The earliest personal influence on the tour was by Dick
Houtz of Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, in about 2005. Willem was just beginning to
understand the differences between trailers and 5th wheels and how
they compare with motor homes and was debating diesel versus gas trucks, when
Dick’s vast experience and sober assessment of need, in relation to what the
market offers, entered the process. He
cautioned about over-buying with respect to RV size, design and tow vehicle. As
thinking expanded to make it a foursome affair and thus better justifying the
expense and further use of whatever equipment were acquired beyond the one
extensive trip, the plan crystallized further. And with Dick’s input in place
we approached the many RV shows we attended in subsequent years. By 2008, when
Fickie and Stella showed strong interest, their influence narrowed things down
to a 5th wheel and truck combination. Dick’s caution about not going
too long for the rig had us wanting to fit 2 queen size bed(rooms) plus
respectable living space, a bath room and a workable kitchen in under about 30
feet. Such was a challenge not being met by anything we’ve come across – not
even at what was promoted as the largest RV show in the nation – in Hershey,
Pennsylvania, with the equivalent of 20 football fields jam-packed with RV’s!
It wasn’t until about 3 years ago that the Rockwood 8281 SS was modified by the
manufacturer in such a way that we could adapt it further to meet the desired
features, even with half a bathroom more than hoped for. And already, on a
number of occasions we would either not have been able to reserve a spot, or
found it possible to maneuver into an assigned site, had we exceeded the 31
foot trailer (excluding spare wheel and bicycles) that we now have. Dick’s
advice continues to ring true!
Further help and food for thought came from Jan Mutmansky, a
neighbor in State College. He and Dianne are seasoned campers, albeit not with
something of the size and on the scale we were talking about. From his readings
Willem had thought to acquire 2 catalytic propane heaters to supplement the on
board gas furnace and it was Jan who suggested beginning with only one. It
proved to be sound advice. On occasions he also raised points as if from a
check list and ultimately was not only helpful with some matters when Willem
and Susan got their house ready for sale, but also with mounting the Porta-Bote
to the side of the trailer.
Larry Kuhns, another neighbor, took an active interest in
our family throughout almost 30 years and lately, in our progress -- especially
after Willem acquired the2500HD GMC Sierra truck in 2010. This irreversibly
committed us to a 5th wheel and Larry, who has been a truck owner
for as long as we’ve known him, thought the GMC would do the job. He also came
to our help in offering us a place to keep the RV before our departure as well
as accommodation on his tree farm, after our house was sold.
Willem wanted to have a movable gas heater, fueled from the
central propane supply. This called for a flexible gas line T’d off the main
supply via a quick release and shut-off valve. With no experience at doing gas
plumbing, he was trying to educate himself in Lowes hardware store in State College,
when a friendly retired engineer, Bill Muzzy, paid attention and the two of
them devised a design and compiled a shopping list. Some components had to be
acquired elsewhere and when we ultimately had it all together, Bill came out to
the RV on Larry’s farm and essentially installed the heater with fittings and
all. To date this has proven to be a valuable addition to our technology.
Another helpful resource was Dave Damouth, who maintained a
tremendously informative web site ( http://www.damouth.org/index.shtml
) and who was most helpful and encouraging during a phone conversation. Dave
knows State College well and he and his wife, Helen, have visited relatives on
Ridge Avenue, just around the corner from where Willem and Susan lived.
Unfortunately we haven’t had the opportunity to meet the Damouths in person.
But his expertise and excellent writing make required reading for anyone
wishing to enter the RV travel world.
We thus felt we had everything under control when we left
State College on schedule on August 1, 2013. Our previous posting, Problem
Solving – Initial, documented how wrong one can be! At our first stop we
encountered the first confirmation of how unique RV’ers really are. They are
genuinely friendly people that easily stir up conversations. The most
productive at Four Mile Creek was with a couple from Hamilton, Ontario, who was
interested in our rig and had many questions. The next morning they were away from
camp but toward the evening they were back, having gone to a Rockwood dealer in
Buffalo to scout out Rockwoods in general. By then we have raised technical
issues with him, which he resolved abruptly. It was followed by more help and
confidence building at a game we were entirely new to. While based there, we
crossed the border to meet Fickie and Stella’s daughter and family who were
flying in that afternoon. This gave us time to drive around and go to church in
Hamilton. To our surprise we met a fellow from the Netherlands who had spent
some 20 years in South Africa as a missionary in Soshanguve, north of Pretoria,
Adriaan De Visser. He also earned a doctorate from our former alma mater in
Potchefstroom and was now a professor at a theological seminary in Hamilton. We
had a lot in common and much to talk about during the coffee hour, before we
received a phone call from Anida that they were on their way from Toronto
airport to Niagara Falls.
Our experience at Four Mile Creek emboldened us to simply
ask advice from neighboring campers, when needed. At our next stop outside of
Toronto, we discovered another problem and although friendly campers could not help
to solve it, we received assurance that we were headed toward real RV territory
and an area with many RV service facilities. We had interactions with a real
nice young family, including 3 kids from Ottawa and were disappointed that they
had to leave shortly after.
Our next interesting encounter was with the French fellow at
Killbear. It got off to a turbulent start, as narrated in our Problem Solving
piece. But it didn’t take long (with a bit of encouragement) to elicit the
better of RV’er conduct from him, consistent with the breed, by soliciting his
advice, which resulted in interest, and in turn, in very valuable help! We are still reaping the benefits.
At Sturgeon Falls we had the privilege of meeting Jim and
Barbara Vander Mey. Our Pennsylvania license plate stirred their interest and
they were excited to learn that we were from State College, where Jim had
earned a PhD in the 70’s. They haven’t been back in decades and were really
nostalgic about their time over there. Jim pursued a career in business but
they were semi-retired and Jim appeared not interested at all in becoming fully
so. They maintain a home in Florida and were happy to learn that another house
of theirs in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, had been closed on that morning. They
could thus head south somewhat less restrained and was looking forward to
continuing with the Canadian leg of their trip. These were really interesting
people and friendly beyond measure. Also interested in and excited for us about
what we were up to and wanted to keep in touch. They had good suggestions,
especially about the Florida part of our trip and invited us to visit with them
when we get to Cedar Key, not too far from where they live.
At the Ottawa campground we met a dynamic family with three
kids ranging from teenager down. They were veteran RV’rs and have been on the
move for years, although not fulltime. All the children were engaging and
interested in where we came from and what we were up to, while the parents
seemed to view us as an educational resource. For a brief moment, it made one
feel somewhat guilty about what one’s own children have missed out on.
In Montreal at Alouette our neighbors were John and Brenda
from Nova Scotia. They have been there for 4 months and commuted daily some 30
miles across town to a hospital where their daughter was, after having given
birth to a son with severe combined immune deficiency, a genetic deficiency
condition. After bone marrow transplantation treatment the boy had to be kept
in isolation with the mother but his progress was sufficient for them to expect
to be able to return to Halifax within a couple of weeks. According to John,
his own son was the first of their extended family line to have survived the
same due to technological developments of more resent times. John is a real estate agent and Brenda pursues
a career in air traffic control. Although he simply just had to take time off,
Brenda was extremely busy every day after returning from the hospital and into
the night. She was writing manuals and protocols related to her profession and
thus remained employed. Good Wi-Fi thus facilitated active professional engagement.
What a blessing for these conscientious parents! Meanwhile, John was very busy
outside, cleaning and winterizing his already shining RV, while the opportunity
presented itself to get ready for conditions we were not accustomed to.
Having been essentially off the American continent language
wise in Quebec City, it was kind of an introspection phase of our trip. The
many questions that arose were calling for talking with people, which did not
happen much. And when it was attempted, even the best efforts in response were
not easy to process and one had to wait for another day where the sound board
would be working better. Yet, one wanted to interpret observations, which
resulted in turning to the internet, Wi-Fi permitting. It was at our next stop
at Rimouski that Skip and Beth made our acquaintance and we had English
speaking real Canadians to enlighten us. They were the kind of people it would be
fun to spend more time with and were on their way to a music festival in Prince
Edward Island. Having retired as a high school principal, Skip’s teaching
career included athletics and music and he exhibited a relaxed outlook on
Canadian affairs and a live and let live attitude toward the rather complex
cultural composition of the country. We’ve mentioned in our writing on Things
Along the Way 2, the foolishness to simplify matters so they can be easily (and
erroneously) grasped, such as incessantly happens in the political realm, yet
complexifying is called for to better deal with reality. This seemed to be
present in Skip’s outlook and perhaps also in the broader mindset of some
Canadians – even the odd politician. However, we would later meet Canadians
that leaped at the opportunity to rather vacation across the border in the US,
where just about everything is less costly. Being Canadian comes at a price, no
doubt.
The helpful nature associated with the RV culture was
demonstrated at its finest by a French guy who was fluent in English. Having
arrived at the Forillon National Park after the reception kiosk had closed, we
had no clue as to where we could set up camp and the only thing we could make
some sense of, was a map of the park, indicating numerous camp grounds with
limited French directions. Having driven through a couple out in the open which
appeared not workable, it was almost dark when we attempted Campground A in the
woods. Now, dusk turns to dark in a hurry once one enters woods and it became
trickier by the moment to negotiate trees on the left, the right and branches
overhead, and sites were invariably small. At one intersection it required special
caution to clear the turn, when truck lights appeared out of nowhere and the
driver offered help in fluent English! He said we should be in Campground C and
would guide us to 3 possible sites where we might be able to fit into. This is
exactly what happened and once we decided where to settle, we briefly talked
with the fellow. He had nothing to do with the park but was from the area, just
knew it very well and was driving around to see where he could direct friends
coming in for the next weekend. He was quite interested in our doings and
really excited when learning about our plan to go through Maine as well. He had
just returned from a 3 week vacation in a campground on Mount Desert Island, spoke
of the beauty of the area, offered suggestions and elaborated on the financial
advantages of vacationing in the US. We don’t think this fellow could ever
imagine how improbable and timely his crossing our path at a tricky juncture
really was! The second English speaker since Montreal, when we really needed to
be understood! And his referring to a less costly environment ahead didn’t hurt
either.
The French fellow from Montreal and his Hispanic wife from
Washington State, who both spoke English, were very interesting and
informative. Susan liked her a lot and had numerous conversations with her and
is looking forward to maintain internet contact once such becomes more
stabilized. His knowledge of the Forillon area extends over more than 50 years
and he literally witnessed the change from a poverty ridden outpost where
fishermen struggled year round on a non-commercial basis to keep body and soul
together, to the present budding and growing summer vacation hotspot. Perhaps
we’ve seen a few remaining marks of an era passed, which will be gone within a
few years.
The next English person was the gas station lady when we
were leaving Forillon and Quebec . She was English born and raised and knew the
English side of the history and was really informative about how people
succeeded in staying there year round. What used to be a non-commercial
existence has evolved away from it and it will be interesting to see what
industries and the labor that is now seemingly heavily government subsidized,
will look like in the future. Currently fishing operations from Eastport in
Maine work the waters even around Gaspe during the 32 week offseason for
Canadian operations.
Allen, the care taker at Lake George in New Brunswick
instilled some admiration and even more, sympathy. It seemed obvious that the
owners of the campground had a business plan not aimed at long term prosperity
and this fellow did his level best to keep things going against the odds, with
an ever present smile. But he was in over his ears, particularly when having to
face the unusual, such as the sizable rainstorm just before we arrived. We were
all very thankful for him and how he helped us make the best of a matter that
was not exactly of our design.
Eastport in Maine presented us with some very interesting
people. The first was after we’ve just backed our RV in place and parallel to a
motor home right next to us, when a fellow came rushing over and told us to
reposition. We were at right angles to the road, whereas we were supposed to be
at about 60 degrees. He informed that we were straddling two campsites.
Pointing out that we were consistent with an existing camper didn’t help; neither
that the rest of this particular camping area was virtually deserted. The other
RV, whose occupant wasn’t there and appeared to have already been there quite a
while, was at fault as well, we learned. The very knowledgeable guy had nothing
to do with the campground -- a mere visitor like us, but he was witnessing a
grave mistake in the making, notwithstanding no markings to which we could have
paid attention. And he promptly assumed
authority to act in the better interest of mankind. We could not but comply and thread our trailer
around a tree trunk and underneath some low hanging, but seemingly benign thin leafy
branch endings. All in place, all smiles
and ready to level out and set the chocks, our instructor rounded the corner,
trophy in hand -- a piece of a vent cap that was sacrificed off the roof of our
rig. We thus acquired another repair challenge to rise to but fortunately the
weather was clear and was supposed to remain such until we would reach an area
where a replacement part could be purchased.
The folks in town seemed more accommodating to the ignorance
of strangers with even stranger accents. Informing a curious store attendant
that Willem was from Pennsylvania had her puzzled; she didn’t know people in
Pennsylvania sounded like that! Willem assured her, only if they are from
Africa, which didn’t help much either. Something still didn’t look right. The
town librarian didn’t have any problem whatsoever and was most interesting in
obviating a need for Willem to work though volumes in order to gain an inkling
of 2 ½ centuries of town history. A library and librarian like this are a major
asset – presumably also for curious school kids, if they are encouraged to seek
it out.
This kind of encouragement is what we would expect of the
Eastport fishing boat captain we’ve alluded to before (Things Along the Way 2).
One’s typically held image of a professional fisherman is that of a tough
robust man’s man. But how different from the sea men Willem once spent time
with on a mission to the Antarctic. This is the kind of person and his family
one would like to get to know better. It isn’t difficult to understand why meeting
such people was so inspirational for Studs Terkel.
Mount Desert gave us Mimi de Vries and her husband, Paul
Dickson. Not only did the encounter result in a lovely evening together, with
an excellent meal, but also to a first time experience of a real pipe organ inside
a normal residence. This is exactly what Paul had built himself into the
basement of their house. What an asset for a church organist! And the excerpt
from Bach’s Great Fugue that Paul treated us on proved that this thing was for
real and serious. Next to Mimi’s accomplished research career on glaucoma, she
remains attached to her roots, visits South Africa frequently and is a terrific
home maker together with Paul and his diverse talents. We will surely not let
go of these fine folks.
And then there were the Du Toit’s from South Africa. What an
exciting and courageous family! It certainly takes some doing to sell one’s
stake in a successful accounting business and to travel the US and Canada
before 3 kids got to school going age! Their progress has also been good,
although they are on a different pace from ours and we last spotted them
internet-wise at Lake Champlain.
The White Mountains of New Hampshire produced a great deal
of breath taking scenery enhanced by around peak foliage. We were on the road a
lot and had very little mentionable human interaction. Although we thought of
making a day trip to Boston, we were so captivated by the crystal clear sunny
days in conjunction with the best nature had to offer, that we didn’t go there.
More than a year ago Willem had mentioned the possibility to his friends Bill
and Cathy Anderson of seeing them when passing through New England. However a
phone conversation had to make do and Willem was glad to at least meet that
way.
Gail and Larry were our neighbors at Little River campground
in Vermont. They are retired music teachers from Waitsfield, Vermont, where
Larry later on also owned a music store. They were camping with their 5-year
old grandson from Montpellier and enjoyed the last of it before winter. They
were much interested in our doings and heading to Ithaca, New York, as the last
stop before returning to State College. They have a property in Ithaca to which
they are in the process of moving and were very enthusiastic about the area. They
also know the Robert H Treman State Park, where we intend to stay and advised
us on camp sites to target. Also at Little River, Gary and his wife Yoni from
Burlington were introducing a fellow camping friend, Toni, to the pleasures of
camping. They were very knowledgeable on the area and suggested numerous trails
past historical farms and cemeteries. They pointed out that the woods that were
now so spectacular were the result of spontaneous re-growth after having been
stripped for the lumber industry many years ago. Quite remarkable for forests
to be replenished so beautifully!
At the ice skating competition in Lake Placid, we happened
to be seated behind two elderly ladies that were following the action keenly
and one of them was actually taking notes. This prompted Willem to start a
conversation with the note taker. It turned out that she was the grandmother of
one of the competitors, Jordan Bauth, from Amherst, NY and that her daughter,
the mother, was one of the coaches. Grandma was assessing Jordan’s chances of
moving up, after having not placed as well as expected after the short program.
She was in the final 5 skaters, so we had to wait right to the end to see her.
She did a great job, placing second, if we understood correctly. This secured
her a spot in the sectionals -- the next level of competition. All of this
reminded Willem and Susan much about their own experiences and a daughter with
a budding music talent that demanded extensive commuting and more so,
dedication on the part of the student. Interestingly, one of Jordan’s coaches
is a South African, Lenel van den Berg, and Willem and Susan went down to meet
him afterwards. He had moved to the US 27 years ago to pursue his passion and
was now coaching in Buffalo, New York. He seemed surprised to be addressed in
Afrikaans and reciprocated very comfortably. Unfortunately we could not stay
longer as his attention was much in demand, so we made it back to camp after a
day full of surprises.
