Wrap Up

Our Hop On Hop Off Tour of America


The map helped us with planning--the different colored dots are the various routes we took 

  Possible Book Titles

• Travels with Terry
• Closing out the puzzle--What if everyday was Saturday
• I have learned more the first 4 years of retirement than 4 years of college　

 

Don't be that person:

• Stay more than 1 night at a commercial freebie (Walmart, Pilot, etc.)
• Start lecturing people on what you have seen and what they HAVE to see
• Run the generator after midnight
• Stink up the place with faulty holding tank management
• Be in a hurry 　

5 best meals:

• The Thompson's --Lobster in Maine
• Bibiji's--Indian food--Santa Barbara
• 411--McMinnville, Or
• Hamilton's - Washington DC
• Martha's --Yuma, AZ--Date shake

 Tips of travel: 

• You can take our own bed, toilet, kitchen, wardrobe (had to learn to manage the TV reception, generator, water, holding tanks)
• Set your own budget
• Set your own pace
• We plan on driving no more than 4-5 hours a day. It always takes longer than the maps say and if you get in early all the better--don't be in a hurry, enjoy the scenery
• Talk to everyone that will talk back
• Stay flexible 

Places to stay:  

  RV parks, Walmart, Pilot, BLM, Rest Areas, most Casino's, Fairgrounds --haven't stayed but others have--Cracker Barrell, Pro Bass, Cabela (all these call first).

 

Useful devices:

  Garmin for RV, phone, paper maps, kindle, jet pack, camera, sat TV, antenna, DVD player, computer and printer

 

Useful Traveling Apps:

  Park Advisor (with a little help from Compendium, Allstays and The Dyrt), Weather/Radar/Wind Alert, Yelp, Safari/IE/Firefox, Maps(various), I-Heart Radio

 

Important to us :

  Warm in winter, Cool in summer, Tennessee for fall, spring (kids birthdays), Christmas at home, Tennessee Football and Basketball, NASCAR

 

Places we liked to plan for:

  Presidential Libraries (get a pass), National Parks (be sure to buy a park pass), NFL Stadiums. Not necessarily our bag but other things people did: State Capitols, Cemeteries, Prisons, Shopping, Beach--Know that every town seems to have a museum--some are great others are awful.