Bob86ZZ4

Heading out of St. Paul, MN, tomorrow. Going west on I-94 through Fargo, ND, then continuing west until we get to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Going to be staying at the Blackwell Island campground there. Check in Friday, Aug. 19. Staying until the following Tuesday or Wednesday. Then heading back to MN. Going to take a more southern return route through Mt. Rushmore, Black Hills. Probably going to hide in Walmarts or rest stops, or warehouse/industrial parks other nights. Since most of the driving we'll be putting miles on and I don't like to check into a campground later in the evening and bother people with the noise. Our friend/neighbor is competing in the Ironman triathlon at Coeur d'Alene. So we're bringing his wife and their 5 children, and their Honda Pilot, with us. He's flying out and then riding back with us. We like to have a crowd in our camper. The kids are pretty good kids too. Ages 1.5 to 12 years.

Ray and Janet, jags1fan, we spend a fair amount of time up there on the north shore. Two Harbors is nice and they have a nice campground right in the town. But, Grand Marais is our favorite. It's a great little town. They have a municipal campground right there in town, on the lake. Great restaurant right almost next to the campground called "The Angry Trout." Very good food. Ben Franklin store has great selection of all the things you didn't know you wanted. Sven & Olie's has good pizza. All sorts of great little shops.

I've had Bostrom Wide Ride for over 10 years. Love it. I need a good firm lumbar and they have it. I also like that the back/head comes up high enough. I'm not that tall, but lots of seats I sat in my head would hang over the top. Not the Bostrom. Only complaints, one of the air switches sometimes leaks a tiny bit, and the angle adjustment knob on the arm rests isn't the easiest to adjust. You have to stick your finger up underneath and turn a wheel on the shaft. I'm real good at it but it's hard to teach passengers how to do it. Still my favorite seat though. I have the cloth because I don't really like leather. I bought mine new at a Kenworth dealer. Last year my son found an identical one on Craigslist for $50. Not very used either. I put that one on the passenger side.

Heading to Branson, MO, from Minnesota. Going to stop at Columbia, MO, and visit a niece tomorrow (Mizzou) and then on to Branson on Saturday. Staying until Apr. 28th.

Don't worry spindrift. She'll come around. For sure attend one of the rally's. And take one (or two) for a drive with her. A few minutes rolling down the road is all it will take.

Are you using Internet Explorer? I've had problems using that on this forum. Google Chrome works better for me here.

That would have been us. Heading to western North Dakota on Thursday (National Park) for four days then off to Glacier National Park for a week then on to Washington and Oregon.

Oh wow, did you see me waving? I was driving that silver Audi wagon, hahahaahahaah. Paula is bummed that you didn't let us know you were coming through. She would have come out to wave and buy you lunch as you drove by. Have a great trip. Rig looked cool. Way way better than all those delivery dodge 1 tons we see coming from Indiana.

I spotted somebody w/b in Minnesota this afternoon. I was e/b so didn't get a great look. White Volvo, white Smart on deck, and white 5ver. Some nice swoopy graphics. Looked great. Wish I had been going the same direction so I coulda followed and bought you a soda at your next stop.

Heading out on May 6th for our first trip this spring. Planning to stop at Mid Ohio Raceway to watch the www.onelapofamerica.com running there on May 8th. Then on to Washington, DC, for the Law Enforcement Memorial Week. We'll be "camping" in Vienna, VA.

I think Jeff and Cindy wanted uniforms that match their truck.

I'm heading to South Bend, Indiana, for the Notre Dame/Purdue football game on Sept. 8th. Taking a couple buddies. Then back to St. Paul on Sunday.

Hey Bob

Sorry we missed your post. We are now in Northern Minnesota for a few days.

Oh well. If you come back through Mpls/St. Paul let me know. I'll buy you lunch.

Minneapolis Minnesota to watch a Twins Game (one more Baseball park checked off the list)

Hay wow, I live about 20 minutes from that park. Are you staying in town? We also live very close to The Mall of America in case you were going to go check that we'd love to catch up with you. If you need a place to park you can park let me know, I've got a spot you might fit in.

At Mor/ryde at Elkheart, IN getting the IS suspension, disc brakes and 17.5 tires installed. Planning on visiting the DRV factory.

Wow, that's cool.

I'm very sorry about your brother, Rod.

Wow Rod, too bad we missed you going by us. We stopped there for lunch. We made it 550 miles to Clear Lake, Iowa. We're back hiding in the Chevy dealer's lot for the night. I parked around the side so we don't have to listen to that muzak from the p.a. speakers all night like we did on the way down to Hutch. It was hard to drive with my eyes all misty, missing everybody and knowing I'll have to put the rig away for the winter. What a great last camping trip this has been for the year.

We are missing you in Hutchinson. Paula said happy hour just isn't the same without you two.

We left St. Paul at 8pm tonight. Got off 35 in Mason City, IA. Hiding in the Chevy dealer's lot here for the night. Hoping to make Hutch late afternoon Sunday.

Darn, I was working today too. I could have given you a police escort through town. Should have called me. Oh well, have fun.

Oh no, I just googled it and it looks like you'll go across to Duluth and then over into WI. If you come through St. Paul afterwards give me a call. I'll pm you and Bruce my number.

Bruce and Sharon, you should call me when you're coming through the St. Paul/Mpls. area. If you're going to park somewhere around here I'd love to come by and visit. I live right in the heart of St. Paul so the only place I have to offer is parking on the street in front of my house but you're welcome to do that if you want. It's legal for 48 hours. We're only about 10 minutes from the Mall of America in case you were thinking about stopping there. They have a huge lot with tons of room for rv's there too.

Mike, that goes for you too. I don't know if you plan to drive through the cities from Walker to Gordon.

We left St. Paul, MN on Sunday, May 8th. We're now in Healdsburg, California, north of San Fran. Spending a few days here visiting wife's cousin. Then we're going to be following the Tour of California bike race. www.amgentourofcalifornia.com . That ends near L.A. on Sunday, May 22nd. Then we're going to take almost a week to get back to MN. We spotted a purple Freightliner pulling a big 5ver and flat towing a Jeep CJ behind that, in CA, near Tahoe I think, on I80. He was going east and we were going west. Couldn't tell for sure what size FL. Could have been a M2 or FL60/70 tho. Looked good in the mountains. If anybody is going to any of the bike race stages look for us.

Hello everyone. I was just retired from the Army so my wife, and I decided this was a good time to take my 7 year old son and see the Country. We are home schooling using the curriculum from Calvert (a nationally accredited home schooling program). We figure we can teach him through this part of elmentary school, and the experience will be unmatched by any classroom learning. We will be traveling with a 90 pound retriever and a 50 pound (and growing) boxer. WE will be full timing until we feel like stopping.

 

We have looked at class A's and most don't have a permanent 3rd bed or the bunks are right next to the master. We still enjoy privacy from time to time. We would need a big C to fit us all and not drive each other crazy. It seems to me that a truck conversion gives the best value. It will give a longer service life, it will easily tow our '95 Jeep Wrangler, or any other vehicle we choose, and it will have more available capacity for our "stuff".

 

We are in the planning stage and shopping for a rig/builder that can work with us. We need a solid build, but do not need fancy luxury. We hope to work out the right vehicle on the right budget. We will need to set it up for frequent dry camping and boondocking.

 

I am looking forward to learning as much as I can from those who have already "been there, done that". I am open to suggestions and nothing in our plan is set in stone.

 

Thanks

Bill

I'll second that. A t/c is a great platform for a motorhome. There are lots of them available in the used market, you just need to know how to search for them since most of the "regular" rv dealers don't deal in t/c's. That sounds like a great adventure. A good friend did something similar with their 3 kids. They created a web site and kept us all up to date: http://www.fieldtripusa.net/ Maybe take a look at their site and see if any info can be of help to you. Their kids were slightly older at the time but they still have a pretty good site up on it.

Thanks Bill B! Ya, I never felt threatened at the HDT rally. Great people. We didn't make it to the space museum. For sure that's tops on our list if we go back this year.

Greetings All,

 

First post here. I am TRYING to find a way to legally register a "Toterhome" in Florida.

 

More specifically:

 

I want to purchase from government surplus a military 18 wheeler tractor, install a sleeper, APU, (A/C, Heat, 110vac) small fridge, microwave, bed and get it registered in FL as a RV.

 

No 5th wheel plate, no problm registering, but according to FL rules if it has a 5th wheel plate then it is a commercial vehicle ($1,000+ per year) by weight but if it is a RV only $76/year no weight issue.

 

In addition to the annual fee of course are all the issues with fuel and tax decals. I'll have a CLD/medical in a few weeks so that is not at issue but of course the RV needs no CDL and the commercial truck may or may not depending on how you interpret the FL. law.

 

Interestingly enough, FL rules also state that if it is registered (As an RV) in another state then the FL. registration will read the same as how the previous state had the registration. So if I bought it already converted and registered as a RV from somebody out of state, no problem. I just can not buy it, covert it and register it for the first time here in FL. How messed up is that?

 

NOTE: Just FYI to give a better picture of what I want/need: I need a truck with 6 wheel drive and Detroit lockers in both rear axles. I'll also have a 45,000 pound winch mounted on the front and one on the back right behind the sleeper or in the rear of the frame behind/under the 5th wheel plate. Both winches will be hydraulic and powered from a transmission or transfer case PTO pump. The vehicle will need to be able to ford 30" of water and operate on roads resembling Forrest Service and logging access roads in Alaska and South America. I have considered a civilian truck and converting it to 6x6 but the expense of that is far more than just getting an already equipped surplus military vehicle.

 

I'll be searching this site for any and all info to help with this project.

Have you checked out www.steelsoldiers.com ?

First post on this site, have been lurking for a little while.

 

Took delivery of a 2010 Chariot Dominator on the 23rd of December, Merry Christmas to me. Traded in a Monaco Knight because it was was under powered. Well, I got the power now 515 horses doing the pulling.

 

Looks like most of you guys are pulling fifth wheels, but us motorhomes are coming on strong. Will post a better picture as my avatar once we get truck in some pretty scenery.

 

I have learned a lot from this site and hope to learn more as time goes on.

 

Unfortunately I still have to work for a living, so I take trips rather than on the road all the time. I hope to fulltime or almost fulltime in 5 years. Can just dream now.

 

Carsten

Yay, another t/c! Wow, those Chariot's are very nice. I looked at one somewhat seriously before finding my t/c. You should think about the coming to the www.hdtrally.com in October. We went last year and had a wonderful time. Lots of cool trucks and people there. We're likely to go again this year but haven't firmed it up yet. Would be nice to have another t/c there for some backup.