First 100 nights for #420

In 2010, we rented a cabin outside of Gatlinburg, TN to spend a long weekend in the Smoky Mountains. On the way there we saw some smaller type trailers and casually started talking about camping again other than in tents. When we arrived at the cabin it wasn't exactly what we had in mind but was nice and expensive for a long weekend. I started searching small type trailers when we arrived home and saw a few teardrop type campers. First was the T@B, then Camp-Inn and finally a teardrop in Texas. We knew if we went this route we wanted something that would fit in the garage and small but with amenities. Our garage had only had one vehicle parked inside for the 14 years we have lived at our house, so the other bay had become a collect all filled with junk. Long story short we sent the down payment in with our date to pickup in April 2011. With this date we knew we would be forced to finally clean the garage. About two weeks before pickup in April, the clean-up was finished.
On April 20, we overslept and left South Carolina several hours behind our scheduled time to leave. We made good time passing through areas we had never been through and apparently made too good of time traveling when I was pulled over in the upper area of Indiana and received a ticket. Oh well we still made it through Chicago to our hotel in Rockford for the night. Enjoyed our brief time at the Nest going through the crash course of Camp-Inn on April 21.

On to the highlights of 2011:
Previous post about the First Trip and First Trip, cont.
One of our other hobbies is cooking on Big Green Eggs so we camped at Eggtoberfest held at the Atlanta Motor Speedway.
We attended "The Jack" which is the World Championship Invitational BBQ held in Lynchburg, TN home of Jack Daniels Distillery.
Stayed at Fort Clinch State Park, FL while Angie had to work at a facility her company has a contract with, while I attempted to surf fish. Here we learned how determined and crafty raccoons are into prying open a cooler for my bait!
Savannah, GA is always a favorite place for us to visit. We stayed at a Skidaway State Park that unknown to us was hosting a Geo-cache Gathering for Georgia. I think about 80% of the campground was involved with this activity and their "theme" was Pirates.
We saw ZZ Top in concert in Cherokee, NC. Always a great show with these guys!
Total for 2011: 4,879 towed miles, 658 local miles, 5,535 total trip miles, 41 nights and 12 trips

Highlights of 2012:
We camped across from the Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Coca-Cola 600. So far this is the most expensive place we've camped but in the end was worth the expense instead of driving into the area each day dealing with traffic and parking some distance from the speedway.
Camped at Tallulah Falls, GA and along the Blue Ridge Parkway, NC

We were trying to decide where to go this year for our big trip and kept seeing the Pure Michigan commercials here in South Carolina. Here is the previous post about our trip to Michigan
We decided to camp in style (as opposed to canvas tents) a few miles away from my unit at the 150th Battle of Antietam in Sharpsburg, MD. We have been Civil War Reenacting for seven years and this originally got us back into camping. The first night of this trip was our first night "camping" at a truck stop. Don't know how many times we'll do this option but it was interesting.

We camped in Western North Carolina and visited the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest, drove both the Cherohala Skyway and The Dragon. The Cherohala Skyway is a National Scenic Byway, 43 miles of very scenic views. "The Dragon" is popular with motorcycles and car enthusists since in the 11 mile ride there are 318 curves. Great driving trips up high in the North Carolina/Tennessee mountains.
Cheoah Dam, This is the Dam where Dr. Richard Kimble jumped in the movie "The Fugitive"

Total for 2012: 6,749 towed miles, 2,311 local miles, 9,060 total trip miles, 53 nights and 14 trips.
So far this year we've been on two trips with many more and exciting trips planned, especially our planned long haul in September out West.
Totals so far: 11,988 towed miles, 3,143 local miles, 15,129 total trip miles, 100 nights and 28 trips.

We are very happy to have found Camp-Inn,
Jason, Angie & Bonnie

 

Sounds like you have had some great times traveling out and about. We have been through the Smokies and enjoy the area and Georgia has some great parks!

Tell me how you find traveling with the bikes behind the trailer? We only take them locally like that, not on a long haul.

Enjoy your travels...
Tina & Jerry

 

Had a blast!

We've only traveled twice with the bikes. The only think I was uneasy about was blocking the brake lights, but I found some magnetic brake lights to stick to the rack since my bike gears kinda block the brake lights.

The only thing I'm not real comfortable with is transferring of any shock from the bikes after hitting any bumps. Had a little issue with this the last time we carried the bikes but it could have been just a coincidence. Hope that makes sense.

 

Thanks Ken. I've looked at these posts and am considering changing the configuration. The FJ has the spare tire on the back, so I'm not sure if it's doable or not.

 

rockytopsc great story,we travel with Bike Friday folding bikes it works great for us.

 

Thanks Anna&Steve

 

Great story Rockytopsc. I got my trailer 3 months after you did but have only used it half as much. Does your trip out west include the CICO in September?

After reading the posts about bike racks, I think I am going the folding bike route. Won't be able to get a bike friday but for just a little more than what a bike rack will cost, I think I can get a pretty decent dahon. It will be a start and if I like it and use it, might be able to convince myself to upgrade to either a bike friday or a brompton.

Happy trails!

 

We have zootr folding bikes that are fabulous (people who make the scooter). My husband used his to ride the AIDS Lifecycle - San Francisco to LA - 545 miles. Rides more like a regular bike than some foldies.

 

http://www.xootr.com/folding-bicycle.html

This is the link to the zootr swift folding bike

 

Ken: I haven't done any measurements but still interested in checking into moving them between the FJ and the CI. Our rack is secure and the issue we had was with the shelf inside the camper falling. That trip was just weird the whole trip with stuff that happened to us.

Joan: We are going to try to make it one year back to Wisconsin for CICO. We will be South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana & Colorado and all points in between for 20 days.

 

Thanks Jenn! I saw you were getting close the other day. Where do you think your headed?
J

 

What a great story! Sounds like you've had a blast so far.

Like you, we are Big Green Egg fans. Maybe "fans" is a bit of an understatement..but I think it's short for fanatics so maybe it hits the mark. So, do you bring your egg along? Any tips on how to travel with it, size to consider for camping, etc? We have an Large and it seems that would be too much to haul around. I'm a sponge and I'll soak in any info or tips you have to offer.

Wow...a CampInn and a Green Egg? This must be what Heaven is like...

 

Dan&Vanessa we have the large for the house and travel with the mini. We built a carrier and travel with a small tote to carry the lump. I think I have some pics on here of the mini egg set up.
J

 

Jenn,

Big Green Egg is to grills what Camp-Inn is to teardrops.

There are "eggfests" all over the country, kinda what I think CICO is, where we meet a cook and give out samples.
J