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For Father’s Day, navigate to annual ‘car show and shine’ in Kelowna, British Columbia

Julianne G. Crane
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For Father’s Day, navigate to annual ‘car show and shine’ in Kelowna, British Columbia

The third weekend in June is always great fun in Kelowna, British Columbia.

For the last dozen years, thousands and thousands of people have swarmed over City and Kerry Parks on the shore of Okanagan Lake for the annual Boyd’s Father’s Day Car Show and Shine .

The free outdoor car show features more than 300 hot rods, bikes and rumbling machines. Vintage and classic cars crowd the parks and surrounding downtown streets.

More than 20,000 spectators are expected to listen to live rock ‘n roll music and other performances.

There are always numerous food tents with all kinds of delicious goodies, including amazing BBQ beef dogs (around $2) and ice cream cones.

If that isn’t enough, look for craft booths … and … face painting. This year proceeds go to support the Canadian Cancer Society.

On my 2009 visit to the festivities and car show, my favorite classic was the the Coca Cola Chevrolet delivery van and custom mini-trailer owned by Carole and Barry Blomme.

Kelowna folks can really throw a party.

If you go:
Annual Father’s Day Charity Car Show/Shine
When: Father’s Day, 3rd Sunday in June, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Where: City Park, Kerry Park
Mill Street, downtown Kelowna, BC
Contact: 250.868-2693

To read more about the RV Lifestyle click on RVWheelLife.com

— Julianne G. Crane   

Photos: 2009 Kelowna Father’s Day car show by Julianne Crane.

New campground at Colorado’s Elkhead Reservoir State Park

RV Staff
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New campground at Colorado’s Elkhead Reservoir State Park

Elkhead Reservoir State Park is located in the Yampa Valley in northwestern Colorado. Home to a 900-acre reservoir, this state park provides endless recreational opportunities including boating, swimming, picnicking, wildlife watching, hiking, fishing, biking, camping and countless opportunities for photos.

The newly built Bear’s Ears campground at Elkhead Reservoir includes 16 campsites with fire pits, picnic tables and shade shelters.

Watchable wildlife is abundant at Elkhead Reservoir right now in June. There are lots of little critters running around. Depending on the season, large herds of elk, deer and pronghorn can be seen in and around the park. Hawks, eagles and owls are regularly seen throughout the year. Also found in the area are bears, coyotes, bobcats and mountain lions which are not seen daily, but pass through on a regular basis.

Shady Dell where vintage trailers shine

Julianne G. Crane
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Shady Dell where vintage trailers shine
Julianne G. Crane at Shady Dell. (Jimmy W. Smith)

The Shady Dell, in mile-high Bisbee, Ariz., is a place where “midcentury Modernism is alive and well.”

There are nine completely restored vintage aluminum travel trailers and you’re invited to stay in any one of them.

“Our sleek collection of vintage travel trailers are all perfectly restored to combine mid-century Americana kitsch with the comforts of home in a way that only the 1950s were capable of,” according to the Web site.

Vintage Airstream trailers. (Julianne G. Crane)

The collection includes a 1949 Airstream, 1950 Spartanette, 1957 El Ray and 1951 Royal Mansion.

In addition to the period trailers, there is a classic 1947 Chris-Craft yacht permanently dry docked. The 38-foot pleasure boat sleeps two and is said to be popular with newlyweds.

Source: Dot’s Diner

For eating in vintage style, there is Dot’s Diner,  a 1957 Valentine model that has been restored in art deco style. Built in Wichita Kansas, the authentic diner was originally delivered to the corner of Ventura and Topanga Canyon Boulevard in Los Angeles. It was run by Dot Bozeman, chief cook and bottle washer until 1999. 

Nowadays, the 10-stool diner serves breakfast and lunch. We had Dot’s Dog (comes with bag of chips) for under $5 and milk shake with real ice cream for $4.

Bisbee is captivating and full of historic buildings, museums, art galleries, antique shops, hidden walkways and plenty of ghosts. Its close proximity to the Chiricahua National Forest, Cochise Stronghold, and the Ramsey Canyon Nature Conservancy, provides many opportunities for bird watching, rock hunting, biking, hiking or just leisurely explorations of the wonders of southern Arizona’s  high desert area.

For more information:
The Shady Dell RV Park
1 Douglas Road, Bisbee, AZ 85603
Phone: [520] 432-1112



Bisbee is southeast of Tucson on Hwy 80 near the Mexico border.


— Julianne G. Crane  
To read more articles on the RV lifestyle go to www.RVWheelLife.com.

Photos: Top: Julianne G. Crane in front of Shady Dell sign. (Jimmy W. Smith). Bottom: Six of the vintage aluminum travel trailers. (Julianne G. Crane).

Hog Island Country Store on Michigan’s UP

Julianne G. Crane
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Hog Island Country Store on Michigan’s UP
Camper outside Hog Island Country Store. (Julianne Crane).

If you’re hungry for a traditional ‘pasty’ while touring through Michigan’s Upper Peninsula this camping season–and you get a kick out of funky little places–draft on into Hog Island Country Store.

Located just 35 miles west of the Mackinac Bridge on U.S. 2, this charming roadside store features unique regional products, such as homemade jams and jellies, smoked fish, and those delicious hot pasties. Then there is an amazing variety of retro items and pig objects of every description.

Hog Island Country Store owners Tom and Sandy Jacobs (Julianne Crane).

However, by far the best reason for stopping at Hog Island are the shop owners Sandy and Tom Jacobs.

About eight years ago, Sandy, a former intensive care nurse and Tom, a retired Delphi Corp. worker, left Flint in the Lower Peninsula, bought the place, and re-invented themselves.
While they sometimes feel they are working longer hours now, they still love taking care of the store and the six neat clapboard cottages that have hosted vacationing families since the 1940’s.

If you go:


Hog Island Country Store and Cottages
W8294 US Highway 2
Naubinway, MI 49762
Phone: (906) 477-9995
URL: www.hogislandcottages.com
Open: Memorial weekend to December 1.

To read more about the RV Lifestyle click on RVWheelLife.com

— Julianne G. Crane  

Photos: Top: Jimmy Smith and Julianne G. Crane’s Lance camper outside Hog Island Country Store and Cottages. Owners Tom and Sandy Jacobs (Julianne Crane). Map courtesy of Hog Island Country Store and Cottages.

Floyd (Virginia) Country Store = Traditional Appalachian music every Friday night

Julianne G. Crane
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Floyd (Virginia) Country Store = Traditional Appalachian music every Friday night
Crowds line up early on Friday night. (Floyd Country Store)

(Updated Aug. 19, 2015 by Julianne G. Crane)

If you find yourself traveling through the Blue Ridge Mountain area of southwest Virginia anywhere near the weekend–STOP. Find a place to park your RV and take in the Appalachian musical celebration at The Floyd Country Store.

This jumping music venue has become a traditional gathering place on Friday nights for musicians, dancers and visitors from all over the world.

Live music every weekend in Floyd, Va. (Julianne G. Crane)

RVer Jimmy Smith and I take in the live music each time we visit our cousins Mary Jane Huber and John Winnicki in Floyd, Va.

Mary Jane Huber & Jackie Crenshaw

This is a place where the whole family can have a great time because the proprietors, Woody and Jackie Crenshaw, operate on ‘Granny’s Rules’ … ‘No smoking, no drinking alcohol, no bad language, no conduct unbecoming a lady or gentleman.’

The weekly (year round) Friday Night Jamboree begins around 6:30 p.m. and goes to about 10:30 p.m. For only $5 (the night we were there) you are likely to hear gospel to bluegrass. Then on every Saturday, beginning at noon, there is an ‘Americana Afternoon‘ of music, free. On Sunday is the Music Jam 1:30-6 p.m., also free.

The first Friday each month, September through May, is the Floyd Radio Show hosted by musicians Anna Roberts-Gevalt and Elizabeth LaPrelle.  “Each show features some of the area’s finest old-timey musical acts,
from storytelling banjo players to flatpicking guitarists to
hard-driving string bands.”

If you go:
Floyd Country Store
206 S. Locust St.
Floyd, Virginia 24091
540.745-4563
Open: Tuesday-Sunday
URL: FloydCountryStore.com

— Julianne G. Crane

To read more about the RV Lifestyle click on RVWheelLife.com

Photos: The entire family comes out for the Floyd Country Store Friday Night Jamboree. (Julianne G. Crane ). Bottom: Directions to Floyd Country Store.

Mike the Headless Chicken Festival coming next month in Colorado

RV Staff
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Mike the Headless Chicken Festival coming next month in Colorado

Mark your calendars for May 20 and 21 for the Mike the Headless Chicken Festival in Fruita, Colorado.

Mike was a chicken who lived for 18 months in the mid-1940s after getting his head chopped off in preparation for dinner (not Mike’s, his owner’s). But a little bit of brain stem remained. With regular feeding with an eyedropper, Mike refused to die and, in fact, thrived. His owner Lloyd Olson described him as “a fine specimen of a chicken except for not having a head.”

Headless Mike went on tour and made Olson mucho money until the fowl choked on a kernal of corn and died. At the Mike the Headless Chicken Festival, you can enjoy music and other entertainment, a chicken dance contest, chicken games, eating contests and more including dining on fried chicken (no offense, Mike). As the festival organizers say, “Attending this fun, family event is a NO BRAINER.” Fruita is just a few miles from Grand Junction. Looking for a spectacular place to camp? Head up the bluff above town to Colorado National Monument.

Watch a one-minute video about Mike.

Historic Frenchglen Hotel in Oregon

Julianne G. Crane
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Historic Frenchglen Hotel in Oregon
Lance camper park outside of Frenchglen Hotel Historic Site. Julianne G. Crane
Kelly Everhart and John Ross. ( Julianne G. Crane )

The Frenchglen Hotel Historic Site is the perfect midway stop on Hwy 205 between Denio Junction, Nev., and Burns, Ore. It is a small slice of rustic beauty in southeastern Oregon, nestled at the gateway to the mighty Steens Mountain and Malheur Wildlife Refuge.

Proprietor John Ross and his “better half,” Kelly Everharth, operate this historic American Foursquare building between mid-March and October. 1.
According to John, the hotel was built in the mid-1920s to house stagecoach travelers and visitors to the nearby “P” ranch. It was remodeled by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1938. Today, the hotel still offers eight rooms for rent and serves excellent country cooking three meals a day. “We get a lot of birders here.”
For more information about the region contact Kelly (info@harneycounty.com) at the Harney County Chamber of Commerce.

To read more about the RV Lifestyle click on RVWheelLife.com

— Julianne G. Crane  

Photos: Camper parked outside Frenchglen Hotel Historic Site. (Bottom) Hotel proprietors Kelly Everhart and John Ross. ( Julianne G. Crane )

Maryhill Museum of Art

Bob Difley
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Maryhill Museum of Art

Sam Hill was a dreamer, and also rich. This allowed him to purchase thousands of acres of parched dry land in the east end of the Columbia Gorge to follow his dream of establishing a Quaker farming community and building a mansion. The farming dream withered like the grass on the slopes surrounding the mansion, which did get built in 1914.

When his dreams faded, he turned his mansion into a museum of art including several eclectic permanent displays such as the Native People of North America, International Chess Sets, sculptures by Auguste Rodin, and the Theatre de la Mode Miniature French Fashions of 1946. The Loie Fuller, Sam Hill, and Maryhill Galleries display significant paintings by American and European artists, and sculptures dot the outdoor gardens.

On the Washington side of the Columbia River just west of Biggs Bridge in Goldendale. Open daily 9 – 5, Mar. 15 – Nov. 15. Visit their website for more info.

Airstream Ranch – a Florida Roadside Attraction – see it before it disappears in 2017

Julianne G. Crane
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Airstream Ranch – a Florida Roadside Attraction – see it before it disappears in 2017

Since 2008, travelers along I-4 between Tampa and Plant City in Florida have been getting an eyeful of the “Airstream Ranch,” an unusual display of eight aluminum travel trailers buried nose down in the ground near Bates RV.

(Updated 2/18/2017: However, according to RVTravel.com, “Florida’s Airstream Ranch,
a Stonehenge-like display of the classic trailers, will soon vanish to
the realm of memory. The display of half-planted-on-end trailers will
soon give way to the construction of – what else – an Airstream
dealership. Inside the dealership, the new owner promises visitors an
Airstream museum.”)

RV dealer Frank Bates had long had the reputation for “other visual stunts such as hanging a trailer from a construction crane near the entrance of his dealership,” wrote Ken Storey of Roadside America.com.


He “created what he says is a tribute to roadside architecture, and what his critics claim is his most audacious advertising stunt yet.

Bates considered it art, adding that “the easily-identifiable Airstream design is ‘truly an American art form,’ and that an Airstream is part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Frank says that he is a huge fan of roadside attractions, and that on a recent cross-country flight (in his personal helicopter) he landed at Cadillac Ranch, the attraction that inspired his work,” said Storey.

It is said that the “whole idea of art is to convey ideas and promote communication, and Airstream Ranch has certainly accomplished that.”

Bates’s Stonehendge-ish art tribute resulted in a two-year legal battle with the local code enforcement board.

“The county cited Bates in January 2008 for several code violations, including misuse of agricultural land and unauthorized outside storage,” stated an article in The Ledger in Lakeland, Fl. “A three-judge panel overturned the code-enforcement board’s ruling” in early 2010.

All of which means the “Airstream Ranch” remains as another unique roadside attraction and photo opportunity.

If you go:

Airstream Ranch
Address: 4656 Mcintosh Rd, Dover, FL
Directions: Bates RV Exchange. I-4 exit 14, southwest corner. Park in the Bates RV lot.

Hours: Daylight hours. (Call to verify)
Phone: 888.228-3778
URL: www.batesrv.com

Photo: Bates RV

Batter up for ‘Cactus League Spring Training’ baseball during March in Arizona

Julianne G. Crane
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Batter up for ‘Cactus League Spring Training’ baseball during March in Arizona
Cactus League Spring Training game.  Julianne G. Crane

Where do Snowbird RVers kick back for a few hours on warm March afternoons in Metro Phoenix? They go where more than 1.47 million fans did in March 2010 — to one of the half-dozen daily ‘Cactus League Spring Training’ baseball games in the greater Phoenix area.

 (Julianne G. Crane)

That’s where four of us from the Pacific Northwest went on a recent Sunday afternoon–to a ballgame at Scottsdale Stadium to watch the 2010 World Series Champions San Francisco Giants face off against the Seattle Mariners.

If one is a Giants’ fan, it was a tremendous game. In fact, just about everyone in the park was wearing orange and black–except for what seemed like four folks from Washington state.

For decades, with its incredible March weather, Arizona has been hosting Major League Baseball spring training. What makes the experience extra special for RVers are all the park facilities, surrounding scenic beauty and close proximity to great outdoor venues.

Along with the Giants and Mariners, 13 other major league teams with spring training here include: the Arizona Diamondbacks, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, Colorado Rockies, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles/Anaheim Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics, San Diego Padres and Texas Rangers. They play their Cactus League games in 10 different stadiums.

Tickets range from under-$10 for seating on the lawn, to more than $40 for stadium seating, depending on team and section. Lawn seating is on the grassy area behind the outfield. Arrive early, wear a hat and sunscreen, and bring a blanket or towel to sit on.

No food or bottled water was allowed through the gates at Scottsdale Stadium. Purses and backpacks were checked. As with any professional ballgame food fare, there is a variety, but it is spendy. Vendors hawk cold beer ($5), peanuts ($4.50) and lemonade ($5).

For more information: www.cactusleague.com

To read more about the RV Lifestyle click on RVWheelLife.com

— Julianne G. Crane 


Photos: Scottsdale Stadium, San Francisco Giants vs. Seattle Mariners; young fan; and ballgame food fare. (Julianne G. Crane)

Learn about the American Revolution at Minute Man National Historic Park

RV Staff
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Learn about the American Revolution at Minute Man National Historic Park

Minute Man National Historical Park in Concord, Mass., is a great place to learn about the American Revolution including the famous 1775 ride of Paul Revere as he warned the Colonials about the British invasion.

See Battle Road, where the stone walls alongside afforded Colonials cover as they fired on British troops. On April 19, 1775, British soldiers and American militia, “minute men” met in a series of skirmishes along a 22-mile stretch of the road that ran from Boston to Concord. The five-mile Battle Road Trail for walking, bicycle or wheelchair, follows remnants of the historic road, and visits historic houses, farming fields, wetlands, and forests.

The park includes a tavern dating to 1733 and the home of 19th-century American authors Nathaniel Hawthorne and Louisa May Alcott. The connection to storytellers is fitting for a place that relates one of the most exciting narratives in American history. Though many of us became familiar in grade school with the story that climaxes in “the shot heard round the world,” the tale still captures our imagination.

Learn about minute men — ordinary citizens who unwittingly wrote themselves into history by standing up for their rights — as well as the less known but equally important women of colonial Lexington and Concord.

A good time to visit is in April during Patriot’s Day, where visitors see history brought to life. And don’t miss the pretty little town of Concord, a Norman Rockwell kinda place.

There is no camping in the park.

Lockhart — Barbecue Capital of Texas

Julianne G. Crane
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Lockhart — Barbecue Capital of Texas
Kreuz Market German style BBQ in Lockhart (Julianne G. Crane)

(Updated: 5/30, 2016)  Texans take their barbecue seriously — very seriously–especially in Lockhart, a small town in Central Texas.

For a great meal, good hospitality and a little Texas history, this is the place to stop for RVers on the road in this part of the country.

A number of years ago, I heard of Lockhart being the ‘Barbecue Capital of Texas’  from Gaylord Maxwell, the late RV author and founder of the RV Life on Wheels educational conferences.

Gaylord knew I had relatives in Austin and asked if I had ever been to Lockhart (about 30 miles south on Hwy. 183) for the best BBQ ever. According to Gaylord, he and his wife, Margie, had often RVed through Lockhart just to eat.

Lockhart and cattle go back a long ways to when it was a major northward converging point on the Chisholm Trail to Kansas.

Today, the town of about 12,000 has four major BBQ restaurants–Black’s Barbecue, Chisholm Trail BBQ, Kreuz Market Smitty’s Market.  Together, they estimate they serve about 5,000 people each week.

Jimmy Smith outside Black’s Barbecue (Julianne G. Crane)

I have eaten at three of these grand establishments: Kreuz Market, a German-style barbecue restaurant since 1900; Black’s Barbecue, the oldest BBQ eatery in Texas that has been “continuously owned and operated by the same family;” and Smitty’s Market, home of the original Kreuz Market for more than 50 years.

Kreuz Market specializes in a dry-rub BBQ. “Don’t ask for barbecue sauce. They don’t have it and quite honestly are offended if anyone asks. The owners say, ‘good barbecue doesn’t need sauce.’ “

Both Kreuz and Smitty’s have been selected among the Top Texas BBQ Joints by Texas Monthly magazine.

Live music at Black’s (Julianne G. Crane)

On our stop on Sunday afternoon at Black’s, owners Norma Jean and Edgar Black were seated in their corner booth and the place was packed. There is free live music on Sunday afternoons.

The specialties are “Texas smoked meats, homemade sausage, and barbecue sauces.” Jimmy ordered Baby Back Ribs and I had a sliced pork loin sandwich. Sides of pinto bean and cold slaw. Sweet tea. Nothing was left on either plate.

If you go:

Kreuz Market
619 N. Colorado St.
URL: KreuzMarket.com
Open: 10:30 a.m.-8 p.m. (daily)
The meat, including beef, sausage or pork, is served on brown butcher paper. ‘Vegetarian’ side of the house includes beans, German potato salad and sauerkraut,

Black’s Barbecue
215 N. Main St
512.398.2712
URL: blacksbbq.com/
Open: ‘8 days a week’ – 10 a.m.-8 p.m. (8:30 p.m. on Fri.-Sat.) Great selection of sides.

Chisholm Trail Barbeque
1323 S. Colorado St
512.398-6027
URL: lockhartchisholmtrailbbq.com
Offers a large selection of salads and side dishes to go along with the sausage, brisket, ribs, turkey, chicken and fajitas. Fried catfish on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Chicken fried steak on Tuesday and Thursday.

Smitty’s Market
208 S. Commerce St
512.398-9344
URL: smittysmarket.com
Open: Mon. – Fri. 7 a.m. – 6 p.m., Sat. 7 a.m. – 6:30 p.m., Sunday 9 a.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Nina Schmidt Sells established Smitty’s Market in 1999 in the building that housed her father’s Kreuz Market for more than 50 years. Excellent brisket and pork ribs.

To read more about the RV Lifestyle click on RVWheelLife.com

— Julianne G. Crane  

Photos: Top left: Kreuz Market Barbecue; top right: Kreuz dinning room. Lower left: Jimmy Smith of Spokane, Wash., outside Black’s Barbecue; lower right: Live music at Black’s (click on photos for larger images). (Julianne G. Crane)

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