Exploring the American West

[Deleted]

Back in the 19th century, William Henry Jackson traveled the American West in a horse-drawn wagon, using his wet plate camera to record the first landscape photos of that region. Following in Jackson's footsteps, we have acquired our own wagon so we can continue his explorations. We'll be roughing it (it only has a queen-sized bed) but it's the price that must be paid to get good images.

[Randy]

Nice! We still have ours.

[vintageslrs]

Good Luck Wayne.
Looking forward to the images.

[herron]

Hope you can take all the "roughing" it, Wayne. Should be something that will help you focus on the shots (ow...that one even hurt writing it!)

Randy: I used to have one like yours (with only one propane tank, however).

[olroy2044]

Very Nice, Wayne! Enjoy!

One question though. Are you sure that little tiny truck will pull it? ;D
Roy

[mickeyobe]

Wow! Beautiful!

A latter day prairie schooner.

Have a wonderful journey.

Perhaps you should practice circling the wagons before you embark on this hazardous voyage.

My wife and two sons and I made a trip like that in 1973. We had a tent trailer exactly like Randy's even the same colours, but no propane. We survived a bear attack in Glacier National Park.

Keep your powder dry.

Mickey

[pompiere]

The western states are my favorite part of the country to travel. I was stationed in Idaho when I was in the Navy and I took my family on a 6000 mile circle of the country in 2007. Then, in 2008 I went with my son's Boy Scout troop to Yellowstone and Mt. Rushmore. I didn't find out that none of the other scout leaders had been there, until we were on our way. They had planned a route, but I acted as the tour guide in the park. It was great to get off the bus and hike the trails.

If you go to the Grand Canyon, take the time to see it from the North Rim. The view from the North Rim is better and the crowds are non-existent. You can also go through Zion National Park on the way. Both are worth the extra driving.

Ron

[nikonbob]

Wayne

Enjoy using your rig and post photos from your ramblings.

Bob

[PeterW]

That looks a very nice trailer van, Wayne.

Back in the 1970s and 1980s Valerie and I used to test tralier vans for the Automobile Association's magazine Drive and Trail. We had a different van for a week every two months and our car was an MGB GT, not really a towing car. So borrowed a suitable car from one of the car makers to pull the vans

The biggest we tested was a Swedish 22-foot van which had everything you can think of: shower room, central heating, the lot. Volvo lent us their biggest turbocharged estate car to pull it so we had an all-Swedish outfit. It handled beautifully.

We tested it in February, and it was quite spring-like when we started out but while we were away the weather changed and we had snow blizzards. We were snug and warm enough in the van but the journey home on icy roads was, shall we say, interesting.

I don't know how much experience you have of trailer towing, and I may be preaching to the converted, but if you want to avoid trailer snake don't put all your faith in hitch dampers and other gadgets. Keep plenty of the moveable weight inside the van, like a couple of five-gallon water kegs, well forward in the nose to put as much weight on the towing hitch as the car makers say it will take. Trailer snake can be a real bugger to cope with.

Have a safe tour, enjoy yourselves and bring back lots of great pictures.

PeterW

[Randy]

Peter, you've had some great experiences, you should write a book about it....."Life Travels with Peter and Valerie"...eh?

[Deleted]

Peter:

I have been reading up on the best way to avoid trailer sway. You are right, keeping the weight up front is one of the keys. Most newer trailers with double axles are designed to minimize that problem, too. We also are getting an "equalizing hitch" which distributes weight more equally between the trailer and the vehicle. I set my length limit at 22 feet when looking for a trailer. Anything above that looks pretty intimidating to me.

Randy: we had a tent trailer a few years back but could never really get into it. That's when I was still working and it seemed like it required a lot of time setting up and packing back up. Probably because I am lazy.

Ron: If you were in the Navy, stationed in Idaho, you must have been out at Arco at the INEL (nuclear laboratory). That's where all the engineers for the Navy Nuke boats trained.

Roy: The main reason I sold my little high gas mileage, four-cylinder Toyota Tacoma and got a Ford F150 V8 was so we could pull something like the trailer. A few years ago the F150-size truck was considered marginal for towing but the model has been beefed up and the trailers have got lighter. This one weighs in at 4,100 pounds, empty and about 5,500 pounds loaded (at the most). The truck is raher up to 7,200 pounds pulling capacity so I have given myself so leeway.

[Randy]

Since I've developed my diabetic neuropathy, we have only used the camper once. It cranks up and down with the crank, but the hardest part is sliding the beds in and out.....and finding a bathroom in the middle of the night. ;D

[pompiere]

Wayne,

Yes, I was at INEL at the S1W prototype. An hour on the bus from Idaho Falls every day. Those plants are all decommissioned now, in favor of old submarines tied to the pier on the East coast.

You shouldn't have any problem towing your trailer with the F150. Two years ago we towed a similar sized cargo trailer, loaded with 6000 pounds of marching band equipment and uniforms, from Ohio to Florida with an Expedition. We didn't have any problems with stability or power. Like Peter said, keep the weight biased toward the front of the trailer, and use the hitch to transfer some weight to the front of the truck. Good luck!

Ron

[Deleted]

Ron:

I toured the INEL once. We were in a reactor building and they had canals about 30 feet deep filled with water so pure you could see the bottom, The canals were used to move old and new control rods to and from the reactor safely--providing a radiation shield. (I'm sure this is familiar to you). We could see rods at lying on the bottom glowing. I asked the guide if anyone ever fell in the canals. He joked that someone once did and got back out so fast he didn't even get wet!!

Interesting place. And so scenic!!

Wayne

PS: If I had a choice between winning $10,000 in the lottery and spending a few weeks at sea on a 688 class sub, I would take the sub ride.

[pompiere]

Wayne,

I never got into subs, I like to breath fresh air and see the sunset. I was on the USS California, a guided missile cruiser, now decommisioned. You know when they say "Join the Navy, see the world", they leave out the fact that 3/4 of the world is water, and that's the part you will be seeing. It was a good experience overall, though.

Ron