Even if you’ve bought a jetpack for Internet access, the
chances of eating up your data are high! RV parks have Internet, but in some cases it
isn’t good or it doesn’t reach out to the spot you might be parked in. A first stop for this trip was at a Colorado
State Park with Wi-Fi. The note on the
door when we arrived said Internet was out for a week! Sorry for the inconvenience. Ugh! – we were going
to be there for a week! When out on the
road for days and weeks, you need to be looking at maps and sites to stop for
the night. Using phones and ipads while
traveling uses up data faster than you’d like!
And when you do find a coffee shop to stop in for a few minutes,
sometimes just catching up on road stops, RV parks, and travel takes up all the
time and posting to blogs or other sites doesn’t happen. That was the biggest disappointment for me on
this trip – and it’s a small disappointment, really. I wanted to enjoy the travel…the blog would
have to wait! I’ve started writing and
wanted to post as I go to my blog but I quickly learned this was not going to
happen on this trip. Pictures use too
much data. I learned early on that it
wasn’t wise to do this with pictures of daily travel without being on Wi-Fi. I increased my Verizon data package once
during this trip – doubling the amount of data available until the end of my
current cycle. Even with this increase I
almost ran out of data!
I have learned to write in a separate Word document that can
later be copied in to blog posts. But I
didn’t want to accept this reality until way into the trip. Missing out on documenting daily details is
huge. Who can remember all those little
events that happen daily – ten days down the road? Next time I hope to make that work better for
me.
It’s important to have checklists. It’s hard to remember all the details of all
the things to do or know before take off or when you stop. There are a TON of things to remember before
you take off, when you stop, when you get gas, when you want to sleep for the
night. I could go on and on. Lists are critical. Not an age issue, either. There are so many bells and whistles on this
bus that it’s impossible to learn them all the first few times out on the road –
or remember them from time to time if you travel occasionally.
When estimating how long it will take to get somewhere…you
can’t go by mph! Someone told me before
I started my solo car trip early in the year– you can only be sure of about 50
miles an hour. Regardless of speed
limits. So, if you’ re traveling for 300
miles in a day – count on it taking you about 6 hours. This turned out to be pretty true in my car
on my solo ride and in the RV/bus.
Why? Because it accounts for
construction zones in which speeds can be reduced to 45-50 for MILES!!! Sometimes 15-20 miles before the construction
zones end. It accounts for stops to
eat….and that’s without NOT rushing and also NOT being pokey. It accounts for heavy traffic. Of course you COULD hit a storm that creates mudslides
in the mountain areas and all this goes out the window when you’re stuck on a
road that absolutely stops while heavy equipment tries to move the rocks or mud
off the road. Hours later you’re back on
the road.
When on interstates happily driving in the right lane so all
the trucks can zip by – there are hazards of cars entering on ramps that don’t
understand this is a 40 foot diesel pusher engine that CAN crush them. They still mosey on and are oblivious to the
bus…we’ve learned that even though we have more lug nuts, we need to slow down
and let them on. They’re idiots…and life
is too short to push the limits!
This is a BIG one - trucks truly own the highways. The way I look at it – they are working,
earning a living. I’m out for
pleasure. They’re really good (for the
most part) at driving those rigs on the highways and I’m not going to mess with
them. Stay right, let them pass. And if they’re passing on an incline and they
can’t make it, I’ll slow down to let them get ahead. My cruise control is NOT my master. I’m still in charge…and I’ll click off the cruise
to allow these changes if I feel it’s safer for me.
When speed limits posted on the road say the speed limit is
70 and it’s 60 for trucks – it doesn’t mean I HAVE to go 60. Okay, so I’m not a truck…but in some ways
these big RV’s are like trucks, as long as trucks and as powerful as
trucks! Many highways post a minimum
speed of 40. That would be a little slow
for me but I also don’t have to go 60.
The problem with speed is that in this bus, we’re sitting on what feels
like the road. There is no engine in
front of us. If we’re in the mountains,
the cliff is real close when you look at the side of the road. Not much room for error. Over is out.
Better to be cautious and enjoy the ride. Also, this is a house on wheels. Things vibrate, things shake…there is always
a rattle sound coming from somewhere.
The faster you go the more it shakes – at least that’s the way it seems
to me. What fun is it to speed around
the curves on a mountain when your heart is in your mouth and you’re grabbing a
handrail feeling like you’re going to roll down the hill? As long as there is a passing lane, I’m
driving my ride – as they say. If that’s
50 on those roads – then I’m good with that.
I don’t care what the trucks are doing….and I don’t care what the posted
speed limit is. I have my own “speed”
limit on mountains! (and on the road!) I
don’t have to remind myself that this is a 40 foot bus, with a car towed behind
– and I’m on roads I’ve never been on – and add to that – driving a vehicle
that I don’t have a lot of experience driving.
Enough said????
There’s a whole world of trucking out there. I’ve learned this on a new level. My Dad drove trucks for a few years after he gave
up his heating and air conditioning business.
I think he had a desire to see more of this country – and he had the
pressure of trying to earn a living for a big family. I often wonder what he would think if he saw
me driving this bus. I feel like I’ve
had a little glimpse of what life was like on the road for him. At the truck stops there are showers
available for folks that travel long distances and sleep in their
vehicles. When you enter, you’ll hear
numbers being called over the intercom – number 22 your shower is ready! A truck stop also includes a restaurant, many
times with a Subway or Arby’s or some other local fast food place as well as a
quick mart type store. You can find just
about anything in these little marts, as well as groceries and souvenir type
stuff. Need mustard? Need Tylenol?
Unfortunately the food is not so healthy…I was able to find my favorite Greek
yogurt…but aside from that it’s pretty much fast food.
Truck drivers seem to be able to turn their vehicles “on a
dime.” I’ve watched them back in to the
tightest spots between other semi trucks.
They pull forward and back in like they’ve done it a hundred times…and
they probably have!
Pulling in to a Love’s, Flying J or Pilot truck stop has
been an experience. Stopping and
sleeping in the parking lot has been interesting. These stops are so popular with semi’s that
if you don’t stop early in the evening – say by 5-6 pm – you might not find a
place to park! In an RV we’ve been
allowed to park in front with other campers…and having the car attached behind
is challenging. Disconnecting and
parking the car nearby is best. One of
our stops had very little parking availability and we were told it was okay to
take up car spaces in front of the station.
Our bus took up 6 spaces horizontally!
We didn’t pop out the sides that night – that would be so obnoxious! We can still shower, use the toilet, and
sleep very comfortably without the slides out.
Cars were parked all around us. A
few truck cabs were nearby – and the drivers were asleep…till early
morning. Then you can hear the roar of
their engines as they pull away, back on the road.
It’s important to call early in the day if we want to stop
at a Good Sam Park or private or public campground. This just about always secured us a spot for
the night. We really didn’t know how far
we would drive on any given day and calling in the morning for availability
worked well. Some campgrounds have pull
thru spaces – they work best for us but backing in isn’t a problem either. We just disconnect the car and park the car nearby
and the RV can be backed in.
The vehicle we’re towing – Honda CRV – has a speed limit of
65 mph towing capacity. That keeps us at
a comfortable speed most of the time, even though some roads in the west have
speed limits as high as 80 and 75 mph. Also,
when the car is attached – WE CANNOT BACK UP.
Wow…almost learned that lesson the hard way! This is an engine/transmission restriction (I
think – not pretending to be a mechanic here!).
When traveling it’s good to be well equipped with things to
clean the windshield. After hours and
days there is a healthy accumulation of bugs…and when the bigger bugs smash on
the windshield it’s distracting to driving as you constantly need to look in
mirrors and back to windshield to watch lanes.
Wal-Mart stores will let you park free for the night – but
not ALL Wal-Mart stores. For example, we
thought we would park for the night in Avon, Colorado. We called ahead and found out the town of
Avon has an ordinance that prohibits sleeping in RVs or other vehicles
overnight. So we know we need to call
ahead and make sure if we want to stop at a Walmart.
We made a stop at a Wal-Mart. Pretty uneventful. All along the top of the building and in many
places around the parking lots are cameras. If one is concerned about safety, this is pretty reassuring if you're in a remote area. This was a 24-hour store with a Sam’s Club next door. A semi pulled in next to us and there were
only a couple other campers in the parking lot near us. It was quiet and we had room to pop out and
walk around. Wal-Mart’s can be good
stops – and they’re free!
Experiencing the range of stopping places – from state parks
with beautiful views to shopping centers I’d have to say I don’t really have a
preference. Both were very comfortable
thanks to the vehicle. It just depends
on where you are and when you’re going and/or how fast you want to get
there! This trip we chose places very
close to interstate highways and exits, as our travel times were more limited. With the car towed behind finding big
parking lots makes it easier for pulling in and turning around.
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