Category Archives: winter travel

Hunkering Down

After a few days at Fontainbleau State Park and a nice reunion in New Orleans with Vermont friends, we headed northward and endured a long trip on busy but dry roads back home. The van ran well and aside from a last day long trek, we kept the legs reasonable with motel stays along the way. Since then, it’s been a lot of catch-up work and a series of Nor’easter snowstorms, including 12-14 inches last night. The Sprinter isn’t going anywhere soon.

The Florida van had -30 temperatures before we left and several feet of snow since we returned.

I am including a couple of bird photos — two from Louisiana and one from Vermont.

This Loggerhead Shrike (or its cousin) was on the same power line last year.

It will be a while before we see Eastern Bluebirds here.

However, some American Robins are hanging in there in wintry Central Vermont.

Now we are packing for a two-week birding trip to Ecuador with a group from the North Branch Nature Center. I expect to be offline until early April but will share a few shots from this exciting adventure.

Finally – Warm birding

After delaying several days for dangerously frigid weather, we got the van dug out and started and launched Sunday in -13 degree weather (we hit -21 on the road that morning) and after three long drives and motel stays, headed to Fountainbleau State Park in LA where we are resting for a day.

We’ve been out on a couple of walks and I’ll be posting a few photos tomorrow. It"s fun to run a camera with warm fingers.

Vote for the Boats

You may recall that we sold our kayaks and purchased two super light Hornbeck boats this summer. We like them a lot but wonder about lugging them 7,000 miles, much of which is desert, for the relatively few chances we might have to paddle. I have worried about possible theft – they are attractive, unique, easy-to-remove, and expensive to replace.

I am a member of a Facebook group called “Hornbeck Boat Lovers” and decided to post my concerns and ask for advice. Most commenters said that they used bike locks and had no problems. The consensus was that it is easy to saw through the wood thwarts but most thieves were probably looking for something more portable. One guy wrote “I’ve got two locks and a sign that says ‘smile you’re on camera’ for subterfuge.”

I looked into insurance under my auto policy and I can get a policy with $500 deductibles for $100 a year. I am not sure whether to pursue that – if I lose one boat I pay $600 to replace a $1300 craft.

Lastly, I looked over our travel plans to determine just how many paddling opportunities we might have. On the way out, we might have chance at one of our two-day stops but the best chance would be at Patagonia Lake – which is perfect for birding and paddling and we are scheduled for two weeks. I don’t think I’ll try the Pacific Ocean but you never know.

Returning, we’ll have more campgrounds with chances to paddle (South Llano, Falcon, Goose Island, Village Creek). I estimate that I’ll probably paddle a dozen times and Mary will try it a few times.

Lock1kW

We have two bike locks and locking racks.

The weak link, so to speak, is the wooden cross-piece. I might add a metal strip for the trip.

The weak link, so to speak, is the wooden cross-piece. I might add a metal strip for the trip.

The boats with their covers ride well on the truck, especially when tied down to the front.

The boats with their covers ride well on the truck, especially when tied down to the front.

If we don’t have the boats, we’ll wish we did – if they are on top the whole way, we’ll probably question our decision about Yuma, AZ. However, my inclination is to bring them along. Stay tuned.

Slip, Sliding, Away

We have been watching the weather forecast for several weeks and were not happy to see a winter storm scheduled for the day before our departure. However, the snow was going to be followed by freezing rain, and then rain — so I figured we had a chance to get going as scheduled. When we looked out this morning, it was not pretty.

Two days ago, I had managed to back the Airstream up the driveway to a flat spot where we can load it. My neighbor Jason, seeing me struggle to get the rig up around the big rock, came up and gave some great guidance.

I hit it hard, moving stuff from the house, loading the kayak in 10 degree temperatures,  and burning through a tank of propane just warming the unit up.

The storm hit as expected and we awoke to a less than happy site — four inches of snow with a nice crust of ice.

The Airstream was covered with ice and snow this morning

The Airstream was covered with ice and snow this morning.

The truck was coated and the kayak was wondering what it was doing on the rack.

The truck was coated and the kayak was wondering what it was doing on the rack.

I spent several hours getting the driveway passable and then tackled the truck and trailer.  Temperatures were warming and little by little, the frosty units thawed out.

By suppertime, I had the rig hooked up, lights tested, and ready to move.

By suppertime, I had the rig hooked up, lights tested, and ready to move.

The forecast for this evening is for much colder weather in the morning, and the driveway I had so carefully scraped with the Kubota, and a patina from the day of freezing rain and rain on frozen ground. I decided to not chance an ice-skating party in the morning so I carefully, in low range, crawled down to the bottom of the driveway — to leave the rig there for launch at early dark thirty. Two chunks of firewood block the wheels and if we can hobble down without mishap, we’ll be off for Harrisburg, PA. I’ll let you know how our first few days go — we’re aiming for dull and non-newsworthy.

Winterizing the Airstream

With temperatures forecast for 22 degrees F last night, I felt pretty smug having a wood fire going in the house and having the Airstream winterized and ready for what we know is up ahead. The fact that I worked on the project a week or so ago when it was rather balmy makes it even nicer. At the risk of much more info than most people want, let me briefly run through the process that I use on the Safari.  Every rig is a bit different but essentially, it’s a matter of getting water out of the lines and tanks and replacing it with anti-freeze.

This propylene glycol antifreeze is about $5 a gallon. It takes about two gallons for the Airstream.

This propylene glycol antifreeze is about $5 a gallon. It takes about two gallons for the Airstream.

The first step is to drain the water out of the system.  Some folks use compressed air on the lines to help with this but I just open the drains.  There is the fresh water tank drain, a plug for the hot water tank, and some drains underneath for low points in the lines.  Of course, you should have your black and grey water tanks empty or just containing some anti-freeze.

Believe me, it's much easier to drain the water tank when it is 50 degrees out than 30 and blowing snow pellets.

Believe me, it’s much easier to drain the water tank when it is 50 degrees out than 30 and blowing snow pellets.

One of the key steps in the process is to bypass the hot water tank so that you keep it empty and do not introduce costly anti-freeze into it. There are three valves and while I have it in my written instructions, I just close the open ones and open the closed one, and reverse that process when getting the system back in operation in warm weather.

The valves on the horizontal pipes are closed in winter and the one on the vertical is opened, bypassing hot water tank.

The valves on the horizontal pipes are closed in winter and the one on the vertical is opened, bypassing hot water tank.

The hot water tank plug is easy to lose -- I usually put it back in loosely after draining.

The hot water tank plug is easy to lose — I usually put it back in loosely after draining.

Now, you pump in the anti-freeze.  The previous owner installed a short length of plastic tubing that I can insert in the gallon jug, and after changing a valve near the water pump, draw pink fluid into the system. It’s just a matter of opening a faucet, turning on the water pump, and waiting for the water in the line to discharge and for pink fluid to start flowing. You do this for hot and cold on the sink, lavatory, and shower. Make sure to winterize the flexible spray hose in the sink. (That’s the voice of experience.)  Do the same for the toilet, dump some anti-freeze down all the traps, and you should be pretty well done.

This year, I caught the flush water in a pan and tossed it out the door, keeping it out of the grey tank. It took a little less than two gallons and I think it’s all set.  We’ll see in January in Georgia when we defrost and light off the system again.

Florida Plans

I’ve mapped out a three month trip to Florida. It was much tougher than planning to go to the Southwest because Florida state parks fill up fast — often I grabbed the last site available — and the state wants all the money up front. So I’m sitting with over a thousand dollars on my AMEX card so I guess we’d better go.

I got some advice from my brother and sister-in-law, some birding friends, and used two birding guide books: Birding Florida by Brian Rapoza and the slightly-dated A Birder’s Guide to Florida by Bill Pranty.

Right now, we are planning to head out right after New Year’s, subject to weather forecasts.  We take the Airstream to Georgia and then down to a big birding festival in Titusville in January.

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We then hit some good birding spots in southern Florida for February.  (The Keys were out of the question since everything there is tied up 10 months ahead of time.)

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In March, we work ourselves up the western side of Florida, hoping to hook up with some old friends from Central New York who winter there. We end up in the Pensacola area as we think about heading home in mid-April.

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One of the nice things about hauling your own lodging is that you are flexible. If we find Florida to crowded, too wet, to0 Republican (just kidding!), we can head back to our old haunts along the Gulf Coast, and just eat some of the deposits. The long-range forecast (30% cooler and wetter down south and 30% warmer up here) adds another element but we’ve done the rainy slushy winter and Florida’s got to be better.  In my next post, I’m going to pick a few target birds for the trip.

South or Southwest

Autumn is here, the leaves are starting to change rapidly, and we’ve had several frosty mornings to remind us what is up ahead. While some folks plan their winter travel all summer, it takes a few wakeup calls, like the need for a wood fire, to focus my attention on where we’ll go this winter with the Airstream. Which has resulted in a “Florida vs Texas” question — we’ve always gone to Texas and last year to Arizona, New Mexico, and California — we’ve never gone to Florida. My brother and sister-in-law, who travel widely with their restored Airstream, like the Florida state parks a lot. So, I’m leaning in that direction but also finding that many others are — and have tied up good parks half-a-year ago.

The Airstream is parked on the back lawn for repairs before the next big trip. Trees are just showing color but are vivid on the mountains.

The Airstream is parked on the back lawn for repairs before the next big trip. Trees are just showing color but are vivid on the mountains.

I have started by thinking about attending part of the Space Coast Birding Fest in Titusville, Florida and have reserved a spot at a local KOA.  We try to avoid commercial parks but there are times where the “cheek by jowl” spacing has to be endured.  Other than that, I’m thinking of probably not going to southern Florida because those parks are all full. Right now, the agenda is wide open so if you have a favorite spot, let me know.

There are lots of Florida birds I’ve never seen — Wood Stork is a good example — so I’m looking to adding to my life list. We also wouldn’t mind avoiding the long drives we made last year. We are looking forward to visiting Pensacola again where back in the dark ages, I was a budding naval aviator. It will be fun to revisit the Cubi Point Officer’s Club which is part of the Naval Air Museum but reportedly, much tamer than when I was there. (Their chocolate milk shakes were to die for!) Well, not exactly.

So, with mixed feelings, we are planning to skip the places we’ve come to really like over the last four trips — Goose Island State Park, Falcon State Park, Lost Maples State Park, and Patagonia State Park to name just a few. If we don’t like Florida, we can always jump on I-10 and head west for a couple of months.  That’s the joy of flexible schedules and dragging your home behind you.

“Don’t Hurry Home”

I’ve been watching the temperatures in Vermont finally climb into the 40’s and hearing reports of signs of spring. I even emailed my friend who with his wife, keeps an eye on the house, and he replied that "Your driveway is opening up nicely" with the caveat that the Airstream could not make it.

Then later today, I got an email from my brother Barry with one sentence, "Don’t hurry home" and attached this photo of our driveway.

Meanwhile, we are cruising up Highway 59 in Mississippi looking at a dashboard that gives this picture.

So while we have a kind offer from friends Helen & Shawn for a temporary storage spot at their place in Montpelier, I think we are going to wait a bit, as originally planned, before heading too far north.

I just saw a pair of Hooded Warblers here at Clarko State Park and the Northern Cardinals are singing loudly as we enjoy a nice summer-like evening.

Leg 2 – On The Way

After a wonderful Christmas visit to Jennifer, Ben, & Mac – where we went to a frenzied but fun church pagaent, participated in a memorable Christmas buffet coked by iron chef Ben, and had lunch with our dear friends, the Russell’s, we headed out from MA Saturday morning. (this was after several days of thawing out the Airstream, loading gear, and finally, hoooking up Friday night.)

My plan was to leave Saturday to avoid the heavy commuting traffic on I-495 beltway, and later, through the I -84 passage of Hartford, CT. That worked as planned – we lauched at 7:50 AM and the first few hours were easy. The truck pulled well, the weather was great, and things were rosy – until Danbury, just before the NY border.

I have decided that there are too many people and too many cars in the Northeast. I noted a warning sign saying, "traffic congestion Exits 3-1" and shortly thereafter, a long line of stopped cars and trucks. It was awful – extremely slow moving with no relief. (I later realized that it was caused by the I-184 exit down to New York city.)

Finally, I came to an exit and got out of the mess, made a wrong turn, explores some new industrial parks, and eventually, with Mary’s help on the iPad, got into another slow moving stream on a small road that followed I-84. We were moving and soon, travelling at 50 mph. We entered the Interstate just before the Beacon-Newburg bridge and off we went westward. After fueling (don’t ask) we stopped for a lunch break at spot where Penny could get a short run, and we could sort-off picnic outdoors in the 50 degree weather.

I had never driven I-84 in PA over to Scranton – it was hilly, lightly travelled, and an easy drive. The entrance on to I-81 was smooth (the interminable construction seems done) and soon we were cruising toward Wilkes-Barre, until we weren’t. Again, an abrupt stop, two long lines of stopped vehicles, and a long wait. A police cruiser raced by on the shoulder and we crawlwd, for a half hour. It was a minor accident that clogged things, and then it was the typical I-81 rat race of many trucks heading toward Harrisburg.

Ten miles north, I saw another electric sign: "watch for slow traffic due to an incident at exit 77). Great! What a trip this was turning out to be. Six miles or so out, we hit stopped traffic, that crawled ahead, but then loosened up for a few miles. Then, three miles north of Exit 77, we hit another long line and spotting an exit, headed off to try something, anything. Mary launched her iPad, which was getting low on juice, and I spotted a possible alternate route. No one else was taking it – now I know why. It was a Vermont-type narrow wingong road – a challenge hauling a trailer at times – but damn it, we were heading west and not just sitting there. There was no internet signal so the iPad essentially said, "You’re on your own, folks" as we wended our way through parts of PA we had never seen, and hope not to see again.

We made it to Harrisburg, joined the trucks and cars heading south, never really knowing whether my "shortcut" was worth it. About an hour later, we pulled off at Chambersburg, ans found the Walmart where we have overnighted before. Saturday night brings out all the country kids with their tune-up pickup trucks so we went to bed to the sound of noisy exhaust pipes, and slept quite well.

This leg was planned to be our toughest of the trip – just get out of the winter weather. I never anticipated the extra several hours due to traffic. Today (Sunday) is a shorter run down I-81 to another Walmart in Virginia. It’s raining, and will much of the trip today but it will help remove the road salt from the trailer. I hear a crow calling and of course, Penny has to growl at it. After more coffee and yogurt, we’ ll ease out of here and be traversing Maryland, West Virginia before lunch. Traffic should be light on Sunday (famous last words.)

Leg 1 — North Middlesex to Merrimac, MA

After a burst of snow Wednesday night making our driveway interesting to negotiate, I checked weather forecasts and went ahead with my plan to move the Airstream to MA where we can launch after Christmas.  It was a blustery chilly morning as I hooked the rig up in 6 degree temperatures.  The electrical connection, normally supple, was stiff and everything took longer than normal.  The chocks were frozen into the ground as was the front jack plate.

Hooked up and about ready to go -- once the driver's fingers thaw.

Hooked up and about ready to go — once the driver’s fingers thaw.

I used low 4WD for the first time to crawl down the driveway about 8 AM and soon, was wending my way past parked trucks and backing-out cars in downtown Montpelier.  The roads were marginal but the interstate had a good clear lane and a slippery passing lane.  Of course, the windshield washer fluid was blocked by ice so the first stretch featured a windshield streaked with salt.  I got everything cleaned up and working at the first rest stop.

The truck felt a little squirrelly on the road, like the front end was floating a bit.  It could be a balance issue with the new rig, it could have been the tail-wind pushing the trailer, or it could have been just me not used to the feel of towing, after a two year layoff.  I did tighten a sway damper at that first stop and things either got better, or I just got used to things.  It’s something to work on.

Driving I-89 in New Hampshire is easy most days — the traffic is light, there are very few trucks, and the hills seem easier than those in Vermont.  There’s one thing that, if I let it, drives me crazy.  There are mile markers every two/tenths of a mile so if you are not careful, you note mile 11.2, 11.0. 10.8 until it feels like you’ll never get there.  Someone, likely a friend of a Congressman, got themselves a pretty lucrative signage project — talk about overkill.  Fortunately, I’ve pretty much trained myself to ignore them.

When we stopped in NH, I noticed how much salt we had picked up on the truck and trailer. Wash time may have to wait until Tennessee.

When we stopped in NH, I noticed how much salt we had picked up on the truck and trailer. Wash time may have to wait until Tennessee.

Mid-day on a Thursday is a good time to travel: the traffic on I-93 was moving well as drove south from Concord.  I remembered to put the EZ-Pass for the truck/trailer on so we flew through the high speed toll booth and soon were negotiating Route 101 and then down to Merrimac.  I called Jennifer and she met me to help me get the trailer parked.

Her driveway is right off a fairly-busy road, which quiets down after rush hour, but it is a tricky backing up situation.  Not only is it 90 degrees but it then curves and is rather narrow.  You have a stonewall on one side and a split rail on the other.  Yesterday, things went very smoothly — the luck of one who hasn’t done much backing up for a while.  I soon had the Airstream parked in the wooded area we have cleared out and she took the dog while I buttoned things up and unhitched.

Airstream at rest in MA, badly needing a rinsing to remove road salt. Hopefully, temperatures will rise a bit in the weeks ahead.

Airstream at rest in MA, badly needing a rinsing to remove road salt. Hopefully, temperatures will rise a bit in the weeks ahead.

Jennifer and her family live in a nice “birdy” area and they have a number of feeders.  A bonus to the trip was some lunchtime birding I did walking down the driveway and watching a few moments from the house.  I saw a large bird fly low from her lawn — it looked too big for a robin but I just got a glance.  Then, as I approached the area, I saw a hawk under the trees on the ground and it immediately flew off, low through the trees carrying a bird or critter.  The tail gave it away — a Cooper’s Hawk.  I also heard a Carolina Wren, saw a Tufted Titmouse and several woodpeckers, and had a brief but neat birding experience for the day.

The dog and I launched for Vermont right after lunch, starting about one.  The truck, without the trailer, reminded me of the feeling in my road racing days when I shed my trainers for racing flats.  Same engine but more pep due to less weight.

After stopping for gas,  ($3.39 looks good, boy are we conditioned to high gas pricing.) we set the cruise control and made it home in under three hours — by far a new record.  Both Jen and Mary have said that there’s no way that happens with them in the truck!

So, we will see how this plan to launch from Massachusetts goes.  We’ll finish stocking the trailer after Christmas and head out on Saturday, the 28th if the weather cooperates.