Heya from the Finger Lakes

[Doppleganger]

I guess it's proper to make this my first post, though I've been a member of other various forums (and BBS's before that) for a long time. My wife and I put a deposit on a 2020 Apex Nano 187RB. It should be almost through inspection by now, and we're expecting it at the dealer before the end of February. It's probably one of the last 187's to be built, and because they weren't taking custom orders, ours is pretty much fully loaded. Outfitter and Off-Grid packages, and nearest I can figure, they all come with the Summit package now. Will be towing it with either my 2016 WK2 (Jeep Grand Cherokee) 5.7 V8, or my wife's 2014 WK2 3.6 V6. Either will work, but will probably use mine for longer trips. Gotta get her used to towing a trailer, too! She's only pulled my 4x6 Snowbear flatbed trailer so far.


I've been camping since shortly after birth. Growing up, camping was the affordable vacation that we could do as a family (2 younger brothers). We've tent, leanto, and pop-up camped. The experience with pop-ups was limited to old, cheaper units my dad would find for a few hundred bucks. So, they were fully manual, soft top, and would usually work ok.


My wife and I have tent camped, rented small camping cottages in PA state parks, and tried a yurt once. This will be our first TT. Just the two of us, and we're planning on keeping it until it falls apart, which hopefully won't happen for 20 years with good maintenance. Not planning on dragging it around in the salt, as I know that will destroy everything underneath, and every metal fastener, connector, etc.


I've always done pretty much all of our vehicle maintenance (except for a few things covered under warranty on our current Jeeps) from routine maintenance, electronics, to replacing the usual bolt-on accessories, springs, shocks, struts, bushings, transfer cases, transmissions, rebuilding differentials, lighting upgrades, sound systems, CB and Ham radios, radiators, body repair (mostly replacing parts and trying to slow down rust), exhaust... ya know, just a few things. Done my share of junkyarding, too.


We've got quite a list of things to inspect before we take delivery of it, mostly from watching videos, and following FB groups, and I've already got more ideas from lurking here for an hour or two.


Ok, WoT done. Glad to be here, hope to help others out as much as others help us!


-Jay

[NJKris]

You might still be able to get a spot at the Chenango Valley State Park FROG rally! Welcome!

[ejw7213]

Welcome to the forum!!


I am looking forward to when I can come enjoy small mouth fishing on the finger lakes. Which lake and when is the best time to come enjoy your world.

[geeman53]

Welcome from SW Ohio , enjoy your 2020 Apex Nano 187RB TT !

[Doppleganger]

Originally Posted by ejw7213

Welcome to the forum!!


I am looking forward to when I can come enjoy small mouth fishing on the finger lakes. Which lake and when is the best time to come enjoy your world.

Ya know, I haven't been fishing since I was a teenager, and that was back in NJ, so I'm not well versed on which lakes are good for which species of fish. But, my wife's coworker is BIG into fishing (tournaments, etc), I'll see if I can find out. We're kinda between (and north of) Seneca and Canandaigua lakes. I would recommend this area anytime in the summer and fall. Spring can be sketchy with weather, we've had snow in April. It's dryest in August, but if you're not planning your trip 8-11 months in advance, open spots could be in short supply. We'll be camping at Sampson state park in August, though. Unless we get some unusually hot weather, it cools off at night enough not to need the A/C, as long as you have air moving. This whole area is really nice, there's no "old growth" forests, as they were mostly barren back when farming was less efficient. No real worries about wildfires, and our lawn doesn't brown out very often, or for very long, even though we never water it.

[Doppleganger]

Originally Posted by NJKris

You might still be able to get a spot at the Chenango Valley State Park FROG rally! Welcome!

Ah, down near Binghamton. I'll have to see if we'll be able to make that one. Not a bad distance from us, and I know plenty of off-interstate routes to get there.

[Doppleganger]

Looks like the FROG event filled up on the 13th... We'll try for next year.

[NJKris]

Sister moved from NJ up to Geneva LONG time ago on N. end of Seneca. I get up there at least once a year. Never been on any of the lakes though. One day....Phelps was the first place she lived. Now she's just south of Cross Rd. Probably 5 min drive from you.

[NJKris]

I signed up for 3 rallies this year after our first one (Williamsburg, VA) was so nice last year. I noticed they fill up pretty quickly after registration is open. Gettysburg filled up in just a couple minutes after registration opened. So when you see an announcement of registration time, pounce on it, set a reminder.

My wife and I followed pretty much the same path as you, but I've never camped in an RV before last year. We're hooked!

[Doppleganger]

Oh, near Paradise Speedway... Been meaning to make it out there for a race. We go to Geneva frequently for shopping, though probably a little less frequently due to BJ's closing, they're at the 50% off phase now.


I've been on the lake a few times, my dad has a 14' Starcraft boat from the mid 60's. It's not a bad lake for a smaller boat. The park at the north end of the lake is nice, good for group picnics. We're also members of the local RACES group (ham radio) and are involved in taking care of the emergency communications in Hopewell and at city hall in Geneva.


We were in Helmetta, NJ last November for a week. Visiting friends and family, though most of our family moved out of state a while ago.

[NJKris]

Helmetta is about an hour and 15 southeast of me. If you ever take that new camper down here, we enjoyed camping at Turkey Swamp park in Freehold last year, our 2nd RV trip ever. I don't do ham, but am a closet meteorologist, lol. Station ID KNJWASHI3 on Wunderground, DW2180 on CWOP.

[Doppleganger]

Cool. I remember my parents talking about Turkey Swap decades ago. We used to camp at Bass River down in the pine barrens. Most of our camping was there or in eastern PA. Tobyhanna, Hickory Run were two we went to a few times. More recently, we've been to Tuscarora (yurt), Locust Lake, Hills Creek and back to Hickory Run. I really like PA state parks, we're planning on hitting as many as we can in the next few years.


ETA: When I finally get our weather station setup, I'm probably going to contribute to CoCoRaHS.

[NJKris]

I'm considering going down to Bass River next month to do some winter camping one weekend. They have little shacks with wood stoves they call leantos. Pretty cool option while camper is winterized. Up by me, Stokes State Forest has those cabins too, but they are booked every weekend for months out already.

Only problem with PA parks is everything seems to be closed for winter. You can find some RV parks like Otter Lake in the Poconos open year round though. We did that one in November, was great. Our last trip of the season.

[Doppleganger]

HAHA! Stokes! I remember kids going there in high school. I never had a chance to go, but from what I gathered, it's where kids "grew up". Yea, we've tent camped, popup, and did the leanto thing. The leantos are fully enclosed now, used to have an open side. Batsto (sp?) village was a neat place to visit. One of those 17th century villages where they demonstrated candle making, blacksmithing, etc.

[A32Deuce]

Hi from South Jersey, home to the Pine Barrens.

[CurtPutnam]

Welcome from SoCal!

[Doppleganger]

Originally Posted by A32Deuce

Hi from South Jersey, home to the Pine Barrens.

Piney! Found some tank testing areas off of rt206 back when I had my bronco.

[coney]

Originally Posted by Doppleganger

Looks like the FROG event filled up on the 13th... We'll try for next year.

Doppleganger, Send Ron (rmac04401), our fearless leader of this rally a PM. If someone cancels, he will let you know

[NJKris]

It's a bit of a drive for you Doppleganger, but Brass Ring rally at Knoebel's Amusement Park might still have an opening. Down in PA by Hershey. I know they are almost full, but haven't seen anything on that thread saying they are.

[Doppleganger]

Originally Posted by NJKris

It's a bit of a drive for you Doppleganger, but Brass Ring rally at Knoebel's Amusement Park might still have an opening. Down in PA by Hershey. I know they are almost full, but haven't seen anything on that thread saying they are.

Oh, we've been to that place! We have friends that live in Mahanoy City, right near Locust Lake and Tuscarora Lake state parks (camped in both). I love the openness of it, no entry fee for the park, just buy tickets to ride. And, the diner is great, prices are diner prices, not amusement park prices, same with the quality of the food.


I'm letting Wodstock (my wife, she's on here) know about this one, and the Chenango one. I think we'll try to hit just one of the two, we've already got 2 other trips planned for August and September. Next year we'll be using the trailer for the Dayton Hamvention, too.