Head West Not So Young Man 2

[daugen]

Dave, good idea, thank you, will try that this morning along with the hands of my 280 pound landscaper. I tried prying it with a screwdriver and wetting with a little spit, like changing a tire, but no go. You are right, a little heat and it should slide right over.

Ron, equally good idea but unless I had bought a right hand connector, would add another contact point
to flow, and that extra contact is what melted down on me a few years back. If I were taking this long cord with me, and constantly unplugging it,
yes, I'd change it out. But it is my home cord only. I have gone from 25 feet to 75 feet with the same 10 gauge, trying to KISS it here. But I do think the right hand adapter is a good idea for my basic power cord, since it comes fully detached. Thanks. I use a 45 degree brass adapter on my water line btw.

 

[daugen]

had a nice visit with childhood friends up near Lewes Delaware, they live about ten miles from the coast.
We spent hours going over the trip route, I had taken printouts with me, say 500 mile increments, and we made notes on them about parks to see
or a museum worth being the "shore excursion" for the day. My friends are seasoned travelers who have done this at least five times.
A really good museum and zoo are on the priority list, already picked the San Diego Zoo. And it can't be seriously inner city due to parking the rv.
Plus a car museum or something car related. Might do several of them...
Am passing to West of Los Angeles, no desire to see Hollywood....and now I'm told I can take my rv over the Golden Gate Bridge so for sure I'm doing that unless
there's a bad storm or wind. In which case I might stay at the last stop for another day. Learned to do that with my boat going down the Intracoastal. Stopped at 23 marinas which all have the same connections as rv's. Except they pump your black water out of your boat for you. If you are careful, the rv way is less messy in my mind.
Just remember to store up some soapy dishwater or shower water in the grey water tank, so you have something to wash out the hose after the black tank has been emptied.

Each day I have to eat lunch of course, and while the rv will have a lot of food in it, thankfully I like to cook, I still want to
find some fun restaurants. Even if I have to go in the Texas Steak House for lunch instead of dinner. I can't eat a giant steak anyway.
Unless they allow doggie bags...then I'll bring back as much as I can. It's like those 45 dollar buffets in Los Vegas, I can't eat that much anymore without getting seriously full and uncomfortable, so unless I can take it home, and I'm pretty sure you can't in a buffet (?), I might not tackle the most expensive ones, since it's just bad value. Unless I sought out the most expensive thing they brought out and made a pig of myself, but I'd rather eat what I want...a sampling of many things.
And no baked potatoes...

Later this week I hope to post the first section, I'm working linearly here, and it will be a little different because I've already gone down the Natchez Parkway and I've already gone to Nashville and saw a show. That and anything loud is off limits right now with my tinnitus, still having problems with it so no drag races, much as I would like...
And I'm also headed to Florida this winter to visit friends and will go partly up the Panhandle on the way home.
So I start with standard rv routing, then add in my waypoints which are campgrounds, choosing them in the 200-400 mile range, and usually in the lower end of that.
And then I start finding interesting places to go along that route, knowing I want to go to lunch each day or see a site. If it's raining, maybe I'll do neither, but at least I'll know what's the most interesting thing to see if the weather is nice. I am surely not walking any zoo in the rain...

I always have the option of pulling off into a rest stop, if reasonably level sending out the slide even partway so easier to get into bathroom, mattress is a bit of
poor engineering, but it's how they jammed a walk around queen in a rv this size. And then make myself a sandwich for lunch with a cup of coffee and be on my way in 20 minutes somewhat rested. This rv is easier to drive than my first Winnebago/Itasca class A gasser. Rides better and is quieter. And for sure fits in places better, which
was the whole idea, and is a foot lower in height. So it seems pretty zippy to me. Even accelerates faster than I expected. All good. Now maybe if I kept my foot out of it and annoyed a whole bunch of folks behind me as I leisurely gained speed, I bet my mpg would get to 15. I haven't tested yet what it will do at a steady 65mph, which is the fastest I will drive it unless I'm passing on a four lane. And if the camera shows a bunch of cars behind me at a light, well, I'll try not to disappoint...

 

[ronjhall]

One of the things wife and I enjoyed was sandwich lunches while traveling. Salami and ham sandwiches were high on the list. :drool:
In Oregon/Washington and some other states it's a traffic violation if you hold back too many other vehicles.
Don't forget to plan a stop every 2 hours to get the blood flowing again.

 

[3930dave]

Nice drive north of San Fran - been once, would like to go back someday.

Lower is nice, esp. if they still have that road going through that sequoia ! House on wheels is a nice way to travel - yours seems right-sized for getting in/out of places the big monsters have "fun" with. More than a few pics/vids out there of Class A units getting into trouble, or not making a curve on a really tight road.....

Posts from the road..... keep 'em coming please !

Rgds, D.

 

[daugen]

ok, travel pics...
Indian River inlet at very low tide with full moon, delaware plus Chesapeake Bay bridge
and one of three accidents I saw last time

 

[daugen]

Don't forget to plan a stop every 2 hours to get the blood flowing again.

I will never forget that reporter who rode in a tank for 8 hours and died of a blood clot.
You bet, walk a little...the hike in on rest stops is actually what most folks need.

 

[3930dave]

Thanks for pics d.

Signed, snow-bound Canadian....

D.

 

[Molalla1]

:thumbsup: . . . thanks d.

 

[Jim Nelson]

Hey Drew,if you are going to the San Diego Zoo, you might consider their Safari Park also. It is a few miles North of the city and a really wonderful place where tons of research and species preservation is done. It is more open air and with their tramway and other accommodations would be easier for you to get around. My wife volunteers there one day per week working on research for the Zoo News,news letter. I haven't been there for a while but it was really great last time I went and they are constantly improving.


Just a thought. Good luck on your trip.

 

[daugen]

good idea Jim, thanks. I jot these tidbits down on my paperwork and then try to push pin them on the map software I'm using.
Then the night before I'll decide if the weather permits, my legs permit, etc.

spent three hours this morning working on first part of trip, from home to Panama City Florida. Am on rt 95 only a little way, but the roads are primaries mostly, not secondaries. I'll have plenty of secondaries on my trips to lunch or to see some site.

researched restaurants in each town online, picked one that met the parking criteria. Looked every one up and zoomed in, a lot of inner city street parking
restaurants were ruled out. But I found plenty that had their own parking lots, or were in shopping malls. Many restaurants were only open for dinner, they got ruled out of course, except in multi night stayovers like New Orleans where I know I want to go out for dinner.

am trying out all kinds of foods. Found a nice Thai restaurant down by the River in Montgomery. Want to go to the Rosa Parks museum there, a few blocks away.
Then next place will be a shrimp and grits place. Next place a steak, or Creole. Since my dining is mostly at lunch I am trying to time the restaurant location about three hours from the last campground. But there are some places, just like some scenery, worth changing the schedule for.
Each night I'll check the weather ahead, not sightseeing in the rain usually, check how my legs feel about walking, and then make plans for that day.

Trying to get near the water in Panama City area and drive along the beach instead of the big highway as trip planner wants me to, get there faster...but if I can see the Gulf from the beach road, why not. Have to be careful rv trip planner isn't much smarter than me by avoiding low overpasses which some of the smaller scenic roads
I want to travel may have issues. RV gps will alarm, thankfully, for road problems ahead. Along that beach area, hope to get out and put my feet in the sand for awhile.

When I get to the New Orleans I have a friend who is a long time senior instructor on B-52 bombers and said if I stopped by in Bossier City, he would get me into the B52 Simulator they use.

this graphic came out small, will try to enlarge but zooming is in order

 

[daugen]

actually now that I looked it up Bossier City/Barksdale AFB is way out of the way, much further North.
not sure I'll go that far

 

[ronjhall]

A friend on another forum wrote a article. You may find it interesting.
I want to live on vacation.

 

[murphy1244]

Last I was at Panama city it was still a mess from the storm.I was there last spring.

 

[daugen]

absolutely Ron.
Museums, zoos, manufacturing, geologic wonders of the world, classic small town chrome diners, what do you look at next?
I normally avoid crowds and seek quiet places. I'll see Yellowstone when it blows up anyway...
And the idea of driving thru/past LA and spending time in California gives me the willies, but that's where my sister moved to.
At least she has a view of the Pacific and a beach she can walk to. That's worth the drive...

I have to keep in mind I intend to keep this motorhome for three or four years, unlikely I'll be able to drive it after then, so I plan more trips.
I'm not looking to do everything this trip. Hopefully it will show me places I want to go back to again.
And since I'm likely to sell my farm next year and downsize, the next spot will have to have room for the rv and a couple of sheds.
Where that is I don't know so it makes this trip even more interesting for me.

First when I go to Florida this winter to see two friends who have retired there, I'm going to add extra time and go up the Panhandle of Florida. Gives me an excuse to take something other than rt 95 back. In the old days, at least you got to read the Burmashave signs. I think I remember something like that when I was little, having
to wait for the next part. Today, I am weary of seeing South Of The Border billboards. There's something about that road that seems hard to me. Rougher ride, dangerous, huge traffic jams and high tolls. Marvelous. So I'll make sure I go back a different way. Will only add a couple of days and will get me through that area of the South I intend to miss on my later big trip.

where is a good place in this country to buy quality fireworks? All those stands along the road, you don't know how old the stuff is or whether
you are getting ripped off by the local gypsies. Might be some ICC issues on that...? I don't mean big mortar rounds, just fresh medium size stuff.
I was MC of the July 4th fireworks show on our farm for many years growing up. Lot of fun if you are very, very careful. Says a retired insurance underwriter and
ex fireman. It was also my Mother's birthday and we always had a nice family day. But then the fireworks got "safe" and for a while the bigger stuff disappeared, at least in PA, maybe not further South, and I heard mutterings of road flare one year from the unhappy crowd. It was embarrassing.

That's when I started taping several together for a bigger effect.
The little rockets, the one that were plastic and looked like little rockets with fins at the bottom it stood up on? Ever light one of those off? We shot them all off just fine until one fell over and shot right at my sister from a good ways away. My Father flattened her on the concrete pool deck and not sure it hit him, maybe...
All I knew is that fireworks were then suspended for a number of years. My sister got pretty scuffed up on the rough concrete and it was clearly not a good thing.
One year we lit the field on fire and half a dozen guys in bathing suits and towels were swatting the fire out, another lesson learned. No fireworks during droughts...
And then I got older, slightly wiser, much safer and survived to this day.

Am reading a number of travel books on the next leg of the journey. I think I could spend a month in Texas and two months in Utah there is so much to see.
But I can't...

I'm banking on the Gulf being cleaned up by then. But I'll take lots of pictures along the way, will see if I can find reminders of storm damage.

 

[ericm979]

For your CA trip- I5 is the boring way to go from LA north. It's what you use when you're trying to make time. Its got a lot of trucks so the slow lane is often broken up and there's also a lot of cars and SUVs trying to do 90, so passing the semis can be hectic. If you have the time you can take 101. It's more scenic and there's less traffic, until you get close to San Jose. Since you're aiming for the Golden Gate in SF I'd transfer to highway 1 around Salinas. That will take you around the traffic on 101 in the bay area and onto an even more scenic route which takes you right to the Golden Gate.

However going all the way from LA to an hour or so north of SF on that route can be a long drive. It's probably an hour or more longer than the fastest I5 route. If you want to be more relaxed you can stop and camp roughly halfway. There's a lot of nice towns on 101, like San Louis Obispo and Paso Robles.

 

[daugen]

thanks Eric, I will refer back to this. Never driven in CA.

finished first draft of Florida trip I'm taking before this one. Decided to treat myself to a very nice place in Key Largo for two days. Will need to make reservations far ahead, and very pricey. Friends in Delray Beach and Fort Myers.
this has had me distracted for a bit, need to get my friends to commit to dates.
Now back to New Orleans...

only reason Monroe Station is listed is to force software to take me West on smaller and more remote road.

I will post all rv travel pics in this thread.

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

"where is a good place in this country to buy quality fireworks? All those stands along the road, you don't know how old the stuff is or whether you are getting ripped off by the local gypsies"-------Drew

There are two really large fireworks stores right off I-40 in a town called Moriarty, NM. They are true 'stores', just selling all types of fireworks. They are open 7 days a week, year round.

 

[daugen]

"where is a good place in this country to buy quality fireworks? All those stands along the road, you don't know how old the stuff is or whether you are getting ripped off by the local gypsies"-------Drew

There are two really large fireworks stores right off I-40 in a town called Moriarty, NM. They are true 'stores', just selling all types of fireworks. They are open 7 days a week, year round.

thanks Ted. Fireworks World Outlet
that sounds promising

 

[daugen]

this looks interesting, seems I can download my route plan in Good Sams into my Garmin gps.
I'm going to try that for the portable one.

This GPS export is for the active trip:
New Orleans to Amarillo
Only Garmin devices are supported at this time.
Garmin brand logo
Click the download button to recieve your GPX file. Upload your trip to your GPS device. Visit Garmin for GPX file upload instructions. Visit our FAQ for question(s) related to Garmin GPS device.
All waypoints and viapoints are saved to the GPX file. The GPS device may change your route to be in compliance with their navigation system.


Have a number of questions on this part, as in do I avoid Houston by using the Beltway? San Antonio looked really crowded, I walked the Riverwalk using Google Earth and
it looks like one hotel after another. I don't need to see the Alamo. So unless someone tells me there's something else in San Antonio that is worth seeing, I'm likely to head to Austin after La Grange. Also would like to know if I should see the seashore near Galveston, someplace as far away from the refineries as possible.

 

[PJSprog]

I'll recommend Rosa's Cafe & Tortilla Factory in Killeen if you're hungry when you pass through there. Been a few years, but it was delicious.