The RV Life!

Off to BC (Photo by Bill Towndrow)

Now I know a lot of you have been following my Blog to hear about my adventures in “exotic” lands like China and Spain, and I hope to add a few more locations as time goes by. If that is the case you may want to stop reading. This section is about something completely different and probably not what would be considered “Exotic” I am off on a two month trip across the middle of America to California and then up to British Columbia and back across Canada. I will be travelling by RV; my 2008 Toyota Tundra 5.8 4 X 4, towing my father's 28 foot Fleetwood Fifth Wheel Trailer. Regis and I will be sharing this adventure with my Father and his wife Sharon.

My Dad is a seasoned “Rver”, having circumnavigated North America twice, once in a LeisureTravel Camper Van, and in a 28 foot “conventional” travel trailer. Regis & I have “camped” in a little Boler trailer (Remember seeing those little rounded fibreglass trailers), and we then went across the country with the children in a 28 foot self contained motor-home. Last year Regis and I took her mother and Aunt & Uncle on a five week trip to Nashville and Memphis in the same “Rig” we are now using. So you can see we all do know what we are doing . . . . .

I put the “Camping” in there in Italics, because camping “purists” do not consider Rving, camping, and I will go along with them. There is no setting canvas tents up in the rain, sleeping on the ground, or cooking on an open fire – all fun things when I was 18 to 30, but not so much now. No, we pull in, plug in the 30 amp power, hook up the water, and check to insure the cable TV comes in clear – oh yes, what was that WIFI passcode for the Internet?

My Truck - Dad's Trailer

For the uninitiated, the Fifth wheel is a basic improvement on the traditional travel trailer. Someone watched all the big rigs on the highway and realized that towing a house behind a car by attaching it to the bumper is not the best way to do it. The fifth wheel, bolts a sturdy steel socket directly above the rear wheels of a truck. You then back it up to a matching pin on the trailer, so the trailer is supported directly and pivots on the back wheels of the truck just like the “Big Rigs”. It makes for a much more secure and comfortable towing package. It tows easier, turns better and backs-up easier. A trailer of 28 feet means that you have a full kitchen with stove, microwave, full fridge, and four burner stove, a complete bathroom, a separate bedroom with queen size bed, a dining area and a living/sitting area with a couch and chairs – pretty much a “House” on wheels.

Bonsai Trees Next Door

The Pumpkin Patch RV Park

So, that is what we will be doing all summer. We left Lunenburg, Nova Scotia today at 6:00 am and I'm writing this sitting on a picnic table at the Pumpkin Patch RV Park in Bangor Maine. Today was a long day and we didn't get here until almost 4:00 PM. I wanted to make it into the United States today to take advantage of their cheaper fuel (More about that later). We will average around 400 – 600 km a day, thus making the trip two months.

I was pleased and take it as a compliment that so many people commented on looking forward to my blog. I hope you enjoy this part of it.