Head West not so young Man

[buckeyefarmer]

looks like stop 2 is Gettysburg, and down rt15 near me. The best way south to I81 from Frederick is Rt 340 to berryville va, then VA rt 7 to winchester. But I see stop 3 is down off of I66, somewhere near Front Royal.

Pictures on Rt50 in colorado, right before your stop #30.

My avatar picture was taken near there, at Waunita Hot Springs, near Gunnison, CO.

 

[daugen]

looks like stop 2 is Gettysburg, and down rt15 near me. The best way south to I81 from Frederick is Rt 340 to berryville va, then VA rt 7 to winchester. But I see stop 3 is down off of I66, somewhere near Front Royal.

that's my older brother's place who lives in a tiny town named Delaplane. He hasn't seen the motorhome so I promised him I'd stop there.
I could get to his house in four hours going down Route 95, but I'd rather drive the long way around and come down "the back way".

Most of my stops are simply chosen because they are the better rv campgrounds in that area; I need a pull thru spot to keep things simple.
The inexpensive campgrounds are thirty dollars a night. the nice ones are forty...man, this time around, I am going to live large and spend that ten bucks...
Oh, and if the site is on a lake, maybe fifty a night. Between the Big Rigs directory, and Sams/Woodall, I can research this pretty well. What I find interesting is that some of the nicest rv spots are NOT Sams listed, so I have to click on all the little icons to see what's there...

i will be running both a Magellan RV gps and a Rand McNally rv gps, plus if I can get the gps sensor to work, my laptop will track where I'm going on Streets and Trips.
I can just imagine what having two or more of those lovely robotic gps ladies yelling at me "TURN NOW FOOL"...

the enclosed snapshot is interesting to me far beyond that of a tourist. I am going to sell my home next Spring and buy a farm somewhere in the Northern NC area.
so part of this trip is to mosey around the local spots. so many folk have told me the research triangle is great but the rest of the state is inhabited by hicks with no teeth.
A bit harsh, right TBNer's?...
I know, I resemble that...
besides, I am missing one molar so I guess I'll fit in just fine.

actually, I'd much rather have a kind caring neighbor with no teeth than one who just moved in and has a full dose of "last one in" itis.
I need to find a place where I can fit in, not make the area fit me.
And that will be part of this journey, testing my assumptions on where I want to live.

 

[kevin37b]

Abit off your path , but Carlsbad caverns in NM. is worth a visit .

 

[MacLawn]

Daug, if you keep on your route, you come right by me! I'm in northeast Mississippi where we don't have teeth, don't wear shoes, cain't read, and are just overall the dumbest hicks in the world with no class and we ain't changing. I'm the educated one. Anyway, you're (see, I even know it's "you're" and not your) welcome here!

And, if you want about the best Mississippi food I've ever had, you must stop at Lackie's in the village of Hamilton, right hand side headed south on Hwy. 45. It's north of Columbus. In Tupelo there's a great car museum to see, and a huge Toyota Corolla manufacturing plant just west of Tupelo. I'd suggest from Columbus head west on Hwy 82 and take Natchez trace south on down to Natchez. A beautiful and relaxing drive. Then, cross Mississippi River at Natchez (after visiting some of the classical southern houses), and just EAT at Sandbar Restaurant on the right as soon as you get into Louisiana.

 

[daugen]

In Tupelo there's a great car museum to see, and a huge Toyota Corolla manufacturing plant just west of Tupelo. I'd suggest from Columbus head west on Hwy 82 and take Natchez trace south on down to Natchez. A beautiful and relaxing drive. Then, cross Mississippi River at Natchez (after visiting some of the classical southern houses), and just EAT at Sandbar Restaurant on the right as soon as you get into Louisiana.[/QUOTE]

thanks MacLawn. Is Tupelo where Tupelo honey comes from?
Lackies and Sandbar restaurants, I'll try anything, even maybe grits if they dump enough something on them.
If I order home fries instead of grits, will I be looked at like first contact with an ET?
I'll ask for the salad and fruit cup special and see what kind of reaction I get...
I love little greasy spoons; they don't love me, but as long as they don't smoke in there, I'm game. And if there aren't at least three JD
hats in there, probably the wrong place...

I hope to venture out one morning at each stop and find the local breakfast watering hole. And I won't forget to take my Lipitor for sure.
the rest of the mornings I will eat something healthy like cereal and yogurt. Eating out too much will do me in, but
if one restricts oneself to only those quality calories. You know, those extra tasty local ones...
I might have to pass on the triple fried dumplings though. Well, maybe no seconds...:licking:

 

[MacLawn]

Tupelo honey comes from the tree, I reckon the town was named after the tree.

Just don't even get grits. I'm native Georgia, REAL grits country, and don't cotton to folks messing with me grits. Just don't even order them. They're like raw oysters. If you're not raised eating them, you probably won't like. Don't ask for nary fruit cup. John Deere hats aplenty. Most places even in Mississippi are non smoking now, whew, a few cemetery stick places left, but it's catching up. I've been about everywhere all over the world, and good food is good food. And not greasy nor unhealthy. So if you've eaten good that makes you feel like you need something for ye stomach, it ain't good food. Lackie's and Sandbar are good food. I don't tolerate nary bad food places. Not everybody's Grandma knew how to cook.

Well, I ain't telling ye something ye don't already know, except locations. Oh, post a pic of ye traveling rig.

 

[RobertBrown]

Tupelo honey comes from the tree, I reckon the town was named after the tree.

I thought it came from bees :confused3:
Anyway.....if you and Pete make it to Florida, let me know.....we will go fishing, and have fish and grits.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

We camp at Granite hill in gettysburg, but it is a ways off of rt15. Drummer boy and round top are right off of 15. Rt 15 down to I66 isn't a bad drive, you will get a bunch of traffic during work days.

That looks like a really cool trip. My son is a Senior this year, want's to go to the grand canyon, don't think we will make it. But there is a really neat online video of the trails.
Nature Valley Trail View

 

[daugen]

thanks guys. MacLawn, I was kidding about the salad and fruitcup. That was the indication in my home town restaurant that someone was definitely not local.
buy you are absolutely right, it's my job to pick something worthwhile on the menu that is not lard fried. I am what I eat...

Robert, I have drooled eight years of drool from reading RonHall's description of his warm days in south Texas this winter. So when I get back from this trip in late July, I am selling the motorhome and buying a fifth wheel camper to leave in Florida for the winter. So I sure am headed your way, but not this trip. Just like I had to keep myself pretty much on this side of the Rockies. I can only drive about four hours a day, am by myself, so I make a lot of stops and it takes me a while. And I really, really need to get home by late July. The fields need a second mowing and my good friend who will be mowing them with my Kubota once before in May isn't likely to want to do it twice.

Or maybe he will...he has a JD 1050 like FarmGirl has, but set up for blueberry picking in NJ with all those neat fender flairs. So he isn't used to a/c and a stereo, maybe
he won't get out of it... But I think I will be seriously itching to get home by then.

I thought I had posted this earlier, maybe not. Itasca 27N, 28 overall, just fine for one or two people. Looks like a fancy UPS truck on steroids. Standard Ford F53 V10 gas chassis. I had the suspension modified front and rear to improve the handling. A real sailboat going down the road. That should improve when I hook up my Demco SS dolly with my VWGolf as the toad. Am hoping having the pull of the towed car will help stabilize the motorhome, sort of like a ocean drogue on a boat in deep water. That's basically an underwater parachute holding one back slightly, which keeps the ship's action calmer in heavy seas. Hoping the analogy holds true.

 

[daugen]

BuckeyeFarmer, that is really a neat link. The first pic gave me vertigo...
I bookmarked the site for sure.

Drummer boy and round top are right off of 15.

they make it easy to get there by being close to the main highway.
that's the good news.
the bad news is the drone of truck traffic on the highway.
Need to be just far enough away...

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I put the canyon video at the steepest cliff before I copied the link, because the link captures the current spot.
I see you are stopping at Gettysburg campground. I don't know much about it, except you don't want to be there if the creek is flooding. It is about a mile before(coming from gettysburg) where I camp at granite Hill campground. Granite hill is much larger, has nice pull thru spots, may be a tad more expensive. Here's a couple pics from last nov.
you are very close to the battlefield, and the Eisenhower farm, just take black horse tavern rd (across the creek from the campground) and turn left on Millerstown rd. You will drive past the original entrance to the Eisenhower farm. At the corner on confederate drive, there is a nice tower you can climb and see the whole battlefield.
Try to eat at the dobbin house or farnsworth house.
Dobbin House Tavern
Home

 

[daugen]

well now that two of you have mentioned Granite Hill I had to look it up. Don't mind it being a bit off route 15, but I think I can see now why it is not "big rig" rated.
It has tons of pull throughs, 100 of them, and they are nice and wide at 40 feet, but they are only 55 feet long. My small rv with car should fit in there, but larger rigs won't. Most pull thrus at big campgrounds I've read about are 70 feet long, so you can pull in and not have to do anything. I hope...never done this before.

I will definitely eat at one of those restaurants. Hope to post pics wherever I go; just bought an inexpensive pocket camera and will hopefully remember to take it out and get some pics. Plus I got a little mini tripod for my regular camera and a unipod(vs a tripod) for those big outdoors pics. Now if I can only figure out how to take a pic looking into the sun...:confused3:

hmmm. I looked at the menu...Game Pie, turkey, pheasant and duck cooked pot pie style. Now that I would not miss. Interesting, all game that historically would have been brought home to dinner. I wonder if I'll be able to tell which is which in that pot pie. Likely not, but sure sounds good.

 

[MacLawn]

Whew, buckeye, that trail is something! I'd be hugging that rock wall mighty tight!

Daug, you got a nice rig there! That should be a heap of fun. My, what they call it, kick the bucket list or some such, is to hook me trailer up and head west into the sunset with no schedule! Hmmm, I ain't got so much time! Looking forward to ye reports!

 

[daugen]

well I booked my first stop at Gettysburg Campground. Nice pull through site near a creek. And long enough from the ice cream shop that I will have to wear off
at least ten huge calories walking there...Am up at the very top in site 185, the only 30 amp site in that area. Funny, you can see how they ran their wiring
by the color patterns. And this one apparently original site that they didn't run 50 amps to. My rv only has one a/c unit which seems to do fine, if noisily so I can run
fine on a 30amp service. And that gets me at the very end with a nice view and no neighbors on one side. All good.

This is amazingly similar to docking a boat in a marina. Except I have brakes and the ground isn't moving. Peace of cake.

c'mon snow melt.

 

[wngsprd]

The planning and anticipation are rewarding parts of a big trip. Glad it's coming together.

 

[daugen]

thanks wngsprd, and I think you gave me good voodoo
because the rv dealer called the next day and said come pick it up, all ready to go.
So I'm off later this morning in my VW Golf and the plan is to drive it right up on the dolly and strap her in.
With some instruction of course. And then I will go pay the bill, which will range from "not bad' to "holy smokes", or something
similar. I can't take it with me...

Likely annoying them a bit, I asked them to recheck the air pressure in every tire and set the tires at 5 pounds over the suggested.
The tires can take 30 pounds more..., but my first project tomorrow is to install the wireless TPMS system I bought. Every tire on the ground will be
monitored, ten in all. Just trying to manage single points of failure that often fail, with nasty consequences. I'm seriously careful about tire pressure
and have never had a blowout. Nails and flats? you bet. But I figure that's not the tire's fault. Blowing out with improper tire pressure isn't either.
The system has an overtemp sensor too. Can see the psi accurate to one psi in each tire on a digital readout.

This is all the stuff you get standard on the $400K++ fancy diesel pushers. On decontented econo models like mine,
you wind up adding stuff back on. But that's ok with me, I get to spec the equipment

I have about 500 pounds of stuff in the garage to get loaded tomorrow. Haier 1.3 cf freezer, which will go quite nicely in the cavernous closet (six feet long).
It was cheap, very quiet when I plugged it in at home and it went down to -18 degrees in two hours. That will do...
It could fit in one of the outside lower compartments but I think it will last longer upstairs. And then boxes and boxes of stuff.

Now I know this might sound a bit much...but it's the old fireman in me. Since my late wife will not be with me, and therefore that opens up a huge amount of added
"toy" possibilities, due to weight issues. I have about two tons I could technically load about but lighter in my case is always better, particularly trying to climb the Rockies in an overloaded porker.

But...I am packing a small chainsaw with supplies, a Warn portable winch, five ton fabric tow ropes, axle straps, Smittybuilt shackles, heavy gloves...
just in case I'm in the right place at the wrong time and have to cut my way out...
and every variety of red cones, triangle emergency road markers. And of course about five flashlights.
and a fully stocked emergency medical kit. My late wife was an RN and we have an amazing amount of stuff at home.

in reality, if I have a normal emergency, I'm calling for the free road service. It's just when things get really crazy...

But every pound I load has to justify itself. Including gallons of drinking water, just in case...

So if I pack a hundred pounds of emergency stuff and never use it, well, I like that idea, just like insurance. And only a hundred pound premium to pay...
I'll be gone at least three months; truly like trying to stock a miniature house. But I've done this before living aboard a boat and doing off shore boating, where you have to be totally self-reliant, so at least mentally, I know the drill. Now just how many phillips screwdrivers do I really need...

:dance1:

 

[ultrarunner]

Sounds exciting...

I'm expecting progress reports along the way!

 

[MacLawn]

Great, daug, you're prepared! But it ain't like you're going out into the Pacific Ocean ye know. You'll never be too far from ye olde WallyWorld. I understand though, I'm the same way.

I'm looking forward to reading ye road reports!

 

[wngsprd]

Drew, do you have satellite radio on your RV? We found listening to local stations driving out west could be a good time, but there were places we couldn't get reception or just wanted to listen to news or our preferred music and the satellite radio was perfect.

 

[Gunny]

Drew, do you have satellite radio on your RV? We found listening to local stations driving out west could be a good time, but there were places we couldn't get reception or just wanted to listen to news or our preferred music and the satellite radio was perfect.

Excellent point - with all the driving I used to do, there were several places that I would wear out the seek button, just trying to find a station that I could listen to, many times there were none for quite a few miles. To that end, XM radio made all the difference in the world, I prefer talk radio and I never had a problem finding good shows on my XM.