Fantasy RV Caravan - Day 1

Friday, 2 August - Day 1

The caravan we signed up for is by Fantasy RV Tours (https://www.fantasyrvtours.com/RV-Tours/Canada/Tour-Package/TPC/27CCM/TPD/072919/TCID/27CCMP-072919/rl/0), their 27-day Best of the Canadian Maritimes package.  It is Sprinty’s first caravan organized by a tour company.

Today is our check-in for the caravan to the Canadian Maritime.  The welcome packet asked that we arrive by 2pm to get all settled before the welcome meeting.  While we assumed the time was based on the big rigs that require more time to get set up, we thought we would arrive by 2pm as requested.

Being an hour away, we had most of the day to adventure as we wanted to.  Option we considered were to head for Trenton, ME (where the campground was, and just before the bridge to Desert Island/Acadia NP/Bar Harbor) and get the bikes out and go for a bike ride.  Or go to Bar Harbor and take the free shuttle into Acadia NP.  Or play golf on our way to Trenton. 

Of course, we played golf.  Once we crossed the Penobscot River on the east side of Bangor, there were only nine-hole courses to pick from.  Two along the most direct route, and two were not.  It seemed that they were a little proud of the two courses along to route (aka pricy), so we selected Sawmill Woods Golf Course on Highway 9 in Clifton, ME.  Based on the website price of two golfers with a cart for $50, we set our expectations very low.  We were surprised when they only charged us the walking rate of $34 for two people, even though we were clear about the cart.  The carts were either bonafide antiques, or were on the cusp of being antiques.  They assigned us a bright yellow on, and it was like hot rod - probably the peppiest golf cart we have ever had.

The golf course was cut out of woods and rolling terrain, and one might say it had a lot of character.  For example, on the first hole, the fairway narrowed up to about 25 feet wide at 200 yards (on a 287 yard hole).  Darrell wisely hit a 5 iron to a easy wedge shot to the green.  Kris, after seeing the course yardage, decided to be bold and also hit form the white tees, and hit the middle of the fairway.  Kris made par, and Darrell made bogey.  Darrell managed to tie it up later, then started making pars to make the turn three strokes up despite contributing two balls to the woods collection.

On the second time around, Kris moved to the red tees, while Darrell stayed with the white tees.  We both played the course better the second time, only Darrell made more pars and the lone birdie of the day, to take honors.

The course was such that the first time around, there was only one hole that Darrell could hit driver with.   It was a fun course if you kept reminding yourself that it was for fun, and just concentrated on making good shots.  

After golf, we headed for the rendezvous campground in Trenton, ME.  As we passed through Ellsworth, Kris saw a Dunkin Donuts and reminded Darrell that it was his turn to buy.  Which he did.  Google Maps knew that traffic through Ellsworth was slow stop-n-go, and routed us around.

We arrived at Narrows Too Camping Resort Campground in Trenton, ME before the 2pm deadline.   We checked in to the campground and picked up our two packages - a bundle of mail from FL (our monthly snail mail package) and our Amazon order.  Next we checked in with the Fantasy RV organizers.  While we were doing the check-in inside, Bill, the Tailgunner was outside adding some new bling to Sprinty.

We got Sprinty all settled in his assigned parking spot, nestled between two Class A rigs on the caravan.  

The campsite is located on the water, but only a few sites are actually waterfront sites.  Well spaced sites, full-hookups, and WiFi.  Unfortunately, the WiFi was typical RV park WiFi - we could only connect to one access point (despite having half dozen supposedly available), and even when you got connected to that one, it dropped you after about 60 seconds, and required you to go through the connection process again, which took about 90 seconds.  After a couple of iterations, we gave up.  AT&T cellular was poor, but Verizon cell worked quite well.

At 4pm, the welcome/orientation meeting started and the organizers went over the schedule, the trip log book which contained detailed driving instructions for transit days, tips and tricks, and emphasized that it was our vacation and Fantasy RV was there to enhance our vacation.  They made quite clear that convoy-style transiting was not expected, and was actually discouraged.  They went over the process of the Wagonmaster heading out first, and the Tailgunner last, etc.  

While 11 of the 22 RVers (including Sprinty) were first-timers doing a Fantasy RV Caravan or Rally, one couple from Chattanooga had done 16 Fantasy RV trips.  Another couple has had 8 Fantasy RV trips, and three were on their third trip.  As we expected, the Wagonmaster (Tom and Nancy) had a Class A, as did the Tailgunner (Bill and Esthermay).  The group was made up of one travel trailer, two Class Bs (both Roadtreks), two Class B+, and three Class Cs.  One of the Class Cs was a CruiseAmerica Rental with a couple from Perth Australia.  And the rest were Class As.  Only six of the 24 total rigs (including Wagonmaster and Tailgunner) did not have a Toad.

Something else interesting is that two of our caravan mates are brothers, Dave and Steve Kendrick, and both married ladies named Sherry.  So one Sherry Kendrick is a sister-in-law to the other Sherry Kendrick.

After the orientation, we had a catered lobster dinner.  Kris had chicken, and a few participants were vegetarians.  The lobster was right out of the cooker, so it required cracking, etc.  Messy and we were all glad bibs were provided.  

As we considered the guidance about travel days (No set schedule on travel days - okay to do side trips; They will tell us when they are leaving, and what time they want us at campground (for evening plans);  Asked not to arrive before the Wagonmaster), we saw an opportunities to play golf.  Tomorrow was a travel day of only 136 miles with no planned stops enroute.  So we provided the Tailgunner a heads up that we intended to play golf enroute, and would likely be an early departure.  We also signed up on his “Do Not Thump” list.  One of the many functions of the Tailgunner is to help caravaners if they have any mechanical problems.  A common problem in RVs is tire pressure, and low tire pressure can result in serious problems.  As Tailgunner, his normal routine is to thump all the tires on all the rigs each morning.  As Sprinty has a TPM with alarms for low/high pressure/temperature, Darrell monitors the tire pressure multiple times a day, and we weren’t sure his thumping of 60psi tires when Class A tires are usually 100+ psi would offer any value, we elected for no thumping.