Prologue

For those of you new to our blog, the story of our previous travels are on lionelandelsiegosailing.blogspot.com.

 

Having been marooned by the Covid pandemic, we resumed our global wanderings in the Spring of 2022. It had been our intention to buy a used RV and travel round North America for a couple of years.  At a huge show that we attended back in 2019, we were warned that the first one we bought wouldn’t be the last, so it was definitely a used one to start with, but we didn’t know for sure where to start.  A luxurious home-from home would be great and we looked at ‘A’ class (size of a bus) and 5^th wheel (small articulated lorry) units.  Being more realistic, a ‘B’ Class (Van conversion) or ‘C’ Class (coach-built motorhome) would be more practical.   While we were preparing Ruby for sale, in 2020, we went round a few dealers but found that all the stock had been bought up by people who had either been laid off work or taken early retirement because of Covid.

 

5th wheel R.V.

We hoped that things would now be more back to normal and started looking at vehicles on line.  Before we bought Ruby, we chartered 6 or 8 different boats to get some idea of what would suit us and thought that a couple of RV rentals would be a good idea.  Several of the big companies do delivery trips at huge discounts so that seemed a good starting point. 

 

Our 'A' class.

While on a long house-sit in Panama, over the winter of 2021/22 we decided on a trip from Chicago to Orlando in a 31ft ‘A’ Class.  At $9 per day (+ $30 pd for insurance) and fuel, it seemed a bargain so, on a frosty February day, we arrived in the Windy City and picked up The Van from El Monte (He say yes!).  First impressions were good.  Very comfortable with king-sized bed, full kitchen and slide-out living area..  The driving experience, however, was less good – it handled like a drunken whale.  If you have ever seen a 1950s film with someone driving a car, they keep the steering wheel moving left to right and back to show that they are doing something.  I had to do this constantly just to go in a straight line.  I called the company and was effectively told that it wasn’t a compact car and I should accept it.  Travelling down the interstates was not fun.  While the speed limit might be 60 or 65, everyone drives at least 10 MPH faster and we were constantly being almost pushed off the road by 18 wheelers who didn’t appreciate our sticking to 55.  A few days and many hundreds of miles later, I finally got fed up and found a dealer with a similar model.  They kindly let me have a test drive and, while it still handled like a whale, it was at least a sober one. I got ours  looked at.  With dual rear wheels, one of the inner tyres was completely flat.  That fixed, we continued on our way but by this time we were pretty spooked and decided that ‘A’ Class was not for us.  We stopped a couple of dealers to see what small ‘B’ or ‘C’ Class units were available.  Not a lot and those that were, were in poor condition.  We told one young salesman that we were looking to buy and sell again in a couple of years.  He was very honest with us. He expected that many of those who had bought into the dream over the past 2 years would fall out of love in the next 2, the market would be flooded and we would lose a lot of money.  Given that even a modest RV consumes twice as much fuel as a ‘sensible’ car and that you have to pay to park it most places, the numbers were not adding up for us.

 

Parthenon

Athena.

The trip down wasn’t all bad.  We got to visit a few new states. Most nights we elected for free parking at Walmarts or Cracker Barrels but spent a few in state park sites, which provided much nicer views.  A day was spent in Nashville walking round the Parthenon. Yes, a full sized replica of the Parthenon complete with friezes and statue of Athena. At one of the Cracker Barrels, I noticed that there was a drag racing museum nearby, dedicated to Don Garlits, of whom I had previously not heard.  As we drove in, I noticed a hose on a wall.  We needed to top up our fresh water tank so I enquired at reception whether I could use it – no problem.  As I did, an old man on a golf cart stopped and enquired politely what I was doing.  I explained that I had permission and he continued on his way.  The museum was fascinating with the complete history from the 1920s roots up to the glory days of top fuel rails. Don Garlits featured heavily in this history and also in the adjoining motor museum which had several of his personal road cars.  His face, from his youth to old age was everywhere and it finally dawned on us that it was he who we had met in the parking lot.  A bit like going to a Formula 1 museum and bumping into Stirling Moss or Jackie Stewart. 

 

Big Daddy.

Dragster coupe.

RV life had some attractions but there just seemed too many draw-backs.  We had by now built up a good reputation with our house-sitting and, given a little flexibility, we could expect to stay in nice accommodation cost free for 2 nights of 3.  It was seeming like buying a car would be a better idea, so we started looking at that.  There were a few that we liked the look of and were affordable so we decided that, after a periodic return to the U.K., we would look seriously and make that a plan.  We mentioned this to old friends who live near Washington D.C., who said that they were getting a replacement for their old Ford Explorer.  It was a slightly larger vehicle than we really needed but we knew that they would have looked after it and let us have it at a good price so decided to buy it.

While this blog may be read by other people, it is principally our journal and, writing at the beginning of April 2023, I realise that years of our adventures have gone unrecorded.  I will put a precis of 2022 in here and hope to pad it out later.

We flew out to the USA in April and took possession (though not yet ownership) of Dora, the (Ford) Explorer.  We initially headed south, with a couple of sits in Virginia, Georgia and the Carolinas.  Back to Alexandria, just outside D.C. to look after the two little dogs and home of the couple who were selling us the car and go through the process of actually buying it.  This is ridiculously difficult (and expensive) for anyone without a social security number and took weeks.  (In fact, I didn't get the title document until nearly 10 months later).

                                                                            Dora

When Fred and Starla returned, we headed off again, first to a sit in the south of Virginia, then up through Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine to Cross over into Canada in early July.

We spent a lot of time touring civil war battlefields.  This is the Bridge at Antietam that was a crucial turning point in the battle.

Another Bridge.  This one is near Concorde, Massachusetts, where the opening shots of the war of independence were fired.  

What? another bridge?  This one is over the reversing falls at St John, New Brunswick.  At high water, one may sail one's boat upriver.

We spent about 3 months touring round the North East provinces before crossing back into the States at Niagara falls.  From here, back through New York, with a day out in Vermont, New Jersey, and Delaware to Maryland.  

We were not expecting T-shirt'n'shorts weather in Labrador.

The Canadian roads go on for ever.

But remember to keep an eye on the fuel gauge.

Niagara.

                                                New England in the fall.

An Autumn trip back to England and, after return, down through Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia to Florida.  Here, we left the car in Miami and flew down to Ecuador.  We spent ten days in the south of the country, including a motoring trip to see an old shipmate, then a week in the Galapagos and back to the capital, Quito for 10 days over Christmas.  Up to Costa Rica for New Year in a little cabin by the coast.  We were supposed to spend a month there but and family tragedy for Elsie meant flying back to Scotland after a week.

Quito, Ecuador.

                                                Large, slow and ponderous.

                                                            Cotapaxi.

A month in Scotland followed by another in the South of England and we were ready to return to the USA and continue our journey with Dora.