Anyone got any travel planned?

[NW-Bound]

Oh, catching crabs! I don't think that I can get tired of eating crabs, particularly Dungeness crabs!

And to think of making cioppino right on the beach... My mouth is watering already.

 

[Original Wally]

We HAVE had some and plan MORE!!
Brief recap - Sept / Oct 2008 a year b-4 retired: Calif to MN to pick up new trailer. A 19' Scamp 5th wheel. Like Travelovers 13' Uhaul on steroids. From MN all the way to New England (fall colors). Spring 2009 Alaska Cruise. Summer 2009 Yellowstone with g/kid. Retired 12/09... Jan 2010 AZ, to TX (some fiberglass trailer gatherings). Spring 2010 Germany (to visit daughter) and a western Mediterranean Cruise. Summer 2010 Grand Canyon / Zion / Arches. 2011... health precluded much travel untill fall... Then Trailer to Nashville et al, to Key West. Then Germany again for Christmas, and a 10 day side trip to the Holy Land in early 2012. And now I am in daughters dining room in Gernany again - and Sat leave for a week long side trip to Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg and France.

Future plans... MORE CAMPING (in list above did not include our many camping trips...), and... a group of friends is planning a Branson trip for late spring/EARLY summer 2013 and probably late summer to Mt. Rushmore.

LONG term... an Alaska trip w/ trailer AND I would love to bring my trailer to Europe. There is a book by a couple who did it with a Class "C". I think we could pull it off too.

Planning to spend our assets ... THAT is WHY we scrimped and saved all those years!

Pic is our trailer on the beach in TX.


***EDIT*** Forgot to add - when in the Holy Land, met a guy who runs a game preserve / photo safari set up in South Africe. THAT should be late fall 2013. GOTTA FIND MORE TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Tree-dweller]

DW & I made that trip to Machu Picchu in Peru last week. Stunning place! A few days in Cusco, a few days in Urubamba. Wonderful people and great food (I had to try the guinea pig). Only down part was the US leg of the flight on AA to Miami on AA. LAN airlines in South America was much better.

 

[braumeister]

Starting to plan a visit to NYC for a wedding in late autumn, so suggestions would be appreciated.

DW has been there and did all the major tourist stops, but that was several decades ago. I grew up in Brooklyn, but left for good in the late 60s.

To give you an idea of what I enjoy, a place I absolutely love, and am looking forward to showing DW, is The Cloisters, a re-created medieval monastery full of magnificent period treasures and owned/operated by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This is a little-known gem that most tourists never hear about, but it ranks among my top sites in NYC.

We already have our hotel booked, and there will only be a couple of days to play tourist, but any suggestions for fantastic places to eat (not outrageously expensive) or see would be most welcome.

 

[Sarah in SC]

DW & I made that trip to Machu Picchu in Peru last week. Stunning place! A few days in Cusco, a few days in Urubamba. Wonderful people and great food (I had to try the guinea pig). Only down part was the US leg of the flight on AA to Miami on AA. LAN airlines in South America was much better.

Tree, glad you had a good time! We spent a month there at the beginning of the year.
It really is an incredible place! And good for you to try the cuy-I was too chicken! But the anticuchos recommended by Michael B were awesome!
We flew a few VERY dodgy flights in Peru with local carriers-including one where several boxes of fighting chickens were on board!

 

[NW-Bound]

I have been surfing the Web for travel destinations with my motor home. The trip that I made in June this year had to be cut short due to a medical emergency at home. So, I am planning another trip for fall, but will not drive as far as the last trip that took us up to Jasper.

Having an RV to explore the back roads suddenly opens up so many places that I would not think of when I did the usual fly-and-drive. We used to do a lot of road trips when we were young and airfares were expensive, but having an RV makes it so nice now. The expense for fuel just cancels out the motel and meal costs, so it is not bad at all. The key is to take long trips to make it worthwhile, and by long I mean up to 1 month or more.

LONG term... an Alaska trip w/ trailer AND I would love to bring my trailer to Europe. There is a book by a couple who did it with a Class "C". I think we could pull it off too.

Pic is our trailer on the beach in TX.

I read about the Scamp trailer and have seen some on the road. However, until I saw your posts I did not know that they had a cute 5th wheel. So, I had to go on the Web to see the floorplan.

I also want to spend extended time touring Europe with an RV eventually. My class C would be way too big for European roads, and I think your trailer+truck would also be too long. I think that when the time comes, I may just buy a used small motor home there, then resell it when I am done. And to make it worthwhile, I may want to spend 2 or 3 summers with the RV, with it being in storage for the winter.

 

[Nemo2]

I also want to spend extended time touring Europe with an RV eventually. My class C would be way too big for European roads

How about a Class B, such as a Roadtrek or a Pleasureway?

My late wife & I, when we started full-timing in 1997, had a Pleasureway....too small for full-timers with a cat and a 70lb Border Collie, but convenient for 'vacationers'.

They're relatively expensive, but you don't require a TOAD.

 

[Tree-dweller]

It really is an incredible place! And good for you to try the cuy-I was too chicken!

I kinda cheated: it was cuy ravioli, not roasted on a stick. Could've been any mystery meat from a high-school cafeteria! A month there must have been an adventure.

 

[NW-Bound]

Yes, the B-class was something that I had in mind, and it would be perfect for going into town. However, instead of bringing one over from the US, I am leaning more towards buying one there. The cost of RT shipping is not trivial, and then there is also the hassle with customs, registration, inspection, etc... And if your vehicle breaks down, you may not be able to find someone to fix it, or to get the parts, etc...

It is still a few years away for me to get serious about this, but I happened to see some larger class Cs that looked very interesting, such as the following Rimor Koala. It is narrower than the standard American class C, but offers more space than the standard Bs. It is still big compared to the van-sized B, however.

 

[REWahoo]

Yes, the B-class was something that I had in mind, and it would be perfect for going into town. However, instead of bringing one over from the US, I am leaning more towards buying one there. The cost of RT shipping is not trivial, and then there is also the hassle with customs, registration, inspection, etc... And if your vehicle breaks down, you may not be able to find someone to fix it, or to get the parts, etc...

When one of my former bosses and his wife retired in the mid-90's, they put their furniture in storage, leased their home, went to Europe and purchased a RV similar to the one in your photo. They lived and traveled in it for a year, venturing as far north as Norway and south into Morocco. They sold it back to the dealer they purchased it from prior to returning to the US.

He did admit to "cheating" by occasionally spending a night in a hotel - with his wife, I think...

 

[Nemo2]

He did admit to "cheating" by occasionally spending a night in a hotel - with his wife, I think...

Glad you said 'with' and not 'on'...........hold up, let me rephrase that.....

 

[ronocnikral]

Scored tickets to Israel for $350ish roundtrip in late feb. It will be a quick trip, but it should be fun to head over to the holy land.

Now, what to see....?

 

[Nemo2]

Scored tickets to Israel for $350ish roundtrip in late feb. It will be a quick trip, but it should be fun to head over to the holy land.

Now, what to see....?

Haifa, The Old Part of Jerusalem, Masada, Crusader Fortress in Acre, Dead Sea.......

 

[Original Wally]

I also want to spend extended time touring Europe with an RV eventually. My class C would be way too big for European roads, and I think your trailer+truck would also be too long. I think that when the time comes, I may just buy a used small motor home there, then resell it when I am done. And to make it worthwhile, I may want to spend 2 or 3 summers with the RV, with it being in storage for the winter.

Class "C" s/b fine. Really. There was a book...."Take your RV to Europe" - check Amazon... a Couple from New England, If I recall. They did it. Am at my daughter's right now in Frankfurt area - two doors down is a fella with one that looks to be 20' +/-. I have to chat with him. The New England couple put it in winter storage in a greenhouse in the Netherlands. It **IS** do-able. There are issues. Also, a fella from the Netherlands brought HIS car and trailer and toured the US.

And the Scano 5er IS great - for the two of us.

 

[NW-Bound]

Yes, the above book by Milavsky gave me the idea of long-term touring of Europe with an RV. I read it before I got my class C. Then, I shelved the idea until I have done more traveling in the US and Canada first.

Theirs was an older class C that was built on a Toyota chassis, hence was smaller than the Rimor Koala above, I think. Milavsky's book gave me the idea of keeping the vehicle in winter storage for a multi-year adventure.

Recently, I found the blog of a couple who brought their class C over from the States. It was a Winnebago View (see below) which was close in size to the Rimor Koala, meaning narrower and shorter than a standard C. Even so, I thought I did read about them on occasions having some apprehension when driving it into towns.

As there are trucks and vans traveling the roads in Europe, I am sure one can drive a standard class C around if one knows the area. It's just that when going into unfamiliar towns, I would not want to sweat bullets to find myself getting stuck in a narrow street with no easy way to extricate myself. I'd rather take a smaller vehicle and save myself the hassle, but that's just me.

I can easily imagine a scene where I have to tell my wife to jump out to give me hand signals to back up to turn around, and at the same time to direct the traffic in English to go around our RV. Ay, ay, ay! I don't think my wife would enjoy that. She might just hop into a taxi and head straight for the nearest airport.

 

[Original Wally]

**She might just hop into a taxi and head straight for the nearest airport.**

Ummm... would that constitute a "win-win" for both of you!!

 

[Original Wally]

@ NW-Bound... Seriously, I **HAVE** been noodling on it for a while. For the LIFE of me, tho, I cannot now recall WHY the Milavsky's nixed YOUR idea. On the surface, it sounds SO PERFECT. 1) No transportation. 2) No rental 3) No conversion of electric, & Propane (water is the easy one - just splice an american hose to a euro hose). You are buying (say) a 3-5 year old rig, already sucked up lots of the depreciation, and selling one that will be (say) 5-7 years old. The spread SHOULDN'T be too bad. Dunno why they rejected it. Have to dig out the book when I get home and re-read.

The ONLY fly in the ointment that I see is trying to dispose of the rig when done. That COULD be a problem once you returned home.

But, I am STILL partial to the idea of my own rig. AND, I can tell you, I am here NOW @ daughter's in a tiny village - Schwabenheim an der Selz - and I would have NO hesitation WHAT SO EVER in bringing my F-150 and Scamp over here. ZIP. MOSTLY you are on a "main road" thru villages and there is PLENTY of room. There is ONE PLACE that is skinny, but it is a straight thru – no turn. AND the extensive presence of round-abouts reduces the actual left and right turns considerably.
BUT... still noolding on it... probably 2015.

 

[kcowan]

Currently in Toronrto visiting grandkids then Belleville doing the same then Midland on a freinds' Hunter 49.

 

[NW-Bound]

I don't know about the "win-win" situation.

Nah, my wife would not abandon me like that with an RV stuck in traffic, though she might threaten to. But of course before we get to those fighting words, we would have to go through a few rounds of "I told you so", and "You should have turned left instead of right", or "See, I said we should have skipped this dinky little town with streets only fit for donkey carts", etc... Being as pessimistic and cautious as I am, I always take all precaution to avoid this kind of thing.

The problem with bringing your vehicle is the logistics, and I have a short temper if I have to deal with bureaucracy. It probably costs a bit less, but for me, it is worth spending a bit more to avoid the hassle. It would also take more planning to take your vehicle. For example, is it easy to get the tire size? How do you plug into 220V? Does the 50Hz vs. 60Hz matter? It can be all planned for, but I am getting lazy with the years.

By the way, I like smaller RVs for their mobility. This is my 3rd year of traveling with my class C towing a car, and I will say that it is definitely the largest I would like to drive. For the future trip to Alaska, I have been wondering if I should just leave the toad home, as I may not need it. My current set up is perfect when we establish a base camp then explore the surrounding using the toad, but when you are constantly on the move a single vehicle is better.

 

[kcowan]

Does the toad affect handling of the Class C? What about gas mileage?

 

[rescueme]

Haggis and a bit of "the black stuff" in less than a month.

I'll wear my kilt and invite the lassies to "investigate the truth" after September 7th, for a few weeks ...

 

[NW-Bound]

Does the toad affect handling of the Class C? What about gas mileage?

Yes, I am sure it does, mostly when driving in crosswinds. How bad the effect is, I do not know as one would have to do a controlled test, meaning driving the motor home with and without the toad in exactly the same wind condition. My class C has a GVW of 12,300 lbs, and the toad weights 3,500 lbs. A class A with a weight of 20,000 to 30,000 lbs would of course be wagged less by the same tail.

From reading RV forum posts from other class C owners, I found that to be a common problem. People have spent from $2K+ to more than $3K to have put in the suspension add-on improvements that I have done myself for $1K worth of parts. The above cost includes a recent addition of a track bar, whose effect I am anxious to experience in my next coming trip.

As to the gas mileage, surprisingly, towing the toad has little penalty on the fuel consumption. I have driven the motor home for more than 12,000 miles, most of these with the toad in tow. The average fuel consumption has been 9.1MPG, and that was driven over windy conditions and over the mountainous western states. I have driven the motor home sans toad for only 800 miles, and the gas mileage was somewhere around 9.5MPG, but it was over flat land.

It appears that once the motor home reaches cruising speed, most of the gas is expended in overcoming aerodynamic drag, and since the toad is behind the draft of a moving brick it does not add much drag. The rolling resistance of the tires must be relatively insignificant for both vehicles.

 

[FinanceDude]

Heading to Yellowstone tomorrow, with stops in Rapid City, Sheridan, WY, Cody, WY, West Yellowstone, MT, Bozeman, MT, and then back.........

 

[aaronc879]

Heading to Yellowstone tomorrow, with stops in Rapid City, Sheridan, WY, Cody, WY, West Yellowstone, MT, Bozeman, MT, and then back.........

I considered going to Yellowstone this summer but being unemployed and not FI I couldn't justify it. But if you have an extra seat come up my way and i'll hitch a ride. I'm only 100 miles north of you.

Post pictures so I can see what I missed.

 

[martyp]

Just returned from a road trip from San Francisco to Portland, Mt. Rainier National Park, and Seattle. This is my second solo road trip since retiring. This link is to my movie of the trip.

Marty Road Trip 2012 - YouTube