ON THE ROAD AGAIN - FALL 2016

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
FALL CROSS COUNTRY TRIP 2016
September 2, 2016 - October 27, 2016

WEEK 2
Day 8 - MN to Clearwater, MN - Crosby, MN
Day 9 - MN to Winnipeg, MB - SD, ND
Day 10 - MB to Rigina, SK - Saskatchewan, Trans Canada
Day 11 - SK to Calgary east, AB - Trans Canada
Day 12 - AB to Calgary west, AB - Drumheller Dinos
Day 13 - AB to Whitefish, MT - Rockies, Banff
Day 14 - MT to Missoula, MT - Polson, Missoula

Fall Trip 2016

    A year ago, in the Summer of 2015, we were fortunate enough to have enjoyed an amazing 40 day cross country trip in the RV. That trip added 24 new states to the map on the side of the camper. We travelled some 9,737 miles and saw some of the most beautiful places in the USA. It was a wonderful trip!

    We had intended to do a similar trip in the Summer of 2016, but some things came up that delayed our trip until the Fall.

On September 2, 2016 we set out on our Fall 2016 Cross Country journey. This trip had a fairly long list of objectives to start with.

OBJECTIVES
First of all, we had 8 states and 4 Provinces that were still blank on the map on the side of the camper. We wanted to fill those all in to complete the map.

Second, as many of you who follow this website know, I have been building a large Photo Feature on Fireboats across the USA. For months I have researched where fireboats are located and we would use those fireboats to help us map out and plan the journey route.

Third, there were simply places we have never been before that we wanted to see. We had not yet been to several of the best State and National Parks so they were included in the route planning. There were also some opportunities to visit family and friends, catch a few baseball games, see some more capital cities, and perhaps go back to some of our favorite spots. While we had some definite objectives, this was also supposed to be a vacation so we tried to keep some flexibility in the schedule for fun.

CAMPING HISTORY
We have sort of become "professional wonderers" and truly enjoy our traveling. Our camping history goes back to our first RV, a 1994 27' Coachman Leprechaun Class C camper that we got in 1995. That rig took us to all the lower 48 states and much of Canada over the 12 years we had it. We had done (2) major cross country trips (about 42 days each) in 1998 and 2000 with the kids which brought us to many of the of the great national parks and places of interest. We put over 70,000 miles on that camper as we took our young kids (7 & 4 at the time) on the road to see America! Our family became closer and had a lot of fun as we did all the important stuff to do back then: the Disney trips, beaches, national parks, amusement parks, simple campgrounds, and all that great stuff.

In 2007 we traded that good old Leprechaun in for our second RV. We found a 1999 Ford / Dutchman 31' Class C camper with a slide out. It was already about 8 years old, but had very low mileage (only about 16,000 miles) so it was a definite upgrade. We put a new blank map on the side of this new rig and hoped one day to once again fill it in.

The family had of course grown up 12 years since we started camping (now 19 & 16) so the dynamics had changed as well. Our camping routine adapted to more trips without kids and enjoyed some of those longer stay, relaxation type of vacations which were also very nice.

But, by the time 2015 came along, we had only put 16 state and 4 Province stickers on the map. We had this Dutchman 8 years already, but our map still looked alot like the original 13 colonies, all on the East coast.

We had retired in 2011 and by 2015 had put ourselves in the position to travel more, thus we set out on our big 2015 trip and added those 24 more states to the map. But clearly the map wasn't done yet. We needed at least one more big trip to get that done.

SUMMARY
Our Fall 2016 trip would take us to those 7 remaining States and 4 remaining Provinces. It would in fact fill in our map. We spent 56 days (8 weeks) on the road, added almost 12,000 miles to the odometer, photographed over 90 fireboats, and visited many of the objectives we set out to see as we literally zigged and zagged our way across the map. We made it safely back home on October 27, 2016.

Almost all of our past RV travel had been in the Summers. That is when the kids were out of school and when we usually used our vacation time. By starting out in the Fall this time, out of necessity, we didn't completely know what to expect. We had plenty of time and really didn't have to be back until early November, but had to keep a much closer eye on the weather and other factors that could complicate our RV travel. We had to pack for the heat, but also for the cold, since our travel would overlap seasons.

When all was said and done, our Fall trip was everything we could have hoped for. We avoided many of the crowds that we normally would have encountered during the Summer. The weather was actually almost perfect, with only a couple days of inclement conditions. We did in fact encounter the heat up into the 90's and the cold down into the upper 20's. There was lots of sunshine, a little rain, and even some snow along the way. The Fall colors and harvest season made for some pretty pictures.

It is sort of weird in some ways to post our travel pictures on CapeCodFD.com, which is after all geared towards "fire related stuff." For those who expect that fire related stuff in this feature, there is plenty of it. For those who know us, or are in a similar mindset place in life, being able to share pictures of wonderful places and experiences may serve to inspire you to venture out on your own as well. We did not wait until we retired to start camping and traveling. This was our 21st year of doing it! Where does the time go?!

We hope you enjoy our journey. But most of all, we hope you ENJOY YOUR JOURNEYS!

Be safe and take lots of pictures!