Wednesday
Oct 12
Waking up at 6:00am I
had nothing to do except sit there and wait for the sun to crawl over the
horizon. Soon Kerry joined me. Rosie just slept. Finally the morning sky was
bathed in soft sunlight. Time to get ready to rock and roll southbound on
highway 5.
As I gathered our
stuff I ran the engine to pump a little warmth into our home on wheels. Since
we decided to just head home there was no need to put every item into its
allocated spot. It all just got thrown onto the bed...I will sort it all out
when I unpack the van at home
Next stop would be for
gas at the Costco in Salem. I also had my favorite Costco drink, a latte mocha
freeze heavy with chocolate syrup. Yumm. Before hitting the long road home we
stopped for some breakfast.
The diner was called Almost Home and was mediocre
to say the least. Our day old cold Starbucks coffee was so much better compared
to the fresh brew we were offered. McDonalds breakfast would have been a wiser
choice. The drive continues.
Next stop was Grants
Pass where Kerry's favorite candy store is located. Carey's Candy sells the
best dark chocolate and since we were in the area, we had to pick up a supply.
Mission accomplished.
Arriving in Jacksonville, we were greeted with awesome Fall colors. Autumn has arrived.
There's no place like home...
By 12:30pm we were
pulling into our driveway and by 2:00pm the van was converted back into a van,
no longer the Hunter Family Camper RV. With just a few camping items that still
need to go back on the shelve, I decided to finish off the unpacking tomorrow.
Last thing to do today was to get Kerry to help me lift the Yakama Sky Box off
of the van.
Once everything was unloaded and put away, it was time to put the seats back in place.
Now it was time to call it a day.
Over the past couple
of weeks Kerry, Rosie and I traveled over 1900 miles, sailed across
international borders and navigated our van along some of the most beautiful
coastlines in the country, if not the world. Of the 14 nights of this
adventure, 2 nights were spent in a beach house, 4 nights at my brothers house
and the remaining 9 nights were spent in various campgrounds, each with their
own special flavor, a taste we shall savior for a long long time.
We have been looking
at getting a small camper for some time now. We looked at "A" Frame
hard sided Pop Ups, Tent Trailers, Teardrops, T@G's and T@B's. Our preference
was narrowed down through elimination. We owned a Pop Up Tent Trailer before.
Nice and roomy but not the easiest to set up, even though we only looked at
models with an electric open/close system. This option was quickly removed from
our list. We saw a bare bones tiny Teardrop and when I got inside it was like
being in a coffin, for two. It too was removed from our list. The T@B and T@G
was all we had left to consider. We would take our time, since this was a
buyers time of the year.
One night while
camping I said to Kerry that there are Teardrops with larger configurations
that would be roomier compared to sleeping in the van. I suggested we put the Teardrop back on our list. She agreed. So now the
Teardrop was back in our search. While camping I searched Craigslist daily and
found a Teardrop for sale, in Jacksonville. Was this a sign? A week after
arriving home we went to look at it. Kerry and I both fell in love with it.
This fully loaded High-Desert Freedom Extreme was designed by hunters who wanted something that sat a little
higher off of the road, as well as being roomier inside. Fast forward to
October 18th when Kerry and I first saw the Teardrop...we negotiated and closed
the deal. We took possession on October 24th. No more camping in the back of
the van. From now on, we actually have a camper to sleep in....I prefer to call
it our RV. Her name will be Roxy (inside joke).
Bonus...it fits in our garage with our other vehicles, where it will
be protected from the elements.
Thanks for allowing me
to share our little road trip with you. As soon as something else BLOG worthy
comes up, I'll make the posting and invite you in Facebook.
This is a tired, Road Warrior, his wife and of course Rosie too, signing off, for now.