Days One, Two,Three and Four

As I sit here this morning in my comfy travel trailer enjoying the wonderful cool air conditioning I can't help but remember a very different level of comfort only a year ago waking up in my little tent camper with my motorcycle parked outside.
For those who know me, I've spent the last six years travelling all over North America by motorcycle, actually four different motorcycles, and last year decided that I wanted less drama and more comfort. I wasn't really sure whether a travel trailer was the answer but I went ahead anyway and did my research and ultimately purchased a 2018 Cougar 22RBS trailer this spring.

I had my trailer all packed up and ready to go so on August 1st I hitched up my new rig and headed out for a two month long RV odyssey. My general plan was to drive out to visit my son and his wife in Portland, Oregon and be there around August 12th or thereabouts. My "gypsy" daughter will also be joining us for a few days while I'm there so this was going to be a nice little family reunion of sorts.
I prefer to maintain a daily blog but the first few days have been somewhat uneventful so I'll cover the high points in this one.
Up until this first day I'd only driven this rig less than 50 miles in nice calm sunny weather. As I crested the Hamilton skyway bridge with a strong cross wind I was hangin' on for dear life as it felt like some giant hand was trying to steer me somewhere else making it difficult and scary just trying to stay in my lane. This was my first introduction to the effects of wind on a large moving mass.
I had made reservations at the KOA (Kampgrounds of America) in Westfield, NY so it was a fairly short first day (434 kms/270 mi).
On day two I decided to take the slow scenic route along the southern shore of Lake Erie through some pretty impressive vineyards and beautifully manicured estates. I called it a day in late afternoon and checked into the KOA at Bluffton, Indiana (355 miles).
By day three I was getting pretty comfortable with hauling the trailer and felt considerably more relaxed behind the wheel. Needless to say when towing an extra three tons of cargo I did notice a huge drop in gas mileage so I've been trying to maintain a cruising speed of 60 mph which doesn't put such a huge dent in my wallet despite the 70 mph speed limit. I have found that I can get about 10 mpg on flat roads with no wind so I can't imagine what it will do in the Rocky Mountains. Because I don't usually make reservations ahead of time never knowing when I've had enough for the day I can get caught with few camping choices or none at all. Being Friday night the Davenport KOA was full so before panicking I googled alternate campgrounds and found an independent site called Interstate RV. It was expensive ($50 USD), not terribly clean, right near a highway and train tracks and at this time of night I didn't have any other options.
By now I was firmly entrenched in the corn belt of the mid western states. The countryside was primarily flat with some rolling hills and corn as far as the eye could see. As I scanned radio stations the only thing I could find was country music or some preacher trying to save all us heathens. Here's a couple of photos I snapped while driving (note the corn down both sides of the road).

Day four turned out to be my best day thus far. It was Saturday. It was sunny and hot and I just knew finding a suitable place to camp would be a challenge but in the end it turned out much better than expected. I decided around 4 pm to look for a campground. At the time I was passing through Clear Lake, Iowa and noticed that they had their own town RV park. When I pulled in the place was packed. Being on a lake with temps. in the 90's it was obviously a very popular spot for the weekend crowd. I later learned that Vince Gill (big name country singer) was playing there that night and that day the town had also hosted a huge classic car show.
As I drove up and down the various roads in the park it was becoming clear that I better keep moving because there was "no room at the inn" as they say. Just as I was about to drive off a park ranger noticed me and asked if I needed to find a site. Ten minutes later he was escorting me to the last spot in the park with 30 amp service (electrical hookup) under a big old tree all for only $16 a night. Twenty minutes later I was sipping a vodka tonic and relaxing while my BBQ was grilling up a couple of spicy burgers thanks to my best friend, Penny Burns.

After a delicious meal, I hopped on my mountain bike and rode into the town centre to check things out. There were people everywhere, classic cars lined the streets and over in the town bandshell they had some live music going on. I took a few photos before riding back to camp. It was a very festive evening.