On Friday, December 28, 2012 10:15:06 AM UTC-4, ESAD wrote:
On 12/28/12 8:55 AM, iBoaterer wrote:

In article , says...



On 12/27/2012 5:21 PM, GuzzisRule wrote:

On Thu, 27 Dec 2012 16:37:35 -0500, iBoaterer wrote:



In article ,

says...



On Thu, 27 Dec 2012 13:36:57 -0500, iBoaterer wrote:



In article ,

says...



On Thu, 27 Dec 2012 12:18:23 -0500, iBoaterer wrote:



In article ,

says...



On 12/27/12 11:01 AM, wrote:

On Thursday, December 27, 2012 10:15:18 AM UTC-4, ESAD wrote:

On 12/27/12 8:59 AM, Eisboch wrote:











"GuzzisRule" wrote in message



...











Here ya go!







http://www.rvwholesalers.com/resourc...ptor_2012..pdf







Everything you want in one place. Keep clicking the down arrow. This is



what's called a 'Toy Hauler'



fifth wheel.







---------------------------------------------------







Looks familiar. We had the 377-SE version. Went "camping" once with it



and had the most miserable week of my life.







My daughter started it all. She and her husband were into camping and



were purchasing a new travel trailer. She convinced Mrs.E and I and my



older son and his wife to get a trailer as well for "family" camping.



I saw it as a good excuse to get a new truck, so I bought the Raptor Toy



Hauler along with a Ford 350 Diesel and had the fifth wheel hitch



installed. I had a Harley at the time and figured the toy hauler would



come in handy. My son bought a slightly smaller fifth wheel and a Ford



250 with the V-10. We all picked up our new RV's the same day at the



dealership.







My daughter made reservations for all of us for a week at a campground



in New Hampshire that they visited often. I forget what the name of it



is. I call it "Marty Moose Land". We all had sites beside each other.



The trip to the campground was uneventful. The Ford pulled the Raptor



with no problem and I thought this was going to be pretty cool.







Well, that particular week in the mountains of New Hampshire was the



hottest, most humid week I've spent anywhere. Big thunderstorms every



afternoon kept us all huddled inside our respective RV's with the AC



units running at full blast. When it stopped raining and we ventured



outside, the mosquitoes were waiting to draw blood.







One humid, sultry afternoon, we were sitting at my son's site trying to



have a beer while swishing away the bugs and mosquitoes. His young



daughter was playing inside his fifth wheel. As we sat talking, I



looked up and saw water seeping out of the storage area door under the



master bedroom of the RV. Got up, opened the door, and gallons of



water started pouring out. His daughter had plugged the vanity sink in



the bedroom and had the faucets turned on full. It had filled the sink



and was overflowing everywhere, soaking the carpets and draining into



the storage area. I took off to find a hardware store to get a wet



vac while the rest started sopping up the water.







Gracefully, the last day of our camping adventure arrived. My son and



his family left, and then us by early afternoon. My daughter and her



husband wanted to stay a little longer, so we said goodbye and hit the



road.







By 8pm, I had just arrived home and backed the fifth-wheel into it's



spot at our house when the phone rang. It was my daughter. They had



just left the campsite, got a mile down the road and their vehicle



snapped a tie rod. They were sitting on the side of a busy road with a



broken SUV, their new, 28' travel trailer and two crying kids.







So, dear old Dad heads back to the New Hampshire mountains in his truck



to rescue them. Finally got back to their house by 2am, towing the



trailer.



Their truck was put on a flatbed and taken to a repair shop.







The next day I listed the Raptor "For Sale" in a couple of the RV



classifieds. Sold it a few weeks later to a buyer in Canada.







BTW, that wasn't our first attempt at trying the camping scene. When I



first retired and we wintered in Florida, we thought it would be fun to



make the trips back and forth in a RV. We tried a 37' Pace Arrow class



A motorhome, a Chinook Glacier and a Dodge Sprinter RV. Of the three,



I liked the Sprinter the most and we owned it the longest, but we



eventually sold the Florida house and rarely used the Sprinter. We



ended up selling it to a guy in Missouri who flew out and drove it



home. He and his wife still send us email pictures of their travels in



it.







Camping is great for some people. It's just not for me. I'd much



rather live on a boat.



















We've been to Maine a few times. On one of those trips, we rented an RV



and loaded it onto a ferry to take us to an island campground for a few



days. The RV, the island, and so forth were fine, but the island was



infested with biting bugs. They weren't mosquitoes, they were much



bigger, and it was hot and humid, too. Misery most of the time.







The next time we went to Maine, we stayed he







http://mainestayinn.com/







No annoying insects indoors or outdoors, beautiful rooms, great



breakfasts, and within walking distance of lots of sights and shopping



and the waterfront. My wife was *much* happier! We ate too many meals at



Mabel's Lobster House, purportedly where President and Mrs. George H.W.



Bush had many meals when he was healthier. Lobsters at the dock were



about $2.50 a pound. I braved walking into the water at a local beach



and got in about halfway up to my knees before the cold chased me out. I



love the Maine coastline.







On the way back, we stayed at a B&B in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to see



relatives and old friends. Nice enough place, but no match for the Maine



Stay. No bugs.



That spot looks nice. I've always wanted to get down to the Seashore Trolly Museum in that area. I was serious in the summer of 2011 but after contacting the museum found out that the main attraction for me (Birney Safety Car) was judged too run down to put on display or even to fix up in the immediate future.

The birney car was the only streetcar used in Halifax from about 1921 until 1949..the year I was born.





Kennebunkport can get a little crowded with tourists (like us), but when

we were there, in the height of the tourist season, it wasn't that bad.

There's lots to see in that part of Maine. LL Bean isn't that far away,

and it is worth a day's visit.



Yeah, that's what I want to see and do when I go to explore somewhere,

shop and go to a mall.



If you've not traveled to Maine and seen the sights, you're missing a lot. Kennebunkport is well

worth a stop, with campgrounds right outside of town (and at least one, that we were in, allows

tents!). http://hemlockgrovecampground.com/photo-gallery



If you visit Kennebunkport and you *don't* visit the LLBean store, then you're missing out on a

great treat.



I've been to Maine on two different occasions. I sure as hell didn't

spend my time holed up in a hotel and shopping.



And you didn't visit the LLBean store?



No, I can buy LL Bean stuff from their catalog. I had better things to

do than shop.



The LLBean store has much more than just shopping.



But, I understand your reluctance to engage in such a thing.





Care to enlighten me?



They have a lot of touristy things to get you there to shop.







First, the L.L. Bean flagship store ain't in Kennebunkport. The flagship

store is huge, and there are other L.L. Bean stores in the same town,

including hunting, fishing, boating stores. If you like what the stores

sell, the flagship store in Freeport is a great place to visit.



Second, it is a very large, very interesting store with lots of

displays and merchandise that isn't necessarily in the catalog.



Third, if you are interested in what L.L. Bean sells, and you still have

questions, you can see the actual merchandise at the big store and ask

questions. Sure, you can also do this at any of the L.L. Bean retail

stores, but none of the retail stores has the variety of selection and

sizes on hand as the "home" store.



Fourth, visiting the flagship store of L.L. Bean is an interesting

experience.



I like the L.L. Bean stores. In fact, on our infrequent visits to

Northern Virginia, it is one of three stores there I'll waste time in at

the big Tysons shopping mall while my wife shops. The other two are the

Apple store and Restoration Hardware.

I have to get back to get my LL Bean Hunting boots re-soled.
I could mail them from here and get them back but at $45.00 for new lower rubber portion and shipping both ways etc, it'd probably be cheaper to just buy a new pair.
I've had the boots since 1993 and they still look great...although the 'chain' type traction patern on the soles has gotten mighty smooth.