Zion National Park

Little Red Tug Cruising Through Zion National Park

Red Tug Alert! Zion National Park is a short cut for us to Lake Powell Who would have thought the SECOND sightseeing attraction on that day in Zion National Park was Kismet, our little red tug? Everywhere we stopped to pull over, people seemed more interested in taking photos of our boat than the scenery. I'll have to admit, we did stand out a bit driving on those rocky hairpin turns and entering a few tunnels. I'm sure the last thing anyone thought they'd see on that day was a bright red tug traveling through the majestic Zion National Park.

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International Bridge

Heading Home from Spanish – North Channel, Canada

Loading Kismet at Spanish Municipal Marina. Heading back to Spanish, time to load our boat onto the trailer to drive back to the states. This was the first bad weather day of our trip. No sooner had we got the boat secured onto the trailer and into the parking lot when it started to rain hard. You can tell from the photos how dreary it was during our trip home. Heading over the bridge at Sault Saint Marie was a little stop-and-go as we neared customs. Not long after crossing the Mackinaw Bridge, we were looking for a place to…

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Ranger Tugs Kismet at Mackinaw Island Dock

Launching in Mackinaw City – Post Wedding Trip to Mackinac Island

Mackinaw City seemed to be the logical choice to launch Kismet for our trip to Mackinac Island. Our son, Skyler, got married to, Sarah, on Labor Day Weekend. Most of our summer was focused on this big event; except for a few boat trips, we stayed close to home preparing and enjoying all the activities. I have to confess it took quite a toll on our blogging ability. After it was over, we needed to decompress and Mackinac Island came first to mind. This island is unique in its ability to transport a visitor back in time, one of our…

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If You Rest… You Rust!

The crew of Kismet is On the Road Again! If it appears that we are eating our way back to the boat, you are right, we are! Seems like we are always on the move, north, south, east or west. Not much to report on during our road trip south to Florida to pick up Kismet, however, we found some exceptional food stops along the way. When trailering our boat, or driving back to where she is stored, gives us an opportunity to explore some little towns off the expressway. Shan Chinese Buffet was tops on our list, it was just a fluke that…

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Off to Portland Oregon, with Kismet in Tow

First North, then West to Portland Oregon After months of packing, planning, and organizing, we finally headed out this morning. First to 131, driving north to the Mackinaw Bridge. After we crossed the bridge, Kismet's bow was turned west towards our final destination of Portland Oregon. Not only will we get the boat out to the west coast before the snow flies, but we plan to spend time with our son, Ross, and his family, in Portland for several weeks before flying home for the holidays. This is just the beginning of a year-long adventure in the Pacific Northwest. Because of the…

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Staging Storing in Portland, Oregon

Staging Storing Whenever we plan a major trip, usually once a year if we can manage, it usually involves what we like to call "Staging Storing." We often need to stage our boat somewhere near our intended future cruising area well before we actually start cruising. Whether it be storage or docking somewhere nearby to avoid weather restrictions, to avoid higher costs, or we think we'd like to take in some interesting activity short of our final destination – making plans to stage and store the boat is an important element of trip planning. Our cruising plans for the next year will be focused…

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packing

Insights Into Jim’s Packing Science

Packing for a Cross Country Trip is Like Preparing for a Marathon Getting ready for a cross-country trip requires some mental gymnastics! We’ve only got one shot to pack up the truck before we head west. Better to be well-organized from the start. We knew it was going to be tight, especially since we were taking a few containers of personal items to our son, Ross, and his family, who live in Portland, OR. We actually started the packing process back in April when we unloaded the contents, of our sold Ranger Tugs R27, from our truck into the garage.…

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Loading Kismet

A Little Apprehension Loading Kismet for Her First Cross-Country Trek

Heading Back to Des Moines Where We Will Be Loading Kismet Onto its Trailer for the First Time. Apprehension is defined in Webster's Dictionary as "anxiety or fear that something bad or unpleasant will happen.” As our time in the Pacific Northwest was coming to an end, I was beginning to feel a little uneasy about trailering our new boat cross-country. The new Ranger Tug R29S is two feet longer, one and one-half feet wider, a little taller, and a couple of thousand pounds heavier than our previous R27. I've been known to worry a lot when faced with something new…

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Cross-Country

Delving Into the Oversize Load Permit Process – DIY to Save Money!

We Decided to Secure the Oversize Load Permits Ourselves – There are many things in life I enjoy, two of those things are saving money and learning. In this spirit, I forged ahead with the Oversize Load permit process one has to go through when traveling on highways with an oversized load. I looked forward to learning how it works, as well as saving money by doing it myself.  If you are trailering a load, that is wider than 8 1/2 feet, you have to get an oversize/wide load permit from every state and each Canadian Provence you’ll be traveling…

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Loading

Time to Go Home – Loading Kismet in Fort Lauderdale

Think we have the hang of loading the boat now! After six years of trailering our Ranger Tugs R27, we guessed that loading the bigger boat onto the trailer would be harder. The only other time we trailered the boat was in the Pacific Northwest last fall. We took delivery of her in August and cruised for several weeks before loading her again. The boatyard lifted the boat out of the water by a travel lift and placed it on the trailer. That's a good thing because we were a little intimidated by the whole OVERSIZE LOAD requirements, rules and regulations. We wondered how…

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Covid-19

Trailering Kismet Across Country During Covid-19

Jim is driving, and I am writing this blog post, the first one in quite a while. We are in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, taking Route 2 west as we begin our trek to Washington State. We hope the Canadian border will open while we are out there so we can cruise up to British Columbia. Ideally, we’d like to explore more of the Broughton Islands. We missed going to Florida this year, as we were helping our son, Ross’ family move to Michigan from Portland, OR. Well worth staying home to spend five months with our daughter-in-law, Sarah, and our two…

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