TRIAL RUN
So, my brother, Mike, bought a camper (Imagine 2500rl travel trailer) so he and Marilyn (his wife) and their doggies can enjoy some camping excursions.  He's a retired forester and they love the outdoors.  Well, he bought the trailer in the midwest, but he lives in Oregon!  I volunteered to travel with Mike as he towed his trailer from Dubuque Iowa to Beaverton Oregon.   This was a good "trial run" for me in preparation for becoming a full-time RVer.  Here's a few highlights from our trip:

Here's Mike & Marilyn's setup:

Looks good!

Our first night we could not find a campsite in a campground, due to flooding along the Mississippi.  So we opted to "camp" at the Walmart in a suburb of Omaha, Nebraska.  This was my 1st Walmart overnight jaunt, but I'm sure not my last.  It was hot!  With the help of battery-operated fans, it worked out just fine. 

Our Wonderful Walmart spot

The 2nd nite, we spent at the Cabela's headquarter's campground in Sydney, NE.  It was a nice, convenient full hook-up campground right next to a huge Cabela's store.  I got a 20% discount because I had a Cabela's credit card!  Good deal!  We had threats of bad storms that night, but only had rain (no hail or 60 mph winds that were predicted).  This was one of our neighbor's set-up...quite a rig, eh?

Everyone was taking pictures of this guy's rig!

The third night we stayed in a forest service campground in McKinnon, WY, Buckboard Crossing Campground.  Site 20 was a drive-through, just what we wanted.  High desert full of aromatic sage brush.  So peaceful.  Saw a magnificent sunset! 

Can you spot the pair of Ospreys perched in the tree?

"Big sky" country

The 4th night we stopped at a wooded setting in Glens Ferry, Idaho, Three Island Ferry State Park.  Idaho state parks give all seniors a discount, not just Idaho residents, which was very nice.  Most state parks only give senior discounts to their own residents.  

Mike's dog, Kare, relaxing at the campsite 

Did you know potato chip bags blow up when you move from lower to higher elevations?

We made it to Portland, Oregon by day 5.  

Recreational marijuana is not only sold there, but they even deliver it!

It was a successful trip all the way around.  Mike got his trailer home safe and sound.  He got great experience towing under some challenging conditions, as we hit torrential rains in Wyoming and high winds in both Wyoming and Oregon.  He learned how to use everything on his trailer, and everything worked well.  Yeah!  I learned how to call Walmart to ask permission to camp overnight, how to contact a ranger station to check on road conditions in forest service campgrounds, and that cell phone navigation worked well to search the internet and check out facilities along the way.  Can't wait till we can do this full-time!