England #1 (Arrival) 5-13

May 31, 2013

We have crossed the big water and we are now in this strange country called Great Britain. Strange indeed. They do speak English — sort of. The steering wheels on cars are on the wrong side, and if that wasn’t enough to make you nervous, they insist on driving on the bloody wrong side of […]

Across the USA 2013 #12 (Turtle Delivery to Port)

May 29, 2013

We have been working with Murphy for many years. We know his 1st law; “If anything can go wrong, it probably will.” We waited patiently in the dusty parking lot of A1 Escort Service near the Port of Baltimore. In order to enter the Port, either to pick up something or to deliver something to […]

Across the USA 2013 #11 (Shipping Surprise)

May 27, 2013

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!!! We’re not shipping to Germany after all. Just two days before we were scheduled to deliver The Turtle V to the port in Baltimore, we received the following email from a member of The Silk Road Caravan Club: A couple of years ago, a couple shipped their RV to Germany and were […]

Across the USA 2013 #10 (Shipping Security)

May 25, 2013

Not that we were worried or that we didn’t trust the hard-working longshoremen in Baltimore or in Belgium, but we had read about the horror stories of campers being broken into and equipment being stolen. When you’re shipping a vehicle overseas, replacing equipment is much more difficult. The Turtle Expedition’s Tortuga Camper will not fit […]

Across the USA 2013 # 9 (Safelite/SmartPlug)

May 23, 2013

One of the last minute projects we took care of in Wrightsville PA was to have the experts at Safelite (in York) replace the windshield. It was not broken, but it had acquired the normal little bug and sand pits over the last 50,000 miles. We wanted to start fresh. Admittedly, I am a little […]

Across the USA 2013 #8 (Hoak’s 4WD)

May 20, 2013

Our last stop before shipping The Turtle V to Europe was Wrightsville, Pennsylvania, home of Hoak’s Four Wheel Drive Center. This was a safe harbor to do a final oil & filter change, remove all lights, cameras, GPS, etc. from the outside and the cab for safe transport in the double-locked camper, and finish up […]

Across the USA #7 (Rickson Truck Wheels)

May 18, 2013

Leaving the Espar Headquarters in Mississauga, Ontario, we headed south towards New York State. Crossing the Rainbow Bridge we snapped a picture of Niagara Falls and it occurred to me that we were not “traveling”. This was just “driving”. Our typical travel day might only involve 150 miles and maybe 4 or 5 hours on […]

Across the USA 2013 #6 (Espar)

May 15, 2013

After a quick stop at Ken-Tool, we headed northeast to Canada. Despite our fears of long lines and secondary inspections, there was no waiting and Canadian Customs simply asked us if we had any firearms or explosives, and then waved us through. In the morning, the Customer Service people and Technicians were waiting for us […]

Across the USA 2013 #5 (Ken-Tool)

May 12, 2013

We are moving quickly now. Hope you can keep up. After a relaxing visit and overnight stay at Reutter’s Roost B&B (probably gained 2 pounds), we headed towards Canada. An important stop along the way was Ken-Tool, the world’s leading manufacturer of tire service tools. Sometime soon, I’ll be doing a full post on our […]

Across the USA 2013 #4 (Reutter’s Roost B&B)

May 4, 2013

In route to our next business stop, we made time to visit Monika’s first “host mother” in Anoka, MN when she came to the States to teach through a foreign language teachers’ program for high schools back in 1976/1977. Alice Krull and her late husband Hal turned her parents beautiful farmhouse in Valley City, Ohio […]