The Freedom of a “Toad”

We had been looking for an adequate tow vehicle (Toad) for about a year. We looked at Mini Coopers, which are popular with Vienna/Villagio owners, but the cost to equip a late model Mini was too expensive. Finding an RV service center willing to do the work on a Mini was very hard. We finally settled on a Jeep Wrangler 2-door. With a curb weight of about 3,850 lbs., it’s well within the towing limit of the Sprinter 3500. We would be able to add about 300 lbs. of gear, removing that weight from the 11,030 lb. GVWR limit of the Vienna.

The hunt was on last fall and we finally found a suitable 2015 Jeep Wrangler Sport in Firecracker Red. It had been used relatively lightly by a couple older than us. The 57,000 miles was attractive. Fast forward to early March and we had the Rig and Jeep outfitted with a Blue Ox tow bark, base plate and Patriot Braking system.

Our first real trip that would offer us the freedom of the toad, was in early May at Odetah Camping Resort in Bozrah, CT. We have been there twice before and are very familiar with the layout. We were able to pick our desired pull through, full hookup site. This trip was planned to support a round of golf in North Windham, a visit with friends that live nearby, and a concert in Hartford. The Toad would give us the freedom to drive to all three, while leaving our rig hooked-up at the campsite.

Check-in at Odetah is relatively late (3:00 pm), so we stayed close to home that first night. I did some fishing and we had a easy to fix campground meal. The resort had been open less than a week so we had very few neighbors making for a quiet and relaxing evening.

Thursday was golf day. We had arranged a round at Windham Golf Club with our friend Kevin Mieli, who is the course superintendent. Again, early season allowed a relaxing 18-hole round in under 4 hours. We’ve know Kevin for 20 years, since he ran cross-country at Danbury HS with our son Dylan. The golf course is under construction, with several new holes being added. Kevin stressed that we should come back when the additions are completed to experience an entirely different golf course. Of course Terri and I played really well for the first six holes, and then our normal game returned. And of course, one final bomb down the center of the fairway assured me that I’m not giving up golf and will return. We had an early dinner in the Fairways restaurant that occupies the 2nd floor of the clubhouse. Then it was a 30 minute drive through the CT countryside back to our campsite.

Friday was a busy day. Our plans had us driving south toward New London where we would meet up with our dear friends Anthony and Pauline for lunch. But first, we stopped at the Submarine Force Library & Museum which sits on the Naval Submarine Base, New London. The museum maintains the world’s finest collection of submarine artifacts. The USS Nautilus is moored in the Thames River and open for self-guided tours. The museum is a non-profit with free admissions (donations encouraged). After the museum it was a quick drive to the New London Marina front, where we caught up with A&P and had a great lunch. Again, it was a 30 minute drive back to the campground where we could rest up before the show in Hartford.

Hartford, and Infinity Music Hall, was another 30 minute drive from the campground that took us directly to the parking structure, adjacent the venue. It was unbelievably easy. We walked to a local restaurant for dinner, then back to Infinity MH for the show. Infinity Music Hall is right up our alley. Intimate, with a capacity of under 1000. Every seat is great. The show that night was the alt-country band “The Jayhawks”. Who are they, you might ask. Well we ran into their music in the mid ‘90’s with their CD “Tomorrow the Green Grass”. That CD fell nicely into the rotation on our family road trips. A couple of decades went by before we heard their music again. Their more recent music started showing up on Sirius/XM Outlaw Country. Then I saw the add for the May 3rd show in Hartford.

Tickets were bought and quick plans were made to make this a road trip with the Jeep in tow. The show was great (see below), the campground was great, golf was great, the sub museum was great, and catching up with dear friends was great. All of this is what the freedom of a “Toad” brings you on your RV travels. It took us three years of RV’ing to get here and we’re glad we did it. As I finish this blog post, we’re prepping for a 2,200 mile, 18-day, six state trip. The Jeep will be a focal point of that trip with many daily side trips planned. Look for future post(s) with some of those details.

If you see “GR84RED” towing a firecracker red Jeep Wrangler, give us a wave!

“Blue” - Infinity Music Hall - May 5, 2024

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