Category: Scenic Byways/Historic Routes
An Alaska Travel Roundup
November 5, 2011 by Melissa A. Trainer · Leave a Comment
Denali National Park/Melissa Trainer I was very fortunate last week because the State of Alaska invited me to attend the Alaska Media Road Show. Held at the luxurious Four Seasons Biltmore in Santa Barbara, this annual event brings together top travel writers and key players in Alaska’s tourism industry. As many of you know, I write quite a bit about Alaska. I lived there with my family and we traveled extensively throughout the state while we were there. We covered a lot of territory and ventured to many amazing remote locations during that time. We knew that we could be self sufficient with our travel trailer and we utilized our trailer to the max. We knew that amenities were few and far between on many of the remote roads, so we learned to pack accordingly. Our trailer was an absolutely priceless tool for navigating the region. Even though our three children were all under the age of 11 at the time, we were all willing to take the road less traveled.... [Read more...]
The Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona
October 20, 2011 by Traveler8343 · 3 Comments
We were heading toward Flagstaff, Arizona, and that day’s goal; Sedona, Arizona’s red rocks area. We had left Albuquerque, New Mexico earlier that morning and headed west on I-40, also known as Route 66 — “The Mother Road” — in those parts. We were looking forward to seeing Sedona, where we would camp for the next several days. But, about 50 miles after we crossed the New Mexico border into Arizona, I noticed a road sign that told me I had made a mistake. When I planned our trip, I tried to include as many of the national and state parks as I could without having to do too much backtracking in order to return to a main route; like I-40. What I saw that morning was a sign announcing that we were approaching another of my “must-sees,” but one that I had overlooked in my day’s planning — The Petrified Forest National Park. The eastern park entrance is at Exit 311 off I-40. Take Exit-311 North and follow the road to the Welcome Center and the ranger station. From there,... [Read more...]
Patti’s Saga of an RV Rookie: West Glacier, Montana’s KOA; it’s not Glacier Park, but it’s cool!
September 25, 2011 by Patti F. · 4 Comments
We northwestern Montanans are privileged to claim Glacier National Park as our personal backyard. Read more about Montana campgrounds and things to do in Montana. And the more boorish among us are pretty quick to let the entire world in on that…hence, this blog from your resident Woodall’s boor. A couple of weeks ago the Brazil Nut (a/k/a “my husband”) and I were heading up to Glacier and decided to swing through the KOA just outside the Park .Search for a national park. We stopped on a whim: I mean, how could a KOA compare with anything in Glacier Park? What could a KOA have to offer that the many lovely campsites at Glacier don’t already have? Turns out, plenty…especially if you like a resort atmosphere, enough going on for young and older kids to keep whining at bay, and a good restaurant if you (or your family) are burned out on making dinner after traipsing around all day. We couldn’t stay overnight, but I can share how beautiful and clean everything was, and what... [Read more...]
♪♪♪♫-A-Three-Hour-Tour-♪♪♪♫
September 18, 2011 by Traveler8343 · 2 Comments
Let’s say you’re in the New England area and are planning a visit to far eastern Long Island, New York. You want to take your RV but, in light of my last post, you’ve decided that you don’t want to face the island’s infamous Long Island Expressway traffic. Well, there is an alternative. How about a nice boat trip. Yes, a boat trip — actually a ferry — with your RV onboard? It’ll cut about 300 miles off your trip by not driving all the way from the New London, Connecticut area along I-95 to New York and then the Throgs Neck Bridge and eastward via the Long Island Express Way, I-495 all the way out to the end of the island. Instead, the Cross-Sound Ferry Services will carry you and your RV from New London, CT to Orient Point, Long Island, New York across the Long Island Sound and back in just 3 hours. A three hour tour? You might ask where you’ve heard that before? Well, that was on Gilligan’s Island, not Long Island. And that was on the SS Minnow, not... [Read more...]
DO NOT visit Washington D.C…………..
September 14, 2011 by Professor95 · 9 Comments
… Unless you have a week or more to spend touring all of the museums and facilities. Seriously! We drove up to DC last week to meet three of our friends from out-of-town. Fran was from New York, Paul from southern California and Selena recently arrived in the USA from China. None of the three had ever visited our Nation’s Capitol. They were totally blown away by the sights – especially Selena! Cherry Hill Campground Office Entrance Nancy, Oscar and I parked the RV just north of the Capitol at Cherry Hill Park in Maryland. Our friends checked into a nearby motel. The best way for visitors to get into DC is to use the Metro system. DO NOT even think about trying to drive into the city. To board the Metro from Cherry Hill Park all you do is walk up to the bus stop in front of the park office. There you catch a bus for a very short ride to the College Park Metro Train Station on the green line. You should purchase your fare tickets at the campground office... [Read more...]
Foraging And Fishing in Cordova, Alaska
September 11, 2011 by Melissa A. Trainer · 1 Comment
I was very fortunate to visit Cordova, Alaska last week. The Copper River/Prince William Sound Marketing Association hosted a fall press trip so they invited me plus four other food writers/professionals to visit the area. The Copper River region is most well known for the ultra rich wild salmon that is pulled from the local waters. This Alaskan salmon is revered worldwide, and in Seattle there is always lots of hype when the season’s first catch arrives at the airport! While in Cordova, Amy, Shauna, Danny, Joelen and I toured the fishing village, met fishermen and artists, fished for coho, and foraged for wild cranberries. When we arrived on Tuesday afternoon, the winds were howling and the rain was falling in force. The second day wasn’t much better, but we all managed to grab a rod and fish off the shore for about an hour. We didn’t catch anything, but we certainly had a few nibbles. Without a doubt, we enjoyed the adventure with our guide from the Orca Adventure... [Read more...]
Chill-out on Utah’s Patchwork Parkway
August 23, 2011 by Rex Vogel · Leave a Comment
Weather alert: “A heat warning for daily high temperatures above 100 degrees has been extended for all desert areas.” At an elevation of 10,350 feet above sea level, Cedar Breaks National Monument is the highest national park in Utah. © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved Sweltering heat is typical for the Southwest desert region this time of year. With triple digit temperatures the Southwestern standard, how do you deal with this incessant heat? Load up the recreational vehicle and escape the scorching summer temperatures with a road trip to the cool mountain air of southwestern Utah. Utah’s Patchwork Parkway (Scenic Byway 143) beckons travelers to enjoy a change of scenery and a drop in temperature. This scenic byway serves as the western gateway from the arid Great Basin of western Utah to a breathtaking route across Utah’s high plateaus, connecting to Heritage Highway 89 and Scenic Byway 12, Utah’s first All American Road. This dramatic 55-mile scenic course links the historic... [Read more...]
KATY’S KITCHEN – A Piece of the Story about our Country’s WWII era “Secret City”
August 20, 2011 by Professor95 · 1 Comment
If you read the July 2011 issue of Highway’s, the official publication of the Good Sam Club, you most likely noted a short article near the back of the magazine about “The Secret City”, now incorporated as Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Current history books used in most of our public schools now tell some of the story about this secret city built almost 60 years ago. There is an increased awareness and interest about the role Oak Ridge played in bringing World War II to an end and how it propelled our nation into the “Atomic Age”.. If you can imagine for a moment our government building a city complete with houses, roads and services that no one outside of a circle of selected officials knew anything about or even where it was – a city to initially house 13,000 families and 30,000 permanent residents – a city costing millions and millions of government dollars – and citizens outside of this selected circle knew absolutely nothing about what the project was... [Read more...]
CAPE LOOKOUT NATIONAL SEASHORE – Home of one of North Carolina’s Historic Lighthouses
July 28, 2011 by Professor95 · 4 Comments
Monday was not a good beach day. The wind was blowing between 20 and 25 knots. Umbrellas were flying like kites and the fine, dry sand unaffected by the ocean’s waters cut into your body like thousands of little razors. We decided to hang around inside the camper. I finished my book by James Patterson, 4th of July, and started a second by Glenn Beck, The Overton Window. The first was an excellent paperback thriller with a surprise ending. The Overton Window is getting interesting but is more political than mysterious – both are great beach books. Tuesday was not much better weather wise. The wind had died down but the sky’s were overcast and numerous thunderboomers rolled overhead. We decided to hit an afternoon movie at the local cinema. We have not watched the first part of the current Harry Potter movie, so felt we should wait on viewing the second. The entire series has become way too complicated as it is. Zookeeper seemed like a good alternative. Boy was I ever... [Read more...]
Patti’s Saga of an RV Rookie: Whitefish, Montana: Come Now!
July 11, 2011 by Patti F. · 2 Comments
Whitefish, Montana. Even Hollywood stars love it, “discovering” it in the early ‘90’s, with most eventually moving on to wilder pastures. Tom Cruise came to our front door at the family’s Whitefish lake house, looking for Emilio Estevez’ place near by. Ask me how thrilled we were and how very cool we acted, like we didn’t know who he was or anything. I was the Queen of Casual. Oh…that grin…I’m sure Tom was equally impressed with us. Whitefish, where Julia Roberts dumped Kiefer Sutherland three days before they were to marry, while Sutherland was building their home-to-be in Whitefish. We sat next to Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick more than once at a local Whitefish café. Again, we exhausted ourselves projecting disdainful cool. Tons more famous people called Whitefish their second (or third, for fourth, or fifth) home back then, but I can’t remember the names…oh yea, something about Steve McQueen getting kicked out of town on his motorcycle a long,... [Read more...]
