Update The Adventure Begins

fdkoh99

fdkoh99

Junior Ranger
Well tomorrow at 6am Linda and I get on a plane for Cincinnati... why.. because that was the only place in the country that had a Jetta TDI in Black with a Manual transmisson (required to tow anything occording to VW)... then to Necedah to pick up the Rambler.

We just changed our return trip to a northern route to to the extreme temps... Wyoming this time instead of Utah and Canyonlands... oh well - good to leave something on the "where to ramble" list.

thanks to all who have helped in the decision and in the preparation...

Stay tuned.
 
How, two new toys, car and teardrop. Enjoy both. Will look sharp, new black shiny car and new shiny teardrop. Do you have a case of sunglasses to pass out for all who are going to be blinded with brilliance?

Jean
 
We just went through Montana. If you get a chance take the Bear Tooth pass right on the North West corner of Montana dipping into Wyoming it is awesome.
Have fun with a new tow and tear! You will find yourselves grinning and everywhere you go people turning their heads.
Safe travel!
 
Hi Everyone,

Well we are back home and what a trip we had.. first stop was family in Chicago... what a great city... they invented the sky scrapper there... Louis Sullivan - beginning of the 20th century.

Well we put in 4000 miles, a bunch of states and 8 nights out in the Rambler... fabulous, other than Uhaul messing up the wiring -- and a log truck shedding a big piece of bark that clipped the TD - everything went off without a hitch (pun intended.

The Fantastic Fan worked miracles with the heat being off the charts, but the northern high elevation route kept the nights cool for sure. Did some fly fishing in Wyoming and caught some nice rainbows...

I will post the mileage numbers in a separate post in the Tow Vehicles Thread... but the Volkswagen TDI did fabulously.. plenty of power - even off road on some steep hills.

Our last night out before driving on through to Seattle was at a resouviour north of Mountain Home Idaho and I am including a picture ... what a spot.. only one camp spot.. right next to the spillway... fabulous with a Camp Inn!!!

http://www.campinnforum.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showgallery&Number=15134&#Post15134

Cary was awesome too... of course 4+ hours of introduction.. we brought water but forgot lunch ;^))
 
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Congrats, Dave and Linda! Glad your trip home went well. Wonderful picture. Think you'll head back for the CI-CO in September?

Kathy
 
Looks like you caught breakfast at that lone campsite! Congrats on what sounds like a great 1st trip.
 
Ken,

Yep - it was an interesting spot - first we had to desend into the canyon on a windy dirt road with a drop off at the edge of the road... then when we got there - it wasn't obvious it was a camp area.. but there were rest rooms.. but only one fire ring and table... so we went for it... great stars and great morning views...

It would be great to have a list of these little spots along the major interstates... just didn't want to jump into a KOA spot... this was a pretty special spot.

Dave K
 
Gotta love those little gifts of special spots along the way. Jim and I are not fond of KOAs and would rather pull off to a little county of state park. KOAs are a last ditch thing, handy for laundry and showers, but that's about it.

So was it lemon and butter on your trout?

Camp On,

Sue
 
jsl said:
KOAs are a last ditch thing, handy for laundry and showers, but that's about it.
Click to expand...

We tend to alternate between KOAs and county/state/national park campgrounds. Depends on how badly we need to shower and/or want to watch something via wifi on our laptop. Our favorite campgrounds are Army Corps of Engineer campgrounds. They are always (I think) on or near a body of water, have good facilities, and are cheap. If you have a national park senior pass (a one-time $10 fee; no wonder the parks service is broke), the ACE campgrounds are usually half price. http://corpslakes.usace.army.mil/visitors/camping.cfm

We (I) haven't been comfortable enough to just pull over on a national forest road.

Kathy
 
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KathyBob said:
jsl said:
KOAs are a last ditch thing, handy for laundry and showers, but that's about it.
Click to expand...

We tend to alternate between KOAs and county/state/national park campgrounds. Depends on how badly we need to shower and/or want to watch something via wifi on our laptop. Our favorite campgrounds are Army Corps of Engineer campgrounds. They are always (I think) on or near a body of water, have good facilities, and are cheap. If you have a national park senior pass (a one-time $10 fee; no wonder the parks service is broke), the ACE campgrounds are usually half price. http://corpslakes.usace.army.mil/visitors/camping.cfm

We (I) haven't been comfortable enough to just pull over on a national forest road.

Kathy
Click to expand...


Hey Kathy, for further reference, The way the parks are listed in Google falls under "Corps of Engineers" and the acr for this is COE. We love them, as a senior, and generallythe bathrooms and showers are very nice. What I have found in Tennessee has allowed the Tears to camp in either the tent section or where the big boys park. Either is nice.

George
 
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thanks for the clarification, George.

I was just going to further clarify that I was not the senior in the Piggott partnership, but just checked the parks pass requirements and I DO meet the requirement,just don't have my very own pass!
 
Hi Dave:

Congratulatins on BOTH of the new additions to your family!

I have been thinking about the Jetta TDI as a tow vehicle. Do you know what kind of mileage you ended up getting while towing versus not towing? What are your overall impressions of the vehicle for towing?

Thanks!
 
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