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So it poured rain yesterday and we decided to explore this area of Eastern NC, ended up here. The Bodie Island lighthouse on the Outer Banks. I haven't been to the Outer Banks in 30 years, it is on our list for camping now.
Camper water heater whistling on electric, looking it up says electric element is bad. Ordered a new one and anode rod.
There are a lot of new campers and motor homes out and about, people are realizing RVs are a great way to self isolate. Our 2017 model seems to be one of the older campers in the campground.
Hi y’all. Always enjoy the pics of the cool places you go!!
Found this old pic of me doing a little ‘maintenance’ at an RV park in OK like 9yrs ago and thought you might enjoy. Just a quick turbo upgrade...
I got away with this (ZERO ‘auto work’ allowed at this place...), but a few days later I decided to install an exhaust system. After work one evening, I unbolted everything and grabbed the sawzall and jumped under the X. Less than 2secs later I realized I needed hearing protection and grabbed some earplugs. A few minutes later, I crawled out from under the truck and took the earplugs out, noticing how QUIET it was in the park..... Then, park manager comes rolling up fast on the golf cart. She was not happy!!! The old exhaust is laid out along side the new one and I was BUSTED!!
Celebrated my oldest boy's HS graduation by taking him to a trip to the sand dunes. Have never been and thought we'd give it a whirl together, so I booked us into a spot at Sand Hills Resort situated on the north end of the St. Anthony Dunes in Idaho. Borrowed a couple of UTVs from friends, but also took along my KX250 and my Polaris Xplorer 500 atv. Was curious how any of them would do without paddles, so this was an experiment.......ya know, it's all for science!
With my flatbed full of 4-wheeled goodies and my front hitch carrying the KX, I could not bring along my Pup and was forced to rent something. I made an account with Outdoorsy and looked for something in the St. Anthony area and found 2 owners that listed delivery options on their ad. Of course, neither of them would respond to my requests. That meant I had to expand my search to the Idaho Falls area, about 45min away. Sand Hills Resort is privately owned and so the public bathrooms are closed until June 13th meaning you had to rely completely on your RVs bathroom. My Pup doesn't have one, so we've been relying on a 2-room shower tent pitched next to it and using the outside shower on one side and the the changing area holds my porta-potty. Well, that wasn't going to work with the resort's restrictions, so a rental was necessary regardless.
I found an owner just south of Idaho Falls that had a new 26ft 2020 Keystone w/slide and 3 beds big enough for us boys (wifey stayed home). A queen up front, and double bunks in the rear. My boys (14/18) and I are well north of 6ft tall, so a comfy bed that fits us is mandatory! The owner wanted $100 per night which was cheaper than the local motels that were 11mi away from the dunes. I really didn't want to trailer up each and every time we went out. He also wanted $250 to deliver/setup/pickup, but I politely declined since I had plenty of towing capability with my Excursion. After dropping off our trailer at the resort, we headed down to grab the camper. Nothing exciting to mention here, other than this owner was super easy to work with. Towed that 7700 lb beast back to our campsite and finished setting up.
We spent 3 days at the dunes taking turns with the different machines and enjoying each others company. Wanna get to know your kids better? Spend some quality time outdoors with them! My oldest and I traded off on the KX as it was hands-down the best machine to tackle the dunes. Without a paddle tire, it could still climb the tallest dune there (Chokecherry Hill) with plenty of speed and power in reserve. We also had along with us a Polaris RzR 800HO EFI and a CFmoto 800 EFI. Lemme tell ya something.....just because they have the same engine size doesn't mean they are the same. Either something was wrong with the CF or it was just a complete pile of junk! It had plenty of options the Polaris didn't, but was dog on the sand and just didn't have the power to get around at more than a snail's pace or climb anything larger than a speed bump. The RzR, however, was a different story. Still not a true dune machine, it would climb anything we had enough guts to try. I liked the AWD system (identical to my ATV) because the system would sense when the rear end was slipping faster than the front and automatically kick in the front differential. We didn't have to think about it. The CF had a true 4wd system that had to be manually selected, but also had a center diff lock. When it was locked in, you knew it! The CF also had electric power steering and a folding front windshield. Both were a great addition for riding in the sand making your ride less taxing on your body.
First night in, I made up some hamburgers over an open fire. Not store-bought, but homemade patties with my own spices, seasonings, and chopped onion mixed in. Add to that some potato salad and a handful of Doritos, and we're ready to hit the dunes. Riding at night offered cooler temps and a more eye-friendly amber tint to the sky. We explored, jumped a little, and just got used to the machines in general. On our way back to camp, we notice that people had wandered out to build little campfires right on the dunes. Looked pretty cool to us, so we made plans to do the same the following night. Got back to the trailer, cleaned up a little, made microwave popcorn and sat for a movie. Sleep was solid that first night.
Second day started off with a pleasant breeze outside. I opened up all the windows and began making breakfast. Our trailer came with a 40in TV, so I thought I'd see what channels I could tune in. Made my eggs, hash browns, and ham steak while watching a cool PBS documentary on a family in Hawaii that has made pro-level ukuleles for 3 generations. After breakfast, we hit the dunes before it got too hot out. Went over to the opposite side of the dunes to the big hills and watched some custom buggies out having fun. Went back to the trailer to beat the heat (love that AC!!!), eat lunch (more burgers over the campfire) and watched another movie, then the boys fell asleep. While they napped, I snuck out for a quick little blast around the sand by myself. I pulled back into camp only to see my mom pull in right behind me. Perfect timing, although I didn't know she was gonna join us. Being single, she didn't want to stay home alone knowing we were nearby and having fun. She brought a book to read under the canopy whenever we hit the dunes. Dinner that night was beef stroganoff, more potato salad, and corn o' cobb. Once again, PBS made dinner fantastic with the Lawrence Welk Show (don't laugh....I love the dancing and music). We sat outside eating, talking, and listening to the music coming through the TV. Our enjoyment was interrupted with a severe weather warning for the areas to the south of us. After dinner, mom took off and we went riding again. As evening came upon us, we made preparations for our dune fire. Having UTVs with cargo carrying ability was fantastic. The CF held all the firewood and girl scout juice (diesel). We found us a dune fairly close to camp so that we could find our way back in the dark quickly as our headlights were marginal, at best. The evening riding and campfire was truly the highlight of the trip. Can't really describe with accuracy, but sitting there next to the fire with my boys as the sun was setting was magical and something that I'll cherish for years to come. We talked, watched the fire dance, and took in the electrical storm this area of Idaho is known for. We saw the storm to the south of us sneak closer and closer, lightning filling the sky. Then the wind storm hit us and took all that majesty away. It was brutal! I kicked sand all over the fire before we mounted up and headed back to camp. We cleaned up again, fired up another movie and sat out the storm in comfort. That wind rocked us to sleep all night long. Our last day on the dunes started with a simple breakfast of cereal, apple sauce, bananas, and doughnuts. We had to be out of the campsite by 11am, so the cleanup commenced. Got the black/grey tanks emptied on our way out without recreating the scene from the movie "RV." If you've seen it, you know exactly what I'm referring to. My boys, being a little naive, didn't know better and stood downwind during this procedure. They've learned their lesson for the day. Got the trailer returned without any hiccups, so we headed back to the resort to grab the toys on my flatbed trailer. Had to get out and play for another couple of hours before heading home. My oldest took the KX again, and me and the youngest took the RzR and swapped out from time to time. That storm completely changed the layout of the dunes and made riding super-fantastic! New crests, new berms, new dune structures to explore. My boy is driving and he attempts his first side-hilling in the RzR. He chose a small berm and rails it just fine, so we circle around to do it again. Listening to his father's instructions precisely.........and we roll it. We railed the berm higher up and more aggressively. As he cutting into the hill, its obvious we aren't going to make it the full distance and we start drifting lower and lower. Just as we come to a stop, it plops over on its side due to the extreme angle. We unbuckle, climb out through my passenger side which is now point straight up. My oldest comes to check us out and make sure that we're ok just as another buggy pulls up beside us to do the same. We're totally fine other than some fluids coming out of the buggy. A quick flip and its back on all four. We dust ourselves off and continue playing until its time to load up and head home. Another great memory to add to my collection.
I know this has been a long story, but its memorable for a variety of reasons and I can't help but gush a little. My oldest boy has been our most challenging of our 3 kids. Seeing him grow and mature has been pleasure and pain, but he's leaving the nest in September. I gotta capture all the time with him that I can! He's soooo like me, its uncanny. We have the same laugh and sense of humor, talk alike, and have the same interests (toys). We're building up Suzuki Samurais together right now, his is a hard top and he's adding a turbo. Mine is a soft top and I've got a supercharger to slap on it. I love all my kids dearly, but this one will always have a special place in my heart. Ok, sobbing over!
We are camping in VA tonight, a nice little national forest campground about 5 miles off I77. Towed up the hill by Fancy Gap with the new truck today. Amazing what twice the power will do, happy camper. 😀
Just returned from an 8 day camping trip. We toured St Mary's, Savannah and Charleston driving along US 17 (Coastal Highway) so enjoyable to stay off the Interstate.
Seriously...we have to put up a sign to state the obvious.
Do any of you guys use the Furrion Vision S observation camera on your rig? Our rig is 55’ and best reception I get is 2 bars. Does it have anything to do with aluminum cab interfering with RF signal?
Well I have added a longer antenna to the camera, I have moved antenna approximately 15 ft further forward on the camper (all of this in the driveway) and hasn’t seemed to improve camera reception. Distance from camera to monitor is probably 45 ft. Kinda disappointing really, was hoping for “the cure.” Not so much.
Just returned from an 8 day camping trip. We toured St Mary's, Savannah and Charleston driving along US 17 (Coastal Highway) so enjoyable to stay off the Interstate.
Got a couple pics of the Ex and trailer you could post ?
Looking good Mark!
Glad to see that you are getting out and having some fun, even the parking lot repair was comfy for most of our party.
Those are some sweet looking wheels on Rudolph!
Thanks ! We have looked at yours and the 34TSB, but I feel like I would have a hard time getting the 34TSB into our hill of a driveway with so much overhang in the back. We shop new campers at least once a year, but so far haven't made the jump.
Thanks ! We have looked at yours and the 34TSB, but I feel like I would have a hard time getting the 34TSB into our hill of a driveway with so much overhang in the back.
I had something similar on the Tracer and I had them added on the Cougar. I will always have "Auto-Level" we set up in the first camp in 13 minutes, it helps to have a long, wide, level lot.
Rezvani's Latest Post-Apocalytic Monster Is a Ford F-150 Raptor Underneath
Slideshow: Called the Fortress, the 850-horsepower pickup combines Raptor underpinnings with military-inspired features, survival equipment, and a starting price of $285,000.
Always enjoy the pics of the cool places you go!!
Shrimp and Grits
