MarylandDave

Welcome! We’re not-so-distant neighbors in Ellicott City and love your town. We’re also a little jealous of your March date. We are May. Looking forward to reading about your adventures here.

PickupTruckDave.

We have finally given up our resistance to a pickup truck and are buying a 2018 Ford F-150 with the 3.5L EB and max trailer package. I’m sure we could’ve managed with the Touareg but we have big aspirations for long, mountain-heavy trips and the greater capability and storage margins give us comfort. Funny, I never used to notice these things and now they are every third vehicle I see.

Thanks Bill. I guess the capacity number is less important than the other max tow features like rear diff, brake controller, and engine/trans. coolers. I can feel myself getting carried away with seeking the max tow rating. Last week I was fine with a Touareg...

@topgun2, does your F150/3.5EB/MTT rig have 20" wheels? If I'm reading the Ford chart correctly that 13.2k figure is only achievable with the big rims, dropping to 10.5k without. Thanks!

Turns out we’re at a 148 index so we’ve been getting slaughtered all this time without knowing it!

Thanks @Mike and Carol! If we find ourselves drawn to really small towns we’ll have to check out those too.

A friend mentioned Sedona and Prescott, AZ as two nice towns that are convenient to some great camping areas. Thoughts from the Ollie crew?

Adding Oregon coast to my must-see list... @BackofBeyond, so true regarding comfortable temps! My wife is always cold and we’ve learned not to ask her how it feels outside.

Thanks @DavidS! I have spent time in SLC and think the town is awesome, though I never considered it as a place to live because of the enormous influence of the LDS. Not a criticism, just not my thing. My understanding from a friend who lived there (and loved it) is that there is a clear-cut social divide between those in the inside and those on the outside. Maybe I’m more a Park City guy? Nevertheless, you make a great case - every place you mention is on my short list. Big fan of your photography, by the way. Your Sedona pictures had me ready to move there!

Thanks @Jim_Oker, and completely agree. I am glad I worded my post the way I did as it generated some fascinating discussion. But if I had to re-word it I would write: name a town or small city where you would choose to live as a convenient base to explore your favorite places in the west. Something with enough downtown to have a restaurant scene, neighborhoods near enough to be walkable, hiking and biking and a nice climate.

I’ve very much enjoyed all of the posts here. Though my wife and I have the great parks and sights of UT/WY/MT on our bucket list, the comments regarding seasons and efforts to follow the best weather have provoked thoughts regarding our possibilities from home. It’s 11 hours north to Acadia and about the same south to St. Augustine. We should be able to find the weather we like between those two poles.

Following this for sure. One comment/question: I browse Campendium and I’m surprised how many negative reviews so many campgrounds receive. Are campers grumpy and unfair or are there that many lousy campgrounds?

Happy Friday, gang. (Oh sorry, forgot that very few of you track actual days of the week.) Just a fun exercise, really. We have long contemplated a move out west and look forward to using our as-yet-unbuilt Ollie to conduct the search. Recognizing that everyone has their own preferences for town size, climate, and camping destinations, what would you consider the best place to live if the goal was centrality/convenience to your favorite outdoor attractions out west? For instance the front range towns of Colorado seem awesome, but travel to so many of the cool destinations starts with a schlep

@DCdude, are you from the DC area or does the name mean something else?