Tramper Voyage 2

Posted on May 21, 2025 | 7 comments

How exciting! We lead charmed lives. We get to take another long journey in a self contained vehicle!

Day 1 of Tramper Voyage 2, May 18, 2025

Miles traveled:  153

Where we landed:  Cape Henlopen State Park, DE

Tramper Voyage 2 has begun! We left Baltimore this afternoon and drove to the Atlantic Ocean at Cape Henlopen in Delaware. The idea is to step into the Atlantic, drive 3,000 miles and step into the Pacific, all in a multiple-weeks-long ramble across the northern U.S.  We have no reservations and no set itinerary. We’ll visit a few friends but mostly see the sights, meet the people and enjoy our health and freedom.

Thirteen years ago in 2012, we quit our jobs and took Tramper Voyage 1. Six months on the road in a 1957 Yellowstone travel trailer pulled by a grossly underpowered 4Runner named Marfa. Why did we do it? Two reasons: 1.) I was a recent cancer survivor. I’d had a couple years of heavy-duty chemo, radiation therapy and surgeries. We decided to celebrate and take a trip. 2.) We both worked in healthcare and had seen all the unlucky people. People who had finally retired and were ready to travel. Their dreams of freedom were dashed when a post retirement doctor visit yielded a cancer diagnosis or heart disease. Or maybe they fell off the roof a week into retirement and lost a leg (true story).

We didn’t want to wait for retirement. A frugal lifestyle and jobs that we could replace allowed us the freedom to go. So we did. And we went back to work again after the trip of a lifetime. It’s chronicled here on “The Voyage of the Tramper” blog we wrote as we traveled. www.trampervoyage.com

Fast forward to today. We are now both fully retired. We bought a large van and set it up with a bed and portable kitchen. Her name is Helen (because she’s a Honda Odyssey). Having a van with a bed means that we can ‘stealth’ camp this time. It won’t be so obvious that we live in our rig. Helen makes me feel like a teenager again! A van with a bed was a very popular party venue in the 70’s. Or so I’m told…

Stay tuned and find out what we’re up to!

Jane

This post written at Whole & Grounded Cafe, Woodbury, NJ

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Hello world, it’s Jane and David…

Posted on September 1, 2012 | 5 comments

Here’s the first entry in our trip diary. We’ll post the story of our adventures here.

This is a photo of our home for the next 6 to 12 months.  It’s a 1957 Yellowstone that sleeps 4 and has a kitchen and shower. We named it “The Tramper” because of a slip of the tongue. We never did decide whether it was a “camper” or “trailer” and, more than once, our indecision came out as “tramper”. So, “The Tramper” it became and we hope what will follow will be fun and amazing!

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Grand Teton National Park, WY

Posted on June 27, 2025 | 1 comment

Day 36 – June 22, 2025

Miles traveled – 6504

My mother loved this place the best. She traveled a lot in her retirement, all over the world. But the Grand Tetons in Wyoming was her favorite place. She was able to go there 5 or 6 times. The very last time was a year or so after my father died. Landing in Denver, she was short of breath because of the altitude and because of a condition that she never disclosed to us. Despite our frequent offers to go back home to 500 ft elevation, she stayed on supplemental oxygen and elevated sleeping to remain in her favorite place for the entire planned duration. She never stopped smiling and enjoyed every minute.

David and I arrived in Jackson Hole, WY, just down the road from the park, in drizzly, chilly weather. Jackson is an iconic Western town in the valley below the mountain range. One of the disadvantages of getting old is that things change over time. What I remember from 50 years ago as a tiny town with people riding horses in the streets is now bursting at the seams. So many cars. So many stores and outlets and office buildings. I’m sure somehow that, if I were to see Jackson for the first time today, I would love it. I was actually ready to bolt for home at this point but David, intrepid David, reminded me how much I had been hoping to stop in to the Tetons on this trip.

So off we went up the trail into the mountains.

A few miles uphill and we came to this beautiful lake

Silence and beauty was overwhelming. I was overwhelmed. By the big trip, by my own breathing issues, by the longing to be home after so many adventures and challenges. As I stood at this amazing place, I felt something unwind within. Things that we stuck came loose and flowed outward as beauty flowed into me. So good. I started to cry and thanked David for talking me into coming up here. I felt my Mom’s presence.

This was the highlight of the Tetons visit. From the valley below, the peaks were shrouded in mist and clouds, so no spectacular photos this time.

Our campsite was cold but lovely.

Farewell, Tetons. I’ll be back.

Jane (written at home in Towson)

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Jeffrey City, Wyoming

Posted on June 27, 2025 | Leave a comment

Day 27 – June 23, 2025

Miles traveled – 6,802

Traveling across the wide, dry plains of Eastern Wyoming, we came into a tiny hamlet called Jeffrey City.

Its official population is 58, but we only saw one guy living and working there.

This is potter Byron and his dog, Floyd.

Jeffrey was a uranium boom town that went bust in 1982.

This building is what captured my attention.

If you are driving down the road and see this, you must stop!

Byron and Floyd couldn’t have been nicer or really any more interesting. Byron is a talented artist in clay. His workshop and store are inside this building. He makes pottery during the winter months and hangs out and sells his work in the summer when the tourists are going to and from Yellowstone and the Tetons.

Here’s what I picked:

It’s approx 10” tall and is created with layers of colored clay. I think it’s beautiful and fascinating and will treasure it always. Thank you, Byron, I’m so glad we stopped.

Jane. (Written in Davis, WV)

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Moo Morning

Posted on June 24, 2025 | Leave a comment

Somewhere in the Malheur National Forest near Riley, OR

Day 34, June 20, 2025

Miles traveled: 5,661

Heading across Oregon to get to Grand Teton National Park, we began to look for a campsite near dark. No campgrounds or motels were anywhere around. Those luxuries were many miles away. So, we drove a few miles down a National Forest road and found a nice place to park the van and sleep. Very isolated. There were a couple of houses in the distance. Ranch houses. But nothing else.

Mostly, as far as we could see, there were just mountains and sagebrush with few trees. A great big, western landscape and we were alone in it.

We parked under a magnificent Western Juniper.

The stars came out not long after we set up a rudimentary camp. We both woke in the middle of the night and stepped outside the van. We looked up and the universe was on display, including the giant smudge of the Milky Way.

There was a small concern for bears or worse but everything was very peaceful. After a good night’s rest, here’s what we woke up to the next morning:

A very curious mama cow!

She brought her baby and a friend who had a baby too. I guess we were a novelty on their vast grazing area. When we opened a door, they turned to leave, probably discussing the nerve of us, invading their territory. But they were very sweet.

Jane

(Written at Lake Maloney State Park, North Platte, Nebraska)

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Weather you are ready or not?

Posted on June 23, 2025 | Leave a comment

Living in the Mid-Atlantic gives so much to celebrate and be grateful for. Really, few hurricanes, usually tempered down to “Tropical Storm” level by the time they are inland to Baltimore. Only about 3 tornadoes in 60-plus years. Snow, but not so much as to be “actually a barrier”, beautiful ice storms, usually thin and shiny but not tearing down every tree in sight. And, heat, yep humid but with our trees and shading techniques only a dozen or so days where we turn on air conditioning. Yes, really, our fan runs blowing out a window in one room, drawing reasonable air into our bedroom. (Only once or twice a year do we panic, splash cold water on arms and face to argue over whether we need AC that night)

But, for the road? In NY our friends were suffering about the dozenth day of rain so we went shopping with them. J-P and Anne happily trouped through Sierra, Sportsmen’s Warehouse and Walmart with us as we quickly exceeded all of our collective shopping tolerance. We left NY the next day and raced as far as needed to find sun and biked in BVM/Bonneyville Mills, Indiana, We didn’t see rain again until 9 days later in the Palisades Campground near Red Lodge, MT. Then today, 18 days later as drizzle on the highway entering Boise, Idaho.

Temperatures have ranged from 101 degrees to about 37 degrees F. We have not used our heater once as yet. The sleeping bags are flat and unzipped, one on bottom, one as a cover along with a sheet, easy to launder, easy to toss aside or grab a bit extra. The sun though, is a ruthless overseer. We have foil of course for the windshield, but also every window in the van sides, front and rear. Shade is a treasured commodity for parking and here again, the East has more to offer than out here. That of course leads to big views of big skies.

Seriously, though, we have had an occasional eye on things. We don’t want to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The modern world gives so many advantages in weather forecasting. We were watching the “Fire Closure” map in Washington and Oregon. Fortunately, we slipped into and out of our chosen places without event. I guess our next big concern is the middle of this BIG COUNTRY. We sure wouldn’t want to drive intentionally toward any severe storms. However, wow, there are lots and lots of places with “No Internet”/”No Service”!!! believe it or not. Wish us luck…now we hear there is a “Heat Dome” forming! So far, Helen keeps her temperature gauge right below the middle where it belongs. Good hoses, new water pump, timing belt, tensioner and serpentine belts help her keep her cool.

(written 6/20 in the Flying M coffee shop, Boise, ID and finished 6/23 in Lake Maloney State Park, Nebraska)

David

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Crater Lake National Park, OR

Posted on June 20, 2025 | Leave a comment

Days 32 & 33, June 18-19, 2025

Miles traveled: 5,261

We’ve written a bunch of posts lately including more than one destination or activity. A supremely magnificent National Park like Crater Lake deserves its own post!

We devoted two days to this amazing place but did little more than gawk and take photos. Six thousand feet is a bit much altitude for me to do our usual strenuous activity. We hiked for about an hour on the Discovery trail around the rim.

This cool graphic shows what the volcano , Mt Mazama, looked like before the big eruption.

Everyone who sees the beautiful water of the lake asks themselves the same question- why is the lake so blue?

The answer is what you might expect. The lake is extremely deep, over 2,000 feet. More depth to bring out the blue (or, technically, the other colors are absorbed by the pure water). The lake is extremely placid. The wind sometimes sends ripples across the surface but there are no inlets or outlets to roil the surface. No inlets means that no particulate matter, other than what’s produced by the volcanic walls, enters the water. No silt, no pollution.

We saw a bit of tree pollen floating around but the water is pure and clear. The lake is filled by rainwater and snow. Crater Lake gets an average of 41 feet of snow each winter.

We saw the lake at 2 different times of day, evening after 6pm and the next morning at approximately 10:00. None of these lake photos are edited nor are the colors enhanced in any way. Truly amazing place!

Highly recommend!

Jane

(Written in the Flying M Coffee Shop, Boise, ID)

Post script: I was here in 1982, hope I can find my slides and 35mm pics from then just to compare. It was at my insistence that we came here this time. I’d like to insist that you all make the trek also. (Maybe a bit later as the whole road will be open and more trails available)

David

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