A trip to the Motherland - VanDOit headquarters

 2021-01-29

It’s been nearly 3 months since my last day of work.  I’m currently camped at the Long Pine Key campground, inside the Everglades National Park.  I’ve been here four nights while I do some exploration of Southern Florida. 

Let me back up slightly though – my last entry was just at Christmas time.  When I wrote that one, I was staying with a friend at his home near Marion, NC.  Since then I’ve done a round-trip to Blue Springs, Mo for a visit to the VanDOit Headquarters, been back in Greenville for a necessary Vet visit for Gunner while also having some repairs done to BlackSheep (my Jeep).  Thus, I spent nearly a week in Greenville before turning South towards the tip of the Eastern U.S. coast. 

When I left Mike’s house, just a few days before Christmas, I was heading to the Motherland in Blue Springs, Mo.  I'd had some issues with my inverter and since I have a flexible schedule, and the team at VanDOit was able to put me on the schedule, I decided just to go out there to have the issue addressed.  

I headed west out of Marion towards Tennessee and Frozen Head State Park.  This is a famous park if you’re an Ultra Runner – it’s the home of the famous Barkley Marathon.  One of the more interesting ultra-marathon events you’ll ever hear about.  Go ahead and check it out – there are videos and I’m sure plenty of blogs and what not.  Anyway, if you’re an ultra-runner, you won’t need to look it up.  You can see the famous Gate in the background of this sunrise photo, then the close up with my ham of a dog, Gunner

Gunner and I had a good time hiking up the West Lookout Tower trail.  I’m still trying to learn Gunner’s limitations, so we only went up about a mile or so, slightly past the Linlog branch creek crossing.  

Gunner and I actually did three hikes that day totaling probably a bit over 5 miles.  He did really well on these hikes.  I think he likes the cool weather and he loves the trails.  We spent two nights at Frozen Head, that’s what gave us the opportunity to get out on the trails a bit. 

As we continued further west, the temperatures dropped more and more.  I was running from what I understood was to be a winter storm in Eastern Tennessee.  I don’t know if the storm actually dropped any snow or rain as I was able to clear it. 

My next two nights were spent at the Land Between the Lakes recreation area right there at the Kentucky / Tennessee / Missouri intersections. 

That is a really beautiful area.  The temperatures had dropped into the teens so we were super thankful for the Espar in my van, Galahad.  It kept us warm throughout the two nights we spent there. 

Although it was cold, it was very clear.  I think Gunner has some limitations on how cold he likes it, but he does like to run in the cool weather. We got out of the van numerous times to hike / run around the campground and surrounding area. 

What a great campsite.  There was NOBODY else at the campground.  While it was cold, with the clear weather and only moderate wind, I really enjoyed the two nights and the day of exploration we had there. 

Before deciding on that campground, I had found a site on one of the apps I use.  It was a small forest service road not far from the actual campground.  The comments on the app indicated ‘high clearance 4wd’.  As I approached that intersection that would allow me to access that site, I opted instead to check out the campground first.  Finding no-one at the campground, and amazing sites as you can see, it was a simple decision – no need to drive back too far on that road.  I figured that I could explore it while I was in the area.

The day we left, I decided to drive down that road.  Less than 100 yards after I turned on the forest service road, it started uphill.  Part way up the hill there were some quite low branches that I knew Galahad would not clear.  As there was an area in which I could park Galahad at the bottom of the hill, I opted to take Gunner on a hike to check out the road. 

AM I GLAD I DID!  We hiked up the hill and of course, not too much further, the road went down the other side of the hill.  At the top of that descent was someone’s plastic bumper.  Further down, their license plate and some other un-identifiable (automotive) body parts!  The road was VERY rutted and a bit muddy.  I don’t believe that I could have gotten Galahad back up that hill if I had taken Galahad down it.  Not without some serious damage and possibly the need to have someone come and pull me up.  I’m thankful that I had the thought to scout on foot before bringing the van.  It doesn’t always happen that way though, more about that later.

We spent one more night at a really great, first-come-first-served campground in Missouri, about a days travel to Blue Springs, Mo.  The sites were nice and pretty level, in the forest so lots of trees.  A pit toilet was on the grounds which also served a trailhead.  Gunner and I took advantage of that trailhead to get a hike / run.  I let him off-leash until I came near a marked hike-in primitive campground where I could see someone’s tent.  Although I didn’t actually see the people, I could tell that someone was in the tent.  Gunner wasn’t even interested.  He’s so funny.

We went only a relatively short way beyond the tent before we turned around.  I had decided that I would do 30 minutes out, then back, unless the trail crossed a road.  If I got that far, I’d consider taking the road to get back.  There was really only that one trail that went through the trailhead in a big 26 or 28 mile loop.  It did cross roads on that loop, so if one was riding a bike, they could use the roads to make the smaller loops.  Anyway, Gunner had a fun time hiking and running behind me. I occasionally gave him water from my camelback.  He is really good at drinking from it.  I just make it like a water fountain and he laps it up.

Following the hike, we loaded up and headed to some camping areas near Blue Springs.  It was a nice drive, I always take the smallest roads I can find.  Sometimes that allows me to travel on forest service roads.  Essentially gravel roads that in dry condtions, just about any car could travel.  Many of them are perfectly suitable for travel when wet, but occasionally I find Galahad on these forest service roads that are used as access / egress by logging trucks.  These roads I would not advise for a 2wd vehicle.  I’ve had more than one instance of traveling on these logging area access roads (technically still forest service roads, so open to the public) and I’m glad my philosophy is ‘if you wait until you need 4wd to shift to 4wd, it’s probably already too late’.  In both of these cases, the gravel had all been pushed deep underground, and the mud or clay had come to the surface.  I could see the effect, and as I traveled on these roads, I came to the realization that I had no steering control because the tires had packed with mud.  Because I’m already in 4wd, just a little gas got the tires spinning to clear the mud/clay and get me some traction.  Thanks to the BFGoodrich tires and the Quigley 4wd conversion, I was able to drive right through the mess. 

One of these instances found me in a place of relatively clear ground which allowed me to assess the situation.  In considering my options – I had about 3 miles before the next intersection but I had only traveled about 1/8  to 1/4 of a mile from the last.  The place in which I stopped, in dry conditions, would be an easy place to turn around. In wet conditions with standing water in the ditches? I felt pretty sure that if I tried to turn around, I’d have a pretty good chance of getting stuck.  Going straight, possibly with up to 3 miles of the same conditions I just drove through?  Seemed like turning around would be turning away from adventure – thus, straight it was.  In that instance, it was definitely the right choice – the logging road, where the trucks turned off the forest service road, about doubled the total distance I had on that slippery surface (so total 1/4 to 1/2 mile).  Further, the worst of it was when the tires were initially getting clogged up.  A little heads up driving to keep the tires clear and I had no issues. 

The other instance put me on a road where the logging trucks had made deep ruts.  It had some slippery mud but also had the deep ruts.  I did scrape at least once.  Some of the ruts were so deep, I had to make sure to drive on the peaks between the ruts to keep from tearing up the under-carriage.  There were some pretty big rocks that had been laid on the road and they make a lot of noise when you hit them.  :D

In case you’re wondering why I’m running BFG tires - BFG is a brand owned by Michelin.  I’ll always be loyal to the company that gave me such a great career.  I was also able to make some relatively good financial decisions. My current state of bliss / retirement is the result.  So, kids, make investments early.

Back to the timeline.  Gunner and I arrived at the first campground near Blue Springs to find it closed. Finding that, I didn’t have much hope that the second one would be open.  I tried to find someplace to park and sleep, but the area seemed pretty tightly controlled.  I even passed a Police cruiser parked at one of the intersections which served as a bit of an entrance to the recreation area.  I finally opted to just go park at VanDOit. 

Spending the day with the crew at VanDOit is pretty amazing.  I stayed with the van as they worked so Gunner would be comfortable on his bed in the shop.  He became the shop dog for the day.  I think the crew enjoyed having him around.  He’s so mellow and pretty much just laid on his bed and slept.  The crew got us all set up with a necessary work and we were back in business.  We didn’t get out of there until relatively late in the afternoon.  I needed to find a place to sleep and I knew there weren’t many options in the Blue Springs immediate area.  I searched multiple apps.  I found a couple of options through Harvest Hosts, but the most appealing one had some limitations on pets. 

Because I have the maps on my ipad, which is mounted on my dash, I continued to search.  A key I’ve found is to look for the little green spots on the map!  More than once, finding some small green dot on a map has put me in an amazing place to sleep for the night.  This happened to me that night – I found a small conservation area that wasn’t too far out of the way.  I didn’t get there until well after dark, so my lights gave me away to the house near the edge of the conservation area – if they were even paying attention.  It was a great place to stay.  I stepped out of the van multiple times throughout the night to listen to the owls and other night sounds.  It was a nice night – although If I recall correctly, the clouds were starting to move in and I was about to get hit by a storm.  My goal for the next couple of days was to out-run that storm. 

It was to no avail.  While I didn’t really get any real snow, there was some wintry mix and a lot of rain.  It was pretty cold too.  As I traveled south out of Missouri and into Arkansas, then across southern Tennessee, I realized that entire area is the Mississippi Delta.  IT IS WET!!!  I stayed at a really nice, but very wet, campground on the Eleven Point River, not far out of Memphis. Thankfully it had stopped raining by then and I was able to have a nice campfire with wood I scavenged from the area. 

Following that, I made a tour of several more Tennessee state parks – Crowleys Ridge State Park, Chickasaw State Park, Henry Horton State Park.  Overall nice parks. 

Gunner at Chickasaw State Park (I think – if this is not from Chickasaw, please tell me!)

Leaving Chickasaw State Park, I made a point to design my route around a section of the Natchez Trace. 

We rode the Trace when I did the Ride to Austin (c3ride.org) in 2009 and 2011.  It was neat seeing places that I’d seen back then.  I began to re-trace that Ride route (backwards of course) as I headed back towards the upstate. I couldn’t follow it directly necessarily, because I was planning that stop in Henry Horton State Park.  However, I did find myself back on it shortly after leaving Henry Horton. 

The above image is from Henry Horton state park – The full moon rising behind Galahad.  The light on Galahad is actually from the 5^th wheel camper next door to me at the campground.  It had a HUGE LED light across the front. 

With my navigation system set to ‘shortest route’, it actually took me off the Ride to Austin route.  I was a little bummed about that, but decided that there was no adventure in continuing on a route I’d already seen twice before.  Following the nav system put me on some nice switchback roads to come off the Cumberland Plateau (may have been Walden Ridge)! Big signs “NO TRUCKS” both on the descent and on the ascent of the mountains on the other side of the valley. I’ll have to dig out my better maps to get the exact names of the geologic features.  The way down was paved but had very sharp and steep switchbacks.  The way up was similar, except it was actually gravel and had some pretty bad sections on it.  It was so steep that I actually decided to shift to 4 low just for further gear reduction.  It was pretty fun.

That night, I stayed at a boat ramp across the river from the Watts Bar Nuclear powerplant.  For me, this is what I consider ‘stealth’ camping – parking my obvious campervan in a relatively obvious location.  So, not really stealthy in that sense – stealthy in the sense that once I park, I put up all my window shades and I do my best with noise and light discipline.  Sometimes not so stealthy if I have to run the heater – it does make some noise which anyone walking by would hear.  Would they know I was in there?  I hope not, but I won’t know until someone comes and knocks on my window to tell me to leave. 

I have another interesting story about almost getting stuck, but you’ll have to get that one from me in person. 😉

Surprisingly, I arrived to my ‘new home’, where I stay when I’m in the upstate, on the 3^rd of January.  Almost a month ago at the time of this writing.  Since then of course, I've headed south which put me at my current location inside the Everglades National Park.  As I’m four pages in, I’m going to save that for my next blog. 

What I will say, after three months of traveling with my van, Galahad and my dog, Gunner – I’m still having a super fun time.  It’s nice to get back to the upstate once in a while as I work out the kinks in my kit though.  My longest trip, since November is still only about 3 weeks.  The one I’m on right now, to Southern Florida, is also only going to be about three weeks.  I’m looking forward to the end of February when I’ll head west.  Hopefully for much longer than a 3 week trip!