Fresh from our Tampa trip with newfound excitement, Rob focused his trip planning on the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP), aiming for the first week of June, 2018.

This is Part 4 of our “Fit Test” series. To start at the beginning, Part 1 can be found here.

He wanted it to be as late in the spring/as early in the summer as possible, prior to most public schools in that area being out of classes for the academic year. His thinking was to enjoy decent late spring weather with minimal hassles obtaining campsites along the route.  He only made reservations at a campground at our starting point and near more populace Asheville, our terminus on the BRP proper.

We flew out in the early morning hours of Saturday June 2^nd from Boston to Charlotte. Once again, we enjoyed the conversation with the Lyft driver from the airport this time to the rental van owner’s home. Upon our arrival there, we got our introduction to the 2018 Travato G by the lovely lady of the household, a teacher who ably served in that role for us as well.  Welcomed by southern hospitality, replete in local knowledge, we set off to fill the van with provisions and then head north, to Fancy Gap, Virginia.

Rob’s thought on the weather proved to be spot on.  The previous seven water-logged weeks of spring meant the parkway and surrounding areas made headlines across the country as dramatic landslides and road closures occurred. Upon our arrival, the landscapes were drying out and we enjoyed great weather, pleasant hikes with gorgeous waterfalls, relatively uncrowded trails, amazing vistas, open roads, and our choice of campsites all along the route.

This good fortune enabled us to focus on our life in and out of this Travato campervan.  Cutting to the chase, while we tried not to fall in love with it, in less than 48 hours, we both were smitten. The shortcomings we experienced in the Hymer Aktiv all seemed to resolve with the subtle design and quality differences that Winnebago had chosen for the Travato 59G. I no longer felt we had to have a larger LTV campervan and Rob likewise appreciated the subtle design differences as compared to the Hymer Aktiv. I was impressed that little things, like hinges and window coverings, were holding up well versus the Hymer, even though both vans had about the same amount of mileage and both were rented when the owners were not using them.

There was just one more issue for us to settle along the way of this trip. If we were to get a Travato 59G which, if any, options were important to us? Winnebago (WGO) had announced a raft of upgrades and options with the 2019 production year at the Tampa RV Show. It had struck us in Tampa how well WGO folks were listening to their ownership group, as it seemed the upgrades were all pretty much in line with the oft-mentioned desires and wishes and popular modifications made by this energetic band of campervan devotees. Among the announced coming attractions were options for a lithium battery set-up, still in test mode, but that would preclude the need for a generator, apron style acrylic windows, leather seats, etc. But these all bump up the cost of a new vehicle – and if we went with the new lithium especially, we would be among the early adopters and it would add to the delivery time – several months more to the wait for a new rig. Did we really want to delay our next trip – our maiden voyage in our very own van – by that much time?

Here is a tale about the trusted generator, standard in the 2018 rig we rented (and used in many, many others for many years of reliable service). Had this event not occurred for us, we might have gone a different way with our purchase ultimately. 

Some background first. The house portion of the 2018 Travato we rented was powered by AGM batteries. To run the van’s microwave or AC, you have to be in a place where the van can be plugged in to an electrical power supply or else run the generator in order for the microwave or AC to operate as they command such a heavy load for power. 

One night we rolled in to a nearly empty campground and chose a pretty secluded spot on the RV camper loop. It was a lovely evening with soft breezes and just the right temperature to enjoy a grilled dinner outdoors. We leveled the van in the non-electrical site, opened it up wide to take in the fresh air, set up the picnic table and set our sights on making dinner. The scene was set perfectly for an Instagram forest setting. The only problem was dinner – the chicken I had taken out to defrost that morning was pretty much in a state of being an usable block of ice. Thus, being in a non-electrical site, we had to fire up the genny in order to run the microwave and continue our meal prep. Simple enough. Yes, it was.

HOLY SMOKES!! 

That powerful genny roared to life! It seemed to shout, “HELLO!!!! WAY OVER THERE! Yoo-hoo!!! TENT CAMPERS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PARK!! PAY NO ATTENTION! IT’S JUST US IN THE VAN, DESTROYING THE PEACEFUL VIBE OF THE EVENING! YEP – THE RUDE GLAMPERS IN THE CAMPERVAN BACK OVER HERE!! GOOD EVENING! IF YOU CAN’T SEE US, WE KNOW YOU CAN HEAR US AND SOON, YOU’LL SMELL US TOO!!”

(okay, time out, Rob checking in here. Yes, the generator was noisy, but I think Betsy’s description is a little over the top, but that’s just between you and me…)

Ah yes. The generator made quite an entrance into the world. To add to its powerful vocal chops, it belched out some fairly noxious spent fossil fuel fumes.  Of course we had all of the doors and windows wide open with the roof fan running. A warm early summer breeze kicked up just then, channeling the fumes inside, so that they settled upon us like old friends for a night of cards. We dove for every opening – closing up the doors, windows, and the fan to limit entry and regain some semblance of our hearing but trapping the odor.

(Rob here again. This was a rookie mistake. We should have paid more attention to the open windows before starting the generator. Many, actually most campervan owners successfully use their generator. We just seemed to stumble…)

Understanding that it was good for the generator to run it regularly, we proceeded to defrost our chicken in the microwave and carry on with our meal plan, running the generator, all while hoping its earth shattering tendencies would smooth out and become less invasive in time.  It chugged along to its own benefit and likewise we determined it was not much to our benefit or those around us – human and otherwise. Wishing for a less obtrusive off grid performer, the added initial cost for a lithium setup suddenly was confirmed to better align with how we anticipated exploring the continent and quietly living in and out of the van.

Our fit test completed on June 9, 2018.

Now to set about ordering our dream machine and wait patiently for its arrival some 5 months later, just in time for the holidays and the start of winter. Good things come to those who wait and that was true for us, now that we are two geologists, in one campervan that fits our needs well with no deadlines.

This concludes our Fit Test series. Check back for more posts about our transition to a smaller footprint coming soon! Here are a few of my favorite photos from this trip:

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