and everything we discovered along the way!
A very special guest post by Bert Henderson
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Great Falls Portage is a
National Historic Landmark, in Great Falls, MT
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First there were red lights..then blue lights, and not those blue lights indicating a special at K-Mart.
The red lights were the fire trucks
answering an alarm at the “Flying J” where our traveling companions Ken and
Karla and we were spending the night outside of Memphis, TN. The blue lights
were from the police cars that had arrived to Quell two out-of-love teenagers
breaking up, and that break-up included the involvement of ALL of their
friends..along with their loud, obscene voices and screeching tires. All of
this gave us the start of a very exciting evening right in front of our two
coaches – better than the movies. This kind of excitement was not planned for
when we started our journey.
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Carol at Botanical Gardens, St. Louis, MO |
The RV caravan tour company we
chose was Adventure Caravans. This company was very helpful by providing us
with printed brochures with itineraries; driving directions including driver’s
logs; deciding what clothes to take and other assorted items that we’d need for
the trip including food, pots and pans, and our daily essentials, including
toilet articles.
In addition to the travel
logistics, the tour company provided plans in advance such as which RV Parks
you’ll be booked in, and what you’ll see along the way, and where you’ll go
when you arrive in a city. The tour company also provided for luxury motor
coaches to see the local sights, made arrangements with tour guides, made
restaurant reservations, prepaid for your RV parks, attractions, and in
general, took care of all of our needs, so all we had to do is drive to a
destination and enjoy the trip.
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| Stern Wheeler, Bismark, ND |
A “wagon master” is assigned as the
tour leader to go in front of all the coaches and make sure that everyone takes
the correct roads and completes each day’s drive by arriving at the
pre-arranged RV park on time. By having a drivers’ meeting every evening before
a travel day, the wagon master made sure the RV drivers had some familiarity
with the driver’s log, road maps, bad roads, speed traps, and where to buy
fuel. He also was responsible for having everyone arrive on time for the bus
tours, boat trips, and train rides in each city. As the representatives of
Adventure Caravan, the wagon master and his wife set the tone for the trip to
assist and help the RV drivers overcome any travel difficulties that might
occur. On this trip, we were very fortunate to have a familiar wagon master,
one of Ken & Karla’s favorites, Bobby and Marcia Hanbury.
The caravan also has a “tail-gunner”
who is the mechanic and assists those who have mechanical problems. He and his
wife (Bill and Carol Hamilton) are the last to leave the RV Park each travel
day and the last to arrive at the new or destination RV Park.
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| Bert at Missouri River, Dillon MT |
Prior to the trip, we purchased a
decent camera to record our endeavors and provide pictures for this article in
this post. I also had to get my amateur radio (HAM) license so I could legally
use a more powerful radio to communicate while driving my coach. Citizen’s Band
(CB) radios have a very limited range (line of sight) – especially in the
mountainous terrain which we could encounter. The only time I used my CB radio
was when we arrived at the destination RV Park during the caravan so the wagon
master can communicate and park us in each RV Park. I was one of four licensed
HAM operators on the trip. Most of the coaches in the group only had CB radios.
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| St. Joe Lewis and Clark statue |
Other things we had to consider in preparation
for the trip was how much food to bring us while we were traveling -- being ever mindful of the refrigerator in
the coach not being as large as the one in our home. I had my coach serviced,
as usual, with additional work done to the suspension. I also purchased spare
parts including extra oil, fluids, hoses, filters, cleaners, tools, and an
auxiliary inventory of equipment.
Before the trip began, the tour
company had a wonderful orientation dinner in St. Joe, Missouri, for the 39
people who comprised our caravan of 21 RVs. We all introduced ourselves and
told why we decided to be part of the caravan.
At the farewell dinner in
Warrenton, Oregon, each coach occupant had to tell the funniest and the most
memorable moment of the trip was for them. For Carol and me, being first time
caravaners, we were overwhelmed with the beauty of the scenery we saw at every
turn, and especially at the crest of every mountain. We all appreciated the
camaraderie of the other caravaners.
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| Marsha, Bob, Carol and Ken at Multnoma Falls, Portland, OR |
On the way back home, we had an opportunity to see the Grand Canyon, the Petrified Forest, and the Painted Desert. After a restful stopover in Grove, Oklahoma, for Ken and Karla to visit family, we traveled north to Pender, Nebraska, to get factory work done on my tow-bar before we turned south and headed home.
Our travels made the shape of a
figure eight across the U.S. and after riding almost 10,000 miles, we arrived
home to unload and clean our coach. That took two days before we could take the
RV in for its much needed service including lube, oil, filter, and minor
repairs. Returning from the service center, we sadly put Leo (the name we gave
to our RV) to bed in the storage yard and began planning for our next trip.
Bert and Carol Henderson are 20+
year residents of Homosassa, FL, and 50+ year Florida residents. Bert is
retired from the University of Florida and Carol, a Registered Nurse, is
retired from Omni Home Health Card in Homosassa. You can reach Bert and Carol
at bert@citruscountylife.com
Photos by Bert and Carol Henderson. Article originally published in Citrus County Life Magazine
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