Turtle Expedition

Across the USA #7 (Rickson Truck Wheels)

turtleexpedition — Sat, 18 May 2013 19:44:41 +0000

Leaving the Espar Headquarters in Mississauga, Ontario, we headed south towards New York State. Crossing the Rainbow Bridge we snapped a picture of Niagara Falls and it occurred to me that we were not “traveling”. This was just “driving”. Our typical travel day might only involve 150 miles and maybe 4 or 5 hours on [...]

Across the USA 2013 #6 (Espar)

turtleexpedition — Wed, 15 May 2013 08:29:58 +0000

After a quick stop at Ken-Tool, we headed northeast to Canada. Despite our fears of long lines and secondary inspections, there was no waiting and Canadian Customs simply asked us if we had any firearms or explosives, and then waved us through. In the morning, the Customer Service people and Technicians were waiting for us [...]

Across the USA 2013 #5 (Ken-Tool)

turtleexpedition — Sun, 12 May 2013 20:58:28 +0000

We are moving quickly now. Hope you can keep up. After a relaxing visit and overnight stay at Reutter’s Roost B&B (probably gained 2 pounds), we headed towards Canada. An important stop along the way was Ken-Tool, the world’s leading manufacturer of tire service tools. Sometime soon, I’ll be doing a full post on our [...]

Across the USA 2013 #4 (Reutter’s Roost B&B)

turtleexpedition — Sat, 04 May 2013 00:10:27 +0000

In route to our next business stop, we made time to visit Monika’s first “host mother” in Anoka, MN when she came to the States to teach through a foreign language teachers’ program for high schools back in 1976/1977. Alice Krull and her late husband Hal turned her parents beautiful farmhouse in Valley City, Ohio [...]

Across the USA 2013 #3 (Bigfoot)

turtleexpedition — Wed, 01 May 2013 00:06:19 +0000

The snow-clogged streets of Denver soon turned the freeways into rivers of brown icy slop. So much for keeping the truck clean. It was nearly 850 miles to St. Louis. That’s more than we like to drive in one day. After over-nighting outside of Topeka, we threaded our way through the labyrinth of freeways into [...]

Across the USA 2013 #2 (Gates/ATS)

turtleexpedition — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 20:55:24 +0000

Despite the fact that we reached Denver under blue sunny skies, weather was on the way. The temperature had dropped back down into the low 30s and flakes of snow were drifting around when we arrived at the Gates Corporation World Headquarters. It was a pleasure to meet some of the people behind the company [...]

Across the USA 2013 #1 (Departure)

turtleexpedition — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 01:12:18 +0000

Yes we are on the road. VERY on the road. After circling for a couple of days and a relaxing visit with friends in Grass Valley, we headed east over the mountains in a couple of 10-hour marathon drives to Salt Lake City and on to Denver. The monotony of the long straight roads was [...]

Final Packing!

turtleexpedition — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 22:03:22 +0000

Yes, despite any number of delays, we are actually leaving. We will be driving away from our home in Nevada City, California on April 11th and head east to Baltimore where our truck and camper will be shipped to Germany on April 29th. Last minute packing is in progress as we figure out what we’ve [...]

CHANNEL 31 and 13 TV Live

turtleexpedition — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 07:57:49 +0000

Camera, Action! Yesterday morning at Ken Imler Diesel Performance, the Channel 31 (CBS 13) Good Day Sacramento News Crew caught up with us for a quick interview. The two morning segments were “Live” to a possible viewing audience of 1.5 million. A longer version was slated for the 12-noon and 4:00 News broadcast. If you’d [...]

Pewag Chains

turtleexpedition — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 06:25:02 +0000

Like a good first aid kit or a winch, we hope we never need chains, but we know better. In snow, packed ice or mud, chains are often mandatory, even with our aggressive Michelin XZL tires. From experience, we know that chains on the rear wheels are often enough to move forward, but in very [...]