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Lucille isn't our first "recreational vehicle" by any means. Herb began backpacking in Boy Scouts. In his twenties, he expanded his wilderness skills to include rock climbing, peak bagging, glacier traversing, and kayaking. He taught basic mountaineering for the Sierra Club and worked as a wilderness guide for an adventure-travel/eco-tourism company. In 1975, he purchased his first RV, a VW camper bus (like the one pictured on the right), for the primary purpose of a seven-week family camping trip from Southern California to Alaska. The trip, taken during the Summer of 1976, utilized the Alaska State Ferry from Seattle to Haynes, AK. From Haynes, the journey headed to Fairbanks and Denali National Park via the ALCAN Highway (gravel in those days). The route home included the ferry to Prince Rupert, then paved roads to Prince George, Vancouver, and then Highways 1 and 101 down the coasts of Washington, Oregon and California. In following years, the VW bus provided an economical camping platform for trips throughout the mountains and deserts of the Southwest. |
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| 1975-1979: Volkswagon Hardtop Bus |
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As Herb's boys grew older and larger, the VW needed an upgrade. The solution was a Coleman tent trailer very similar to the picture on the left. The boys' favorite destination was San Clemente State Park, on the beach in San Clemente California. The first trip of the season began during spring break with Herb chaperoning a large group of boys. Two adjacent campsites were required to hold the tent trailer and an 8x10 cabin tent. The boys' favorite activities included surfing, beach soccer and, of course, trying to impress the girls, who were camping with a couple moms in the same campground.
In 1987, Herb's career took him to New Orleans. Since New Orleans isn't exactly a camping Mecca—think hot, humid, mosquitoes, and flying cockroaches. Consequently there was no RVing for the next several years. He managed a few car camping trips in the Southwest and Northern California (back to sleeping on the ground in a tent). |
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| 1980-1987: Coleman Tent Trailer |
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In 1992 we met for the first time, in 1996 we became a couple and in 1999 we were married. (Note that we made RV decisions much faster than we made relationship decisions.)
Wendy was born and raised in Northampton, Massachusetts. Although that area of the state has lots of outdoor activities, Wendy's family weren't camping enthusiasts. In fact, she called everything a "camper"—trailer, truck camper, motorhome, and van conversion. Her family did make yearly trips across the U.S. to visit relatives in Washington.
Herb introduced Wendy to camping on a tent-camping trip to Cape Cod. She loved it so much, that a new RV was purchased: a 1997 Lance Camper on a Dodge 4x4 pickup. Weekend trips to close-by Vermont developed into much longer vacations. The ultimate trip was to Maine, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and PEI. |
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| 1997-2000: Lance Squire and Dodge RAM 2500 4x4 |
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After twelve years "camping" on the water, we decided to sell the boat and spend more time at the beach house we had purchased on Cape Cod. We totally renovated the house getting it ready to be our retirement home. On July 1, 2014,we both pulled the plug and retired. Three months later, we got the wanderlust back and purchased a new Itasca Navion IQ, a Class C motorhome built on a Mercedes Sprinter Van chasis. The first camping trip was to Gettysburg National Military Park. Subsequent trips took us to Florida, Assateague Island, the Outer Banks, Maine, Blue Ridge Parkway, Charleston, Williamsburg and places in between.
You can find specifications for our Navion here. |
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| 2014-2016: Itasca Navion IQ |
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In March 2015 and 2016, we camped on Sanibel Island, FL, at Periwinkle Trailer Park. We loved the location and managed to reserve more time for the winter of 2017. However we felt that it wasn't ideal living for months in a 25' motorhome at the beach. At a Boston RV show, we were introduced to the Tiffin Allegro series of Class A motorhomes. We thought that the smallest, at 33 feet, would be perfect for us. That is, until we saw the price. A few months later, totally by chance we spotted an ad for a new Allegro on sale at a dealer in New Hampshire. It had all of the features we wanted (plus a few more) and was the perfect color scheme inside and out. We drove up to take a look and drove away owning it.
We had the Tiffin for two years. Our shakedown trip was to Chincoteague Island, VA. This was followed by trips to Maine and Florida during our first year. Our second year saw another trip to Maine and a two-month stay on Sanibel.
You can find specifications for our Tiffin Allegro here. |
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| 2016 to 2018: Tiffin Allegro 31SA |
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Because we loved Sanibel Island so much (and disliked the New England winters), we purchased a small cottage in Periwinkle Park. No longer needing a large class A motorhome, we downsized to a Class B. Our Winnebago ERA 70A is a Mercedes Sprinter Van conversion with most of the comforts of a larger rig. We plan to use our ERA to travel between our residence on Cape Cod and our winter getaway on Sanibel and for more adventurous camping trips.
You can find specifications for our ERA here.
Speaking of adventurous camping trips, we were planning a cross country trip in the Spring of 2020. But COVID shut down those plans. The ERA would have been the perfect RV for this trip. It gets 2.5 times better fuel economy than the Tiffin Allegro and is short enough (24' 3") to be able to fit into all National Park campgrounds. For more details on our tentative route click here. |
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| 2018 to 2022: Winnebago ERA 70A |
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Early in 2022 we learned that we could tow a small travel trailer with the Toyota Tacoma that we already owned. At that time, Class B vans we highly desireable and high high resale values so it made sense to sell our Winnebago ERA and purchase a travel trailer. We narrowed the list of travel trailers that we could tow and headed off the the Tampa RV Super Show, one of the largest RV shows in the United States. We found the new Winnebago FLX 2108DS model to be perfect for our needs. It had a murphy bed that converts easily into a couch, a dinette, much more floor space than the ERA, larger capacity holding tanks, large Lithium battery and solar panels for boondocking and a separate ample-sized shower (no more wet bath). We ordered one at the Tampa Show and took delivery two months later. Meanwhile we sold our ERA for top dollar.
In 2022, Hurrican Ian destroyed our cottage on Sanibel in Florida. We lived in the FLX for 3 months while we rebuilt.
You can find specifications for our FLX here. |
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| 2022 to 2024: Winnebago FLX 2108DS |
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We loved the space and features of our FLX travel trailer but we disliked towing a vehicle behind us and having to connect and disconnect it whenever we wanted to leave the campground and explore the area. We also wanted to be more agile. The travel trailer required planning in advance even to visit a gas station. We decided to go back to a Class B van, but not one that was as long as the ERA.
After anexhaustive search we found the Airstream Rangeline. In addition to the quality of workmanship, it had the same boondocking advantages as the FLX trailer (lithium battery and solar) but also a small generator, an induction cooktop, a comfortable wet bath, and no propane. It is 4 feet shorter than the ERA and can be parked just about anywhere.
After the first 30 days of camping, we are extremely pleased with the Rangeline. We are hoping to use the Rangeline to take that cross-country camping trip that we planned back in 2020
You can find specifications for our ERA here. |
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| 2024 to Present: Airstream Rangeline |
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