Extended time RVers Candi and Ted Franklin spend 6-8 months a year RVing the back roads of America.
The Cape Cod, Mass., couple retired in 2001–Ted was a retired nuclear pipe welder and Candi a social worker.
They seek out primitive campgrounds on public lands including national forests and Bureau of Land Management. To get into those location they selected a 2000 21-foot Bigfoot travel trailer, pulled by a 2008 Toyota Tundra with a 4.7 Liter V8 engine.
Their favorite campground is BLM’s Aguirre Springs which sits at approximately 3,000 feet in the high country of the Organ Mountains. Their campsite overlooks the Toolerosa Basin between White Sands National Monument and Las Cruces, NM.
“No big rigs here, they can’t make it up the steep windy mountain road. Even though this campground is free with Golden Age Passport it is little used because there are no services and the access road is so difficult, however it is paved,” says Ted.
“Most travel trailers are just not built to withstand the pounding of many months on the road,” he says, “and the task of selecting the right one of all those brands and models is daunting.”
The Franklins found the commercial site, RV Consumer Group, an “invaluable tool.”
The couple returns to New England in the spring. “This as a circular trip for us,” says Candi, “we plan to return ‘home’ by May. It’s hard to give up summer on the ocean–the time when many friends and family want to visit.”
Photos: Candi and Ted Franklin of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. (Julianne G. Crane). Bottom: Organ Mountains near Las Cruces, NM. (Ted Franklin)
Always love knowing what you found this time. Your pictures rival anything in Nat’l Geo…see you on the road. Am in Acton, CA for CHRISTmas and then heading to Menifee, CA.
Candi and Ted wrote back in an e-mail:
“Yipes, sorry, it IS a Tundra, our old truck was a Tacoma. Thanks for checking.”
“…pulled by a 2008 Toyota Tacoma with a 4.7 Liter V8 engine.”
—
I think you mean a Toyota *Tundra*; the largest Tacoma has a 6-cylinder engine.
TnC: You’re looking great! See you early June in Cape Cod. WE’re participating in another Roadtrek rally at Plymouth Plantation, MAss, Gary and Carol