Steve and Kathleen Campbell Trip Journal Homepage
Welcome to our Trip Journal!
Updated February 26, 2011, June 24, 2011, April 28, 2012
We plan to make daily journal entries that will describe our experiences during our summer in Bar Harbor, Maine. Pictures will be included that will help visualize our encounters and vistas.
Our lifetime objective is to visit all 50+ national parks. As of Sept. 2010, we have visited 32. We will take a respite of visiting national parks and instead spend out summers in Maine on Mount Desert Island, near Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park.
The map below shows the route that we took in 2007 to New Mexico, Arizona and Texas, the 2008 trip that we took to Maine in July,our 2008 trip to Colorado, Utah etc.and our 2010 trip to Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, the Dakotas and Maine.
During the summer of 2011, we camped at a campground near Bar Harbor, for 3 months starting. After two weeks there, we decided this is where we want to spend our summers.
To view our Trip Journals, click on the trip in the upper righthand window. You can view additional maps that have more detail by clicking on the map desired that are listed below the map shown.
We four(Steve, Kathleen, Martha and Bailey) travel from Florida to Maine in our Cummins-powered, Dodge truck with a dog-holding platform behind the front seats and pulling a 34' Titanium 29E34RL 5th-wheel RV, with a second A/C unit and, now with new axles with disc brakes.
You will be able to e-mail us at this same site if you wish (Click on 'Leave a Message' at upper right corner of the Journal page.) or, use our aol e-mail addresses: scampbell621@aol.com and glabs4me@aol.com
We have a Verison MyFi air card for our laptop computers so we can send and receive e-mails and update this journal.
For your information, our cell phone numbers are:
Kathleen: 484-336-6412
Steve: 484-336-6413
Thank you for visiting our Trip Journal.
Steve and Kathleen
Truck Talk - We use our Cummins Diesel-powered, 2500 Dodge truck to pull our 20,000# total load. The Quad Cab has a fold down floor in back for our girls to use to sleep while we travel.
We added a Jacobs Exhaust Brake to help us stop and maintain speed on a steep incline. With the Jake Brake engaged, we can maintain a speed of 60 MPH on a 6% slope with overdrive disengaged.
We also added an engine oil bypass filter which collects dirt particles larger than 0.0001". This will allow longer oil change intervals.
A Banks air intake system was added in 2010 and includes a below-the-bumper air intake scoop. :)
We were informed by our bankrupt RV manufacturer lawyers that our RV axle bearings were overloaded due to the offset of the wheels and could fail. The axle supplier offered both brake drum type and disc brake type axles at half price and at the same price so we opted to upgrade to disc brakes. For the disc brakes, we had to buy a electric-over-hydraulic pump to power the disc brakes and a new in-truck RV brake controller, but I can now easily check the wear of the brake pads that are exposed next to the brake discs.
We also invested in an RV suspension dampener that takes some of the jolt out of the road potholes that we will experience. In addition, we purchased a new rear A/C unit to replace the original noisy one. The new one does not pipe the cool air in ceiling ducts in the hot ceiling/roof.
We replaced the noisy RV generator with two quieter portable Honda generators that we can hook up in series to power the A/C when we dry camp or when the power goes out at our campgrounds.
For the truck, we had installed a Firestone R4Tech suspension system that uses air bag springs instead of leaf springs to carry the load. The truck chassis height is maintained at the same height whether with our without the RV attached. The air pressure in the air springs and adjustable shocks is changed to maintain the height. When we are not towing the RV, the air bag pressure is 20 PSI that provides a less jarring ride for my special passengers.
Memo: The US map below shows the routes that we have taken in the past years.
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Map:
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USA (Continental) - states
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