Trailer Options II

Today's Photo - Chimney Bluffs State Park, NY














Well, I received email from Tammy At Escape Industries letting me know it was time to make the preliminary decisions on options for the trailer.  Although they won't actually start to build the trailer until March, they need to start ordering the materials in January.  So, for those that might be interested, here is what I'm ordering:



Exterior 120v outlet
Air Conditioner (Roofmount)
Bike Rack Ready
Removable Power Cord
Dual 6V Batteries
Dual Propane Package
Equalizer Hitch
Tongue Box
Exterior Access Hatch (Rear Passenger side)
Exterior shower
Solar
2 Way Water Heater
5 Cu Ft Fridge (Replaces 3 cu ft)
Electric Tongue Jack
High Lift Axle + 15" Tires
Install Cell Phone Antenna that I will Supply
LED Lighting
Stove Cover
Thermal Windows & Extra Insulation
TV Ready
TV Antenna with power amplifier
Back Up Camera Install that I Will Supply
12 Volt Outlets (3)
Starter Kit
Trim Color - Spectra Red (It matches my RAV4)


I'm still trying to decide if I want to keep the standard rear dinette or have it replaced by a full size bed.  There are advantages to both - the bed is more comfortable than one made from the dinette cushions, but on the other hand, that only leaves a 2 seat front dinette; fine for me, but tight when I have guests. The solution others have used is to add a 2" or 3" memory foam topper over the cushions and leave that set up until you need tha additional eating space. Of course, then you need to figure out what you are going to do with the topper when you want to use the dinette!

Ricketts Glen State Park, PA

Today's Photo - Ricketts Glen StatePark, PA Fall, 2010

Today I'm going to post some information about one of my favorite Pennsylvania State Parks, Ricketts Glen. It is about 180 miles from Oswego, a 4 hour or so drive. So far I've been there 3 times. The first was in 2001 as a stop on a tour of Pennsylvania in a rented 31' Fiesta Class A RV. If you are interested in reading about the trip, I have a couple of pages starting here.

Summer, 2001

This was taken with my last Point & Shoot camera, a Coolpix 995 (I still have & use it).

The second trip was part of Spring 2010 trek that combined family visits with a photo excursion to both Babcock State Park in West Virginia & Ricketts Glen. More about that trip Here.

Spring, 2010

The problem with trips in the Spring, other than being a bit cold, is although you generally have more water going over the falls, the bare trees don't add much color to the images.

The most recent trip was this Fall.

In any case, some information about the park: The park has a large lake for swimming and boating (electric motors only), a 2 section campground (Map - 197 KB PDF)) , one of which is usually open in winter, although when I checked their website I discovered budget problems have closed the entire park until April.

A PDF (267KB) map showing the locations of the waterfalls is here. A large PDF (2.6MB) of the entire park is here.

A couple of notes:

1. If you are entering the park from Red Rock (PA 118/487), the south entrance, be sure your vehicle is capable of a long steep grade. The park advises heavy trailers to enter from the North on PA 487 from Dushore.
2. The Falls Trail(s) is described as "Most Difficult" by the park. Although it does require a fair amount of climbing (after all, you are following the drop of 100's of feet of waterfalls), there are steps for the steepest parts, and, if you take your time, and can walk on uneven ground, it is doable by anyone is reasonably good health.
3. If you are not camping in the park, the easiest way to see the falls is to park at the bottom (there is a parking lot at the lower end of the falls stream on PA 118) and walk up to the falls. The advantage is you get to go downhill on the way home. Even better is to have someone drop you off at the top of the Ganoga Glen Trail & pick you up at the PA 118 parking lot - it is downhill all the way!
4. The stream splits at "Waters Meet" - you need to choose which leg you want to travel. The Ganoga Glen (left side going up) is the more popular & has the highest falls (Ganoga Falls, 94'). If you want to see the entire collection of falls, you can cross at the top of Ganoga Glen on the Highland Trail & return to "Waters Meet" on the right portion of the stream (Glen Leigh).
5. Plan on 4 - 6 hours if you are going to do both loops and stop to view the waterfalls - it is about 5.8 miles round trip from the lower parking lot.
6. Along with the named waterfalls there are hundreds of cascades along both streams. Take your time and enjoy the park!

The Storm Missed Us!

Today's Photo - A Downey Woodpecker

The big East Coast Storm that has shut down airports, trains and parts of the New York Thruway missed Oswego. My daughter is visiting the in-laws in Oceanside, Long Island and is getting a serious amount of snow. I talked with my brother David in Nantucket, and they were expecting rain rather than snow. It is amazing how different the weather is 35 miles off shore compared to the mainland. Boston is under a blizzard warning with 12" to 18" of snow predicted.

Here in Oswego we have lots of wind - 30mph + last night, but no snow. Syracuse may have a difficult time getting the last 5" needed to break the all time record snowfall for a single month, not that I'm complaining!

Merry Christmas!

Today's Photo - The Oswego Lighthouse in Winter

Alright, enough of the mundane discussions of pots & pans! On to trip planning.

There are thousands of places I'd like to see, both again & for the first time. Many I have learned about from reading blogs by other photographers, RVers and travelers, others from newspaper and magazine articles as well as books, and some from discussions with other travelers. I have two files I keep - one a set of links to web pages, GPS coordinates & other "digital" descriptions kept in a folder on my laptop, and the other an actual file folder with clippings, etc.

For example, I've seen some photographs taken from Artist's Point at the end of the Mount Baker Highway (WA Rt 542) that look interesting. We almost went there on our last trip out west in 2004, but we had limited time, and wanted to visit the San Juan Islands (another area well worth a visit) so we passed. This time I do plan to stop, although it will have to be on the way back to Canada since the road is often closed until mid July. I'll have to leave the trailer in a local campground - between mile 47 & 54 the road climbs over 3000'. Still it looks like a beautiful drive as well as a wonderful place to take photographs at the end.

That is only one of the hundreds of places I want to see. No way to hit them all, so I'l have to plan routes that get to as many as possible. As I've said before, my plan is to spend a little time in Canada getting used to the trailer, then head to the Southwest. Although there are many places I'd like to visit, I plan to start by stopping at Moab & revisiting Arches National Park, Bryce Canyon, and Zion National Park as well as first time trips to Canyonlands National Park, Capital Reefs National Park, Cedar Breaks National Monument (Assuming the snow is gone), Grand Staircase/Escalante National Monument, Kodachrome Basin State Park, Goblin Valley State Park, Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, Snow Canyon State Park, Dead Horse State Park, and Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park. That is just the state of Utah (well, Monument Valley is just barely in Utah.) While doing this I'm sure I will discover enough additional places to see to keep me busy!

More Kitchen Decisions

Today's Photo - Brant Point Lighthouse, Nantucket, MA

Yes, I'm still going on making choices for cooking. This would be much easier if I was going to pick up the trailer close to home, camp for a week or two, then revaluate what I needed to take in the trailer. Unfortunately, the trailer in made in Chilliwack, BC, over 3000 miles from home, and, having done that far to pick it up I want to spend some time in western parts of the US & Canada. That means I either have to take what I want with me or buy it on the road.

Again, I've been keeping track of what I normally use when cooking here at home, but I really have far too many choices. For example, I have 6 frying pans, 4 cast iron & 2 aluminum teflon coated. I pretty much use them all for different things; far too many to take in a small trailer, so I which ones are essential? Since I'll be traveling by myself, and the limited amount of freezer space makes cooking large batches & freezing portions impractical, the smaller cast iron sounds like a good decision. But, what if I want to cook something for a pot luck offering at a campground? And, a small meal works in a large pan, but not the other way around. Another but is storage - there isn't all that much in a 17' trailer. A large version of everything may fit all situations, but may quickly overwhelm the cabinet space.

There are some things I know I don't need - for example, a rice cooker, bread maker, and food processor. They are all convenient, but can be replaced by more multi functional devices. I can cook rice in a sauce pan as long as I'm willing to keep an eye on things, and a good chefs knife & mixing bowl will do just about everything I use a food processor for. Still, does it make sense to carry a 10 - 12 quart pot just to make spaghetti every couple of weeks? For that matter, although I love my homemade spaghetti sauce, does it even make sense to carry all the ingredients or should I start looking for a jarred sauce I like? So many questions!