Lippert

Crossing the USA, Visiting Family & Friends

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The bulk of this summer will be spent at our “new to us” RV lot at Traverse Bay RV Resort in Traverse City, Michigan. However, to get there, we had a bit of a haul from Idaho. Traveling across the country with an RV is certainly the way to go, and we made the most of our cross-country trek by stopping along the way to visit family and friends. 

From Idaho we stopped at Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park near Whitehall, Montana to check out the caves.  Discovered in 1892 by local hunters, these caverns went on to become Montana’s first state park. As one of the largest known limestone cavern systems in the northwest, people have been exploring the caves for over 100 years. However, Lewis and Clark weren’t among them though they did explore in the area. We were glad we took the two hour, two mile guided walking tour that gained an elevation of 300ft, ascended over 100 stairs, and descended over 500 stairs. 

Entering the caverns
Steve braves the cave
Cool formations
Narrow passageways
Yep, that’s a bat maternity ward
Exploring the columns
Large pool of water amidst the rocks

While in the area we checked out a place where Lewis and Clark definitely stopped:  the headwaters of the Missouri River. Steve lived along the river as he was growing up in Blair, Nebraska, and he’s always had a fascination with the river. Now he’s been to where it all starts.

Jefferson River meeting the Madison
Proof!
Headwaters of the Missouri River

As we crossed Montana, we made a stop at the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. This area memorializes the US Army’s 7th Cavalry, Crow, and Arikara scouts and the Lakotas, Cheyennes, and Arapaho in one of the American Indian’s last armed efforts to preserve their way of life. Here on June 25 and 26 of 1876, 263 soldiers, including Lt. Col. George A. Custer died fighting several thousand native warriors. It was a quick stop for us and a sobering reminder of the lives that were lost in the battle for western lands.

Men were not the only casualties
Black Elk was a wise man
Custer and others honored here
Sculpture honoring the American Indians lost in the battle

After several more days of driving we landed in Elkhorn, Nebraska and the home of Steve’s brother Brian. During our two day visit we hung out with the kids, spent time in the pool, and celebrated my birthday. It’s always fun to stop at Brian’s house!

Lydia, Nathan, and Steve
Brian and Chanel
Steve, Heidi, and Jarrot
The boys: Steve and Brian
We celebrated with ice cream cake
“Somebody” thought I wanted this for my birthday
Nathan and Elise with Brian on the phone

As we traveled through Iowa we made stops in Corning to visit the cousins, in Des Moines for lunch with our friends Dan and Jackie, and in Muscatine to spend time with Steve’s high school buddy Kent and and his wife Lori. Unfortunately we didn’t take any photos of our night with the cousins but we did remember to snap a few at our other stops. Again, our RV lifestyle allows us to stay connected with so many of our loved ones, and for that we are grateful.

Dan and Jackie
We were in Watermelon Country!
Steve and Kent

We had one more stop before arriving to our new place in Michigan. In Elkhart, Indiana, Steve attended the Lippert RV Owner’s School. For three days he attended classes related to plumbing, electrical, roofs, suspensions, and more. He doesn’t promise to be able to fix your RV, but he now knows more than he did before. 

Ready for school!
Working hard on a wheel

Next we arrive to our new home in Michigan and we’ll have another post soon to give you all those details.

2022 Tampa RV Supershow & Rally

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For the second year we attended the biggest RV show in the country, the Tampa RV Supershow. The 2022 show was massive compared to 2021 and we were in the thick of it.

In our role as Lippert Scouts we camped on the grounds of the Florida State Fair with other Scouts. Together we enjoyed a great happy hour sponsored by Lippert, which allowed us to get to know our fellow Scouts and the Lippert staff. You can be a Lippert Scout too! Just join us on Facebook.

Steve representing
Happy Hour
Bob, meet Tanya
Lippert Scouts Happy Hour Crew

Nightly “campfire” chats with plenty of good wine and munchies finished each day. By the end of the week we had renewed friendships made last year and made new friends for life!

Campfire
Steve and Bob staying warm

Lippert is the largest maker of RV components. They were strongly represented at the show with a fun expo booth which was our meeting place throughout the week. Fun stuff happening there.

Lippert booth
Steve, Tanya, and Marnie

Our Scouts leader, Tanya, was always available with energy and a smile…and lots of love for the dogs!

Tanya loves Bob
Steve and Tanya

To promote the Scouts program throughout the show, we volunteered to drive golf carts throughout the grounds, offering rides to anyone who needed a lift.

Ready to drive
Starting his first shift

The show grounds are vast and once in the mix of it, it’s easy to get lost. Both of us drove tired and lost souls to their cars, to food, to the exits…wherever they needed to go. Along the way we learned their stories and offered a little information about Lippert Scouts. Everyday was a new adventure, driving through crowds of over 20,000 people, dodging the daily parade of entertainers.

Poodle parade
Steve making tall friends
Daily parade

Of course we did a little shopping throughout the week. We checked out the latest models of our favorite brands and drooled on a few. Ultimately we reminded ourselves that the rig we have is just perfect! Of course, we bought several doo-dads for our trailer to make it even more perfect!

Steve exploring the Airstreams

We had such a fun week making new friends and connecting with those we hadn’t seen in a year. We’re already looking forward to next year.

Gail and Jeff
Mia loves Kunio
Mia, Michelle and Kunio

After a high energy, busy, 100% RV week, we’re now settled in a beautiful state park, resting up, restocking, and getting back to “normal.” 

2021 Tampa RV Supershow

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RV shows and rallys are where RVers learn about the latest new products, swap stories about time on the road, and connect with others who share the passion for road living. The Florida RV Supershow, held every January in Tampa, FL is the big daddy of all the shows, so it’s been on our agenda since we bought our first rig. The 2021 show was probably not as big and crazy as in the past due to the pandemic, but we still enjoyed the experience.

For five days we had full access to the Florida State Fairgrounds and the over 1500 RVs and hundreds of related-vendors. There was roving entertainment, fair food, and lots of opportunities to learn, shop, and gawk.

We toured big, million dollar Class As, truck campers, lots of fifth wheels, and even camper vans. No, we didn’t buy a new RV, though we looked at plenty!

We did, however, buy a bunch of stuff to make our lives on the road a little easier.  Here are a few of our fun finds, including a sign for the rig, a new rug, a garden flag stand, a new Garmin 890 RV GPS, and a new travel journal. Not pictured is a new Blackstone griddle which is still in the box, but sure to produce some great dinners in our future.

We also participated in our first RV rally during the show as part of Lippert Scouts. Lippert is a major RV and marine component company, and we are part of their Lippert Scouts ambassador group. Along with about 20 other Scouts, we camped on the grounds of the show, had easy in and out access for the entire time, and met a bunch of other fun, like-minded people. 

Being part of the group really enhanced our experience and we loved the nightly campfires. Around the fire we shared ideas for living on the road, campgrounds to visit, national parks to explore, and strategies for navigating in a big rig. We now have a group of friends from around the country who completely understand our current way of life.

The show and rally required masks inside and outside, had hand sanitizer available everywhere, and limited the number of people inside each rig at a time. We were careful to follow all the protocols and are feeling great. We know there is a risk to traveling during the pandemic and the risk is increased by attending events like this. However, we are determined to stay active and continue our explorations, with as much care as possible. So far, so good.

And the verdict on RV shows and rallys? We’re already planning to attend next year’s show, hopefully again as part of Lippert Scouts.