I spent most of my time in the towns of Banff and Lake Louise. Banff is a trendy town about an hour west of Calgary, Alberta. Why is it called Banff? It comes from Banffshire, Scotland, the birthplace of one of the major financiers of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Lake Louise (named after the daughter of Queen Victoria, Princess Louise Caroline Alberta) is about another hour up the Trans-Canada Highway. Downtown Banff is full of energy, while Lake Louise is more tranquil and serene. Both have absolutely stunning scenery in every direction. Both are on my “Top Ten” list. From Lake Louise, I took the Icefields Parkway up to Jasper National Park and the Columbia Icefield. It is considered one of the most scenic drives in the entire world. I agree!

While in the area, I highly recommend the following campgrounds: Bow RiversEdge Campground, Two Jack Lakeside Campground, and Lake Louise Campground.

In the few days I had to visit, I didn’t make it to the National Parks of Yoho, Kootenay, and Waterton Lakes. I will just have to see those when I return to the Canadian Rockies. Sometime. With someone special.

Before I begin, try to imagine my living space. The official length of the Airstream is 23-feet, but this includes the 3-foot hitch outside (“marketing math” I guess). At a width of 8-feet, this means the total area inside is 160 square feet. To put that in perspective, many people have master bathrooms bigger than my home. So, yes, space is at a premium.

Clean and Organized

There are two items that help me keep that space clutter free: Velcro and 3M Command Hooks. Seriously, they are everywhere. All of my gadgets: routers, DVRs, remote controls, etc. are all velcroed to my desk shelf. An outside thermometer is even velcroed. And I have hooks for my laundry bag, jeans, shorts, towels on the walls. All of my laundry stays clean with Purex Complete 3-in-1 laundry sheets. The bathroom stays reasonably clean with TST Orange Power Drop-Ins and Lysol Neutra Air Automatic Spray. I have several foldable crates and cubes from The Container Store that hold everything on the counter that is not velcroed down. I also installed a magnetic knife rack from IKEA. Once everything is clean, velcroed down, on hooks, or put away in crates, it is time to hit the road.

Connectivity

In order to stay connected on the road, I use a variety of communication tools. The most important device is my iPhone. I have it mounted on the dash of my Touareg with a clip from ProClip. It connects to my in-car stereo with a cable from USA SPEC. All audio from the iPhone comes right through my car speakers. This includes voice instructions from the TomTom GPS app and music from apps such as Pandora and Slacker. I also use apps like Campwhere, CT RVParks, Camp & RV, and Passport America to find places to stay. Web sites I use all the time are rvparkreviews.com and overnightrvparking.com.

All of this requires constant internet connectivity. When AT&T works, I can tether my iPhone to my MacBook Pro. I also have a Sprint Mobile Broadband card plugged into a Cradlepoint Wi-Fi router. This router is always plugged in to the 12V power supply in the Airstream. So as I go down the road (or even when I am in a campground), I can switch my iPhone over to Wi-Fi, and it picks up the Wi-Fi signal from the Airstream. Even though many campgrounds offer Wi-Fi, it is often weak and slow. I end up using my iPhone and/or my Sprint card instead. I also use my iPad 3G has a Wi-Fi hotspot. In the US, it is on the AT&T network. While in Canada, I put a Canadian MicroSIM card in the iPad and used the Rogers data network. Brilliant! I also depend upon businesses like Starbucks or trendy, local coffee shops. I like to mix it up by getting out of the Airstream to work in a local favorite spot.

There is plenty of solitude, but I have no intention of being a hermit. To stay in touch with friends and family (and people I meet on the road), I have this blog. I send out updates through Twitter and Facebook. I track my location nightly with Brightkite and it helps create a custom Google Map. I also use text messaging, the new Apple FaceTime and Skype for video calls, and the regular ol’ iPhone for phone calls. And when that iPhone has no signal, I can use Skype over Wi-Fi to make the phone call instead. With technology, it is pretty easy to stay in touch with everyone.

The Other Kind of Connectivity

There are plenty of cables, hoses, and adapters that are an absolute requirement to making life on the road safe and easy. I use the Equal-i-zer hitch, recommended by my Airstream dealer. Other than the squeaks, it has been a great way to help combat the wind while towing. Always looking for electricity, I have two 25-foot 30A power cords, a 30A to 20A attachment, and a 50A to 30A attachment. For water, I recommend a blue coil hose. It beats rolling up the regular straight hose on every departure. I also put quick connect valves on my city water and pass-through water inlets. Again, it just speeds up the connection/disconnection time. Finally, every RVer needs water filters. I have an inline water filter for my fresh water hose. There is also an inline water filter under the kitchen sink for crisp, clear, cold water.

Television/Movies

When I started my journey, I didn’t plan on watching any television, but that plan soon fizzled. If high-speed internet is available (and I am in the US), I can watch movies on Netflix and Hulu. I ended up getting DirecTV but haven’t used it in months; it is just too painful to set up every time I move. And I have no room on the roof to mount a more permanent solution. So, most of the time, I just scan for local HD channels and use a regular antenna on the roof to watch TV over-the-air — for free. Plus, I love watching the local news broadcasts to get a feel of the area. (Ha! As I am writing, a comedian just dropped a few f-bombs on local Canadian TV!)

Energy

This is all powered by an 80W Sunforce solar panel when I am on the road. I have it connected to a Sunforce 30A charge controller that charges two deep cycle 12-volt Lifeline GPL-24T AGM batteries. They are so much better than the original Interstate deep cycle marine batteries that came with the Airstream. I also replaced several factory-installed halogen lights with LED lights. It was as simple as unplugging the old halogens, and plugging the new LEDs into the same socket. One halogen light uses 15W while one LED light only uses 1W! With a 1750W Go Power! inverter, I can charge my MacBook Pro, iPhone, and iPad, watch TV, even make a smoothie — all while parked along the beach just running off solar! To find restaurants, I use the Yelp and Siri apps, ask the locals, and follow Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. I actually do some cooking on my own, too. When I get hungry for dinner, I just pull out the tiny Weber Q portable grill and grill fresh meat and vegetables from the local organic market. Instead of a coffee maker that takes up space, I use Starbucks VIA each and every morning.

Climate Control

The Airstream does a pretty good job at dealing with all the different temperatures year-round. When parked, the windows and vents are almost always wide open. The vents will automatically shut if it starts to rain outside. Only for a few weeks in the summer do I find the need to turn on the air conditioner, and for that, I plug into shoreline electricity. I use the heater much more. Even in the summer, places like the desert get down right chilly at night. I normally just use the propane gas furnace because it can run off the 12V batteries. If I happen to run out of propane  (it always seems to happen at night in the middle of nowhere) and I have shoreline electricity, I will switch over to the electric heat pump, but it is insanely loud. Whatever I choose, a digital thermostat near my bed controls everything.

Mail

I am the perfect fit for a mobile lifestyle. Years ago, I gave up on traditional paper based newspapers, magazines, and postal mail. I consume almost all of my media electronically. Unfortunately, the IRS and banks and insurance providers still need a physical address. I used Earth Class Mail for a while; it gave me a mailing address in Oregon (no residency, just a mailing address) with all mail scanned into PDFs and sent to me electronically. If it was of importance, I had it sent to me (wherever I happened to be staying) via traditional postal methods. I honestly don’t get much mail, so I just switched to America’s Mailbox in South Dakota. It isn’t as fancy (or expensive), but it gives me the same options to get mail delivered to me, and I get official residency in the state of South Dakota. I got a driver’s license, a voter registration card (proxy vote), and license plates for South Dakota.

Finances

I use Ally Bank to pay bills electronically. I chose them because of their TV commercials. Well, kind of, but I also chose them because they reimburse me for any ATM fees I rack up by visiting random ATMs across the country. I use Mint to track just how much money I spend on gasoline.

Exercise

I cancelled my gym membership (yes, I used to go to the gym) and bought an inflatable kayak from REI and a foldable mountain bike from swissbike.com. The kayak fits perfectly in a Thule Ascent 1600 Cargo Carrier.  Every single thing I now own has an absolute purpose and place in the Airstream; otherwise I don’t own it.

Life is Good

I love the freedom, the flexibility, the spontaneous life on the road. There have been many times when I start to drive with no destination in mind. My only requirement: good weather!

As I drove through the eastern side of Yellowstone in Wyoming, the steam from geysers melted the snow-covered timbers burned from a previous wildfire, boulders tumbled down the sheer granite cliffs, bison and elk grazed steps away. I spent several nights on public land, boondocking miles away from modern civilization. I went up and over so many rugged mountain passes, I felt like a sherpa. It was a climate-controlled, leather-bound, front-row seat to an unforgettable experience!

I just wish the weather would have cooperated. The last month has been some of the most nasty, most dreary, most unpleasant weather of the last year. Many of my photographs just didn’t capture the natural beauty of the West.

Part of the Channel Islands, Santa Catalina Island (people just call it Catalina) is about 20 miles southwest of Los Angeles. I opted to take the hour-long ferry ride to get to the island, but one day I will fly to the Catalina Airport myself — one day. It was a pretty choppy day across the channel; in fact, the previous ferry was cancelled due to high winds. It was about as uncomfortable a boat ride as I would have preferred, but so well worth the ride!

The only incorporated city on the island is Avalon. Its streets overlooking the Pacific Ocean are full of touristy stores, restaurants, bars, and hotels. There are very, very few cars on the island; street legal golf carts are everywhere! The town just has a calm and serene vibe to it. There is also a Chicago connection to Avalon and the entire Catalina Island. The Wrigley family owned the island for many years, and the Chicago Cubs even used the island for spring training back in the ’20s, ’30s, and ’40s. The Catalina Island Conservancy now owns 88% of the island.

With the exception of the city of Avalon, a few remote houses, some farms, camps, and resorts — oh, and the Airport-in-the-Sky — Catalina Island looks like California looked like 200 years ago. I know California gets a bad rap sometimes, but let me tell you, California has some absolutely stunning scenery. And Catalina Island has some of the best scenery in all of California.

Anyone visiting the Los Angeles area absolutely, positively needs to visit Catalina Island! Thanks for the tour, Laurie!

Airplanes and I go way back. In the 1970s, my dad and grandpa carved out an airstrip in our backyard in Montana. It is still very active: Ferndale Airfield (53U). As far back as I can remember, summer nights often included a quick flight around the Flathead Valley with my dad in our Cessna 150. I took a few lessons in high school, tried again while living in Chicago, took some more at a small airport in Indiana, and then decided to do this whole Airstream adventure. With the peace and solitude of Airstream living came the opportunity to really take flying lessons seriously. And as time had passed, aviation caught up with technology: finally, GPS was available in the cockpit; digital instruments were common; and fuel-efficient engines actually made the cost a little more reasonable.

I found a flight school just outside San Diego. Appropriately named San Diego Sport Flyers, it had the Sport Cruiser airplane I wanted to fly. I flew a couple dozen hours, studied night after night, and eventually summoned the courage to test my skills out in front of a Designated Pilot Examiner. This is my story.

The day began at 6:30 AM with a check of the weather and the realization that all my previous night’s calculations were a little off because the winds aloft had switched a complete 180 degrees in direction. Let me back up. The whole process has two parts: an oral knowledge exam, and a practical flying check ride in the air (if the previous knowledge exam goes well). The first part includes a mock flight plan to a pre-determined airport in the area. This flight plan is old school and literally includes getting out a ruler, plotting points, computing routes, headings, and distances — all with wind correction angles and variations with isogonic lines. Yeah, fun stuff, let me tell you! The whole point is to figure out how much fuel it takes to get from Point A to Point B. After all, there are no rest areas up in the air!

After I redid all my calculations, it was off to the flight school to meet with the examiner and hopefully go flying in a couple of hours. Little did I know those couple of hours turned into four hours. That’s right. Four hours. In a closed room. With no bathroom or food break. Talking about everything imaginable: from the scientific effects of density altitude to flash cards of airport markings. Those of you who know me, know that four hours without food is a feat in and of itself! With the knowledge portion over, it was now time to take to the skies.

The first beautiful Saturday in weeks, Gillespie Field Airport was overflowing with air traffic. We took off Runway 27R with a right downwind departure towards El Capitan Reservoir. The next hour and half was a blur of steep turns, power on stalls, power off stalls, emergency descents, turns around a point, slow flight; you name it. I managed to do all the maneuvers, so we flew over to Ramona Airport to practice various types of landings.

My most memorable part of the day was over at Ramona. After making a somewhat pathetic short field landing (trying to land within 200 feet of the numbers on the runway), my examiner made me go around and attempt the same thing again — but without power. On the downwind leg, I pulled the throttle and started the all-important glide towards the ground. I made the turns back to the airport, applied flaps, eased it down, and landed directly on the numbers with the two main wheels first — just as the doctor ordered. The examiner looked at me, punched my shoulder, and said it was an absolutely beautiful landing. I think they were my first, and only, words of encouragement all day! We flew back to Gillespie, made one last landing, and I got two thumbs up — apparently universal pilot examiner speak for “You passed!”

So, the next step is for me to graduate from a safe pilot to a good, safe pilot. I will be going to various airports around the country to practice my flying skills. In fact, the next stop I have planned is to a little town in northern Vermont to get my float plane rating. I am now free to move about the country, and I can’t wait!

]]> http://whereiskylenow.com/stories/ding-you-are-now-free-to-move-about-the-country/feed 5 Steve, Certified Flight Instructor Julie, Designated Pilot Examiner Sport Cruiser http://whereiskylenow.com/stories/ding-you-are-now-free-to-move-about-the-country http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WhereIsKyleNow/~3/DIq4AxtDMDU/americas-finest-city http://whereiskylenow.com/airstream/americas-finest-city#comments Mon, 18 Jan 2010 07:11:58 +0000 Kyle Bolstad http://whereiskylenow.com/blog/?p=1324 Dubbed “America’s Finest City,” San Diego has always been on my list of cities to visit. And since the rest of the country seems to be permanently frozen, now is a perfect time to stay warm in “America’s Finest City.”

San Diego (and the surrounding area) definitely has my attention. The geographic diversity and climate changes of the beaches, valleys, mountains, and desert are refreshing. So far, I have checked out downtown, Point Loma, Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, La Jolla, Torrey Pines, East County, and Julian. And there is still more to see!

I really have enjoyed my time in the San Diego area. In fact, I like it so much, I plan to stay here at least another month!

Here are some of the sights on the “quick” westbound drive from the panhandle of Florida to the coast of California.

Mississippi/Louisiana Highlight: Leaving (to be fair, didn’t go to New Orleans — yet)
Texas Highlight: Salt Lick BBQ (yes, it is that good)
New Mexico Highlight: Carlsbad Caverns (never have I seen anything like it)
Arizona Highlight: Catalina Mountains (not bad for a desert)
Nevada Highlight: Wolf Creek Golf Club (jaw-dropping vistas)

• 2009
• Apr 28 Remember to secure latch, so blender doesn’t fly out of pantry and shatter lamp
• Apr 29 Remember that lighted cabinets will singe pillows if stuffed absolutely full
• May 2 Remember to lock cargo container, so two backpacks don’t fly out on open road
• May 2 Remember to empty gray water tank, so shower doesn’t back up with water
• May 3 Remember that shower rod can’t hold bag full of heavy items
• May 4Remember that dirty dishes left in enclosed space will eventually smell like death itself
• May 20 Remember to crank up stabilizer before moving, so it doesn’t rip completely off
• Jun 9 Remember the weight of the awning will snap the bar right off if it slips
• Jun 27Remember to check hitch stabilizer, so it doesn’t fall off driving down the road
• Jul 4 Remember to make an advance reservation for all popular holiday weekends
• Aug 8Remember to remove sunglasses and concisely answer Customs agent to avoid detainment
• Sept 10Remember to back up s-l-o-w-l-y and watch for cement walls that suddenly appear
• Oct 31Remember to secure all liquid containers — say, red wine — before driving down the road
• Nov 2Remember to make sure dump station isn’t clogged before attempting to dump black water




• 2010
• Jun 14Remember to move satellite dish before backing up (and over said satellite dish)

Vermont is an interesting state. It is the second least-populated state; it has the smallest capital city; and no other state has its largest city as small as Burlington (around 40,000 people). This small town atmosphere is refreshing. Vermonters are just some of the nicest people I have ever met.

I was lucky enough to see the fall foliage of the state with friends who came to visit from Chicago. We stayed near the shores of Lake Champlain at Apple Island Resort. We camped in the middle of the forest at Quechee State Park. We took a tour of the Ben & Jerry’s factory in Waterbury. (By the way, the number of cow puns on the tour is “udderly” ridiculous!) We hiked in the middle of the incredibly scenic Smugglers’ Notch. We spent a day in Vermont’s version of a metropolis – downtown Burlington. We stumbled upon a hidden gem of a restaurant in South Hero. (It’s called Blue Paddle Bistro. Go there. You won’t be disappointed.) We visited Woodstock, “the prettiest small town in America”. We found some culture at a museum, toured an expansive farm, and visited a working orchard – all in Shelburne. Did I mention we had apple cider donuts?

Of all the states I have visited, Vermont is definitely one of my favorites!