Welcome to my blog. I've had it for awhile, but never had anything interesting to say. No guarantees that I will have anything interesting to say in the future. But at-least I've thought of a blogging topic. I've always enjoyed reading other people's travel blogs, so I decided I might write a travel blog too. If you enjoy it, or have any thoughts or recommendations, I'd appreciate the comments.
As for traveling, my family and I are RV'ers. We got into RVing slowly, buying a used tent trailer about eight years ago. During our first trip with the trailer, near catastrophe struck when, after slamming on the brakes to avoid hitting the vehicle in front of us, the tongue of the trailer buckled, nearly breaking off. Luckily no one was hurt, but we had to get a tow truck to pull the darn thing away. I never trusted, and therefore never used, that tent trailer again. In short, we pretty much flushed the $2,000 we paid for it down the toilet.
About three years later, my Grandma gave me her old tent trailer. It had been sitting in her garage, unused, for at-least 20 years. She lived in California, and we were in Virginia at the time. In hopes of having a little adventure, my wife and I piled our three-year-old boys (triplets) and two dogs into our SUV and drove from Virginia to California's San Joaquin Valley. We visited with Grandma, grabbed the trailer, then proceeded to take a two week RVing trip to the coast of California, up to Oregon, and then across the country, with stops in Yellowstone, Devil's Tower, and the Badlands. The trailer was small and cramped for our two adults, three kids, and two dogs, but the trip was amazing. Upon getting back to Virginia, a simple interest in RVing had grown into a commitment to make it a permanent part of our lives. But we needed something bigger.
Bigger was a problem, since our SUV only had a 5,000 lb tow capacity. When I went to one of the local RV dealers and explained what I was looking for--a travel trailer that I could use for my family of five, plus mother-in-law, and pull with my SUV, he convinced me to buy a travel trailer that had a "dry" weight of 4,800 lbs. When I pointed out how close that was to my tow capacity, he assured me that it was no problem. He told me that all I had to do was pull it without water; and when I got close to my RV destination, fill it up. Of course this isn't true. As soon as you start adding extra passengers to the vehicle, and clothes and food to the trailer, you quickly exceed the 5,000 lb tow capacity. In short, the RV dealer was a sleazy, lying, untrustworthy, scammer. But his scam worked. I bought the trailer he recommended.
Only after the fact did I go on the various RV forums and learn that I had been taken (lesson--RV forums are a GREAT source of information). Angry, I went back to the RV dealer and told them I wanted to trade the travel trailer I had just bought for something lighter. They agreed; though all-in-all, I paid about an extra $2,000 for the lighter travel trailer. What can you do.
In the end, we ended up with a 2012 Heartland Edge, which had a dry weight of about 3,700 lbs. We loved it. It had a queen bed, a dinette that turned into a bed, and bunk beds. In all, it slept six.
We took the Edge all over the place--local camping trips in Pennsylvania; up to the Maritime Provinces of Canada (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia; and Prince Eward Island); across the United States; and up the Alaska-Canadian Highway to Alaska. While in Alaska, we did a wonderful trip to Seward, with a stop at Denali National Park. Finally, we brought the Edge back down the Alaska-Canadian Highway. The mother-in-law often joined us on these trips. With three adults, three kids, and two dogs, our 24ft Edge would get pretty crowded. But it worked.
Recently, my wife found out she was pregnant. ITS ANOTHER BOY. We decided that our wonderful little Edge trailer probably would be unable to accommodate the new addition. So it was time to go bigger. Figuring that the mother-in-law would continue to join us on our trips, last week we went ahead, traded-in the Edge, and bought a 32 ft Forest River Sunseeker 3170DS Class C motorhome. Equipped with a loft, bunk beds, queen size bed, a couch that converts into a bed, and a dinette that converts into a bed, we can sleep 9 people in this beast of an RV. Thus ends the adventures with the Edge. I hope it ends up in good hands. It is a great little trailer.
As for traveling, my family and I are RV'ers. We got into RVing slowly, buying a used tent trailer about eight years ago. During our first trip with the trailer, near catastrophe struck when, after slamming on the brakes to avoid hitting the vehicle in front of us, the tongue of the trailer buckled, nearly breaking off. Luckily no one was hurt, but we had to get a tow truck to pull the darn thing away. I never trusted, and therefore never used, that tent trailer again. In short, we pretty much flushed the $2,000 we paid for it down the toilet.
About three years later, my Grandma gave me her old tent trailer. It had been sitting in her garage, unused, for at-least 20 years. She lived in California, and we were in Virginia at the time. In hopes of having a little adventure, my wife and I piled our three-year-old boys (triplets) and two dogs into our SUV and drove from Virginia to California's San Joaquin Valley. We visited with Grandma, grabbed the trailer, then proceeded to take a two week RVing trip to the coast of California, up to Oregon, and then across the country, with stops in Yellowstone, Devil's Tower, and the Badlands. The trailer was small and cramped for our two adults, three kids, and two dogs, but the trip was amazing. Upon getting back to Virginia, a simple interest in RVing had grown into a commitment to make it a permanent part of our lives. But we needed something bigger.
Bigger was a problem, since our SUV only had a 5,000 lb tow capacity. When I went to one of the local RV dealers and explained what I was looking for--a travel trailer that I could use for my family of five, plus mother-in-law, and pull with my SUV, he convinced me to buy a travel trailer that had a "dry" weight of 4,800 lbs. When I pointed out how close that was to my tow capacity, he assured me that it was no problem. He told me that all I had to do was pull it without water; and when I got close to my RV destination, fill it up. Of course this isn't true. As soon as you start adding extra passengers to the vehicle, and clothes and food to the trailer, you quickly exceed the 5,000 lb tow capacity. In short, the RV dealer was a sleazy, lying, untrustworthy, scammer. But his scam worked. I bought the trailer he recommended.
Only after the fact did I go on the various RV forums and learn that I had been taken (lesson--RV forums are a GREAT source of information). Angry, I went back to the RV dealer and told them I wanted to trade the travel trailer I had just bought for something lighter. They agreed; though all-in-all, I paid about an extra $2,000 for the lighter travel trailer. What can you do.
In the end, we ended up with a 2012 Heartland Edge, which had a dry weight of about 3,700 lbs. We loved it. It had a queen bed, a dinette that turned into a bed, and bunk beds. In all, it slept six.
We took the Edge all over the place--local camping trips in Pennsylvania; up to the Maritime Provinces of Canada (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia; and Prince Eward Island); across the United States; and up the Alaska-Canadian Highway to Alaska. While in Alaska, we did a wonderful trip to Seward, with a stop at Denali National Park. Finally, we brought the Edge back down the Alaska-Canadian Highway. The mother-in-law often joined us on these trips. With three adults, three kids, and two dogs, our 24ft Edge would get pretty crowded. But it worked.
Recently, my wife found out she was pregnant. ITS ANOTHER BOY. We decided that our wonderful little Edge trailer probably would be unable to accommodate the new addition. So it was time to go bigger. Figuring that the mother-in-law would continue to join us on our trips, last week we went ahead, traded-in the Edge, and bought a 32 ft Forest River Sunseeker 3170DS Class C motorhome. Equipped with a loft, bunk beds, queen size bed, a couch that converts into a bed, and a dinette that converts into a bed, we can sleep 9 people in this beast of an RV. Thus ends the adventures with the Edge. I hope it ends up in good hands. It is a great little trailer.
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| Driving across the US with the Edge in Tow |
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