On the road again

[Getzold]

Hello all,

We have finally taken the plunge and purchased a used 2014 FunFinder 214WSD. We selected this model because it came closest to meeting our perceived requirements within the towing capacity of our current tow vehicle, ad 2007 Ford Expedition. We take delivery next Friday, Jan 9th, 2015.

We did lots of camping back in the 70’s and 80’s, starting out in tents and progressing upwards through pop-ups, truck campers, and finally a motorhome. We lived in Utah back then and spent lots of time in the mountains and desert playing with our 4 wheeling friends, motorcycles, and 3 wheelers.

As time passed and the kids found other interests, we discovered sailing on the Great Salt Lake and sold all of our camping toys and started floating around.

We moved to Maryland in the late 80’s and really got into the boating lifestyle here on the Chesapeake Bay. After retiring in 2009, we took our Monk 36 trawler and went cruising for the next couple of years.

Our blog from those days - http://gletzold.blogspot.com/

We sold the boat last year and the itch to travel has returned, so we are going back to our camping roots and hope to re-live the great times we had back in the “good old days”.

We have spent days reading through the blogs of Travels with Yoly and profdant139, and reading the contributions of Eagle, Jeepin Dad, Michellep, Rvnewbie, and many others on the FunFinder Owners Club, and are looking forward to joining you out there somewhere.

 

[profdant139]

Welcome to the Club!

Congratulations on your new trailer! Do you have an itinerary yet for your first big trip? Good luck, and be sure to ask questions if you need help on maintenance -- although I am guessing that after all of those years afloat, you will find the trailer to be very simple and easy.

 

[Travels with Yoly]

Hi Gerry and Linda,

Sounds like you guys are quite adventurous and have tons of experience and I doubt you'll have any trouble reconnecting to those "good old days". Yoly and I boated for about 20 years before we got the "RV bug". In fact, we were at Jamestown for the 400 year anniversary (May 2007) and the official opening of the Captain John Smith National Water Trail. We were amongst the very first to navigate much of the trail. We explored the Chickahominy, James, Mattaponi, Pamunky, Rhappahannock, York and Potomac Rivers as well as the Nanticoke on the Eastern Shore. There are a couple videos on our channel chronicalling that adventure.

As you can see by our blogs, we're relatively new to the TT lifestyle although we've travelled for years camping in the back of our trucks. We started out small just to get a taste and then decided it was too small so we got a slightly larger TT and then had so much fun last summer, we decided that we finally understood our needs and picked the FF 214 WSD as the ideal size for a travelling couple. We have about 8,000 miles planned out for 2015 beginning in 2 weeks so we're getting more excited by the day. It would be fun to camp with you guys I bet as we would probably have some cool stories to share.

Congrats on the new rig and hope to cross paths with you someday. Gotta go check our your blog now (I love reading accounts of other travelers adventures).

Best,
Neil & Yoly

 

[Getzold]

Trip plans

Hi there,

We plan to spend a few weeks getting to know the rig and probably take a jaunt down to the Carolinas for a shakedown. We would like to be able to go out for short trips this year - maybe a couple of 3-4 day runs per month exploring the east (Finger Lakes, Poconos, Western Maryland, Virginia). Linda is still doing some part time work this coming year, but will likely end that drill by October. Then it should be time to head down to Florida and link up with our old boating buddies (who now have RV's). After checking out the place that Neil and Yoly are planning to stay near Apalachicola, we may have to move that schedule up a bit - we love the oysters down there.

I can't tell you guys how much we love looking at your pictures and reading your blogs. You have traveled in many of our old camping areas and we plan to head back west to visit friends and family during 2016.

 

[Travels with Yoly]

Hey Gerry and Linda,

Great time of the year for oysters isn't it We'll be there for a month so if you get the urge, feel free to join us. I've already scoped out a well established fresh seafood market 2 miles from the campground. There are lots of scenic, natural areas, State Parks, and wildlife preserves in the surrounding areas so we'll be riding our bikes a lot and hopefully warm enough to get in some kayaking as well.

I've started reading your blog as well. I went back to 2009 and am trying to read your account in chronological order. I don't care much for the default blog system of posting the most recent editions at the front or top of the blog. With our first blog (with the T@B up to New England), I just kept adding to the original post so it reads from beginning to end, but when we got Discovery, I changed to the standard system and find it harder to follow going backwards in time. It looks as though it will take me quite some time to get through your adventure but I'm looking forward to it

We just got accepted at our first foray into "work camping" so it looks like we'll be spending 4 months this summer at Lake Tahoe KOA in South Lake Tahoe. This puts us 45 minutes from my brother in Gardnerville, and 4 hours from Yoly's family in Napa Valley .... looks like 2015 is gonna be fun. Now I know why they call them "Fun Finders"

 

[profdant139]

Tahoe!

Neil, I don't want to hijack the thread, but you will love Tahoe. There is so much to do in that area! Will you have much time off to explore?

 

[Travels with Yoly]

Hey Dan,

This is as good a place to have a conversation as any I think .... I don't think Gerry will mind

As for time off, we'll be working as a team, 4 hours a day, 5 days a week and then 5 hours a day during peak season. The work isn't hard but you do have the commitment of only having 2 full days off at a time. During the two week rotation where we would have the morning shift, we could leave at mid day and then have the next two days off after that. I think there's plenty of time during work days even to explore the local areas. We're really looking forward to this opportunity. We'll be there from May 15th to September 15th and then we get 5 days after that for free also (full hook-ups, cable, wifi etc.) plus a salary which more than covers our food and fuel for the trip. It will give both of us a chance to visit family in the area as well.

If you know of some specific areas to recommend, feel free to chime in but keep in mind, we're not quite up to your hiking standards

Neil

 

[Getzold]

Tahoe

All,

Tahoe sounds like a great place to play and looks like you will have plenty of time to explore.

Next week at this time we will be starting to driveway camp. We will finally have a place to put some of the stuff we took off the boat when we sold it.

 

[Travels with Yoly]

We call our trailer "our home away from home" for a reason. Our FF has been parked in front of our house, hooked up since the beginning of October. We started to get sub freezing temps in November so I had to winterize it. This basically keeps us from "driveway camping" in it. I thought about going out and sleeping in The Heart of Gold many times but figured I'll be doing that for over half the year coming up, so I find it hard to give up the comforts and conveniences of our house when it's that close

I would imagine that it's not any warmer up in Maryland

Neil

 

[michellep]

Hi, Gerry and Linda!

Congratulations on your new trailer and YAY on all the up and coming adventures! I'll look forward to hearing about them.

 

[profdant139]

Neil and Yoly -- again, with apologies to Gerry and Linda, here is a link to one of our best Tahoe-area trips, mostly in the Carson Pass and Ebbetts Pass areas, very near South Lake Tahoe. Carson is a half hour from the KOA, and Ebbetts Pass is an hour away. We day-hiked on the Pacific Crest Trail, which crosses the highways in the high country -- easy access, easy hikes, great views, great flowers:

http://danschechter.blogspot.com/2009/07/northern-sierra-junejuly-2009.html

 

[Travels with Yoly]

Hey Dan,

OMG !!! First comes to mind

Thank you so much for the link to that specific area. I've quickly scrolled through it and can't wait to digest every tid-bit of delightful insight. You've just made it that much harder for us to endure the wait until May when we leave now

Time to get out some maps and start exploring Thank you again ... so much

Neil & Yoly