Do you need to destroy the planet with hefty emissions to get good pictures? I don't think so.Where's all the haze coming from? I'd consider saving the money on a Toyota Prius Hybrid and booking very nice hotel rooms and Spas.
I have often looked up at those Luxury Liners of the Interstate with envious eyes! Alas, I have never been in that tax bracket :-(
Some 20 years ago, when my then-husband and I were looking for a traveling/camping rig to support fishing trips (his idea), dog shows (my idea), we considered many options and ended up buying a retired school bus. We were told to buy an International with a 345 engine and run it at 3,000 RPM and it would get 12 MPG - we did, and it does. We opted for the 76 passenger model since they sell cheaper than the smaller models (due to lack of demand) and it is very spacious inside. Although it lacks the headroom for a tall person to stand perfectly upright, I find ones doesn't spend much time standing bolt upright while indoors. It has served me well, requires little maintenance, and is handy to pull my steam engine and threshing machine on a 20 foot flatdeck trailer (about 5,000 pounds total).
I LOVE the convenience of a motorhome, whether designed as such or a "poorman's Winnebago" (school bus) and the modern gypsies are a friendly and welcoming bunch (even if your motorhome is yellow!) . There's no "set up" and no "tear down" - pull in, shut off the key, and you are THERE. In all our traveling with the school bus, the only modification I make to my pattern of living is to shop at malls (ample parking, good access). Truck stops are convenient over-night camping places with a motorhome - I always look for one with lots of semis - truckers are a pretty good lot and I feel much safer sleeping in the bus among a bunch of Knights of the Road than in a campground with rent-a-cop security.
Recently I have added a truck tent to my pickup truck for shorter trips http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/horizontal-item.jsp?id=0003781512246a&navCount=1&podId=0003781&parentId=cat20105&navAction=jump&cmCat=MainCatcat20075&catalogCode=IF&rid=&parentType=index&indexId=cat20105&hasJS=true
Neither of my vehicles are equipped with a darkroom but I have found my 20x20x18" portable darkroom has been adequate for everything up to 8x10, though I have thought long and hard about adding a darkroom to the bus.
Having so many options (bus, truck and tent, motel) is GREAT! I usually make my decision on type of transport based on 1 - how long I will be gone, 2 - how far I am going, and 3 - how much stuff I am taking with me. A lot of miles and a short time usually favour the truck and tent. A shorter trip with a longer stay favours the bus.
It is hard to beat the comfort and convenience of a motorhome but the gas companies are writing their own ticket these days and that HURTS! Maybe we ought to be brewing some good "shine" to power these things?
Making the decision on what kind of vehicle to travel with is a very personal matter. One person may feel that being warm and dry is worth $80,000 while the next person is happy camping in a tent.
Good luck with your decision and we'll hope to meet you on the road one day!
Casita. Consider a Casita. Consider used. Check out www.casitaclub.com for lots of information.
We pull a 17-ft Casita with a Toyota Sequoia. Last year Alaska. This year, the West. This year, we got 11 - 14 mpg through the entire trip, and that was a lot of mountains. Previously, we towed the Casita with a Toyota Sienna, and got 12 - 15 mpg, but the tow was slow in the high passes.
Casita has bed, bath, refrigerator and stove. It is very compact--it is camping, not "motor homing." Has everything you need in (like Airstream) an aerodynamic package. But, in fiberglass, and so a LOT less weight than Airstream. Before buying Airstream (used, of course), start looking at the size of the vehicles towing them!
The Casita is only about 78" wide, is very easy to manoeuver, easy to drive, and it's easy to use regular side mirrors. You hardly know it is behind you until you look out your rear view mirror and only see the white fiberglass.
Yes, motels are fine, and high gas mileage is very, very important, but we got the Casita so we could go where we want and when. Dark night skies. Out-of-the-way National Forests. Photography and fishing for trout in small streams in the high places.
Finally, a travel trailer allows you to disconnect (about 15 minute job) when you're in a camp for a few days or week, and go around with just the tow vehicle, and get that highly-desired better gas mileage. A travel trailer also allows you a place to stay if you have to take your tow vehicle to a place for service or repair.
We have had the Casita (used) for 5 years now and I don't think we will ever "upgrade." We have little in common with most RVers--chiefly because they're dragging their home around. And, many of the rigs just can't go places--the manoeuvers are too much for the drivers. They can't, for example, go through the tunnel at Zion NP without an escort and extra fee because they have clearance only by driving down the center stripe!!
Small is beautiful. Check it out.
Peter Collins
On the intent of the First Amendment: The press was to serve the governed, not the governors --Opinion, Hugo Black, Judge, Supreme Court, 1971 re the "Pentagon Papers."
My ex was a princess. She said, "Human beings haven't evolved for millions of years to go out and sleep on the ground for fun!" She also believed that Natural Childbirth meant "without makeup". I asked her if I could do nudes of her and she said "With the lights on?"
4WD or AWD, IMO, is the only way to go in Northern New England. The amenities of an RV may be nice but it won’t get you to most of the places you want to go. I also strongly recommend a truck or a truck based SUV (e.g. Ford Explorer) with high clearance but NOT one that is too wide or has too long a wheel base. All of this is based on my own personal shooting habits and experiences throughout New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont. I frequently find myself on unpaved roads that we euphemistically call Class VI roads (means they are public but no one maintains them unless anybody who happens to live along them feels like it).
You won’t go anywhere on these roads with an RV, you won’t get far on most of them with a regular car or any 2WD drive vehicle and if you have a very wide or long truck you will never be able to turn around. Without my Explorer I plain couldn’t get to many of my favorite spots. As an example, the first image in the July-August “View Camera” article was taken several miles along an old unpaved logging road that likely has not seen any maintenance in some 30 years. Later today I will be shooting some miles north of the town of Center Sandwich, NH at a spot that is about a quarter mile hike off a road called the “Sandwich Notch Road” this is one of those roads that is great if you are driving a snowmobile or ATV and carefully passable in a sturdy 4WD vehicle ... it goes over the top of one of the shorter peaks just before you enter the White Mountains. later this week I will be spending a few days around Lake Umbagog along the northern New Hampshire/central Maine border ... a lot of the roads I will be traveling are not accessible if you don’t have 4WD, wouldn’t even try without. Places like this offer spectacular opportunities in Northern New England but you won’t get there in an RV. Sometimes you won’t even get there in a 4WD in the winter.
Having said all that I consider my Explorer to be one of my most important photographic tools.
http://www.aliner.com/
Keeping this thread related to photography, the niftiest outfit I've seen is a trailer affair which is about the size of a small tent trailer. It has two panels hinged to the front and back of the trailer that pivot up and connect at an apex above, like a teepee. Hinged on each side, two triangular pieces then pivot up to fill in the teepee with a door and some windows. It takes about two minutes to set up. Inside, one can have a small stove, cooler, heater, bed for two (or more, depending on size), two or three cabinets, and a small table. Sorry, no bathroom. You have to use the restroom. Very roomy.
This would be ideal for photography. One could drive in, leave it at a campsite, set it up in about five minutes and be out shooting in no time, say at sunset. Plus, one has some walls between them and the wilderness. A smaller one could be pulled by a Jeep Wranger, where one could stow their photo gear and have maximum manouverability to reach photo sites. Fits better into most photographers' budgets. They also don't result in insanely low gas mileage, which ultimately contributes to haze and poorer quality photographs.
I have a Northstar pop-up camper on the back of a full-size pickup. The roof cranks up and gives me about 6'6" headroom. It has a queen bed, dinette that converts to another bed, fridge, two-burner stove, HEATER and hot and cold running water. It has an outside shower, but no bathroom. I can have it set up in under a minute. Quite comfortable.
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