Alaskan Snowbirds
Senior Member
A couple months or so ago I told pvstoy and DLN I'd post a writeup and some flicks from the shakedown trip with the then new Grandby, once I figured out how to work the camera/photo software and get it all posted up.
We’re back in Juneau after our first couple trips with the now well used Grandby, so, I'll try to get this posted even though I'm not sure I've got anything figured out
I'll have to do even this first, short, trip in a couple posts 'cause my photo ammunition is limited to 5 by the forum (and rightly so...takes a lot of download time otherwise).
We wanted a used camper but the ones that were available didn’t fit our needs and Stan offered the display model, so….
We picked the camper up on December 2, from the FWC factory in Woodland, CA. Chicale, Kirk and the rest of the fine FWC crew had the camper spit-polished and installed in a little over half a day…and Chicale provided a tour of the factory to boot…interesting. The crew at FWC is great…fast, helpful and like to say “yes”!
The next day we spent outfitting. Wal-Mart made their year that day.
After a couple nights in RV parks in Nevada to learn how to use all those goodies that we’d never been around before we headed south toward Organpipe Cactus National Monument. We made a quick day tour of Death Valley, spent a night at Windsor State Park at Lake Havasu City and at the Quartzite short stay area on the way to Organpipe.
I hadn’t thought to take out the cross-bed tool box or remove the tailgate before we headed south to find a camper, so, we ended up with a hitch carrier for the toolbox and the tailgate inside the camper. It was a pain to unload/reload them every time we wanted in the camper.
This is how the rig was set up when we were at the entrance to Death Valley on Dec. 5
We didn’t spend much time exploring DV on this trip…just a stop at Furnace Creek, a tour of the borax works and a quick drive through…tourist stuff, but the borax works walk really was interesting to us.
The first night we spent “off grid” was at Quartzite. Not exactly remote but still a good spot to get familiar with using the battery/propane systems. It was my first night without earplugs since we got the camper…sweet!
We met some very nice folks from Alberta in Quartzite who invited us to their “jam”…the guys were fiddlers…but since we didn’t know the area and were still getting used to the camper we needed to get set-up before night and didn’t get to hear them. Hope we get another chance next year!
We stopped at Organpipe Monument about 15 years ago but it was closed because of a federal budget shortfall. We did get a good look at the area and the small town of Ajo (near the monument) and knew we wanted to come back.
We got to Organpipe Monument the night we left Quartzite and weren’t disappointed. The campground was a virtual cactus garden….
…and the sunset was beautiful!
Coming from a rainforest, everything desert is different for us. Camping under a cactus with all the new (to us) varieties of birds around and 70+ degrees with sunshine and blue sky was a big treat!
That night the wind blew….that wasn’t a treat! It was our first good blow in the camper and it brought us right up from a dead sleep. Susan thought someone was trying to get in the camper (I'm sure she was thinking about all the border patrol rigs and warnings we'd read) so I had to wander out and check before she could be comfortable.
That was our "outbound" leg of the shakedown trip and it's also the end of Post 1.
Our daughter is in college and we wanted to spend Christmas at home in Juneau with her, so, after only a night at Organpipe, it was time to point the rig north and head back to Washington, where we would store it with “Grandma G.” and fly home for a month before we continued the journey.
Post 2 of 2 will run north through Arizona from Organpipe, then through parts of Utah, Idaho, Oregon and ends in Washington.
Happy Trails!
The Alaskan Snowbirds
We’re back in Juneau after our first couple trips with the now well used Grandby, so, I'll try to get this posted even though I'm not sure I've got anything figured out
I'll have to do even this first, short, trip in a couple posts 'cause my photo ammunition is limited to 5 by the forum (and rightly so...takes a lot of download time otherwise).
We wanted a used camper but the ones that were available didn’t fit our needs and Stan offered the display model, so….
We picked the camper up on December 2, from the FWC factory in Woodland, CA. Chicale, Kirk and the rest of the fine FWC crew had the camper spit-polished and installed in a little over half a day…and Chicale provided a tour of the factory to boot…interesting. The crew at FWC is great…fast, helpful and like to say “yes”!
The next day we spent outfitting. Wal-Mart made their year that day.
After a couple nights in RV parks in Nevada to learn how to use all those goodies that we’d never been around before we headed south toward Organpipe Cactus National Monument. We made a quick day tour of Death Valley, spent a night at Windsor State Park at Lake Havasu City and at the Quartzite short stay area on the way to Organpipe.
I hadn’t thought to take out the cross-bed tool box or remove the tailgate before we headed south to find a camper, so, we ended up with a hitch carrier for the toolbox and the tailgate inside the camper. It was a pain to unload/reload them every time we wanted in the camper.
This is how the rig was set up when we were at the entrance to Death Valley on Dec. 5
We didn’t spend much time exploring DV on this trip…just a stop at Furnace Creek, a tour of the borax works and a quick drive through…tourist stuff, but the borax works walk really was interesting to us.
The first night we spent “off grid” was at Quartzite. Not exactly remote but still a good spot to get familiar with using the battery/propane systems. It was my first night without earplugs since we got the camper…sweet!
We met some very nice folks from Alberta in Quartzite who invited us to their “jam”…the guys were fiddlers…but since we didn’t know the area and were still getting used to the camper we needed to get set-up before night and didn’t get to hear them. Hope we get another chance next year!
We stopped at Organpipe Monument about 15 years ago but it was closed because of a federal budget shortfall. We did get a good look at the area and the small town of Ajo (near the monument) and knew we wanted to come back.
We got to Organpipe Monument the night we left Quartzite and weren’t disappointed. The campground was a virtual cactus garden….
…and the sunset was beautiful!
Coming from a rainforest, everything desert is different for us. Camping under a cactus with all the new (to us) varieties of birds around and 70+ degrees with sunshine and blue sky was a big treat!
That night the wind blew….that wasn’t a treat! It was our first good blow in the camper and it brought us right up from a dead sleep. Susan thought someone was trying to get in the camper (I'm sure she was thinking about all the border patrol rigs and warnings we'd read) so I had to wander out and check before she could be comfortable.
That was our "outbound" leg of the shakedown trip and it's also the end of Post 1.
Our daughter is in college and we wanted to spend Christmas at home in Juneau with her, so, after only a night at Organpipe, it was time to point the rig north and head back to Washington, where we would store it with “Grandma G.” and fly home for a month before we continued the journey.
Post 2 of 2 will run north through Arizona from Organpipe, then through parts of Utah, Idaho, Oregon and ends in Washington.
Happy Trails!
The Alaskan Snowbirds
