A COVID Home Companion: The Maiden Voyage Of The Titsworth (Part II - Day II - The Long Journey Home)

 August 24.  As I mentioned we ended up reserving the Moraine Park Campground for just the one night.  At the time The Plan was made, we had allowed for the three days in the Estes Park area, with the second two camps spending the night at the Estes Park KOA.  It's not that we were bent on staying at the KOA but The Plan required two nights of RV + tent capability and after contacting about a half-dozen campgrounds, it was the only place that would be able to facilitate.  In fact some of the RV campgrounds we contacted flat out forbade tents.  It was all still cool, though.  The first night at Moraine Park had provided us with a night off the grid, as it were.  It also got us a guaranteed entry into the National Park (we had reservations on the 25th but 23rd had been full up... except to campers in the NP).  

We also were introduced to another head-scratcher with the van on the morning of the 24th.  We had acquired breakfast foods with the idea to do them on the propane stove in the van.  Sitting at 8,160 ft above sea level (idk, maybe that's relevant, maybe it's not) it may have been my highest elevation sleep ever.  Don't hold me to that, but.... I think.  probably.  So history up to this point for anyone who may be a liquid propane (LPG) expert:  The van had sat for a while before it's shakeout journey to meet us.  At least 2 years at the home of Mr. Titsworth from whom we purchased it and idk time at the previous owners'.  Anyway, somewhere in the junction of all the moving parts, we were unable to get the stove lit on that morning.  While the altitude may have been a factor, the challenge intermittently persisted through the duration.  The grounds host at the KOA suggested that if the van had been sitting, it could be that the lines had dust or cobwebs that may be causing the difficulty... but we are ahead of ourselves here.

I want to spend another minute inside Rocky Mountain National Park before we head on our merry way.  Laurie and I spent that first night in the tent, and in the wee small hours we heard another elk bugling down in the small field that our campsite overlooked, so that was pretty cool.  Also of surprising note to both Laurie and myself, we saw a bunch of Magpies at and near the camp.  Neither of us could call to mind a time that we had seen Magpies stateside.  We did see a bunch of them over in the northeast of England (Newcastle, specifically), but also specifically not in RMNP the previous time we had been through it.  None of them helped to install my contractual obligation sticker though.  Bastards.  

 

(I know jumps on blog posts are so 2014, but well I kinda wanna keep the main page somewhat tidy, so just go on ahead and click that title up there to see the rest.  Also, if you didn't before, try it on the others.  You may have missed something.)

A COVID Home Companion: The Maiden Voyage Of The Titsworth (Part II, Day I - The Long Journey Home)

 Let's start at the very beginning.  In the Original Plan, we had decided to transport our tent, sleeping bags, and camping mattress on the plane (we are mileage plan members, so we get one free checked bag each) for use the first three nights which overlapped with Laurie's parents' stay after driving the first leg.  It was easy enough to accomplish in theory after we ordered bags large enough to deal with the length of the tent and the size of the mattress.  In theory.  Approximately 18 hours before our flight was scheduled to lift off, the Very Large Online Shopping Site cancelled one of our bags, leaving me in a small scale panic with regard to The Plan.  While it would certainly have been more optimal if we had received the roller bag that we wanted, we could get a second bag just like the other bag that did come same day delivery.  It then became a matter of principal to remove the same-day delivery fee as we were not the ones to cancel the bag in the first place but did, in fact, need a bag for successful execution of The Plan.  In the end not much was lost save for several hours waiting for the new bag to arrive which could have been used for a much more comfortable packing experience.  Ultimately it was no harm, no foul however as we, the tent, the mattress, the sleeping bags, and snacks to last until the apocalypse were packed and made our morning flight to Denver International Airport (AKA The Home of the Lizard People).  

It never ceases to amaze me, given how much we have traveled,  the extent to which we can push time to its utmost limits and still somehow manage to comfortably catch our flights.  I suppose, however, it is what it is and must be accepted as it certainly shows now signs of changing.  It's fine though... we made the flight with everything we meant to take and were wheels up to Denver.

 

The Maiden Voyage of The Titsworth Part I (The Plan)

 So we have a van. And as a result of one of the suggestions from my first post, it was found in Independence, MO and currently resides even further away than that. The total distance between Laurie and I and The Titsworth currently stands at 1,922 miles.  Laurie's parents have generously become (been roped into?) part of the Transfer of Van Power and will be meeting us near Estes Park, CO to facilitate the transfer (as well as get some of that sweet, sweet Rocky Mountain action!).  So that calculates up to 728 miles for the van until the transfer neighborhood... and 1,291 miles for us to get into the neighborhood to pick her up.  It's cool though, thanks to the modern marvels of one-way flights and "return somewhere else" rental cars. And so we subtract 1,020 miles give or take from our travel docket, which leaves us a number of hours and 271 miles (+/-) from the van.  That sounds better, right?

As with any plan, there are requirements.  On our end, this included a) staying at a variety of campsites with regard to hookups, dumping, acquiring water, using shore power hookups, etc., b) seeing cool stuff, and c) matriculating the van towards home.  With those goals in mind (as well as trying to schedule in cool stuff for Laurie's parents out of gratitude), we went to work.  The easy part of the plan was the initial "where"  The east side of the Rocky Mountains is convenient for driving from the east (transferring prior to having to drive a Vanhemoth in the mountains proper, us flying in to transfer our own personal selves into the van, and routing us through the mountains and home.  Perfect.  There was some degree of discussion based on what would be easiest, recommendations, and whatnot (discussdiscussdiscuss) and the Estes Park area became the focus.  Fast forward, we wanted to stay at least a night in the National Park, so we are.  It is also going to give us our first opportunity to "dry camp" with only the freshwater tank and onboard generator to provide for our most immediate needs.  Straight into the fire.  Except not really... there's a burn ban, ya know.

Estes Park exists between Denver and Rocky Mountain National Park, so it became our "home base" for that leg of the trip.  After the first night in the park itself, we were able to find a place in Estes Park itself.  Not only that, it puts us in a situation with hookups (which in my limited focus had not been as big of a consideration as it maybe should have been with the electric requirements of the group as a whole), but the end result is that as of night 2 and 3, we will have had opportunity to use shore power hookups, use the water system, and dump our black tank. So straight into a different fire, I guess.  Day 4 will see the complete and utter transfer of The Titsworth from her current custodians to us.  

In my loads of fiddling around/researching after the van was technically ours, I ran across a really cool subscription program called Harvest Hosts.  Harvest Hosts is a nationwide collection of breweries, distilleries, museums, public attractions, and farms that allow for you to stay on their land for one night free with the loose suggestion that you support your host by making a purchase during your stay.  As I mentioned, this is a subscription service and as the ultimate payoff is a free stay (so long as you have a self-contained situation with toilet and kitchen), so no, I can't share where the next stop is, but I can tell you that the next stop for us is in the vicinity of West Yellowstone.  If you know us, you know we moved across the country almost yearly for a while.  Each of those took us through Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons.  If you know me, you know Grand Teton National Park is one of my favorites.  So the next stop is cool on two levels.  It's a chance to use Harvest Hosts (and almost pay the yearly subscription based on RV park prices in the time and place) and a chance to see the Tetons again.  Score.

Since we will be in the area and the Harvest Hosts stay limit is the one night, we keep matriculating the van towards home.  But one does not simply drive through the Tetons, wave, and move on.  Our second night in the West Yellowstone are will see us shifting and staying near Hebgen Lake, so same general area, same access to what we want to see, but slightly different geolocation.  This will see us switching again from a non-hookup situation to a hookup situation as well as potentially dumping again if we need.  But also, you guys, The Tetons.  It has been years since we were able to get over to the Tetons at all, let alone spend a couple days.  In one way, this is why we have The Titsworth.  One of the other reasons to have a Van is the freedom to chop up drives however you want with more flexibility than having a motel reservation hanging over your head.  From Hebgen Lake to home is like 11.5 hours, so sure you could maybe dedicate a day to driving, gassing, etc., but do you know what?  We don't have to.  We don't want to.  So one final huzzah before we drive across the state to home.

Coeur d'Alene, Idaho sits nearly on the Washington border and provides the setting for our final destination before getting home.  Just out of the west side of the Lolo National Forest just east of Harrison Slough (sloo for those of you pronouncing at home), and barely east of town itself, we will make camp one last time at a campground with hookups (so that we can make sure that we have things in an appropriate state of order prior to getting home. read:try to dump our black tank before home).  I'm not entirely certain what we will do with the non-driving portion of this day, but ultimately I am sure we will find something to do.  And so we then wake up, make some coffee and hit the road to home, which is a manageable 4 hour-ish drive at that point.  Home to 2 sweet dogs and 5 great cats who will think we were never coming back and will be SO glad to see us.  

Ultimately and understandably these things run in a sort of "this is where we have been" and not a "this is where we are going" so far as specifics go, so look for a trip debriefing in a little over a weeks' time.

Special thanks to my brother-in-law Mark for his roll in the acquisition of The Titsworth, my sisters for their roles, Laurie's folks for driving the van out to us, and my mom for playing the intermediary when it was needed.

This post was not sponsored by Harvesthosts.com.

A COVID Home Companion print edition

In the pre-pandemic days, there were so many great ideas and plans.  Maybe some day we get the dog a puppy.  Wouldn't it be cool if we had a camper van some day?  They seemed like reasonable thoughts and as Washington was entering Stay Safe Stay Home territory it additionally seemed like good timing for some of these things to happen.  Turns out that bringing home a puppy the literal minute that she qualified for separation from her litter was maybe not the slam dunk awesome timing that it might have seemed at the time.  When you can't get away from her and she from you, it poses a unique challenge.  That, however is a different story.

Early in the days of COVID, I took advantage of a puppy nap to go to the grocery store.  My car's battery was long in the tooth and – especially with the lack of driving – was struggling with life.  Long story short, the battery full-on died and I had to replace it.  I'm not the finest mechanic out here so accomplishing the feat was challenging and rewarding when the car actually started.  It turns out, however, that the starting was a fluke.  Feeling accomplished and proud, I parked behind Laurie secure in the fact that my car started and I could move out of her way when she needed to get out of the driveway to go and be an essential worker.  Cue the lack of starting again.  This is also not the point, but does get us toward the big point, so cut to the chase, through a small amount of google searching, I decided two things: the first being that I had an ignition problem and the second that I had no interest in learning how to fix it.  Oh... three things. The third, I need a new car.  Here is where we connect to the point (I know).  "If you're going to get a new vehicle, let's get a van".  Naturally.  I had been monitoring the van market in Seattle (and Portland because it would have been easy to train down and collect the van if it came to that), so stepping up the efforts was not a big deal, but it does bring us to the point.  I learned several lessons that I mean to share with you (and anyone who may find themselves in the market for a camper van and find themselves looking for advice of someone who has done it.)  

Before we get to the good stuff, I think it may be prudent to establish what the print Companion is *not* going to be.  As near as I can figure, Laurie and I will not at any point be selling our house to become full-time van lifers.  That's cool and all, but definitely not for us, especially now with 5 cats and 2 dogs. And one 1989 Ford Econoline 250 framed Coachmen Class B RV.  As such, this will be more about enjoying the benefits of part-time "bug-out" type camping and definitely not be another of the "WE'RE LIVING IN OUR RV" type sites.  There will be no YouTube component.  There may or may not be regular #content, there may or may not ever be a twitter account associated with this blog and there is not likely to be a lot of "van tutorial" kind of stuff. The van that we purchased is in good repair and has been refinished to a certain degree inside (by design).  As such, this will not be a "LOL We got a van now we have to fix it! LOL" type thing.  We're going to make blackout curtains for the van.  We're going to install a fancy CarPlay compatible stereo for navigation. And a backup camera. But there are no plans to do any appliance changing or anything like that.  We're just going to put together a bug-out bag so that we can leave at the drop of a hat and hop in the van and get out of the house occasionally.  Cool?  Cool.  So let's start at the very beginning: