East Coast Road Trip-Summer 2017

[Gtbensley]

BrainW, thanks for the updated thread! We are heading out Friday night for Nova Scotia and will you some of your information.

[REF]

We just snagged the last spot at Rissers beach for the night we're in the area. Was unable to get a spot right on the beach, but we'll be checking for cancellations.


'03 Ford E350 7.3L Diesel
RB "50" SMB
Quigley 4X4, Deaver's and RIP kit
CCV high profile pop top

[Gtbensley]

Just sent you an email REF

[REF]

Been a crazy few weeks! Flew into SLC last week for a night to see Dead and CO, then went to the 2 shows here in Boulder, we've got one more in Cleveland when we're there, they have been fantastic! I've just been trying to get all the projects done around the house in a mad dash to leave it for 6+ weeks! Garden planted, fixed the sprinklers, set up irrigation, tinkered on the van, replaced a broken water pump in the trailer, bikes tuned up, added a 3rd bike rack on the trailer lid, routed a new cell booster, added 2" to our pop top bed cushions/had CCV make new 5" covers, that should be comfy! ......ready to pack up all our crap, plan is to shove off this Sunday. Will make it as far as we can on our way to Chicago for an overnight then on to Cleveland for 4-5 days on our way up across the border to hang in Niagara falls for their Independence Day, should be fun to see the fireworks up there at the falls. Oh, and lucky us, a spot opened up on the beach at rissers beach campground on Nova Scotia for the night we're there, was able to change our reservation, looking forward to checking that out......will update as we go


'03 Ford E350 7.3L Diesel
RB "50" SMB
Quigley 4X4, Deaver's and RIP kit
CCV high profile pop top

[Otter]

^^^^^^

How cool, Ref! 6 weeks! You really clicked off all the things on the list. Looking forward to hearing about your travels. Enjoy!

[REF]

All packed and hit the road yesterday eve, what an ordeal it is deciding what to take and what to leave behind when packing for a 6+ week journey. Made it to a Nebraska border Wally World truck lot, beautiful. The parting shot, right before we shoved off......

Luckily having the trailer meant most of it could come along, for better or worse, even had room for a homer bucket which the wife said we don't need.....you never know!



'03 Ford E350 7.3L Diesel
RB "50" SMB
Quigley 4X4, Deaver's and RIP kit
CCV high profile pop top

[REF]

Our friends told us about this place they had stumbled upon a little while back on a road trip to Chicago. On the outskirts of Omaha, NE
At least my kid and I enjoyed one of what Omaha's famous for......(wife's a vegan)

We found a campground using Allstays that was right on the Mississippi in Muscatine, about 20 miles west of Bettendorf, IA where we were meeting some of Alex's friend in the am for a coffee. It was getting dark on the back country roads and we must have missed the sign for the entrance to the campground. After a few turn-a-rounds and driving through the adjacent dark forested Wildcat Den state park, which also has a campground, we finally found the entrance to Shady Creek rec area. For a fairly remote area, it turned out to be a fairly popular but a very nice quiet spot right along the river with 53 well maintained, nicely spaced pads. It was a welcome respite from the night before. I'll trade running truck generators for croaking frogs and distant train whistles with the Mississippi River flowing nearby any day. We didn't get to explore the trails there or in the adjacent Wildcat Den state park, but would like to some day, it looks like there's caves and a great trail system. There's also Pine Creek Grist Mill built in 1838 which is on the national register of historic places and apparently one of the best examples of mid century mills left in the country, cool!



The next morning we drove through Davenport, another town we'd like to explore more of, they're going to be building a new bridge to replace the iconic twin bridges that spans the Mississippi into Illinois and there's bustling new businesses housed in a lot of the old warehouses and river front buildings, including the freight house farmers market. We also passed a first bridge across the Mississippi historical marker!

[REF]

We spent 2 nights with a friend in Chicago, what a great city, even if they're broke from installing all the public art works and civic parks. Ate some great food and took in the sights on an open air bus tour throughout downtown. You can almost make out the van and trailer in the building parking lot 35 floors down!



'03 Ford E350 7.3L Diesel
RB "50" SMB
Quigley 4X4, Deaver's and RIP kit
CCV high profile pop top

[REF]

Just wrapped up a 5 day stay in Cleveland visiting my brother/sis-in-law and my 93 yr old dad, still truckin!
Stopped off at my favorite all time deli Corky and Lenny's for a beef and latke sandwich, the best! It's the only cheat I allow myself on my strict GF/DF diet, that says a lot.....We managed an afternoon down in the picturesque Ohio valley town of chagrin falls

And speaking of truckin' (a Grateful Dead reference, if you didn't know) the highlight was seeing our 4th Dead and CO show this summer tour at one of my old concert stomping grounds back in the day, Blossom music center, the summer home of the Cleveland orchestra. We had great pavilion seats and even took Lake to this one, he loved it!





'03 Ford E350 7.3L Diesel
RB "50" SMB
Quigley 4X4, Deaver's and RIP kit
CCV high profile pop top

[REF]

They let us in.........
Passed through the Canadian border yesterday afternoon without too much fanfare. They did ask if we had any weapons or pepper spray, told them we might still have a small bear spray we kept in the van from our trip up to AK, not even thinking it would be an issue. They had us pull over at the next booth to have it confiscated. The agents were pretty curious about the van, and after chatting it up, they sent us on our way. Spending the next few days at Niagara Falls KOA



'03 Ford E350 7.3L Diesel
RB "50" SMB
Quigley 4X4, Deaver's and RIP kit
CCV high profile pop top