So, at some point after I kind of invited myself along on this ride, and after Cindy said she was going to drive along in support of the ride, and after Kathy kind of invited herself to go on this road tip with Cindy, I suggested the possibility of acquiring a motor home for the purpose. In that way we would automatically have a ready-made shelter for the night, we wouldn't have to put up and take down tents every day, and we wouldn't be sleeping on the ground for 10 weeks. That made a lot of eyes light up, but it still took some considerable group process before we decided to take the plunge. None of us have had particularly favorable images of RVs -- or RVers -- and motor homes can actually be the bane of touring cyclists, seriously crowding the bikers off the edges of highways. As luck would have it, about that time, a motor home that exactly met our needs became available, so we decided to go for it, though not without some continuing misgivings.
Let me describe this box. It's a Class C motor home, which means it's built on a cutaway van chassis, in this case a Ford E450 with a monster 7.2 liter Diesel engine. It's 25 feet long, 8 feet wide, and about 12 feet tall, which is not large for this sort of thing, but it still seems pretty huge when you're driving it down the street. It technically sleeps 6, when you convert the dinette into a bed, but realistically, 4 is the max. There is one queen size bed up front, over the cab, and another queen size bed on one side of the rear. Cindy and Rich sleep up front, Kathy and I in the back. There is a full bath, a kitchen with a double sink and a 3-burner stove with oven, a microwave, a refrigerator, central heat and air, lots of lighting, lots of ventilation, and a considerable amount of storage both inside and out. There is a solar panel on the roof to help charge the batteries that run things when we're not plugged in and when the generator is not running.
The routine when the motor home arrives at a campsite that has hookups is to level it if necessary with blocks under the wheels, put down the rear stabilizers, hook up the wastewater line to the sewer pipe in the ground, and connect the electricity and water. This can all be accomplished in about 20 minutes, and usually Kathy and Cindy have it all done by the time Rich and I arrive on our bikes. In the morning they reverse the process. If we are at a primitive campground without hookups, we are equipped with a freshwater tank, wastewater holding tanks, and a generator if we need to use the outlets and/or microwave.
To make a long story longer, this vehicle has proven to be a boon. Rich keeps saying how glad he is that we decided to acquire it, and we're all happy as clams to have this home on wheels for 10 weeks. Of course, there is not much floor space, but we have quickly learned the dance steps we need to do in order to get around each other, and "excuse me" and "sorry" are our most common verbalizations, but we really wouldn't have it any ther way. This trip would be a lot less comfortable without this big white box, especially as our bones get older. (Ginger, of course, has a contrary opinion, which she expressed eloquently in a prior edition of Rich's blog.)
To quickly mention the day's ride, it was another smooth day, 74 miles out of Minnesota into Wisconsin. I have to mention that US 2 for at least 40 miles west from Duluth, has by far the best shoulders for biking that we have encountered on this trip -- almost a full lane to ourselves, and in good condition!
BTW, the next couple of days we may be without internet coverage, so this blog might be down until Sunday.
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