TCM STARS: Summer 2010 Part 2 |
| Angela White | Friday, 03 September, 2010 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Catch up with TCM Stars Andy and Guinness Spedden, Tom Watson, Mary Ann Pugin, Aaron Walton, Ramblin' Ralph, Gerald Kato, Greg Gaskill, Felix Agel, and many, many more.  Today, seventeen more TCM Stars are strutting onto our red carpet. Catch up with Gerald Kato, Edi and Mike Barrow, Steve and Elizabeth Singhose, Andy and Guinness Spedden, Kris and Ken Cardwell, Paula and Jerry Gale, Greg Gaskill, Tom Watson, Mary Ann Pugin, Don and Geneda Schwanke, Aaron Walton, Felix Agel, John and Christine Montalbano, Brad and Rhonda Hill, Gary and Hazel Birenkott, John Bull, and Ramblin' Ralph Goff. Thank you to our TCM Stars for sending in their pictures and reports. You guys rock! Gerald Kato Article: Gerald Kato Kayaks Back to a Truck Camper
I spent the winter months getting my 2009 Lance 845 ready for spring. I installed an AM Solar system and a roof rack and purchased windsurfers for our trailer and an Inflatable Eagle 285 pontoon boat for fishing when we are not transporting kayaks. The spring took us to Bird Island Basin in North Padre Island, Texas for some windsurfing and kayak fishing. We have been camping almost every week to high mountain lakes and rivers. In June, we passed Angela and Gordon of Truck Camper Magazine in Bailey, Colorado heading the opposite way. We waved and gave the thumbs up. TCM was up in Colorado visiting Hallmark, Outfitter, Phoenix, and Five Star RV. We are now getting ready for a month long trip up through Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Washington. We will be fly fishing on the way up to visit family. We will head back to Colorado via Washington and Oregon on Coast Highway 101, all the while eating seafood and enjoying the Pacific Ocean and Columbia River. We’re also going to Utah, Idaho, and Colorado. We will spend the winter planning an extended trip up into Canada and Alaska next year; “The Road Less Traveled" by truck camper. Edi and Mike Barrow Article #1: TWINS' WEEK PART 2: Two Crazy About Foxes Article #2: TCM STARS: Winter 2010 Part 2
2010 was a slow-to-start camping year with a couple personal roadblocks, but we've made up for it this summer. The most interesting addition to our experience has been towing our Honda Element with three Pygmy wood kayaks on top. Our maiden voyage was to beautiful Lake Quinault in western Washington with two of the boats. The rig performed terrifically and it was fun to add boating to our camping experience. The extra post-camping clean up experience was tripled with needing to wash the Honda and the kayaks after a VERY dusty road. We spent the Fourth of July on the Strait of Juan De Fuca and then embarked on an eighteen day trip to the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, and Glacier National Parks. The drive was beautiful, the towing went well, and the kayaking was awesome. We've still enjoyed dueling (Arctic) Foxes with our friends the Singhoses on all of these trips. Just recently, we met Angela and Gordon White for a short camping trip in our "backyard" here in the Pacific Northwest. Luckily, we have another month of summer vacation to camp. Steve and Elizabeth Singhose Article: TWINS' WEEK PART 2: Two Crazy About Foxes
We managed a number of camping trips in the last year or so. In October, we went to Kalaloch and Olympic National Park in Washington. In June, we went to Lake Quinault, Washington. In July and August, we traveled to swim meets in Moses Lake and then on to Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. It’s great country. We are already looking forward to spending more time in the Tetons. There are lots of great hiking and kayaking places to explore. There were also numerous weekend trips including many swim meets all over Western Washington. Of course that means many, many, many rounds of “Telephone"; a camping game we play. I haven't done anything significant to the camper. Mike helped me re-caulk all the seals and I serviced the batteries and checked the water heater anode. I know, crazy stuff. We will be taking more local trips this fall and winter. Our next big trip will either be to Mount Rushmore or the Grand Canyon. Who knows? Maybe both. Andy and Guinness Spedden Article #1: Andy & Guinness Spedden: Adventures in New England Article #2: TCM STARS: Winter 2010 Part 2 2010 Calendar Winner
We started our trip in May with hopes of filling in my map by going through the southwest, up the left coast, and then back across the middle of this beautiful country. On the way we stopped at places like the Grand Canyon, rode a train over the mountain pass, ate good food in San Diego, and went to jail on Alcatraz. On the coast of Oregon, we saw seals in a cave. At Lake Tahoe, we saw beautiful homes overlooking the lake. Then we went to Salt Lake City where we went to Happijac to have a post replaced. They treated me great with quick service and replaced worn parts while changing the tubes. From there went to Colorado to the mountains for views of storms and wildlife. Now we are in Missouri after 10,500 miles. Guinness and I have been to forty-seven of the forty-eight contiguous states since August of 2006 when I picked my 2007 Northstar 8.5 Arrow. We expect to be back home in Delaware in three or four more weeks. Kris and Ken Cardwell Article #1: Kris and Ken Cardwell: mOOners in Mexico Article #2: TCM STARS: Winter 2010 Part 2
We recently celebrated our third year anniversary of full timing in our Bigfoot truck camper. Time flies when we're having fun! Because we have a mobile home base, our summers north of the border have much of the joy of the nomadic lifestyle that we enjoy during our winters in Mexico. Summer 2010 has been amazingly temperate in Northern California (sorry friends in hotspots!) and the sailing has been delightful on our Delta Breeze infused Lake Camanche. We recently hit the road to San Diego for the annual reunion of Navy sailors of the USS Tiru (SS-416), a diesel submarine (no wonder Ken's comfy living in a truck camper!) inhabited by some amazing men from the 1940's to the 1970's including Ken and his brother, Dewey. San Diego has much to offer for any level of fun seeker; sand and surf and, for us, the hard courts of the Balboa Tennis Club. Traveling in our Bigfoot allowed us to make the trip home an adventure as we headed north on Highway 395 along the eastern slope of the majestic Sierra Nevada. Boondocking at a tennis court in the shadow of California’s highest mountain, 14,505' Mt. Whitney, was a peak experience. Jerry and Paula Gale Article #1: Jerry and Paula Gale: Going the Distance Article #2: Mexico Week Part 1: Feast for the Senses Article #3: Mexico Week Part 2: People, Butterflies, and Architecture Article #4: Mexico Week Part 3: Planning A Trip to Mexico Article #5: Jerry and Paula Gale: Tales of Fun, Funny, and Fantastico Article #6: TCM STARS: Winter 2010 Part 1
Winter and spring of 2010 found us, once again, exploring Mexico! Our travels took us south to the jungles of Palenque, where we were awed by both the sight and sounds of howler monkeys in our campground. The ruins were incredible, as was the nightly entertainment of fabulous musicians from Mexico and abroad. Some of our other destinations included San Cristobal de las Casas, Oaxaca, Huatulco, Acapulco, Zihuatanejo, Puerto Escondido, the lovely beaches of Michoacan, and Valle de Juarez. On our way home in April, we stopped for fun and friends at the Mid-Atlantic Truck Camper Rally in Virginia, where we were excited to hold a seminar on truck camping in Mexico. This summer has only seen our truck camper leave on several short jaunts around Nova Scotia to take in a music festival and to spend some time on the coast. September brings the thrill of hosting the Taste of Nova Scotia Tour! Twelve rigs (eleven truck campers and one class C) are traveling from six US states to explore our province with us for two weeks. The caravan has been sold out since it was first discussed at a Northeast truck camper rally in New York State in 2008. Our hearts have been warmed by the enthusiastic response of the participants. We’ll be sure to share some pictures with TCM! Greg Gaskill Article #1: Greg Gaskill: Travel Lite with Llamas Article #2: TCM STARS: Winter 2010 Part 2 Only one camping trip to tell you about. No llamas on this one. We went south to Kentucky to attend the NASCAR race the middle of June. I had bought the tickets from a public TV auction. We found camping at the General Butler State Park in Kentucky. It was only about twelve miles from the racetrack. And, generally speaking, camping near a NASCAR event usually comes at a premium. However, we had water and electric for fourteen dollars a night! And that was on a weekend. The race was at night and lots of fun. Having a short drive back to the campground made it even better. I have to say more about the General Butler park. There is lots of history there and in the area. There’s an extremely nice lodge, cabins, and some of the nicest camp sites I've ever seen. They were all paved! Before we arrived, we were able to make the reservations online. The website also allowed us to see a picture of each individual site that was available. Needless to say, I was impressed. Sorry to say I didn't get pictures. Check back again in a month or so. We're trying to decide about our next trip. It might be to Lamafest! We'll take the camera. Tom Watson Article: Tom Watson: A Picture Perfect Alaskan
Since returning with our Alaskan Camper from Seattle, we have been to Kinnebunkport, Maine for a few days. We are not retired yet and are starting a new direction with our photography business. We traveled to Maine to acquire a vacuum mount press. Because the press weighs three hundred pounds, packing and shipping costs were expensive. It made the most sense for us to pick it up ourselves. We drove to Maine with the Alaskan camper and had a couple days of sightseeing and some delicious lobster dinners. Maine's two lane, tiny, twisting roads and parking restrictions make driving a larger RV a liability. One town beach that we spent the day at specifically prohibited RVs. However, since there were pick-up trucks parked on either side of us, I was prepared to plead my case with the local gendarme that our footprint is the same as a pick-up truck. Thankfully no one bothered us. We had torrential rain and fog, but that is part of the summer coastal travel. We then rented a U-haul trailer and in nine hours we were home again. The last photograph is of George H. W. Bush and Barbara's house on Walker Point, Maine. Mary Ann Pugin Article #1: Ladies' Week Part 2: The Solo Adventures of Mary Anne Pugin Article #2: TCM Stars: Catching Up Part 1 Article #3: TCM STARS: Winter 2010 Part 1
Around mid-April, I began a six-week trip to Oklahoma and Texas. I had driven through Oklahoma once before, during my Route 66 camper trip, but I’d never visited the state as a whole and wanted to check it out. Texas, being such a big state, is one I need to keep going back to before I’m satisfied, if ever! And besides, I had a special reason for wanting to be there in Texas. I found that April in Oklahoma can be quite hair-raising. In my excitement as I planned this trip, I completely forgot to consider weather. And, being Deaf, I missed all the alerts and warnings on the radio. Other than ominous clouds, some hail, constant rain, winds strong enough to rock the camper all night, and a couple of tornado warnings, I had a great time! The bad weather created so many good things; green fields and pastures, wildflowers everywhere, new births, including rust-colored Bison calves, which I had never seen before. Wildlife refugees, lakes, scenic roads, open country, and national and state parks are my thing. There is much to appreciate about Oklahoma. I especially enjoyed driving through the 38,700 acre Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, near Pawhuska. This natural grassland, dotted with herds of Bison, represents less than 10% of the original tall grass prairie, which, “before the West was won,” spanned fourteen states and covered over 142 million acres. I rarely visit big cities during my travels in the camper, but in Oklahoma, I made an exception. Two days after the city observed the fifteenth anniversary of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, I went there and spent a memorable afternoon visiting the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum. It was very impressive and I hope to return. The seashore is my favorite place to be. And since I was born on the Navy base in Corpus Christi, Texas, I decided to celebrate my 60th birthday on Padre Island National Seashore. My dear friend, Lisa, joined me there and we had a wonderful four-day, four-night dry camping adventure at the Malaquite Beach campground. My stories about this trip can be found in my blog, http://rvingwithmap.blogstream.com. Don and Geneda Schwanke Article #1: Don Schwanke: Fifth to Camper in Ten Article #2: TCM STARS: Winter 2010 Part 1
I am a pilot and visit other pilots and plane owners. I took a photograph of our camper in a friend’s front yard from his sixty-four year old Ercoupe. We have been on the road for several weeks, currently in Iowa for a few days then back home again. Aaron Walton Article #1: Aaron Walton: Publisher of Wander the West Article #2: TCM Stars: Catching Up Part 1 Article #3: TCM STARS: Winter 2010 Part 2 2010 Calendar Winner
I've been on four trips this year: Joshua Tree National Park and Mojave Preserve, Utah, Owyhee area on the Oregon/Idaho Border, and we had a Wander the West rally in the Eastern Sierras and Nevada. The Mojave Preserve trip was supposed to be a spring break of sorts to escape the long Oregon winter but, ironically, I got tangled up in a pretty nasty blizzard in the Mojave Desert. Utah was spectacular, as always, and is on my must-do list every year. The Owyhee Canyonlands is a little known and remote area that is quite spectacular. Our July rally started at Green Creek in the Eastern Sierras and we had a good turnout of eight vehicles, eleven people, and four dogs. After a couple days of good food, good brews, and good company, the group split up and three of us spent a few days exploring mining ghost towns in remote parts of Nevada. It’s been a great year so far! Felix Agel Article: Felix Agel: Truck Camping Through Europe
The Lighthouse of Arsene Lupin - Do you know Arsene Lupin? This roman figure, created by the french writer Michele Leblanc, lived at the end of the nineteenth century, was an infamous daring thief, a bit like Robin Hood. In a 2004 movie, actors Romain Duris and Eva Green played an important, dramatic scene at a lighthouse of the Normandy coast, situated in St. Valery aux Caux. Accidental at this location, a famous campsite for motorhomes is located. So, every year, we want to visit this extraordinary place at the base of the famous white cliffs of the Normandy. At the beginning of our trip in April, we went to a gathering of German truck campers at the border of the wine valley of the Mosella. There we attended a guided tour through vineyards of the world famous Moselle Riesling grapes. Our following way led us to Paris, where we enjoyed the Parisian way of life. The finale of our trip was our favorite campsite of the Normandy, where we enjoyed seafood, oysters, and Normandy cheese, that was accompanied with a glass of splendid white wine and a panoramic view of the lighthouse of Arsene Lupin. John and Christine Montalbano Article: John Montalbano: A Break From Television
Shortly after my TCM interview, my wife and I headed out for a trip to the Outer Banks by the way of Wyoming. It was our last trip as a couple, seeing that my wife, Christine, was about three months pregnant with our first child. We didn't know when the next time we could go camping again would be so we decided to do a last minute two week trip out to some of the finest sights of the mid-west, on the cheap. The camper worked great and we had a blast on our last trip as a couple. February came fast and our first child, Nolan, was born. As the months zoomed past again and the summer approached, I was getting the itch to go out and hit the road. My wife didn't think it would be a great idea to take a four and a half month old out on the road for a long trip, so I figured I'd take some "baby steps" for the new member of the crew. We did a weekend with a two hour ride round trip to Kitatinny campground on the Delaware River. It was cheap and it would give us a good idea what we would need for camping with a baby. We brought a ton of baby stuff that we ended up not needing, except for one-zee's that you never seem to have enough. Our next trip was a three day trip up to Lake George. We then had to reevaluate what we needed for our next trip, which was a week long ride up to Maine to see my friend Rick who's a Border Parole Agent on the U.S. / Canada border. Then, we went down to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. As always the camper worked great as a guest room. We pulled the camper off the truck at the Bar Harbor KOA. I'm always amazed when people come up and ask if it's safe to camp with it off the truck. I now get to say it's safe enough for a baby. But good things must come to an end. On the way home, the wife and I contemplated selling our trusty little 815 for a bigger rig. Who knows what next year will bring? Brad and Rhonda Hill Article: Brad and Rhonda Hill: Exploring Wyoming’s BLM
Recently, we attended a Wilderness Boundary marking project with members of local backcountry skiing and snowmobiling organizations. This event was sponsored by the Bridger-Teton and Shoshone National Forests in Wyoming. Volunteers hiked and rode horseback to the designated Wilderness boundary areas on both the Shoshone and Bridger-Teton National Forests. The night prior to the event we gathered with friends for dinner and Cowboy Poetry. Our friend, Jerry Bell, is a longtime cowboy and artist. We enjoyed his “crooning” and poetry. Tantalizing adult beverages were consumed along with steak, potatoes, and corn. Luckily the neighborhood “grizzly bear” family was out for the night, or at least I think they were. Gary and Hazel Birenkott Article #1: Gary Birenkott: Rally On! Article #2: TCM STARS: Winter 2010 Part 1
We had nice turn out of campers for our Mid April NW Spring Rally in Birch Bay, Washington. We made many new friends and signed up a couple new NATCOA members. The weather was a little up in the air so we were glad the park had an enclosed event building for our activities. While my better half was out of town with her daughter, the golden doodle and I went on a camping trip to northern Idaho for a friend’s daughter's graduation party. I also caught up with my youngest and family while there. I stayed at Ponderosa Falls RV Resort in Cheney, Washington where they had hayrides in the afternoon. We had a nice dinner out and a camp-out with the writers of our favorite Truck Camper Magazine. TCM and three other campers camped out in our backyard and enjoyed a campfire and story telling. John Bull Article #1: John Bull: From Emergency to Adventure Article #2: TCM STARS: Winter 2010 Part 2
Late January we left Kansas for Texas. We needed to make a mad dash for Lake Texoma to avoid an ice storm brewing in Oklahoma. As we passed Tulsa, we heard they were closing the airport, so there was no time to waste. The next day, we went to Fredericksburg and saw the World War II museum. It was worth the visit. We then headed to Leaky in the Hill Country; what a beautiful drive. I would like to spend more time there some day. We headed for Galveston next. We saw some beach homes that were now on the beach so they had to be moved or torn down because the beach is Federal land. The hurricane had moved the beach inland. We took a ferry ride out of Galveston and headed toward the Louisiana coast. We saw many trailers parked on slabs where homes had been before Katrina. We went to our favorite Cajun areas near Lafayette next. My wife got a picture of a man harvesting crayfish also known as mudbugs. He was pulling up traps from the flooded rice field and emptying them into a container. He used a flat bottom boat with a special propulsion system on the back. We visited a music shop where folks gather on Saturday morning for a Cajun jam session. We noticed that where there is Cajun music played there are usually folks dancing to the music. We then headed for home and spent the night in Little Rock. We woke to several inches of snow. Travel was not recommended, so not being to smart we headed north and soon found good roads. We were going to overnight in Branson, but the wife thought we ought to continue home because Branson was supposed to get ten inches of snow. We had a great time. Isn't truck camping great? Ramblin’ Ralph Goff Article #1: Ramblin' Ralph's RV Roamings Article #2: Catching Up With Ramblin' Ralph, Ed Krech, and Wally Herrala Article #3: Catching Up: Gary Love, Ramblin' Ralph, and Chris Todd Article #4: TCM Stars: Catching Up Part 2 Article #5: TCM STARS: Winter 2010 Part 2
This is my fifth year to travel in my truck camper for six months out of the year. I started my three month annual trip to Montana in late June from Napa, California. Since then I've been in Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana. This year I had my first major problem in five years. I got stuck in some deep ruts on a lonely dirt road in northern Nevada. Finally someone with a 4X4 truck came along and pulled me out. Whew! Read about it in the "Sporadic Blog" part of my website. I attended the Grand Targhee Bluegrass Festival in Wyoming. Yeehaw! I’m not having much luck fishing. I hope to do better when I get to my cousin's in Dillon, Montana. I think I'll end my trip with a late September visit to some of the National Parks in southern Utah before I return to California. I’m thinking seriously about going to Alaska next year! You can follow my travels on http://RamblinRalph.com. To join the discussion about this article, go to our Facebook page or Twitter page. |
