Touring America

Hocking Hills Scenic Byway

The Hocking Hills Scenic Byway was officially designated as an Ohio Scenic Byway in February 2005. The Scenic Byway passes through some of Ohio's most beautiful landscapes and circles the natural areas of the Hocking Hills State Park. The byway follows portions of Ohio State Highways 56, 374, and 664 between Rockbridge and South Bloomingville.

The 2,300-acre Hocking Hills State Park offers a little something for everyone. There's a dining lodge with restaurant, miles of hiking trails, picnic areas, and fishing in Rose Lake. The campground here has 172 sites; 159 with electric hookups. The camping fee is about $25 per night for sites with electricity; a few bucks less for sites without power. The state park also has 40 cottages available that rent for about $90 per night.

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.

Zoning Out

RV travel offers so many learning experiences. One thing you notice more in the winter as you travel is the change in daylight hours. We make every effort to be off the road before dark and that time changes a lot as we travel to our winter park. We notice the further west we go, the later it is light in the afternoon– until we cross a time zone. We stopped for one night in Knoxville, TN. It got dark by about 6:30. Then we moved on to the Land Between the Lakes in northern Tennessee. This happens to be right over the time zone into Central Time. It was dark by 5:30 and yet we had only traveled about 5 hours. Why such a big change?

I knew the closer to the either pole (north or south pole) you get, the more dramatic the changes in the amount of daylight. For example, the reason Alaska is known as the Land of the Midnight Sun is because in the summer months, it is daylight for about 18-20 hours per day. In the winter it has daylight for as little as four to six hours per day. When I planned our trip to Alaska, I specifically wanted to be there for the longest day of the year in June. For anyone who knows me this is quite silly since I go to bed at the same time every night. I did make an exception for New Years 2000. As we camped in Seward, Alaska, we watched a huge cruise ship anchor in the fiord. I told my husband I could not wait to see it all lit up at night; forgetting how late that would be. My husband woke me about 1:00 a.m. to see the lights. I grumbled something about how pretty it was and promptly went back to sleep.

Select this link to read the rest of the article.

Fun Stops U.S.A.

Marais des Cygnes Massacre State Historic Site

Sometime in December I caught the "cabin fever" bug and decided to take a drive. I knew this State Historic Site wasn't too far from home so I went off lookin' for it. It was a bit tricky to find but it made for an enjoyable day out of the office. You'll find pictures of the site in the photo gallery. Here's the story behind the site:

On May 19, 1858, about 30 pro-slavery men gunned down 11 free-state men in a ravine near Trading Post, Kansas. Lining up their prisoners, they callously shot them down, killing five and wounding five others. One escaped injury by feigning death. Northerners were horrified, and John Greenleaf Whittier immortalized the fallen in a poem, " Le Marais du Cygne."

The park is about six miles north of Pleasanton, Kansas, on US 69 and then three miles east on KS 52. You can learn more about this out-of-the-way site by visiting the Kansas State Historical Society web site.

Casino Camping

Apache Gold Casino Resort

Description: The fully paved RV park has 55 extra wide pull-thru sites with water, electric, sewer and CATV. All sites are walking distance to the casino. The mountain view park also has a heated pool and spa, laundry room and convenience store. The rate is $20 per night. Apache Gold has the #1 public golf course in Arizona, and there is excellent bass fishing nearby. The casino has more than 500 slots, blackjack and poker tables plus a buffet restaurant and the Apache grill.

Discounts: Good Sam discount is given at the RV Park. Also ask about seasonal promotions for RV guests that may include a free casino package or 50% off regular rates.

Directions: From junction of US-70 & US-60 in Globe, go east for six miles on US-70 (a major four-lane road).

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.

The following article is from Phil and Carol's travel journal during the time when they were living their road trip dream.

The Great American Adventure Comes to an End

We are home! As I sit down amid the boxes to write this article, it is truly hard to believe that an entire year has passed since we pulled out of Charbonneau on a sunny afternoon, June 3, 2000.

Just to give you a statistical wrap up of the trip - we drove over 36,000 miles in our 54 weeks on the road, visited all 48 of the contiguous states, saw 29 of the state capitols, and explored 43 National Parks with our National Parks Pass (as well as over 40 National Park Monuments, Seashores, etc).

We ate over 500 restaurant meals, had 61 days it rained some part of the day, stayed in over 250 motels, and drove 359 miles on our longest driving day. All of this with no traffic tickets and no fights between the two of us!

We paid as much as $2.35 a gallon for gas, and as little as $1.22. We were as high as 14,130 feet at Pikes Peak, and as low as -282 feet at Death Valley. The highest temperature was 114 in Palm Springs, and the low was 7 in Washington, DC.

Everyone asks us what our "favorite" place was. This is an impossible question to answer because there are so many wonderful places to see in the United States. A few of our most memorable places include The Black Hills area of South Dakota, Lexington, KY, Cape Cod, MA, Newport, RI, The Smithsonian, Charleston, SC, St. Augustine, FL, The Oklahoma City Memorial, Big Bend NP, Mesa Verde NP, Zion NP, and Yosemite NP. But our "favorite" place really is home!

Select this link to read the rest of the article.

RV Dump Stations

I must admit I haven't updated the RV Dump Stations web site in several months. But now that the projects I've been working on are complete, I am once again updating the web site on a regular basis. I've also given the site a new look. Listed below are some of the most recent additions.

Discovering Your Public Lands

Monroe Lake

Monroe Lake is a Corps of Engineers project in central Indiana. The 10,750-acre lake lies south of Bloomington. Of the 11 recreation areas on the lake, only two have a campground. The 1,200-acre Hardin Ridge Recreation Area lies within the Hoosier National Forest, which surrounds part of the lake. The campground here is comprised of six loops with a total of 200 sites, about half with electric hookups. The camping fee ranges from $15 per night for non-electric sites to $18 for sites with electricity. There are some site with full hookups for $21 per night.

The other campground is managed by the State of Indiana as the Paynetown State Recreation Area. This recreation area features 226 campsites with electric hookups for $17 to $28 per night. A non-electric loop has 94 sites for $10 to $16 per night.

RV University

by Mark Polk

Trailer Sway 101

Yaw, more commonly known as sway in the RV industry, is a bad word for trailer owners. The definition of yaw or sway is a side-to-side movement. Nothing will ruin the way you feel about camping faster than the first time you experience trailer sway.

You have tent camped for years and now you decide it's time to move up to a pop-up. You go to your local dealership and find a pop-up with the perfect floor plan for you and your family. The sales person knows that it will be close to the maximum weight that your vehicle can tow. He really needs a sale because things have been slow. Rather than risk losing the sale he decides not to explain the added expense of the proper hitch work to safely tow your new trailer.

You're all packed up for a weekend getaway. You made all of your pre-trip checks and you're ready to go. You load the most precious cargo you have, your family, into your tow vehicle and head out on a new venture. Everything is fine when you leave the house. You take the on ramp to the interstate. You're cruising at the speed limit enjoying the music on the radio. Suddenly out of nowhere a transfer truck going twenty miles over the speed limit is passing you as if you're sitting still. The pop-up is pulled into the draft created by the truck. In an attempt to correct this totally unexpected event you over steer and the trailer begins to go the opposite direction. Not really sure what to do you hit the brakes and turn the steering wheel to the left, then to the right. Now, that one-ton trailer behind your sport utility vehicle is veering sharply from side to side and begins to affect what little control you have over the vehicle. The results are catastrophic.

Select this link to read the rest of the article.

Exploring State Parks

Hugh White State Park

Hugh White State Park is in central Mississippi about five miles east of Grenada and I-55 Exit 206. The park has over 170 campsites with water and electric hookups that can accommodate RVs up to 34 feet. Hot showers are available in four bathhouses and there's a central dump station and laundry facilities. The camping fee is about $14 per night; seniors 65 and older receive a discount.

To learn more about all of Mississippi's 24 state parks, select this link.

Bald Eagle State Park

Bald Eagle State Park is along PA Hwy 150 between Milesburg and Lock Haven in central Pennsylvania. The park is situated on Foster Joseph Sayers Reservoir and has a developed campground with nearly 100 campsites; 84 with electric hookups. On the other side of the reservoir is a primitive campground with 70 sites; half of which are for tent-only camping. The camping fee will vary from $12 to $20 per night depending on amenities available.

To learn more about all of Pennsylvania's state parks, select this link.

Gadgets & Gizmos

Hitchsafe

HitchSafe is a unique gadget that slides into the 2" hitch receiver on your truck, SUV or van for storing spare keys, credit cards, cash or your driver's license. The HitchSafe is not yet available to the public but you can visit the web site to learn more about it.

O-ZONELite

This is one unique light bulb! It lasts up to 6,000 hours and purifies the air by vaporizing dust, airborne bacteria, mold, fungi, smoke and odors. How does it work? O•ZONELite uses light which reacts with the titanium dioxide-based chemical coating that creates oxidation, which in turn attacks and destroys microbes by disintegrating them through oxidation. The reaction also kills dust mites and mold. (Huh? I didn't write the part about how it works, I got it from their web site.)

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.

Cherokee Bill - Terror of Indian Territory

Born in Fort Concho, Texas on February 8, 1876, the boy that would one day become known as "Cherokee Bill" was first blessed with the name of Crawford Goldsby. Born to St. George and Ellen (Beck) Goldsby, Bill's father was of black, Sioux, Mexican, and white ancestry and was a sergeant of the Tenth United States Cavalry, part of the Buffalo Soldiers. His mother was reportedly half black, one-fourth white, and one-fourth Cherokee.

By the time he was seven, his parents had separated and his mother moved him to Fort Gibson in Indian Territory. Before long, he was sent to an Indian School in Kansas, where he attended for three years. Afterwards, he was sent to an Industrial School for Indians in Carlisle, Pennsylvania for two years. However, despite attempts to provide him a good education, some sources indicate that he could barely read and write.

He left school at the age of 12 and returned to Fort Gibson. It was at this tender age that some say he killed his first man. Crawford, large for his age confronted his brother-in-law who had told him to feed some hogs. Grabbing a gun, Crawford shot and killed him, but was not prosecuted because of his age.

A year later his mother remarried and young Crawford did not get along with his new stepfather. It was around that time that he began to associate with a bad crowd, drank liquor, and generally rebelled against any authority. Two years later, at the age of 15, he moved from his mother's house to his sister Georgia's and her husband. By the time he was 17, he was working a ranch, where he said to have been well-liked. However, that would all change the very next year when he would begin his outlaw career, becoming one of the most dangerous and feared men in Indian Territory.

Select this link to read the rest of the story.

Bumper Sticker Wisdom

• If at first you don't succeed, redefine success
• The best way to save face is to keep the lower part of it shut
• Never do anything you wouldn't want to explain to the paramedics

Camping in City and County Parks

Michigan

Lake Billings Campground in Manton, Michigan is a municipal park with a total of 85 sites; 48 with water and electric and 37 with full hookups. The campground is open mid-April to mid-October and has a dump station, laundry facilities, and hot showers. The park is two blocks east of MI 42 on E Main St and then one block north on Park St.

Roundabout Roundup

Half Price Camping

There's a new kid on the block when it comes to camping at half price. Camp Club USA was established last year by Affinity Group -- the same folks that bring you Trailer Life magazine, the Good Sam Club, Camping World, and more. Camp Club USA claims to be "the first discount camping club to guarantee 50% off nightly rates and 100% quality campgrounds."

Backcountry Adventures

If you enjoy exploring the backcountry, take a look at this series of books from Swagman Publishing. The five-volume series details the backcountry regions of Arizona, California, Colorado, and Utah. In addition to detailed trail directions and maps of every trail and region, extensive information on the history of towns, ghost towns, and regions is included.

Travel Center Locations

Did you know our web site lists the location of travel centers like Flying J, Travel Centers of America and Love's? Select this link to learn more.

The Enabled RVer

This web site offers travel resources for the disabled RVer. The site includes a variety of articles from destinations and weekend getaways to an accessible RV checklist and links to related web sites.

Family Campers & RVers

Founded as the National Campers & Hikers Association (NCHA) in 1949, Family Campers & RVers is an organization dedicated to camping fellowships and the strengthening of family bonds through shared activities.