Finally getting around to posting this sighting,
posting this very-long-winded story mainly because of its kinda unusual nature -- spotting the same rig twice, separated by two days and hundreds of miles of uncorrelated/non-parallel miles of driving by both of us -- and because of the person-to-person interaction, more than just a drive-by sighting. Maybe it should be posted under "Trip Reports"...
These sightings happened during a long looping road trip
in my car through northern California and Oregon. The map below shows the relevant part of my loop, with "A" and "G" marking the sites of the two sightings.
On June 3, after spending the night in a motel in Crescent City, CA, I headed up US 199 (aka the Redwood Highway) towards Grants Pass, OR (with a friend's place in Salem, OR my goal for that day). Some miles up that scenic highway along the Smith River, I saw a FWC parked in a large turnout, and feeling social for a fellow pop-up camper owner, I pulled in next to him and rolled down my window to say "Howdy, pop-up Camper!" (well, not
literally ).
Now, when I encounter a FWC (or ATC) rig in a parking lot, etc. and I
see the owner and introduce myself as a fellow pop-up camper guy (and sometimes promote WTW), it's always a little awkward if/when I'm not driving my truck-camper, instead driving my Honda Civic. I suspect they're thinking, "
Sure you have a FWC camper -- you pop-up-wannabe weirdo ".
But despite my concern of being considered a pop-up-wannabe weirdo, I got out of my car and chatted with "
Frank" (and wife, whose name I missed)
of Carpinteria, CA. Their rig was a 2006/7-ish FWC Hawk, which they bought used in 2009, on a Toyota Tundra. I remember we discussed, among other things, installation of
roof-lifting helper shocks thingys, inside vs outside, and I told them that lots/most folks put them on the outside, out of the way. I told him about WTW, how it's a great resource for pop-up-camper info, and he said he'd heard of it, but hadn't signed up. They were considering going to Crater Lake, and I said "Not to be missed -- world class!". After chatting for at least 15 minutes (the whole time with my car parked barely an inch outside the fog line of that busy highway
), I said goodbye and headed up the road to Oregon.
I spent that night at the friend's house in Salem, then headed over to the coast for a sightseeing drive south down (mostly) scenic US 101 with multiple stops, my goal for the day -- Roseburg, back inland. (yeah, it seems like a weird looping/backtracking route...but there were factors involved that made it my choice).
After spending the night in Roseburg,
on June 5 I headed east on OR 138, a really beautiful drive along the very cool North Umpqua River. Earlier in the spring I'd spent a couple of nights camped there, at Susan Creek Campground (BLM), and when I reached that c.g., I pulled in, curious about how busy it would be on a weekday in early June. What did I see? That's right -- the Hawk-Tundra rig of Frank of Carpinteria! I drove along the campground loop and spotted him walking their dog. I stopped and rolled down the window and hailed him, "Hi, it's me again!" He bent down quizzically to look in the window and saw me "
Oh -- it's that pop-up-wannabe weirdo...apparently stalking us" he might have been thinking... Acknowledging the surprising coincidence of intersecting paths again, we chatted briefly. They had indeed visited and enjoyed Crater Lake (his second visit, but the first for his wife) and he asked me about fishing the gorgeous North Umpqua and where he could get a license. I told him that I didn't fish, but I'd seen several guys fishing that morning downstream, so it must be worthwhile, and told him that he could probably get a fishing license in Glide, about 15 miles west.
I continued on east then north, home to Bend.
I don't know if
Frank of Carpinteria has yet registered on WTW, but if he does I hope that he'll spot this report.