(2019 Grand Teton Ep 6)
As we traveled north earlier in September, we passed by near Metropolis, the home of Superman. Pat took the picture below at a nearby Illinois rest stop.
Click here to see the amazing resemblance to a posting made to our Alaska blog last year.
Superman with a beard and gray hair? You be the judge…
(2019 Grand Teton Ep 5)
We decided our travels across Nebraska should include a visit to Omaha.
Omaha is a city of nearly a half million located on the western banks of the Missouri River. The city is the home of Warren Buffett, cake mix, butter brickle ice cream and TV dinners. It is clean and inviting for out-of-towners.
We camped a few miles away and after a 30-minute drive, we arrived in the city in the early evening.
We stopped at Pioneer Courage Park. The park has numerous bronze and stainless steel sculptures dedicated to the pioneers. Our visit was cut short when it started to rain and there were several too-close-for-comfort lightning flashes. We QUICKLY (!) returned to our truck.
We drove a few blocks to the Old Market, a historical part of the city that has been renovated to include restaurants and shops. Horse drawn carriages shared brick paved streets with cars and trucks, and street performers entertained curious bystanders and families. We enjoyed dinner at a nice Mexican restaurant.
Many people were wearing Nebraska Cornhusker t-shirts and despite the college football team’s overtime loss to the Colorado Buffaloes, everyone was in a good mood.
After dinner, we visited the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge. The 3000-foot suspension bridge crosses the Missouri River to Council Bluffs, Iowa. We enjoyed a sunset walk across the S-shaped bridge and marveled at the changing red and blue lights that illuminated the bridge towers as well as the Omaha skyline in the distance.
Because we were ‘catching up’ with our original trip itinerary, we had to cut our Omaha visit short and move on the next morning. Had we stayed longer, we would have visited the world class Henry Doorly Zoo and renowned Durham Museum. Might have even stopped by to visit Warren Buffet.
Perhaps next time…
(2019 Grand Teton Ep 4)
Enroute to Grand Teton NP, Pat and I accomplished a milestone. Nebraska is the 50th state we have visited since we were married nearly 40 years ago.
Who knows what’s next!
(2019 Grand Teton Ep 3)
We’ve made it to Badlands NP in South Dakota (will post trip map soon). Two LONG days of 12+ hours driving and two medium days of about 8 hours.
Our travels took us through Atlanta (always a traffic challenge), Chattanooga (during afternoon rush hour), Nashville (not bad, we took the eastern bypass), St Louis (there is a modern new bridge – to us – across the Mississippi) and Kansas City (a lengthy construction detour).
In between, we were struck by the large number of 18-wheel trucks on the road. A lot of stuff is being moved around the US. For Amazon Prime, perhaps?
Early on we were also amazed at the number of power trucks, tree service vehicles and ambulances leaving Florida the day after Hurricane Dorian. Not much for them to do in Florida, fortunately. We are blessed with amazing resources to help people affected by disasters. Too bad they could not make it to the Bahamas.
Near Omaha, we spotted a rather unusual camping vehicle – a 1965 Ultravan powered by Corvair. We didn’t meet the owners (from Pennsylvania based on the tags) but presume they were on their way to the Ultravan National Rally in Kearney, Nebraska this coming week.
This 1965 Ultravan is surprisingly modern looking, although some say it resembles a whale. The nose and tail are made of fiberglass, and the aluminum center section is built like an aircraft. Perhaps the most interesting detail is it is powered by a 110 hp Corvair engine.
Ultravan went through several powertrain iterations and was finally phased out in the early 1970s. In all, 373 were produced.
For more information about this interesting piece of RV history click here.
(2019 Grand Teton Ep 2)
Last Tuesday, not long after posting about our upcoming trip to Grand Teton NP, we learned that (then) Tropical Storm Dorian was expected to intensify and affect Florida.
We decided to delay leaving for Grand Teton until the storm passed by or was deemed to no longer be a threat to Florida.
What a week millions of Floridans have had waiting for the storm! Dorian finally passed by today with no major impact to the state or our home.
The Bahamas were not so fortunate, having experienced a category 5 storm for 48+ hours. Our prayers are with them.
Based on our experiences with Hurricane Michael recovery efforts in Panama City, it will take years for the Bahamas to recover. Meanwhile they have IMMEDIATE needs. Please consider how you can tangibly help by making a donation to the Red Cross, Samaritan’s Purse or other worthy disaster relief organization.
As we resume our travels west tomorrow, we are also keeping the Carolinas in our prayers as Dorian moves along the coast.
(2019 Grand Teton Ep 1)
Hello friends!
It’s been more than six months since our last Rabbitrails blog post! A lot has happened since we returned from Alaska in October and attended the Tampa RV show in January.
We were ‘greeted’ by Hurricane Michael a few days after we got back from Alaska. Although we weren’t directly impacted, the Florida panhandle around Panama City was devastated. Pat and I traveled over to the area several times to assist with hurricane relief work hosted by Samaritan’s Purse, a Christian ministry. Our last trip was is April and although signs of recovery were very much evident, much cleanup and rebuilding remains to be done.
Pat has been spending every other week sharing care for her 90-year-old mother with her sister and brother. Her mom recently moved in with Pat’s sister and brother-in-law while some work is being done on her home. This gives us the opportunity to get away to Grand Teton for six weeks.
Henry, our grandson, continues to grow and develop. We will visit Liz, Josh and Henry for the first few nights of our upcoming trip.
I was blessed to serve on staff at Christian youth camps in Texas and Ohio this summer. Fun times but LOTS of driving back and forth.
So Long Pancake; Hello Oscar
Pancake, our trusty and small Fun Finder travel trailer, found a new home in February. We will always have fond memories of our travels to Alaska and other camping trips during the seven years we owned her.
After a lot of research and Internet searching, we purchased Oscar, our new Shadow Cruiser travel trailer. The camper has an unusual rear slide with wraparound windows. It also has a much larger bathroom and front-to-back queen bed.
The camper was somewhat difficult to find in the southeast – we had to drive to Frankfort, Illinois to pick Oscar up. In case you were wondering, Oscar is short for Oscar Mayer, a frankfurter enjoyed by millions.
You are now officially caught up. We set out for Grand Teton National Park in a few days. There are a lot of rabbit trails between here and there. We hope you will join us as we explore each one!
We attended the Florida RV Super Show in Tampa, FL on January 16-17. Said to be the greatest RV show in the country, it was the greatest RV show we’ve been to by a LONG shot. The promos said there were 450 vendor booths and more than 1550 RVs in a mere 26 acres. But we weren’t counting…
Much has been said and written about the incredible diversity of RVs available today – many could be seen at the show. Included were Class As, Class Bs, Class Cs, fifth wheels, travel trailers, toy haulers, truck campers, popups, teardrops, hybrids, park models and probably others I am not remembering at the moment. Each fits one’s lifestyle, budget and style of camping. The show was a great way to see all things RV in a relatively small area and short period of time.
Check out a few of the show views below:
YouTube has lots of videos posted by seasoned reviewers that offer great comments on what is new and different. This was our first BIG show so it was all new and different to us!
There were even Youtube RV celebrities at the show. We had a chance to meet up with Nathan and Marissa from Less Junk, More Journey. They spoke with their online followers for more than an hour!
Besides the mind-numbing array of camping rigs and vendor booths, the show included roving entertainment – a bagpipe band, cowboys on stilts, guitar and trumpet players, and much more.
Hungry or thirsty? There was a variety of fair-type food and drink – pizza, funnel cakes, barbecue, lemonade, burgers and hot dogs and so on.
Tired? Don’t want to walk? There were trams that continually circled the show.
Here are some suggestions to help you get the most out of RV shows you might attend in the future:
Save on tickets. We purchased show tickets in advance for a small savings. Then, as we entered the show, we got free tickets for a second day. Sometimes Groupon or websites have specials as well.
Save on parking. Cash was needed for parking – no credit cards! Carpool with friends to save even more.
Avoid crowds and arrive early to park near the gate. We attended Wednesday and Thursday to avoid the larger Friday and weekend crowds. The show opened at 9 am and we arrived around 9:15. This allowed us to park very close to the entrance. We bypassed the lines at the entrance ticket booths that got rather long by 10 am. We also bypassed kiosks where one could sign up for prizes (signup when leaving).
Decide what you want to see and stay focused. We determined the types of campers we wanted to see and decided on the RV manufacturers to visit. We found them on the show map and visited those at the back of the show first. We then worked forward.
On our second day we looked through campers that caught our eye in addition to those we were focusing on. We also used the second day to look over RV-related products and services in the exhibitor areas.
Dress wisely, take breaks. Wear comfortable shoes and clothing, with removable layers if it is chilly. Include a hat if sunny. We took regular breaks and stayed hydrated.
Take notes and photos. Details of the rigs visited run together after a very short while. We created a checklist of the key features of we were looking for in advance and took pictures to help us remember each rig.
Ask questions. There were lots of salesmen and manufacturer reps at the show. They were happy to answer detailed questions as we looked things over. We noticed they were much more attentive before lunch. As the crowds grew in the afternoon, everyone grew tired!
Enjoy the diversions. The fun and useful diversions were enjoyable – bagpipes, walking entertainers, seminars and the multitude of vendor displays.
Wait – there’s more! Not all models of a particular camper could be seen at the show. Review manufacturer brochures and tell sales people/manufacturer reps what you are looking for. What you are looking for may be found at a dealer nearby. Also, carry a backpack to stow brochures, completed checklists and any purchases you make.
Additional ideas? If you have other RV show tips, please add to the comments below.
A belated Happy New Year to you!
After a three month break from travels and blogging, we are making plans for new RabbiTRAILS in 2019.
During our break we did some much needed work on Pancake, our aging 19-foot Funfinder camping trailer. We’ve replaced tires, repacked wheel bearings, installed a new awning and completed several other general maintenance items.
We’re ready to head out to find new and interesting trails. Some things to anticipate in 2019:
We hope you will continue to enjoy the RabbiTRAILS journey with us.
(2018 Alaska Ep 48)
We arrived home on Monday, October 8 – after 177 days and 22819 miles. We are getting things put away, cleaning a LOT of Alaska dirt and bugs off the truck and camper, and catching up on house maintenance chores.
Our welcome home was not quite what we expected – Hurricane Michael hit Florida Wednesday afternoon. Thankfully, the impact to us was minimal. Our prayers go to the many people affected by this serious storm.
Since our previous blog post, it took about a month to make our way from Bellingham, Washington to Florida. Our pace was slow and steady as we enjoyed various sights along the way.
Many thanks for following us on this journey, and for your prayers and comments along the way.
Watch for new topics on the RabbiTRAILS blog, including National Parks, bike trips, trip planning, interesting things seen along the way and more. Eventually we will include links to videos of our experiences.
Until then, many blessings and interesting RabbiTRAILS to you. Remember to take the LONG ROAD!
(2018 Alaska Ep 47)
After leaving Skagway, we camped at Six Mile River Resort in Tagish, Yukon on August 31 (RabbiTRAILS Alaska Map, pt #53). The campground has some interesting collections on display.
The most memorable sight during our stay was of boats on the serene Six Mile River – this was taken early the next morning just before we left.
We continued along the Alaska Highway, and because our destination was the Vancouver/Washington area, we turned south on the Cassiar Highway. Although the entire Cassiar is paved, the first two hundred miles are very narrow with no center line or shoulders. It has several one lane, wooden decked bridges.
The highway is more remote than the Alaska Highway – it has only five gas stations in 450 miles. We had to plan gas stops carefully.
The Discovery Channel series Jade Fever takes place in Jade City, a small town on the Cassiar Highway.
We took another side trip to Alaska while driving the Cassiar. We spent September 2-3 in Stewart, British Columbia, and crossed the border into the very small town of Hyder, Alaska (map pt 55).
Just outside of Hyder, the US Forest Service manages the Fish Creek Wildlife Observation Site. A wooden platform extends more than 1000 feet along Fish Creek, and when salmon swim up the creek to spawn between July and September, visitors can see black and grizzly bears that frequent the area for an easy meal.
The fish were there – the creek was active with lots of salmon splashing their way upstream to spawn.
The bears weren’t there. We didn’t see bears during three visits to Fish Creek. Perhaps the bears were full from their visits earlier in the week.
From Fish Creek we followed a bumpy and steep dirt road 12 miles to Salmon Glacier. What a view!
We said our final goodbye to Alaska as we left Hyder and continued south. We arrived in the lower 48 on September 7.
