So what does an RV have to do with the insanity of life?

When I think about how this blog pertains to my title of Micheals Musings it has everything to do with the little bit of insanity that is in all of us. As for the question "what does an RV (recreational vehicle) have to do with the insanity of life", the answer is everything and yet nothing. Why would what some consider a rational, stable human being that has a comfortable home with nice neighbors in a great town want to spend a small fortune on a vehicle that is not really a vehicle and not really a house and use it to go on the road? Some buy the motor home, trailer of fiver because they have a vision of back woods adventures...... in style. Others choose the RV because they are more economical than buying a house and you don't ever have to mow the lawn. Yet others buy one because their neighbors bought one (now that is insane). For us it is the continuation of a wanderlust, the nomadic heritage that is deep inside of us.

Mackinaw Bridge, northern Michigan

  What other method of travel provides one the ability to simply look out the window to see some of the most beautiful scenes our nation has to offer? If one tires of the view or simply wants other scenery they simply jump behind the wheel and motor to the new spectacular scenery. 

We have a desire to meet new people, learn their culture and get to know what their community is like. There is no better way than to live in the community if only as a temporary guest. We love to learn about the people, the foods, the buildings the community life style. RVing gives us this opportunity to meet, get to know and observe history as it unfolds. Our first RV "trip" was in a rental Class A. We thought it would be a good idea to "try before you buy". In late April we left Traverse City, Michigan and drove to Grand Rapids, Michigan to pick up the rental. After a briefing of the systems we headed east across Canada to New York state. We are boon dockers at heart but decided to use the State Park system of the states we traveled. This trip was titled the "Graveyard Tour" as we intended to visit the towns and cemeteries of both of our families. The trip was fascinating. We could imagine and see where our respective Great, Great Grandparents and their children lived and worked. Many of the towns actually had streets bearing the family name. The people of the churches, libraries and museums were helpful in assisting us in locating the cemeteries that were the final resting places of our ancestors.

Golden Hill State Park, NY 

The state parks are quiet in the spring. Golden Hill offered camping right on Lake Ontario with power, water and peace. This place was so quiet not even the dogs barked.

The sunrise from our window

W There were many hiking trails, fishing and a nicely restored lighthouse. The people were friendly and knowledgable of the area. The park is well suited for couples and families. The campground is about 30 minutes from Niagara Falls and numerous small towns.

As I am a hobby photographer there are many opportunities for scenic and wildlife photography. In early spring the weather was cool with occasional evening rain. Diane enjoyed the peace. This gave her time to plan our route to visit the towns of our ancestors and locate our "target" cemeteries that were with in an easy drive of our Golden Hill base camp.

As our motorhome was a rental we did not have the option of a "toad" (a car towed behind the coach}. This was a non issue for this trip. As a former firefighter I am accustom to driving large rigs. This coach was small enough that we went everyplace we wanted to go. In the small towns I do admit I had to choose my parallel parking locations carefully. In the town of Lockport, New York I had found the perfect parking place, put the money in the two meters and we were off to explore. On our return we discovered a BMW that had managed to squeeze in front of us not leaving room to make the swing to get our of the parking spot without wiping our either the BMW or the parking meters on the sidewalk. As there was not much time left on the meter for the BMW we decided to wait a while. As it turned out the car behind us left which allowed us to simply back up and head for the camp.

Maneuvering a Class A motorhome is a bit different than driving a fire truck. The motorhome has the rear axle placement quite a bit forward of the rear bumper. This axle placement causes a condition known as tail swing. Tail swing is when the rear bumper of the coach swings wide during a turn. The tighter the turn the greater the tail swing. In the instance of a hard left turn at an intersection the tail of the coach can take half of the lane next to it. Not a real problem as long as your are aware and pay attention. That is enough of a driving lesson. A full sized motorhome is different than your family car but is not difficult to drive. You just need to be aware of it's handling and maneuvering quirks.

We spent a couple of days at Golden Hill and wished we could have stayed longer. Due to vacation time we had to begin our trek to the south and east. We visited towns and cemeteries as we headed to our next nesting spot. At cemeteries that had to low of clearance to get in we simply parked along side the road. We found great little neighborhood restaurants, meat markets and ice cream shops along the way.

My Great, Great Grandfather

Finding some of our ancestors required a lot of research ahead of time and often times searching cemeteries that have over two thousand permanent residents. Just because you know where the cemetery is located and the plot number, few cemeteries have maps. We were lucky here as a local resident knew the cemetery well enough to point us in the direction based on the date of death. In some places we searched in vain as we had no reference as to a relatives location.

Diane at Letchworth State Park enjoying the sun on a cool day

Letchworth State Park is a spectacular place. The history, the gorges, the waterfalls can keep one exploring for weeks. This park is huge offering both hiking and driving tours. You can kayak, fish, photo or hike. The campground offers large well spaced sites with power located in a forest of majestic trees. If you can't find something that interests you here you don't need to be camping. As we had arrived on Mothers Day weekend a driving tour of the park was in order. I am not sure which we enjoyed more, visiting one of the many gorge overlooks, the waterfalls, the turn of the century Inn or simply the drive. Wildlife and wildflowers abound. While the road is paved it is narrow and has many turns and even a few switchbacks.

As much as we hated to leave the area (and we will return) it was time to head to the next state park. Being explorers we try to avoid express ways as much as possible. On discovery was in the state of New York avoid the roads on the map that are colored grey. These roads are in poor condition and very rough. At times we could only manage twenty miles per hour if we wanted to not get bounced out of the coach. Two grueling hours later we found an on ramp to the expressway an moved to our next destination.