, it was our welcoming home on the mountain.
Today you can get push button everything with multi-view cameras to make hitch up easy peasy. During our 5th wheel days, set up work was strenuous, and time consuming. I hate to admit it but as we got older set up and tear down became more grueling.
On one of our annual trips to Disney’s Fort Wilderness, inconveniently I got sick on check-out day. Pam did all the heavy lifting while Disney staff drove up on golf carts to remind us check out time had come and gone. I sat pathetically and immovably in the truck. As we drove home on I75 we both agreed, “It’s time for a change…a hop in and go camper.”
32 Foot Class C Motorhome
It was push button everything. “Okay, we really got it right this time. This motorhome will take us through our retirement years and the many trips we will take. Woohoo!!” We towed the Jeep Cherokee and Lucca enjoyed (no she didn’t) traveling in her crate behind the passenger seat.
The motorhome was a bit slower climbing through the mountains and there were issues with towing a car. An slight concern with the tow system is you can’t back up. That’s right, make a wrong turn and it could be 30 minutes before you can find a place to turn-around. “How often can that happen? In my defense, it isn’t always the navigator’s fault.”
We canceled our first big 2020 retirement trip to the northeast due to COVID. Instead we drove our motorhome up to our RV happy place and never had to use a public facility. While on the mountain we made plans for a 2022 trip out west.
One summer day in 2021, as we discussed our adventure, Pam mentioned in passing that she didn’t feel the motorhome could handle the steep grades through the Rockies. “Can you say, “Next?”
26 Foot Travel Trailer
We did a ton of research and of course there was a detailed spreadsheet. We decided on a Lance 2285 travel trailer. While I was in Houma, Louisiana working logistics for Hurricane Irma restoration, Pam purchased our almost new camper. “Our Lance travel trailer will take us through our retirement explorations. Seriously, this is really the one.” All naysayers can leave comments on a site TBD.
Exhaustive research still doesn’t guarantee a full picture of a purchase and that is true with our Lance. We have taken a few trips since the Lance became part of the family. In 8 months we’ve replaced a few broken items: AC unit, back-up camera, refrigerator door handle and bolts in the slide. The bolts were the scariest issue although no AC in Florida is not ideal.
Update 2023: Our Lance camper has not met our high or low expectations. This year we had to replace the water pump. The awning needs to be readjusted every couple trips. Our slide needed work AGAIN. We replaced our brakes and our tires for our New England trip. What in the world is wrong with this tire?
The bad news? We have a bent axle. Can’t get the axle fixed before we leave so we are told that our new tires need to be rotated a couple times while we are traveling this summer. When you rotate the tires frequently you get equal opportunity baldness. According to the Lance Owners Group, a bent axle is not uncommon. Golly Wally that tidbit would have been nice to know.
Our newly installed water pump is making a non stop noise. Our fingers are crossed that we can get it repaired before our trip. Here’s an update to the update. The water pump is fine (owner error). However, it is a matter of days before we leave and we had to go to Amazon to purchase a new electric hitch. Our hitch lowers the camper but won’t raise it. I had to crank that hitch manually last night. Do you remember a couple RV’s ago I mentioned the importance of push button everything?
Ya know, I don’t think we got it right this time. In fact, with this new issue, I heard Pam mention that she is just about over RV’ing. Stay tuned because we are leaving on Thursday June 29 (If there are no more hitches to our plan).