Dodge Ram 5500 motorhome

[Healeyjet]

October 14, Friday, Off to drive around downtown Nashville. The rain kept us inside the cab as we scouted the arenas etc. for the events we had tickets for. Back to 12th South area were I spied wonderful flannel for shirts. I bought the fabric this time. An early supper at Bartaco. We stretched the evening at this trendy taco joint and then hit Jeni's again for ice cream. No weight loss here! Comfy residential street spot for the night. We just stayed put instead of the usual late night search.

October 15, Saturday, Frothy Monkey finally! We finally made it to the coffee house cafe that has been highly suggested and Annie said it didn't disappoint. It is just down the street and around the corner from our resting spot. We admired the pumpkin sellers harvest display and did some pumpkin bowling! Next plan is to go to the Parthenon Art Gallery and check out the Centennial Craft Fest in the park next to it (Annie's driving the tour bus now!). We headed over to the Nissan Stadium for the College football game but they didn't like the looks of our military vehicle and the price of $175 for parking it made us drive back to our YMCA location and Uber in. We were dropped downtown,and then walked around and then over the pedestrian bridge to the Stadium. A beautiful day to be outside.


Part of my plan was to try and get to a high school football game, a college football game and possibly a NFL game. I was able to get tickets to the Tennessee State vs Eastern Kentucky game and it was TSU's homecoming game as well so that would make it even more fun. As we got to the tailgating party outside the stadium it became clear that I bought tickets to the massive Homecoming game of a Historically Black College of Tennessee. Annie and I couldn't have stuck out more than we did but we had a blast talking to people, listening to the loud music of the tailgaters, watching the dancing and outfits,

and smelling the massive amounts of food people were preparing since 7am. What a production! I couldn't get over how much hype and how many happy family people were there. Once inside the stadium, Annie was impressed by the size of the TSU band. They included 18 tubas and there were dancers and cheerleaders galore! Lots of fun to watch but we left the game in the third quarter so that we could walk through the tailgaters again and walk the bridge before the fan rush. On our way out I helped some of the tailgaters clean up by helping to laod a pool table they had brought out for the day.



What a great night.



We watched the Adele concert fans spill into the closed off streets and then we grabbed an expensive Uber ride to the Cruiser.

October 16, Sunday, We needed to get out of the crazy for a bit so we drove out to Franklin, a small touristy town for the day. We wandered around with a coffee and had a late lunch. A very nice change of pace. Annie was disappointed that we didn't see any famous people that have homes in Franklin, darn. Back to Nashville where we positioned ourselves in The Gulch area. We paid for two parking stalls and got ready for the Adele concert. I even had even had the tunes pumping on the outside! We walked the mile up to the Bridgestone Arena and took to our third balcony seats. Annie was disappointed that she didn't bring the binoculars as we were a long ways from the stage. Adele is a sweet class act. Another wonderful evening as we walk back to the Cruiser and drive to the YMCA parking lot for sleep. Not before stopping to take a picture here though.

 

[java]

Looks like a great trip! Thanks for sharing Ward!!

 

[mk216v]

Another great trip report Ward!

 

[Healeyjet]

October 17. Monday, Sunday night as we lay in bed Annie says to me, "hey, what time is it" I answer 12;05. She says "hey Happy Birthday" I say thanks and we drift off to sleep. We then wake up the next morning thinking it was my birthday. Annie bought me coffee at Whole Foods to start the day. We posted pics on Facebook and had everyone give their best wishes, until our youngest son Jake said , "Dad what's going on, did you pass over a date line or something? Where are you guys?" Then we realized that we are a day ahead of ourselves. How funny that we have totally lost track of our days. Now that's a good holiday!! After we finished laughing at ourselves we headed over to a laundromat to get our sheets, towels and a few other things washed. We really like letting someone else handle the washing and drying for $30 while we go exploring for the day! We hit up an indoor outlet mall but were not really into it. I was wishing for a burger for super so we headed back to our favourite neighbourhood , 12th South, to Burger Up. We quickly got ready to Uber into downtown to see Elvis Costello perform at the Ryman Auditorium. We were really excited to go but the uncomfortable pew seating, 2 rough girls opening act, and tourist exhaustion , hit us hard. We couldn't wait to get back to the Cruiser and crash. We were totally spent!

October 18,Tuesday, My actual Birthday!! Annie was choked as she had to buy me coffee again. By the way, this was a common site on our trip as someone circled the Cruiser.

This time we walked down to the Frothy Monkey and had a celebratory breakfast. Then we roamed over to the Imogene+Willie funky jean store. It was time to hit the road and leave Nashville behind. One stop at a quilt store for Annie and Dunkin Donuts for me (for the free WiFI). Haha. We pulled into Cumberland Gap National Historic Park campground for the night. I cooked us up supper on the Skottle. Onions, Cabbage, and sausage in the great outdoors tasted amazing. We visited with some campers close by and then called it an early night.

October 19, Wednesday, We packed up camp fairly early and did our water fill and grey water dump at the park. Off we drove in the general direction of Pennsylvania. Our idea for the trip was to pick an interesting road and off we go. The autumn colours were amazing so we needed to find a scenic lookout to take some photos. We spy a highway that takes us to Big Stone Gap, sounds interesting and between two National forests. Then the town of Appalachia sounds historic, so let's go there next. Then Norton is next and they have a Forestry office that we stop at to get directions to a overlook. We drove up to Flag Rock Lookout and hiked to the reservoir for some awesome colourful pictures.


On the way back to the Cruiser we run into a mountain biker on the trail. He stopped to talk and suggested that he would drive us to the very top Forestry lookout. We agree to the offer from Fred, who is the City of Norton Manager. From there we can see 4 states! We lucked out once again with a private drive up the steep hill, history and economic lesson, and the invitation that we should call him if we need anything! What great people we run into. We decide to stay in one of the 5 campsites up on the Flag Rock campground. What amazing views as the sun goes down.










We are amazingly lucky to experience such beauty. I LOVE FALL!! A camp fire and the last presidential debate on the radio fills out the unplanned day.



October 20, Thursday, We woke up to another beautiful day and spent the morning taking more pictures and sitting down to soak in the full feeling of our private scenery. Fred, who we met last night, had more travel ideas for us so he stopped by with brochures, maps and gifts from the town of Norton! He said that he was doing tourism research by joining us on his coffee break. Haha. Next thing you know he took a picture and posted it on the town of Norton's Facebook page. We're famous, LOL! We wanted to take last pictures of what the locals call the Woodbooger's homeland and a video of the Cruiser coming down the colourful narrow paved access road.


Time to leave the hill top and stop in Norton at Home Hardware for a Woodbogger's Tshirt and a treat at Rachel's Cupcake store as Fred suggested. Off to random highways in the direction of Bluefield and Fayetteville where we took in the scenic New River Gorge Canyon Rim overlook and view of the massive single arch bridge.




We drove a little further to park at the Walmart in Summersville WV for the night.

 

[Healeyjet]

October 21, Friday, We needed to make miles into Pennsylvania for our tour reservation at 3pm at the Frank Lloyd Wright (architect) house called Kentucky Knob in Chalk Hill PA. It was a rainy day but we were excited about our in depth tour reservation with only 2 other people and Jeff our tour guide! It was the last one of the day so the mood was relaxed. No pictures were allowed in the interior but we were allowed to enjoy the spaces at a relaxed pace, as well as appreciate the extensive art collection that the owner, Lord Palumbo, housed inside.


Jeff the tour guide told us that Peter Palumbo, the present British owner was a kind man who happened to be visiting the house today. We just missed him, what a shame! Oh well, we hit The Falls Pub for some local interaction and I had probably the best burger on the whole trip! We had trouble getting to our reserved camp site in the dark and rain but we finally got there! I set my alarm for 6:45am as we had his most anticipated reservation yet to come. Fallingwater tour is tomorrow!!

October 22, Saturday, We had a restless sleep as we must have been worried about not hearing the alarm. We haven't set an alarm for a very long time! We calculated an hour travel time with a coffee stop across from Ohiopyle State Park's swollen water falls. We found Fallingwater in good time and checked in for our 8:30am , 2 hour in depth tour with Henry as our guide. As a group of 10 we were given the opportunity to take as many pictures as we liked of the inside and outside of the house and guest house built for the Kauffman family by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1939.







Our tour guide Henry had a tone to his voice and sense of humour that made the tour extra enjoyable. I loved the tour of Fallingwater as it had been on my bucket list for many years. After the house tour we took to the gift shop as we almost always do in these places. As we exit the gift shop Annie spotted a group of 4 men who looked a little different, one with a fedora hat and all in suit jackets or suit coats, interesting. She turned to me and said "I bet that's Lord Palumbo who owns Kentuck Knob". We went back into the gift shop and she took the chance to talk to him. She opened with asking if he had a connection with Kentuck Knob. He turned to her and said, "yes, I'm the owner" in his British accent. Well she wasn't sure exactly what to say next but she isn't usually stuck for words so they had a nice ten minute conversation! We thanked him for allowing people to tour it and that we truly enjoyed the pace of the tour and the scale of his house as compared to Fallingwater. I snuck in a photo op request which he agreed to very happily.


Annie would have loved to chat longer with him about the Kauffman family's home and lack of happiness in their home, or a question about Lady Diana (he is after all the godfather of Princess Beatrice) had she thought quick enough! But we said our goodbyes and later spotted him and his young son reading in the cafe. We ate lunch, chatted with a group of ladies next to us and then headed out to our Cruiser. It was sad to leave but with the cold rainy weather today we decided that we would come back in the near future to experience it all again. Now where to go? North I guess, back to home! Wait a minute, Newell WV is where Fiestaware pottery is made. We can get there before closing, so let's get on the road. We were excited to see what they had in their outlet but the staff there wasn't so exciting! We bought some iconic water pitchers and moved on down the highway till we saw The Steel Trolley Diner.


This place was super cool and I decided that we should stop to see what they had to offer. It was a cool neon lit galley style 24 hour cafe with a Juke Box playing. We sat at the counter and talked to the grilling lady who has worked there for 36 years! Our order of milk shakes, onion rings, burgers and fries was much more than we could finish and not the least bit healthy,but we thoroughly enjoyed our time in Lisbon OH. We learned that Lisbon is the oldest town in Ohio and credited with the invention of the drinking straw! What an amazingly busy day, but we were in a singing mood so we drove into the evening and stopped at Mansfield for the night.
Isn't it amazing how sometimes things line up in life! It was a beautifully long day filled with different sights and adventures. We were driving later into the night than we usually did and Night Moves comes on teh radio. WOw.



October 23, Sunday, Tim Hortons next to us in the parking lot?! We made ourselves at home and spent some time on WiFi with a coffee. This is a making miles kind of day. The sun is shining and the fall tree colours are majestic as we head west on I-30. I found a FLW house in Fort Wayne that belongs to a private owner but we thought we might be able to meet him and take pics. Instead, no one answered the door and so we took pics from the street and then a vehicle stopped to talk to us and we met Robert the German barber who proceeded to explain to us some German history. Very interesting visit. Wow, time to shake hands, use the "we have to go, we have a grand baby on the way" and get out of there!! We took a driving break at an antique mall and then headed to Valparaiso for a healthy salad in Cruiser supper. We grabbed a Starbucks coffee and decided to tackle getting around Chicago this evening rather than in the morning. The O'hare Oasis rest stop that sits above the highway was our next stop.


We always drive under them with people looking out at us, so we finally got to be up top looking down on the lights speeding underneath me. So cool! We chose the Pleasant Prairie outlet mall to park for the night. We were chased down by the young security guy driving a Seguay, too funny. He directs us to the furthest parking lot and says that we can hang out there till morning.

October 24, Monday, Have plan but be flexible.......today we exercise our motto. Annie wanted to go to the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts & Fiber Arts. But I realized that they are closed Mondays and Tuesdays! So plan B is to travel to Madison and Spring Green to check out more Frank Lloyd Wright architecture and then back track a few hours to Cedarburg to see the exhibits at the quilt museum. We have a plan! First stop in Madison is the Unitarian Church right by the University. Unfortunately the tour season is over so the lady at the front desk allows us to enter the church space and look around on our own. Very interesting to have a huge fireplace at the back area of the church (no longer in use). The front desk lady warmed up to us and the fact that we had driven such a long way that she told us about her former neighbour, who lives in the first Usonian house that FLW designed for Herbert and Katherine Jacobs (1936). The Usonian house design was meant to cost $5000 to build and to bring good affordable design to every day family life. FLW was also broke at that time and he needed to reinvent is ideas to keep his business afloat!



Anyways, we drove over to the house and introduced ourselves to Jim who welcomed us in and talked at length about his 34 years of living and maintaining the historic home. I was in my glory as we could touch, ask detailed questions and take all the pictures he liked. Jim showed us every room and was an interesting retired Art History professor. He turned out to be an eccentric gentleman who enjoyed his homes notoriety. We lost track of time while in the house but quickly calculated that we could still travel to Spring Green for our reservation at Taliesin 1:45 pm.




We took the extended tour of the grounds, architecture school, and house. Another wonderful day of random good things that we topped off with another cheeseburger meal, but this one included the best deep fried cheese curds in Wisconsin at the Old Fashioned Pub in downtown Madison. The place was hopping, so we walked the parliament grounds across the street to kill off our 40 min wait time. We had a lively meal at the bar and then posted up in a parking lot so that Annie could shop at Mill House Quilts in Waunakee WI in the morning.

October 25, Tuesday, Annie shopped at Mill House and now we are heading towards Racine. We noticed a sign as we drive the highway, that Lake Mills, home of Ephraim Pottery is coming up next. This is a company that we have admired for years through our Arts and Craft era. We have to exit the highway and make this small town detour to check this out. With our luck of stopping at the studio first we get an in depth tour of the handcrafted process by the owner, Kevin Hicks. How fortunate are we once again! We hit it off and we offered him a tour of our Cruiser just to even it out :bike_rider:. After goodbyes we proceeded down the street to the sales area and purchased 3 items. It was too hard for Annie to decide on just one. We hit up the R.Bong campground close to Burlington, WI for the night. I cooked beef tacos on the Skottle and then retired into the Cruiser as it was close to freezing and it rained hard all night.

October 26, Wednesday, We woke up and headed out to Racine only to discover that we couldn't get a tour of the S.C.Johnson Wax buildings that FLW designed. Can't win them all! We have to leave a few things undone so that we can return some time soon. We backtracked in the last couple days because Annie wanted to see the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts and Fibre Arts located in Cedarburg WI and they were closed Monday and Tuesday. They are open today so we drove north of Milwaukee and saw a travelling exhibit of Japanese quilts, that looked remarkably similar to North American style quilts! We stopped at the local quilt shop that's housed in an old school house and decided to get back on the road in the rain and cold to La Crosse. We cruised the downtown and saw a few busy pubs. We picked the Old Crow for burgers again and then the Pearl ice cream shop. Off to the 24 hour Walmart for an overnight parking spot. Annie got in some needlework that night while I did some reading.

October 27, Thursday, Annie picked up a few items at Walmart before I drove her to the Olive Juice Quilt shop in Onalaska WI. She wants to return to it if we ever return to this area in our travels. She spent a lot of time here looking and buying, loved the warm shop and the girls working. Next we need to hit our appointment at 1pm in Winona just down the highway, to pick up our teak floor that we ordered from TeakWorks4U when we passed through 4 weeks ago on our way out. It took a bit of time but they custom fitted it into our tiny bathroom .



We also got one made for our entry step. We love how it looks and works.




We headed out to Red Wing and decided to stop again at the Red Wing Boots factory and pull the trigger on some boots for me.


Next we raced into Minneapolis and hit an REI store just before closing, to pick up an Osprey brand back pack system child carrier. We picked up the carrier for our new grandson that was born Nov 21st. We spotted it at Overland Expo and talke dto this young lady wearing one and she was thrilled by it so we bought one on her suggestion.


October 28, Friday, We grabbed a coffee in St Paul and hit the road towards home.

October 29, Saturday, Yes we woke up early for WiFi and coffee! The nights have been dipping down to just above freezing, so Annie had to bring out an extra quilt for the bed. A little harder to get out of bed in the morning, but we are heading home and we are getting anxious to get these final miles over with. Next is the boring 6 hour drive on the Trans Canada Highway from Winnipeg to Regina! Not much to look at other than cloud formations! Stopped in to visit our youngest who is attending university in Regina, SK and then we pushed on to Saskatoon. We arrived back home at 11:30pm. The day had the longest driving hours and we felt it. We arrived home 2 days earlier than we had to. But it will be good to spend the extra day unloading the Cruiser for the winter and catching up with our son and his wife. Besides, we only have 3 weeks before we are Grandparents and there is lots to do!!

Another wonderful trip that we were able to travel and work. I only took 2 weeks holidays of the 6 we were away off from work. We were able to enjoy Overland Expo East, Japanese gardens, architecture, fabric hunting, and concerts. We learned a lot about the Cruiser and how to care for an RV in these 6 weeks. We calculated that we drove 6200+ miles. We had a great experience and are looking forward to the next trip! Average fuel mileage was about 10 mpg.

Oh, and this is the reason we had to head home so fast.
Huxley was born Nov 21st, 2016 making Annie and I grandparents for the first time. This I am sure will be the next great adventure in our lives!!



Thanks for taking the time to read through this and join in our adventure.
Annie and I are right now planning our next trip. Hopefully leaving home end of January to go over to the west coast and down to try to get some warmth. -31C here today so it's pretty cold.

I just remembered, if anyone wants to follow us on our trips please feel free to add us on instagram @IntercontinentalCruiser.

Ward









Sent from my iPad

 

[Cascadian]

Hey Ward,

Fantastic to seeing you put that rig to use. Also, I'm enjoying seeing the path, pictures and people you've found on the east side of the country. Let us know when you head to the PNW and we'll host you to find a decent brew on your way through.

 

[Victorian]

Congrats on the grandchild!
I see you are using a compositing Toilet in your camper. What's your thought on it? Would you do it again?

Cheers

 

[Healeyjet]

Thanks for the offer Cascadian. We are planning our trip through the PNW now. Probably set out in a month or so. Where exactly are you located?

Victorian, we really like our composting toilet and would do it again. The "pee bucket" lasts us about 2-3 days before we have to dump it. I have only had one issue with the Nature's Head toilet and that was my own fault. When getting used to it I thought possibly it looked too dry so I added some water. Well in a day or two we had a nasty, soupy mess for me to clean up. Once I figured out that dry is great I was much better off. As well, we now use the RV toilet paper exclusively. We have considered doing as the Asian countries do and using a separate container for soiled TP and may try that going forward. The only time I had to dump the compost portion on our trip was when I added the water. Other than that it was no muss no fuss. No smell at all from the toilet as we use it now though. The only issue we have had so far as smell goes was with our grey tank. Never having owned a "conventional" RV we have never had a grey tank and didn't realize it needed attention now and again. We developed a bad smell in it about early October after having used it all spring and summer. A quick Google check lead us to the RV store to grab some grey tank deodorizer. All good now.

Ward

 

[java]

I'm going back and fourth on the nature's head, so that's good to hear it's working well for you.

I'd love to see the beast if your passing through Seattle area! Maybe I'll have windows in my truck by then....

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

 

[Healeyjet]

Sounds good Java. We will keep in touch.
Ward

 

[Ozrockrat]

Hey mate great report. And thanks for the kind words. Payment as agreed will be in Mexican beer somewhere in Baja

 

[Healeyjet]

You know OZ as I mentioned when we visited, Annie and I have always been a bit suspect of Baja but the more we talk to everyone the more it sounds like something we will be doing sooner than later. We had to pass up a trip to Baja over the US Thanksgiving so we could be at home for Grand baby arrival but I am sure we will make the trip there sooner than later.
Ward

 

[PHeller]

Just wanted to mention how sweet your rig is and also how cool it was for you to answer with honesty about your job situation in post #569.

There are a lot of us younger adventurers just interested in figuring out the multitudes of paths we can take to follow in your footsteps. I am, and I know many people my age (lates 20's early 30's) who have tried really hard to get what our parents would call "middle incomes" (to pay off all that student loan debt), but now that they have those jobs, they are forced between either A) taking all their 2 or 3 weeks of vacation at once or B) quitting a job and adventuring.

Do you think the employment climate in Canada makes your lifestyle any easier than your fellow Americans? Has your job in logistics always allowed the flexibility of remote work, or is it something you obtained gradually? For example, if your kids wanted to live your lifestyle, what would you suggest they do with themselves to best prepare for it?

 

[Healeyjet]

PHeller, thank you very much for the kind words. I have tried to be as upfront and honest in this thread as is possible so I appreciate that it is being well received. Some of what follows may not be what you want to hear but hey, honesty first.

When we were in our 20's and 30's, in fact up until recently, Annie and I were busy raising a family and working hard. We restored two character homes and worked full time all while raising two very active sons (now 26 and 21) who were involved in everything it seemed. There was lots of times we ate pasta (KD) not because it was good for us but because it was cheap. We would both work all day, do the boys activities in the evenings then when we got home at 9 or 10 we would work on the house until 1AM, shower up and crawl into bed. We cashed out of our 1912 character home about 6 years ago and now live in a much more modest home. We, like your parents, worked very hard to pay off our mortgage and student load debt and try to be as debt free as fast as we could. In our case, due to the fact we bought the old character home and restored it helped us tremendously. We ended up buying before the boom and selling at the height of the boom, much to everyone's surprise. So to get financially where we are today is the product of hard work and a bit of good timing.

As far as my job, when we started this business 23 years ago the internet wasn't a thing yet. So yes, to answer your question it was something that has come along gradually. I wish I could say that when I was turning 30 I sat down and thought to myself "what can I do that will afford me the opportunity to live a mobile lifestyle when I get older?" I didn't and this ones is just ******** a** luck!! The advances in mobile connectivity are what now give us the possibility of living remotely. That and the fact that I have done the same job for almost 25 and am self employed mean a great deal as well. There aren't any employers that I know of that will let an employee roam the country while doing their job unless that is their job. I am also quite adaptable in the way I work. We presently live in central Canada. When we go east it means I start work later and potentially work later in the day. I much prefer to go west as I get up real early and the two hour difference from our house to California means that I can start work between 5 and 6 AM California time and be done by 2 or 3 PM. This allows us to still have some day left to go hiking or general sightseeing. I also carry a cellphone 24/7 and try as much as possible to always be in cell range every couple hours.

While we do live remotely we still need to be connected during the day. My thought on this is that I still have to work all day but after work and before work we get to be in some really nice locations.

Even with everything above our two sons are not following in our footsteps at all. The older one is managing a greenhouse after graduating from university last year with a business degree and just started his family. The younger one is in University studying to be a teacher. Both of these career paths could potentially allow them to live a nomadic lifestyle at least part of the year. The greenhouse is pretty much shut down in the winter so he and his family would be able to travel for 2-3 months potentially. The teacher will have summers off and be able to travel then. The limiting factor on all of these things though is children. Children mean that you potentially need to be near a school and be near where they can do the activities they choose, unless you home school and give them an outdoor education which is also a possibility. What it meant for us is that we started our travelling life after the kids were established. Luckily we had them when we were young enough that we are still able and interested in seeing North America. BTW, with my job I can be anywhere in North America but world travel means I have to take holidays just like everyone.

Canada is not a better job market than the US I would say. We have the same jobs, the same pay structures, etc that exist in the US. We pay higher taxes. Pretty similar on both sides of the border in that regard.

In the last 5 years Annie and I have watched a number of people pass away way too young. Ultimately, we are not in control of when the end of life comes but we are in control of what we do between now and then. As Emily Dickinson wrote, "Not knowing when the dawn will come, I open every door." That has been our motto for a few years now.

Please feel free to respond positively or negatively to what I have said above and thanks again for taking the time to read the thread and reply. Our story isn't a pathway to anywhere just a brief history of how Annie and I got to where we are today and why we do what we do.

Oh, hey I just remembered one thing. We were never a "new every two" car purchasing family. In fact the first new vehicle we bought in the last 25 years was the Dodge Ram chassis that we built the Cruiser on. Just another tidbit on who we are, LOL.

Ward

 

[guidolyons]

Thanks guys. No one had replied to the trip report so far so I was thinking of cutting it short as it's a ton of work. I will keep going with it.
Ward

Ward, Thanks for sharing the adventure. I grew up near Asheville, it's a beautiful place.

Edit: Just seeing those Frank Lloyd Wright houses was awesome. Fallingwater is my favorite.

I'm going back and fourth on the nature's head, so that's good to hear it's working well for you.

I think there is a bit of a learning curve with composting toilets, great way to save water.
Review of the Nature's Head from Fit RV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vM71d8wMuUU&t=61s