Hello from South Korea!

[tripper]

Hi All!,
   I have been watching the YouTube vids and really loving them. 25+ years ago I spent over 5 years as a urban and desert boon docker.  I had a 1969 Fiberglass 20' class A RV that looked like a spaceship, unfortunately I had never taken any pictures of it and have never seen another RV that looked like it. It was a 318 Dodge driveline and got 12mpg, I really loved it and had a motorcycle ramp on the rear bumper and towed a 1962 Myers Manx Dunebuggy.  I traveled like that all over for 5+ years.  At the time I would go to laundromats to wash clothes and ask locals if they had any work I could do, usually got paid $20 or so to chop wood, yard work, etc. Gas was ~1.20 or so at the time and I lived a lot of Ramen and popcorn.  Spent lots of time in the desert, places like Saline Valley Warm Springs in the winter and lived around Ocean and Mission Beaches in San Diego in the summer surfing and skateboarding.  I also traveled across the states. I Lived poor but absolutely had the best time of my life.  What ended that lifestyle was my joining the USAF, I have since been in the military for 21+ years of hard work (not particularely enjoyable) and am close to getting back to my dream of boondocking and traveling, I am currently in Korea but soon to return to my wonderful hometown of Tucson.  I have an older 4x4 Chevy with a very small 5th wheel that I can take surprisingly to many backwoods spots. Because the 5th wheel is so low profile and light I get about 16 mpg @ 65 mph on the highways (diesel truck).  I also have another 4x4 Chevy with a basic shell for going really backwoods areas.  
     The videos and forum are really bringing back the good old times for me and can't wait to get back into contact with truly wonderful and carefree people like you all who enjoy life.  I hope to make your early 2017 meetup and make some good lifelong friends, I lost contact with all the wonderful people I met in my past life. 

     I really wanted a truck camper but was unable to find any inexpensive ones at the time and got the 5th wheel in immaculate condition super cheap. I have attached a picture of my old time truck camper that I used a lot, I ended up giving away the camper when I got sent overseas but still have the truck, big mistake as it is very hard now to find a lightweight camper that fits that truck. It is a slant 6 manual steering manual 4 wheel drum brakes but in 15 years I have owned it the 65 Dodge has NEVER broken down. It needs paint but has no rust on it and it is all there.
    Anyways there's my long intro, hope to hang out with many of you in the near future and swap stories!

 

[BradKW]

Nice intro! When you come back, please bring some of that South Korean wireless coverage I've heard about... sounds like they have extra to spare

 

[Vacilador]

Anyoung haseyo, itripper!

 

[tripper]

Nice intro! When you come back, please bring some of that South Korean wireless coverage I've heard about... sounds like they have extra to spare

It is incredible, unlimited data $65 a month, can stream HD movies! 95% of the country has full coverage!

 

[wagoneer]

Welcome Itripper, all those years in service should come in handy,never had the chance to serve my two brothers were already in the rice patties smoking machine guns last male in the family.
My camper is a 1993 six pack weighs 1300 lb wet on a 1995 dodge 3/4 ton diesel could not be happier, what was on your dodge?

 

[highdesertranger]

hi and welcome. wow you got a class A towing a manx into Saline Valley? I would have liked to seen that. must have been south pass right after the road was graded. did you know Saline Valley is now part of Death Valley National Park. so far the NPS has pretty much left the springs alone. sounds like you like the path less traveled, me too. are you planning on full timing when you get back? anyhoo welcome again keep us up to date. highdesertranger

 

[ArtW]

welcome to the forum, and look forward to your safe return

 

[tripper]

My camper is a 1993 six pack weighs 1300 lb wet on a 1995 dodge 3/4 ton diesel could not be happier, what was on your dodge?

The truck camper on my old Dodge I got for helping a farmer move stuff with my truck all day long for free, wish I knew what it was, had a mid 70's feel to it, could tell it was a luxury camper once, did not have a shower or toilet at all. My 65 Dodge is either a 1/4 ton or maybe (doubt it) a 1/2 ton truck but it did "ok" with that camper, 4 wheel manual drum brakes were scary coming down from the Sequoia National Forest.

 

[tripper]

hi and welcome.   wow you got a class A towing a manx into Saline Valley?  I would have liked to seen that.  must have been south pass right after the road was graded.  did you know Saline Valley is now part of Death Valley National Park.  so far the NPS has pretty much left the springs alone.  sounds like you like the path less traveled,  me too.  are you planning on full timing when you get back?  anyhoo welcome again keep us up to date.  highdesertranger

I will be full timing in about 3 years, still in the service right now, by then I will have my house fully paid for and I will live off the military pension to travel on. I plan on traveling the states 6 months a year, spend the summers at my house in the Philippines, and hang around Tucson the rest of the year is it is an incredible city.
Yes I used to spend the winters at Saline before the NPS, it was a shorty class A, 20ft only wide body all fiberglass with low cut wheelwells and GIANT truck tires, biggest problem is they were split rims and nobody would change the tires on it. I Used to help the Wizard (retired Sheriff guy with a horse trailer that built the middle (upper) springs) maintain the middle spring area, dig new latrine holes, etc.  Was randomly doing a week long tour of the area and randomly ran into the springs.  Incredible place, I sure hope it hasn't changed too much.  Posting some pics from Saline below, I am the guy standing by the dune buggy (actually an Empi Imp not a Manx). The buggy with real chains wrapped around the rear rims (actual chain link chain lol) was able to go out the North pass in the dead of winter even with 6+ feet of snow is it did not sink into the snow just glided over it.  Getting an old 69 Class A in and out of Saline was fun!! (not). 

 

[rvpopeye]

Welcome aboard Itripper!
I had 2 of those old trucks , hard to stop 'em.

Your experience will be a great asset here in the tribe!

 

[rvwandering]

Welcome to the CRVL forums Itripper!

To help you learn the ins and outs of these forums, this "Tips & Tricks" post lists some helpful information to get you started. We look forward to hearing more from you.

 

[cyndi]

Thanks for your service and sacrifice, Itripper!!! I know more than a couple of folks, retired from the military, enjoying this lifestyle.

Hope to see you in January, at the RTR

 

[highdesertranger]

yeah, thanks for your service. last time I was there the upper springs was fenced off and closed. that pic you posted is the lower spring right? it looks like it with all the vegetation. if that's the main pool it's about 3x bigger now. even the pools at the middle spring are much bigger. the NPS has pretty much left the springs alone and rely on the camp host to keep everything in shape. they do want the 14 day limit enforced. this might intrest you the springs have their very own forum, http://forum.salinepreservation.org/ . check it out. highdesertranger

 

[ZoNiE]

I will be full timing in about 3 years, still in the service right now, by then I will have my house fully paid for and I will live off the military pension to travel on.  I plan on traveling the states 6 months a year, spend the summers at my house in the Philippines, and hang around Tucson the rest of the year is it is an incredible city.

Groovy...

 

[tripper]

The pool in that pic is at the lower spring (the ones lizard built?) it was the bathtub pool. There was a separate pool for hanging out in. Back then everyone took care of the pools cleaned d them, scrubed them etc. Usually peeps either came for weekend or they stayed the entire winter, the passes would be impassable for weeks sometimes. There was also were several houses in the valley that people lived in, the talc camp, one near artisean spring, and one near first bend in Valley at Mountain foothills but I think nps personal had been trying to make them vacate the houses.