Weekly Recap: New York (Cooperstown, Buffalo, Toronto)

Our first longer travel day was unfortunately very wet. There was steady, pouring rain from upstate Vermont all the way to our campsite in Cooperstown, NY. When we arrived, we set up in the rain and got soaked through. 

Arrived in Cooperstown

Bryn had to miss most of our 3 night stop in Cooperstown, New York. She had a work visit to do nearby and then had to drive to Connecticut for another work visit. This did give us an opportunity to see how one of us traveling without the other will work. Shawn drove the camper from Cooperstown to Buffalo alone, including tearing down and setting up camps, giving us confidence that we can handle these solo when needed. While in Cooperstown Shawn took the opportunity to check out the Baseball Hall of Fame as well as the disc golf course at Ommegang Brewery.

Baseball Hall of Fame

We got a campsite about 20 minutes from downtown Buffalo and stayed for 3 nights. We used the first two to go into Buffalo. The Bills happened to be playing the NFL season opener on our first night, so we went to a bar to try out their buffalo wings and watch the game. The fans at the bar were very enthusiastic about the game. Our second night we used Planet Fitness for the first time then went to dinner at the Southern Tier taproom. Afterwards we checked out the nearby Pearl Street Brewery as well, which had a very cool fan system that felt almost steampunk. We liked their pumpkin beer so much we grabbed a four pack to go.

The next day we did a day trip to Toronto, stopping at Niagara Falls on the way there. They were definitely worth the visit and reminded us of Gullfoss in Iceland (Horseshoe falls at Niagara is definitely larger, but you can't get as close). We skipped all the tourist activities around the Canadian side except for seeing the falls themselves to save more time for Toronto (about an hour and a half drive away).

In Toronto we walked along the waterfront and then went to King Taps for lunch. After lunch we checked out the Hockey Hall of Fame. They had a special "9/99" exhibit on Gordie Howe and Wayne Gretzky. We also got to see all the NHL trophies, including the Stanley Cup.

After the Hall of Fame our next stop was the Museum of Illusions. This was a fairly small museum with a bunch of optical illusions. It was very cool and a great way to spend an hour. Our favorite illusion was a  stationary walkway through rotating tunnel walls. Despite being on a solid walkway we both felt like we were going to fall over.

Finally we grabbed a poutine appetizer and headed to dinner. We ate at Pearl Harborfront Chinese Cuisine. Bryn loved the dinner dim sum they had. Once we finished there it was time to head back to our Buffalo campsite to get ready for our next travel day (and to see Percy!).

We decided to make a big push west after Buffalo, so our next drive was long! Stay tuned for our next recap.

So many climates, so little storage!

Our camper has, thankfully, a generous amount of storage. However, we have opted to take some bulky items due to how long we’ll be on the road and the activities we plan on doing. Both of us packed snow gear for super cold climates plus skis/snowboard which are large, then we also brought snow shoes, Shawn’s golf clubs, and Bryn’s erg. Our snow gear is stowed in a plastic tote in our “basement” (aka the area in the front of our camper, accessible from doors on either side), alongside our snowshoes and ski and snowboard bags. This takes up a majority of this space, unfortunately, and the rest is used for the camping components like power cord, water lines, and towing gear.

Percy's Cabinet

The pantry and kitchen cabinets of the camper are more than enough to fit our needs for this trip. We have everything we need and it comfortably fits without feeling cramped. We have a section for cleaning supplies, first aid, miscellaneous office supplies, and Percy's things like hay and treats. We are very lucky that the built in storage is so ample.

We turned a cabinet over the toilet into our dirty laundry area, as there is minimal floor space and definitely no room for a laundry basket. On the other wall is a cabinet with back up toiletries, toilet paper, linens, and laundry supplies (detergent, stain removers, laundry bag for laundry days, iron/steamer, etc.).

Linen closet/Bathroom storage

 

Dirty Laundry Cabinet

The next space things DO get a little hairy in is the personal storage in the bedroom. We've split this down the middle so we have a small closet for hanging clothes, two shelves above the bed, and half the under-bed storage area. Each side of the bed has a nightstand with a good-sized drawer. We purchased small baskets that we've velcro'd to the corner of the nightstands as a catch-all so that we don't have to struggle to corral knickknacks when it's time to move. We've both opted to use the under-bed storage for casual clothes, workout clothes, and shoes in bins to compartmentalize. We plan on hanging shoe storage near the door for shoes we are actively wearing while keeping the rest under the bed.

A hiccup in our storage arrangement was the discovery that the hanging rods were loose at their attachment to the outer wall of the trailer (worse on Bryn's side, but we remedied both). Shawn cut plywood to size and reattached the rod to the plywood for SO much stability.

For extra storage, we brought along 3 large plastic totes (the same type of tote in our “basement”) which will live in the truck bed for easy access. Currently, two of these totes are empty. One holds our heated blanket, nice winter coats, thick sweaters, and winter shoes. The totes are stackable, so the empty ones don’t take up any room and are good to have, just in case!

The biggest challenge of packing was deciding what and how much to bring. We don't want to run out of clothes before we can get to a laundromat, we want to be comfortable, we want to look nice occasionally, and we need to be prepared for any weather. Our travels will takes us through South Dakota, the Tetons, Yellowstone, and Montana in the fall, PNW, Idaho, Utah, and Nevada as winter sets in, then California in January, Arizona in February, New Mexico in March, finishing with spring skiing in Colorado. We'll be changing climates and weather every few weeks, so we need to be flexible. It's certainly a challenge. Bryn already left a bag of clothes at Shawn's parents' house before our official departure (because she overpacked). We'll have a chance to ween down more when Shawn returns to MA for Thanksgiving, if we need to. 

No Slacking while Traveling

One of the biggest challenges we will face on the road is staying consistent with our workout schedules. Of course, we plan on hiking, skiing, and biking (especially when we can find campsites close to town centers!), and we'll probably kayak and swim a fair bit as well. But, aside from these fun activities, we also want to find a balance of working out to achieve our own personal goals. 

To that end, we joined Planet Fitness since it is the most accessible nationwide gym. With the Black Card membership, we can go to non-"home base" Planet Fitnesses 10x each month. We plan to get as close to that 10x as we can, knowing that some weeks we will not be within a reasonable distance of a Planet Fitness (looking at you, Interior, SD). Strength training is something Bryn does regularly and wants to keep up with while traveling, while Shawn's goal is to get back into it after a long hiatus due to Covid. We're also looking forward to using the saunas and shower facilities at the gym, rather than our smaller camper shower and limited tank size. Such luxury! 

In addition to Planet Fitness, we have an array of workout gear we are bringing along. Bryn purchased a small 5ft x 1in barbell and some plates, we already have an adjustable dumbbell set, a kettlebell, and some bands. The barbell can go up to 110lbs, while the dumbbells can be 22lbs each or 35lbs for a single. We also have a massage gun, foam roller, yoga mat, jump rope, and nylon slides. This will be sufficient for the weeks we do not have access to a Planet Fitness. 

Shawn's main forms of cardio are running and biking, which he'll be doing plenty of in the hopefully beautiful places we find ourselves. We plan on biking to restaurants, shops, and sights whenever we can, but Shawn will definitely be doing longer bike rides that are more challenging. Bryn may dabble in some steady state rides if she gets bored, but her bike is more of a commuting bike than a road bike. Shawn is hoping that by the end of our trip he will be in better overall shape, going on longer, faster runs, faster bike rides, harder hikes, etc. This should be easily accomplished, since we do plan on being very active! 

Our "fitness corner" with erg, adjustable dumbbells, and basket of bands/smaller items.

Bryn's goals are a little more specific and will require a bit more effort to stay on track. She is hoping to be accepted to a competitive rowing program in the Boston area when we return home, which means she'll need to at least maintain if not improve her current fitness level. We brought along her erg since Planet Fitness's' rowing machines are garbage (her words). She's using Live2Row for rowing training and her current strength training coach (Be Limitless in Malden, MA) to help keep her on track. Google Sheets will be her best friend in the coming months!

Overall, we hope that the beautiful areas and views from our travels will keep us motivated and moving. We are really excited to get going and settle into a routine!

Slideout Repair

We've been aware of a sagging floor in the corner of the living room slideout, but after the carpets were cleaned it had progressed enough that it was causing issues pulling the slide back in and now required some finesse and teamwork to keep it from binding. This location had been covered by the couch previously. The black darco underbelly material was fraying from the sliding motion and the floor was noticeably soft. Since we had several days staying at Shawn's, we decided to replace this section to prevent any issues during our trip (slideout binding, gaps to outside, potentially even the couch breaking through). 

Original wood condition, plus visible drag marks on carpet

First we peeled up the carpet and removed the existing board along that edge. We ended up taking about 2.5 feet to make sure we were well past any rot. The pressboard nearest the edge could be pulled apart by hand and was wet to the touch even inside of the darco. We saved the darco fabric so that we could later pull it back over the edge of the remaining pressboard as one unified piece.

Demolition complete

With our limited timeline we decided to replace the damaged flooring with composite boards rather than trying to replace with more pressboard wrapped in darco (which was surprisingly hard to find). We cut the pressboard to fit 5 widths of the composite board, cut the front edge of the composite boards to the same angle as the pressboard (to come up the slide edge), and then cut them to length to fit under the wall. We wrapped the first composite plank next to the pressboard in the existing darco but left the other 4 out as they are waterproof. Before installing the new floorboards, we had to jack up the slideout itself so that the wall was high enough to accommodate them (we also had a pair of temporary posts outside to prevent it from sagging too much once the floor was removed).

Jacking up the slide

New flooring

With the floorboards in placed, we attached them into the slideout walls and the metal plate that supports the weight of the slide (and attaches to the actual sliding mechanism). Finally we sealed the joints with both paste sealant and a spray-on coating, then added a thin board across all 5 new planks and the end of the original pressboard to ensure they all moved together as one piece. This thin board does technically make this section of floor a fraction of an inch taller than the original section, but this section will be covered by the carpet and then couch anyway.

Attaching the new flooring to the wall

Sealed and screwed together

With the repair complete, we replaced the carpeting and cleaned up. The floor is so much firmer and able to handle weight. This composite board will last decades without any chance of rot. The slideout moves in and out so much smoother than it did before we started this. It took about a full day's worth of work and approximately $100 of materials, but it's going to be well worth it for the safe functioning of the living room area and peace of mind throughout our trip!

Working perfectly afterwards!

Pretrip Maintenance

This weekend we finished up the last of the maintainence we needed to do to have the camper ready for our trip. Now it's inspected and ready to hit the road! Initially we thought we might have to do some roof repair, but it turned out to be unnecessary so we got a head start on cleaning instead.

Without the roof repair, it was a series of small upgrades and tasks. On the interior, we replaced the vent face in the bedroom with one that includes a fan so we can force more hot/cold air in as desired, and replaced all the lights with LEDs. Some of the previous ones had already burned out, plus the LEDs will be cooler and take less energy to run.

Since the camper had been sitting in the same spot for 5 years it has a lot of built up grime. After it had dried from the cleaning, we put some sealant along the roof seams (we haven't discovered any leaks, but just in case). Here's a shot showing the difference in the front between the washed on the left and the unwashed on the right:

Washing the exterior

Similarly, the basement storage area was pretty dirty from years of use without a cleaning. In addition to cleaning this we also stapled some of the peeling flooring/wall. We also discovered that there was a built in cooler in here that had been hidden by stuff. Afterwards we took the opportunity to load this up with one of the totes we have and our ski equipment, making sure our packing measurements work (they do!).

Basement before

Basement after

The biggest outcome of the weekend was getting the state inspected and having it fully road legal. Before we could do that, we had a couple of maintenance issues related to driving that needed to be addressed. First off was putting 4 new tires on it; the ones already on it were old enough to automatically fail inspection. After that hitching the camper to the Bundra allowed us to discover a couple of minor problems. The power jack wasn't working, but luckily it just needed a new fuse. One of the brake lights was out and another was missing the cover. These were also quick replacements. Finally, testing the breakaway switch (this is a device that automatically puts the camper brakes on if it separates from the truck) showed that the key had gotten stuck over the years; eventually the hook broke off before the key pulled out. We had to replace the entire breakaway switch as well, which took the longest of these fixes.

With those done, we brought it to an inspection station and it passed. We have no remaining paperwork for our trip. With it road legal, we also got in some practice hitching, unhitching, driving, and backing up the camper.

Trailer Inspection Complete!

With all the productive work complete, it was time to play a little. We plan to bring a drone with a camera for the trip to occasionally get some aerial shots. After some struggle, we got the hang of it and managed to get several shots and even a video. Once it was finally calibrated, the drone did a great job maintaining its position, and even automatically returned to within 2 feet of the launch point from 300 meters away.

The Bundra from above

Starlink: The Internet of the Future

Since we are going to be working remotely during this whole trip, one of the most important things we had to figure out was our internet connection. We both have to VPN in to our companies' networks to access the majority of our work, so we need to have fast internet for the majority of the time. We are okay with occasionally using internet cafes or shared workspaces, but that has to be the backup plan not our default.

Starlink Dish

Starlink is a low latency satellite internet service. Compared to traditional satellite internet, it has much faster response time and is much more robust about receiver dish positioning. While traditional satellite uses a geosynchronous satellite (i.e. the satellite does not move relative to the ground), Starlink uses a bunch of satellites that are constantly passing overhead. This means that the dish needs to be able to track the moving satellites, but due to the different orbits used the Starlink satellites are much closer to earth. Geosynchous orbit is over 22,000 miles above the surface, but Starlink satellites are just 340 miles away. This drastically shorter difference means a much shorter delay time. It's roughly the same difference between running the full length of a football and running 5 miles.

We have been on the wait-list for a Starlink residential package since January 2021. The hope was to receive this in time for the trip, and then use the portability option to manually update the address each time we were moving to a new location. Fortunately, we ended up with an even better solution. In late May, Starlink offered a new service specifically for RVs. We cancelled our residential order and got an RV one. It arrived within a week.

The differences between Starlink for RVs and the residential version are:

• RV service costs an extra $25 a month
• RV service can be setup at any location in the country, while residential is locked to the service address (RV service cannot be used while in motion)
• RV service gets less priority than residential service if the location is at capacity
• Residential service cannot be purchased in an area already at capacity
• The RV service can be paused or started on a monthly basis, while residential service can only be cancelled (and reopened if the area still has capacity)

Starlink Speed Test in rural Vermont

For us, the RV service was an obvious choice. During our trial week we set up the receiver. It only took about 2 minutes for it to track the satellites and begin providing service. The internet at Shawn's parents house is often under 1 Mbps, but Starlink was getting us 50-150 Mbps, with latency between 20-100 ms. This can nominally work anywhere in the US with a view of the sky. We are planning to use this as our main source of internet and supplement with WiFi or shared working spaces in the cases where we cannot get Starlink signal for some reason (e.g. a very tree covered campground).

Initial setup to track to the satellites

After our trip we plan to give the dish to Shawn's parents and they can use it for improved internet connection at their home.

Starlink in use for a work call

So... where are we going?

T-minus 3 weeks until the camper is our long-term home! We've talked some prep, but the big question friends and family keep asking is, understandably, "Where are you going to be?"

We've mapped out a tentative course pretty much following I-90 to Seattle for the first two months. We'll try to push through this part of our trip quickly, hopefully reaching Seattle by early November, due to the snowfall we're anticipating in northern Montana, Idaho, and eastern Washington. While we're traveling, we'll be keeping a watchful eye on the snowfall in southern Idaho and Utah, as this will impact our course after we reach Seattle. The current plan is to travel from Portland, OR, through Idaho into Salt Lake City via I-84, then driving I-15 to Las Vegas. Our only set-in-stone location/time so far is Las Vegas no later than December 16. The Patriots play the Raiders that Sunday and Shawn already has tickets. If I-15 isn't safe for us to drive with the camper, we'll have to re-route through California. 

We'll be updating as we go along! You can see from our route we'll be hitting all sorts of climates, which is why we're taking care to prep. Our targets include both cities and nature. We'll have to have our skiing/snowboarding gear, heavy winter clothes, bathing suits, warm weather clothes, etc. all at once! Our plan is to return east in April, but if we're really enjoying ourselves, who knows!

We're also going to be fairly flexible with the specific dates we visit places, so let us know if you have somewhere you would like to meet up and we'll try to coordinate!

Our tentative route:

The tagged locations (with tentative timeline in bold):

North Troy, VT

Lake Placid, NY

Buffalo, NY

Cleveland, OH

Detroit, MI

Chicago, IL

Milwaukee, WI

Minneapolis, MN EARLY OCT.

Rapid City, SD (Black Hills National Forest and the Badlands)

Yellowstone National Park, WY (Teton and Shoshone National Forests)

Whitefish, MT (Glacier National Park, possible trip to Banff)

Seattle, WA (N. Cascades National Park, Vancouver, Whistler and Mount Cain) EARLY NOV.

Portland, OR (Mt. Hood)

Ketchum, ID (Sun Valley, Boise National Forest)

Salt Lake City, UT (plus skiing, possibly Zion on the way to Vegas)

Las Vegas, NV (Grand Canyon) 12/16

Reno, NV (Lake Tahoe and more skiing) XMAS-EARLY JAN.

San Francisco, CA (day trips to Mendocino, Yosemite National Parks)

Los Angeles, CA (via Sequoia and Death Valley National Parks, Joshua Tree)

San Diego, CA (possibly we'll pop into Mexico)

Phoenix, AR (Sedona and Tonto National Forest)

Big Bend National Park, TX (via El Paso)

Santa Fe, NM (via Albuquerque, Apache and Gila National Forests)

Denver, CO (time and weather permitting! TBD Telluride, Rio Grande National Forest) 

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