Touring America

Apalachee Savannahs

Apalachee Savannahs is in northwest Florida about 45 miles west of Tallahassee. The 60-mile route traverses the Apalachicola National Forest between Bristol and Apalachicola. Byway travelers will see longleaf pine flats, savannahs, cypress bogs, and numerous sloughs and creeks. Several small national forest campgrounds are located along the byway.

Connecticut Route 169

This scenic byway follows CT 169 for 34 miles between the Massachusetts state line and Lisbon. Byway travelers are treated to views of rolling hills and forests of maple and pine. Camping is available in two campgrounds within Mashamoquet State Park.

RV Vacation Planner

by Donna Flanders

Donna is retired from computer programming. After 20 years of computer work, she now devotes her analytical, organizational and research skills to developing vacations for others. She is a list maker and she shares her lists with you at RV Vacation Planner.

Making Friends

Ask anyone who travels and they will tell you that seeing new things isn't always the highlight of the trip. It's meeting new people. Sometimes you just connect with people and then you manage to stay in touch and meet up again. This can happen because you own the same kind of RV. Obviously they have good taste if they own the same kind of RV that you own. Perhaps you just have a common interest. There are several times that stand out in my mind.

As we were heading to Alaska in 2002 we pulled into a campground in the Yukon Territory. As we headed to our campsite, we saw a couple with the same kind of RV that we had. After we got settled in our campsite, we stood and talked with them for 3 hours. We left separately the next day and traveled on. We arrived at the same campground the next night and visited again. We caught up with them once more on the Alaska trip. Two years later, they joined us in Maine and New Hampshire. Last winter they joined us at our winter park. We keep in touch via e-mail on a regular basis, sharing information about places we have visited, the quality of different campgrounds and what is happening in our lives.

Select this link to read more.

Fun Stops U.S.A.

Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum

The Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, offers a variety of displays portraying the history of Laura Ingalls Wilder and Walnut Grove. The museum's collections are housed in a series of interesting buildings, including an 1898 depot, an 1880s school chapel, and an onion-domed house.

Squire Boone Caverns

Squire Boone Caverns is off I-64 in Corydon, Indiana, about 30 miles west of Louisville, Kentucky. Guided one-hour tours are offered during summer months. Visitors will see a variety of cave formations and underground waterfalls.

Casino Camping

by Jane Kenny

Jane Kenny is a full-time RVer with husband Jack. She is the author of two books and is recognized by the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA) as an RV Lifestyle Specialist. The excerpt below is from her book, Casino Camping.

Hollywood Seminole Gaming

4150 North State Road 7

Hollywood, Florida 33021

Phone: 954-961-3220 or 800-323-5452

www.seminoletribe.com

Description: On the Seminole Reservation in Hollywood, Florida, the 130,000 square foot casino has 2,100 gaming machines and 65 poker tables. The resort includes a large hotel, eight nightclubs, 15 restaurants, entertainment venue, shopping mall and a Hard Rock Café.

Directions & Parking: From I-95 exit 22, take Sterling Rd west for three miles to SR-7/US-441. Go south on SR-7 to the casino. Parking for RVs is at the south end of the lot. Check with Security if you plan to be in the lot overnight.

Road Trip Dreams

by Carol White

Phil and Carol White are the authors of Live Your Road Trip Dream, a book that describes how they turned their dream of traveling into reality -- and how you can do the same.

Under-discovered Gems in our National Park System

What could be more American than our National Park Service? People everywhere express interest in exploring these symbols of our national heritage. The parks range from large and well-known, like Yosemite and Zion, to small and obscure, like The Golden Spike National Historical Park and Moore's Creek National Battlefield.

The parks are divided into several categories including National Parks, National Historic Parks, National Monuments, National Seashores and more. The difference is not just the significance of the park, but also the funding and, therefore, staffing and amenities of each location. In all, there are over 400 locations maintained by the National Park Service and they do a great job keeping everything maintained, accessible and enjoyable for the millions of annual visitors. The parks are truly one of the gems of our tax-supported services.

Each park, monument, seashore and more was designated due to some unique characteristic worth preserving and showcasing. From the intricate lacework of Wind Cave in South Dakota, to the fragile eco-system of the Florida Everglades, the park rangers are well informed and eagerly teach visitors about their park. The Junior Ranger program for kids in some of the larger parks is better than a year of science and history back home.

So what are some of these lesser known locations of special significance? Here are three that you might want to include in your next trip.

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RV Dump Stations

Here are some of the most recent additions to the RV Dump Stations web site:

Discovering Your Public Lands

Coralville Lake

Coralville Lake is a Corps of Engineers project in east-central Iowa. The 5,430-acre lake is north of Iowa City, which is home to Iowa's largest shopping mall. Surrounding the lake are seven campgrounds with just over 500 sites. Camping fees range from $10 for tent sites to $22 for sites with hookups.

Samuel R McKelvie National Forest

The Samuel R McKelvie National Forest lies in northern Nebraska about 40 miles southwest of Valentine. The forest is unique in that it is a man-made forest of ponderosa pines surrounded by Nebraska's Sandhills prairie. The Steer Creek Campground here has 23 sites scattered among the ponderosa pines; camping fee is $8.

RV University

by Mark Polk

Mark Polk is the producer of training videos on how to use and maintain your RV. He is also the author of The RV Book, a personal guide to understanding and enjoying your RV.

RV Travel Security 101

It's easy to let your guard down sometimes and to forget that not everybody you encounter is as honest and law abiding as you might be. This is an excerpt from my Checklists for RVers E-book to help keep your guard up and travel safe in your RV.

For one minute, try to think the way a criminal would think. If you were at a rest stop looking for your next target or victim, what would you look for? Let's pretend for a moment that you were going to target a vehicle. Which would be more appealing, a car whose owner stopped for a quick bathroom break or an expensive looking Class A motor home, whose owners are out walking their dogs? I don't have the mind of a criminal but this is an easy choice. That expensive looking RV probably has expensive contents inside like, jewelry, cameras, and a laptop computer.

Okay, we have come to the conclusion that we, the RVers, are the prime target for the criminal mind, so what can we do to protect ourselves? That's what this RV security checklist is for. To give you some ideas on how to protect yourself and you're personal belongings when you're traveling in your RV.

Select this link to read more.

Exploring State Parks

Aroostook State Park

Aroostoock State Park bears the distinct honor of being Maine's first state park. The 800-acre park is south of Presque Isle in northeast Maine and features Quaggy Jo Mountain and Echo Lake. The campground here has 30 sites (no hookups) for about $15 per night.

Columbus-Belmont State Park

Columbus-Belmont State Park is located in western Kentucky about 36 miles southwest of Paducha. The 150-acre park is on the Mississippi River and contains the site of a fortification built by the Confederates and later occupied by Union forces in the Civil War. The park's campground has 38 sites with hookups for about $20.

Gadgets & Gizmos

WiFi Finder

This little gadget detects WiFi 802.11b/g signals without the need to power up your laptop. The keychain-size device operates with a single click of the "Detect" button. Four LEDs indicate Wireless LAN service coverage and signal strength.

Pit-2-Go

The Pit-2-Go is a portable campfire/barbeque grill that neatly folds up for storing in your RV. With the Pit-2-Go you can enjoy a campfire just about anywhere you go. You can burn wood or pressed wood logs up to 16" long. It also doubles as a barbecue grill and comes with a charcoal grate and cooking grate.

Legends of America

by Kathy Weiser

Kathy is a personal friend and webmaster of the Legends of America web site. Her site focuses on the history-rich travel destinations of the American West.

Rough & Tumble Deadwood, South Dakota

The famous and the infamous have called Deadwood and the Black Hills home over the last several centuries. Lewis and Clark, Wild Bill Hickok, Wyatt Earp, George Armstrong Custer, Poker Alice, the Sundance Kid, Calamity Jane, Mark Twain and many others have all passed through here in search of fortune and adventure.

But long before the arrival of the white man, the land was home to the Cheyenne, Kiowa, Pawnee, Crow and Sioux (or Lakota) Indians. The Sioux, who migrated from Minnesota in the 1700s, dominated a tract of land large enough to support the buffalo herds on which they subsisted.

At about the same time as the Lakota migration, French Canadian explorers began mapping the Missouri River and trading with the Indians for pelts and hides to be shipped back East. Adventurers Francois and Joseph La Verendrye claimed the region for King Louis XV in 1743 by placing an engraved lead plate on the bank of the Missouri River near present-day Pierre.

When Thomas Jefferson made the Louisiana Purchase with Napoleon of France, the 828,000 square-mile purchase included all of what would later become South Dakota. In 1803, Jefferson sent his personal secretary Meriwether Lewis and Lewis’s friend William Clark to explore the new territory. The 31-member party met little resistance from the Indians as they passed through South Dakota. Along the Missouri River, the expedition was joined by French trader Toussaint Charbonneau and his 15-year-old wife Sacagewea, whom the Frenchman had won in a gambling match. The young Shoshone woman helped to guide Lewis and Clark all the way to the Pacific Ocean.

Select this link to read more.

Camping in City and County Parks

Cave Creek Regional Park

Cave Creek Regional Park is north of Phoenix, Arizona, and about eight miles east of I-17 Exit 223. The county park has 38 campsites with water and electric hookups for $18 per night and can accommodate RVs up to 45 feet. In the 1870s, fever stricken gold seekers staked their dreams on the jasper-studded hills here. Guided trails to these sites give visitors an opportunity to travel back in time.

Doran Regional Park

Doran Regional Park is in northern California, south of Bodega Bay. The county park has a two-mile stretch of sandy beach and a rock jetty at the harbor mouth. The campground has over 130 sites (no hookups) for $18 per night, showers, flush toilets, and a dump station.

RV News

Gas Prices Shorten Some RV Trips

Cheryl and Bill Salisbury traveled out West in their recreational vehicle three years ago but won't be taking another long-distance RV trip anytime soon.

"We haven't planned any extensive trips," Cheryl Salisbury said. "[Gas prices] have to do with it. Especially if it goes up more."

The couple would like to take another trip across the United States but said, "We couldn't afford it now."

RV ownership has reached record levels. According to the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association, nearly one in 12 U.S. vehicle-owning households now owns an RV. But gas prices have caused RV enthusiasts to shorten their trips and keep their vehicles parked longer. Select this link to read more.

Couple Eager to Take Endless Vacation in an RV

Bill and Bette Lyons have sold, given away and thrown away most of the possessions they've collected during their 43 years of marriage.

They put a for-sale sign outside their 1,950-square-foot, four-bedroom home on Manchester Avenue NW in May.

They still live in the house, but only a card table, two chairs, a bedroom suite and basic supplies remain.

Their new home sits in the driveway. It's perched on four 22.5-inch wheels, and it will take them from Ohio to Arizona to Alabama to Alaska. Select this link to read more.

Wildfire Forces Evacuation of Campground

A wildfire burning in the Olympic National Park forced the evacuation of the Staircase Campground on Tuesday. Select this link to read more.

Roundabout Roundup

RV Scrapbook

RV Scrapbook is the only online social network for the RVing community. You can join in the fun for free or become a Gold member and enjoy using advanced features like the message board, blogging tools, photo gallery, specialized groups, and much more. Yours truly is a member. I think it's a great way for RVers and wannabes to share stories and information with others.

The Digital RV

The Digital RV is a guide for full-timers and part-timers interested in using today's technology while on the road. The book covers such topics as choosing a laptop for your RV, accessing the Internet while on the road, using your computer as a TV, VCR or DVD player, and more.

Your RV Lifestyle

This web site features information and advice for the novice or experienced RVer. You'll find information about how to choose, afford and enjoy your RV lifestyle, with tips on campgrounds, fulltiming, RV buying, Internet access, RV travel, and much more.

Traveling With Your Dog

If you travel with your dog, you may want to consider subscribing to the DogGone Newsletter. It's published bi-monthly that features places to go and things to do with your dog. You'll also find travel tips, book and product reviews, a calendar of events, and tips for training and grooming.

RV Songs

Cliff Boyd is a full-time RVer and songwriter. For the past several years he has been writing and performing songs about the RV lifestyle. Visit his web site to hear samples of his songs or chat with him online at the RV Scrapbook web site.