travel Archives - Page 4 of 6 -

Linville Falls

October 28, 2014 Drew

We made it up to the mountains today! The scenery was beautiful, the Jeep performed without issues, and the weather was amazing. Definitely the makings of an excellent day!

The plan was to take highway 221 up to Linville Falls then hop on the Blue Ridge Parkway heading south – and that’s exactly what we did.

The Linville area was absolutely breathtaking. We got our first little bit of hiking experience for this trip at the falls as well. We were there around noon, and the weather was crystal clear and warm.

Seeing stuff like this is part of the reason why we are doing this whole adventure roadtrip thing – the world can be a beautiful place sometimes!

After an invigorating hike at Linville Falls, we headed down the Blue Ridge towards “Little Switzerland.” We had an amazing BBQ lunch, and then kept on going. The fall colors really are awesome. I was worried we might be a bit too late in the season, but the lower elevations were still so vibrant.

We tried as hard as we could to kill the car on the multiple snake turns of highway 80, but it kept going like a champ. We capped off a great day with some great burgers over coals at the campsite – living the life!

As I read over this post, it sounds way too cheery for my usual self. I guess some days things just work out, and this was definitely one of those days.

North Carolina

Old Fort, NC

October 27, 2014 Drew

Day 2 started out cold and crisp. We packed up camp, and headed down the road to Old Fort, North Carolina – not without incident of course!

The first thing I noticed this morning was the red glow of the check oil light in the Jeep. It has come on before, but it still made me nervous. Are we running low on oil? Is the oil pump going bad? Are we going to die here all alone in the crazy campsite?!

The answer is probably not – I checked the oil level after getting out onto the main highway. Everything seems ok, and the light went out after I started up the car again.

I stopped a few minutes later at an Autozone to look into picking up a new electrical 7 pin connector. That’s when I noticed that the wires had pulled out of the current setup again. It looked like the cord had been dragging a bit on the ground, and caused the thing to pull out of the connectors. I bought some stuff at the Zone and ziptied the electrical cord a little tighter to the trailer tongue.

As we pulled into Old Fort, I took a fairly sharp right turn, and the brake controller switched to ‘n.c.’; the cables had pulled out again! This time, it was because they stretched too far. So basically, I can’t win – the cord is either too long and drags, or too short and pulls. For like the 5^th time I pulled the 7 pin connector apart and reassembled. At least I’m getting pretty good at that.

Old Fort was pretty cool. There is a big arrowhead monument next to an old train station-turned-museum. The lady at the museum was really nice, but everything else in the town was closed because it’s Monday. You don’t do anything around here on Monday don’tcha know.

We kept going to our new campsite – the cord pulled out again, but I said screw it. We were only about a mile from the site. This place is better than the first night. It’s a “Passport” site, so we are getting a 50% discounted rate. They have free wifi, and all the RV hookups you could want. We spent the afternoon and evening just hanging out. Noelle kept organizing the camper, and I went around testing all the components. Everything seems to be working pretty well – the electrical is in good shape, the fridge and water heater work. The plumbing seems secure – the sinks and shower work! Everything drains out to the sewer pipe, so as of now, we are a fully functioning RV – sweet!

I also spent some time adding about a foot of length to the trailer wire connection. I’m hoping this will solve the issue of the wires pulling out.

We’ve had another successful day on the road, and a really great night of camping. We’re hoping to do some sightseeing up in them mountains tomorrow!

North Carolina

The Yellow Camper

October 17, 2014 Drew

This post was written with 20/20 hindsight – the yellow camper just wasn’t meant to be. So here it goes:

We found a camper! It turns out this part of the country is perfect for vintage camper hunting – they are everywhere. This one is a 1959 Fan “Twinkle”, and it is located just an hour up the road.

We drove up to check it out, and Noelle instantly fell in love with the yellow color. We are looking to buy a camper that is essentially camp ready, and that is exactly how this one is being advertised (and priced…). The exterior is in decent shape, the yellow and white paint job is recent and looks well done. The camper is just a little 14′ footer, and doesn’t even have a bathroom. The interior is actually pretty rough, lots of previous water damage to the walls and cabinets, some roughly made panels installed to cover the bad spots – I think some people’s definition of “camp ready” might differ from my own!

We decided we could work with the interior, and offered a lower than asking price. A deal was struck and we handed over the money for the title – well on our way to owning a cool vintage camper!

We headed down to Florida with the title in hand to get plates for the trailer, and Noelle’s jeep. We’re also getting our driver’s licenses updated to reflect our new status as Floridians.

The trip down was beautiful. We started out taking the slow route down highway 52 through South Carolina. Saw some beautiful old houses and went on the “Wildlife Drive” at the Pee Dee Wildlife Refuge.

We got to the Florida DMV office the next morning, ready to finally get this show on the road! Then the DMV lady decided to pour a lot of rain on our parade. She really burst our collective bubble. I mean she really took the wind out of the sails and killed any buzz that was to be had.

We thought we had everything ready. I had confirmed with like three different people what we needed: old ID’s, passports, social sec. cards, insurance, titles, etc. The DMV lady takes one look at the piece of paper that I had been given when I handed over all of the cash for the trailer. “Well that’s not going to work” she says before moving on to get our licenses and Jeep plates done. We finally get back to dealing with the trailer, and she explains that this piece of paper is actually an application for a duplicate North Carolina title that means absolutely nothing. Oh, and we need the trailer present for a vin check and weight check…

So now we freak out. We just drove all the way down here, and are leaving empty handed. I just gave this guy a big chunk of change for the trailer, and we are holding a worthless piece of paper as a result – such an idiot! Noelle drives on the way back up while I start calling the applicable DMV offices between North Carolina and Florida. Trying not to panic too much, I eventually ascertain that we will need a good title for the trailer to get plates, and that will be extremely difficult if not impossible in NC. They have some court process, and you have to post an indemnity bond or something. I kept getting conflicting info between the local florida DMV office, the central Florida DMV help desk, the local NC DMV, and the central Raleigh office. I finally got the central Florida office to agree that I could get plates if I get the NC DMV to issue a letter stating that the trailer has never been issued a title (it’s from 1959 people!!!)

In the quest to get such a letter from the state, I was transferred to like 4 different people, the last of which said something like “Well you shouldn’t buy things that are old” and then she proceeded to tell me I need to talk to some “inspectors” who are actually just state troopers that only work from 8 to 10AM weekdays (its 4:30PM on Friday). She says they work at the interstate weigh stations in the evenings, but when I asked if I could call one of those stations, she said “No.” So with that definitive answer, I told her thanks, and quickly looked up the number to one of said stations.

I got a hold of someone – we’ll call him Deputy Dan – he was crazy. Like bat-shit crazy. So I bantered back and forth with him until this other guy who called himself Trooper Cooper came on. He told me he can’t really help me, but that I should call the central Raleigh office – the same office that sent me down this path to begin with!!! I’m glad I didn’t wait until Monday morning to hear this.

Sooo… after a very disappointing day at the DMV, a bunch of calls to some very unhelpful government drone-like humans, we are going to get our money back from the seller asap. He said he had the “original title” but this piece of paper is not even close, and we need to extricate ourselves from this whole situation.

We’re staying positive though. The seller seems like a good guy, and is sorry we weren’t able to get the plates. We’re going to keep looking for a suitable camper, and will be extra sure that we have all the paperwork ducks in a row!

North Carolina

Our Next Project

October 11, 2014 Drew

We’re back in the good old US of A! We had a great time living and working in Amsterdam for the last 2 months, and are now back in North Carolina ready to keep living it up.

Our original plan when I quit my job back in May was to spend the summer getting the bus ready for a long road-trip. By August, it was clear that the project was going to take a lot more work (and welding equipment) than I was willing to invest. So we decided to outsource the thing to a local VW shop, and see what they could get done. Well… it turns out my luck with find an efficient and timely VW place has not improved at all since the Illinois days! The bus has sat outside for 2 months with nothing done. At this point, I know I don’t want to do all of the heavy lifting myself, and it seems like I can’t even pay someone else to do it either – so we’re moving to plan B.

What is plan B you ask? Such a great question! While the details are still being fleshed out, it might involve something along the lines of a cute vintage pull-behind camper, and a fully functioning (already paid for) Jeep Liberty on a road trip around the US and Canada. If we can get this plan off the ground, good times will be had by all!

To get a feel for things to come, Norm and Carla took us up to the Blue Ridge Parkway for a little side trip. The leaves are just turning, and the scenery up there is truly breathtaking. Something about a belly full of Chik-fil-a seems to make those vibrant fall colors look even more awesome!

We’re also back in the market for some sweet antique camping gear. I’m always looking for a good deal and good find.

Yes. BBQ. Mmmm Yes.

A little fun at Bass Pro!

The first part of plan B is to get Noelle’s Jeep cleaned up and trailer ready. The U-haul hitch electrical connector that we’ve had trouble with in the past finally gave out when we were towing the bus to NC. We got them to look at it, and it turns out that a wire was installed incorrectly. This had caused a short that fried the electronic tow module. Sparks flying inside concealed compartments of the car – not cool! Luckily for us, nothing really bad had happened, and they replaced it all under warranty.

Next, we tackled the shabby front grill on the Liberty. This thing is some aftermarket addition that is falling apart. A little googling told me we could pop the entire front piece off very easily, and we quickly found out that this plastic chrome-ish nightmare is just clipped on. Pulled it off, cleaned the underlying grill, re-installed. In about 30 minutes it feels like we have a brand new looking car – success!

We’ve also decided to plan on spending a big chunk of our time in Florida – warm weather, sandy beaches, no state income tax, and we’ve got family there on my dad’s side – I’m sold! We will drive down to get everything set up when we eventually find a camper.

Amsterdam

I Amsterdam Day Three

October 4, 2014 Drew

Day three started a bit late for us. Ok it was 1:30 in the afternoon, but after two days of walking around all day, we were freakin tired!

Today, we took the tram to Centraal station and hopped on a train to the outlying “tourist trap” of Zaanse Schans. This place has a bunch of cool, old-world dutch stuff like windmills and bakeries, and the first ever Albert Heijn (it’s a grocery store). The windmills were relocated here sometime in the 1970’s though, and now the whole site has a reputation for just being one of “those tourist places.”

Honestly though, I’m all for a place that lines everything up nice and neat for you to take pictures and have fun. Zaanse Schans has a ton of good information, and was a lot of fun to visit. The weather was beautiful and sunny, and the fact that it was all covered with the I Amsterdam card made it even better!

After walking through the site we headed back to the train station – already pretty tired and hungry. We made our way back those beautiful Golden Arches in Dam square for another quick pick-me-up of good American food (and probably chemical) engineering.

We tried to go in to the New Church, but it was closed. We tried to go visit the Royal Palance, but it was closed. We returned to the Red Light District and tried to visit the Old Church. I saw a sign that said ‘Open’ with an arrow pointing through the church doors, but they were locked. I was starting to get mad that all these places were closed, but then we found the correct side entrance – whew, rant averted! The church was very cool, and had a distinctly naval style and feeling on the inside.

We then headed back to Centraal station to catch the canal boat tour that is included with the I Amsterdam card. This experience was actually very disappointing. We stood in line for about an hour and a half waiting to get on this boat. Turn’s out you can’t really see out the windows that well, and the seating is a free for all so if you happen to be towards the back of the group you are screwed.

Here is the lovely old Italian couple that decided to take up both window seats so they could see better. They didn’t move from there the whole time – lovely.

Finally off the boat, we headed back to experience some more of late night Red Light District before the skies opened up with a cold torrential rain. After three days of intense touristing, and almost two months of great weather and great times, Amsterdam was telling us “it’s time to move on!”

Overall the I Amsterdam card was worth it. It lets you in to a ton of great museums and sites, gives you free GVB tram transportation all over the city, and includes a bunch of additional non-Amsterdam sites and discounts. We are exhausted from three days of bustling around, but I also feel like we are capping this whole trip off with a set of great travel experiences. We head back to the States next week, and I’m looking forward to what comes next!