Tony
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Goodbye Ohio, Hello West Virginia
We spent our final morning at Hockings State Park by taking a nice hike out to Rose Lake (same lake as yesterday, but from a different direction). After that, it was time to do laundry. You know what they don’t show you in those van life videos where everything in the van is all nice…
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West Lake Park
We started our unexpected layover in Davenport with a power walk around the parameter of the Rhythm City Casino parking lot and then along a bike trail/sidewalk that took us along fields of corn ready to be harvested. After our walk and breakfast we made our way to West Lake Park for the rest of…
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Our 2025 Fall Adventure Begins
Prelude and Preparation Unlike many of our trips in Usain, this one doesn’t have a primary destination. We had originally intended to head straight to Tennessee, but this year’s warm fall temperatures have us heading east out of Iowa first and then maybe make our way down to the Volunteer State. So, we are leaving…
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2025 Door County Trip Recap
09/14/2025 – 09/22/2025 # Dates Campsite City State Type 2 09/14/2025 Paul & Rox House Belmond Iowa Moochdock 3 09/15/2025 Buckhorn State Park Necedah Wisconsin State Park 4 09/16/2025 – 09/17/2025 Potawatomi State Park Sturgeon Bay Wisconsin State Park 5 09/18/2025 – 09/19/2025 Peninsula State Park Fish Creek Wisconsin State Park 6 09/20/2025 – 09/21/2025…
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Shoe Racks Mod
Finally got tired of having my shoes lay in front of the sliding door in Usain (Lisa’s are small and she can fit several pairs in the back closet). We debated about different solutions — some kind of hanging holder behind the passenger seat, boxes in the pizza oven, etc. Finally landed on folding RV…
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Custom Wine Rack Mod
For some reason 🙂 Usain likes to take advantage of our Harvest Hosts membership by staying overnight at wineries. As such, we often end up traveling with a bottle or two of wine without a good place to store them. Since we’ve never used the folding table behind the driver’s seat, this seemed like an…
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Additional USB Ports Mod
We already have a couple of USB splitters in Usain to allow for more devices to be plugged in at once, but there never seems to be enough. We’re also starting to transition from USB-A to USB-C, which only adds to the challenge. To tackle the inconvenience I decided to hardwire additional RV-style sockets purchased…
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Port Sealing Maintenance
After 3+ years of traveling the country, Usain was in need of some sealant maintenance around the various ports. I started by unscrewing the ports from the van and removing the old caulking with a plastic scraper. The covers were then cleaned up with VRP Vinyl, Rubber, Plastic Protectant, re-attached, and then finished up with…
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Rust Management
One of the consequences of spending the last 3 winters in the salty air of South Padre Island is camper van rust. A lot of rust. I’ve tackled some minor rust issues here and there on Usain in the past, but it was time to put some major effort into it. With Lisa on her…
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2025 Victory Lap Trip Recap
05/25/2025 – 06/11/2025 Stop # Dates Campsite City State Type 2 05/26/25 Kross Strain Brewing Comapny Omaha Nebraska Harvest Host 3 05/27/25 Mac’s Creek Winery and Brewery Lexington Nebraska Harvest Host 4 05/28/25 – 06/04/25 Lisa’s Dad Fort Collins Colorado Moochdocking 5 06/05/24 Ranger Lakes Campground Walden Colorado State Park 6 06/06/25 Saratoga Lake Campground…