Vacation plans for this year - status?
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We have the freedom to choose our actions, but we do not get to choose our consequences.
Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run, there's still time to change the road you're on. -
@Improviso said in Vacation plans for this year - status?:
@Copper said in Vacation plans for this year - status?:
Blue Ridge? I like the Blue Ridge.
In his neck of the woods, isn't that the Great Smokey Mountains?
Yep.
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@George-K said in Vacation plans for this year - status?:
The one pain-in-the ass thing is that we had to bring our own cookware, dishes, etc. That usually filled up one whole box. But, at the time, we were with 3 kids, so there's that consideration.
Mrs. George and I can spend 10 days living out of a couple of suitcases, so perhaps packing a box might not be a too-bad thing.
ETA: I always preferred the more open style of the Class-A. Didn't like to have to climb down into the cockpit of a Class-C.
Also this guy rents for about $250 a day - and gives you 100 miles per day free. After that, it's 35¢ per mile.
So a round trip from Minneapolis (pulls out calculator) is about 3500 miles, and would take 3 days of driving at 550 miles a day each way.
$1500 in rental
$2900 mileage
$350 in gas (assuming 10 mpg)Amtrak would be about $1400 round trip for two in a sleeper.
True, but with the Motor home you control how much you want to drive, where you want to go and most importantly, your level of infection exposure.
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@Larry said in Vacation plans for this year - status?:
@Copper said in Vacation plans for this year - status?:
Blue Ridge? I like the Blue Ridge.
Smokies.
My mom and dad loved it up there, from the hills of Nashville, over into Maggie Valley and all points around.
Funny thing...My dad knew so many people, he never went anywhere in the South without bumping into somebody he knew. Dad and I were sitting in a little place in Cherokee, sipping on some coffee, when a guy walks through the door and heads to the counter. Dad stopped him on the way, and asked him, "Hey, Eugene! How's it going?" .
The guy did a double-take, and said, "Dammit, Jolly. Is that you?
So then it was old home week over coffee...
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@Friday said in Vacation plans for this year - status?:
@Aqua-Letifer said in Vacation plans for this year - status?:
@Friday said in Vacation plans for this year - status?:
My mother and I were planning a trip to Japan to see the cherry blossoms in March, and there was a summer trip to Mexico as a graduation gift for my goddaughter. But, like the rest of you, that's all cancelled.
Our Japan trip's on hold also.
Were you going for the Olympics?
That was a vague idea, yeah. Ah well. Couchistan is kind of a cool place to hang out. Lower New Bedroom is quaint and at least it's air-conditioned.
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There is a road that goes from Vonore, TN across a low mountain to Indian Boundary Campgrounds. By low mountain I mean less than a mile high.. this road begins as a paved road, but about 5 or 6 miles in you cross into the National Forest, and about half a mile after that the pavement ends and it becomes a narrow dirt trail with so many deep potholes you cannot go more than 5 miles an hour. For the next ten or twelve miles you go 5 miles an hour, but you don't mind it too much because of the absolutely beautiful mountain stream running along side. You pass several marked campsites along the way, mostly tent camping because the road is too rough to get a camper up it. The trout fishing is great there.
Then you hit the bad road.... ten or fifteen miles of smell your own butt curves, potholes that can break axles, and steep cliffs that if you get too far to the side of the road your car will fall off and you'll fall half a mile or so before you hit the bottom. Narrow one lane bridges that cross over the stream in places that you just know will cave in when you get on them.. but they don't.
I love that road. It takes hours to travel the 30 or so miles, because you cant get over 5 miles an hour, some places even less. But the good part - the sounds of that big mountain stream, the sounds of the wildlife around you, the smell of the clean air, talking to the people you pass by on the road as they get ready to go fish in the stream.. you can have a good conversation with people when youre driving by them at 5 miles an hour.... and then you eventually come to Indian Boundary Lake, and campground. At that poi t you can choose to get on the Cherohala Skyway and come off the mountain into Tellico Plains, or you can take the little hidden road that most people dont know is there, and go into some really rough stuff.
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@Jolly said in Vacation plans for this year - status?:
@Rainman said in Vacation plans for this year - status?:
@Jolly said in Vacation plans for this year - status?:
@Rainman said in Vacation plans for this year - status?:
Safeway in June, by car.
Adventurous type, eh?
Damn straight. Likely roll down a window, maybe two.
Actually, we hoped to take some road trips, kinda like Mark, just head out in a general direction. Utah monuments would be fantastic, maybe head north towards Glacier Nat'l Park. Who knows, like everyone else we will need to find out how open open is.
Maybe it's the year to rent a RV? Some of the smaller ones are very easy to drive. If you're comfortable driving a larger one, a Class A can be a home in wheels.
That is such a great idea. I spoke with a guy I know last week, he lives in Oshkosh WI. Told me that he paid 98-cents/gal for gas. Do the math for what a motorhome would cost for fuel, and it would be something to consider. Yeah, I know. I filled up last week at around $2.50/gal. so big difference across the country for gas/diesel.
What's so frustrating for me, is that anything nowadays is contingent on my stupid back. Drop the keys? Yeah, I can pick them up, very slowly. Ride a motorcycle? Yep. Takes some strategy to get on and off, but once seated I'm in heaven. And on and on.
Realistically, George's train trips spike my interest, a lot. My wife has been lukewarm on the subject, but I think in time a train trip will be at the top of our bucket list.
Stupid back. Stupid back. Stupid back. El Suxor.
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Education is extremely important.
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@Horace said in Vacation plans for this year - status?:
Planned on being part of the small hand-picked group of people going to the moon on SpaceX but that's not going to happen now.
I guess I should stop saving up for my seat on the Mars shuttle then, huh...
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@Rainman said in Vacation plans for this year - status?:
@Jolly said in Vacation plans for this year - status?:
@Rainman said in Vacation plans for this year - status?:
@Jolly said in Vacation plans for this year - status?:
@Rainman said in Vacation plans for this year - status?:
Safeway in June, by car.
Adventurous type, eh?
Damn straight. Likely roll down a window, maybe two.
Actually, we hoped to take some road trips, kinda like Mark, just head out in a general direction. Utah monuments would be fantastic, maybe head north towards Glacier Nat'l Park. Who knows, like everyone else we will need to find out how open open is.
Maybe it's the year to rent a RV? Some of the smaller ones are very easy to drive. If you're comfortable driving a larger one, a Class A can be a home in wheels.
That is such a great idea. I spoke with a guy I know last week, he lives in Oshkosh WI. Told me that he paid 98-cents/gal for gas. Do the math for what a motorhome would cost for fuel, and it would be something to consider. Yeah, I know. I filled up last week at around $2.50/gal. so big difference across the country for gas/diesel.
What's so frustrating for me, is that anything nowadays is contingent on my stupid back. Drop the keys? Yeah, I can pick them up, very slowly. Ride a motorcycle? Yep. Takes some strategy to get on and off, but once seated I'm in heaven. And on and on.
Realistically, George's train trips spike my interest, a lot. My wife has been lukewarm on the subject, but I think in time a train trip will be at the top of our bucket list.
Stupid back. Stupid back. Stupid back. El Suxor.
Mom and Dad had several motorhomes over the years. One class C and two Class A's. The nice thing about them, particularly the Class A's, is the ability to relax when you want to, in comfort.
They usually towed another vehicle behind them, except for the Class C. It had a motorcycle rack on the back, and they had a 250 Honda.
Some of the motorhomes now have a "toybox" in the back. You lose a little interior space, but you can haul bikes or a couple of motorcycles or other odds and ends in the "toybox".
Always remember, Operation Valkyrie was an act of sedition.
Warning: I post things that interest me. Read and comment at your own discretion. -
@Jolly said in Vacation plans for this year - status?:
Some of the motorhomes now have a "toybox" in the back. You lose a little interior space, but you can haul bikes or a couple of motorcycles or other odds and ends in the "toybox".
The only problem with those is that they're usually not available for rental.
And RV's are almost always cheaper to rent than to own. Sorta like the "Three Fs."
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@brenda said in Vacation plans for this year - status?:
Rainman, that's a beautiful bike. What a great motivator for getting your back functional again. Does your wife ride with you, or does she have her own bike?
Hi Brenda!
She no longer rides with me, I'm unsteady enough without her on the back, and she doesn't like me riding at all any longer. We used to enjoy taking trips. Actually, the bike handles a lot better with the added weight, allowing faster speeds on the freeway and on rough backroads. I remember your background regarding motorcycles, so I know you know what I mean in the above. -
@Rainman
She doesn't like for you to ride anymore, but do you ride anyway?
I've been both passenger and driver, and I much prefer to drive. My last one as a teen was on/off road, and I used it for both, but not with a passenger. Popping wheelies with a passenger isn't very polite.
My mom eventually quit riding with my dad. She said her back couldn't take it, but I always thought it was more due to her difficulty of getting on and off the bike, and that wearing a helmet would muss up her hair. I know dad was disappointed about her decision. He loved having a passenger, probably for the reasons you described.
Then he figured out he could give me rides to and from my undergrad college with the motorcycle. Any nice weekend that I came home, he'd take Friday afternoon off from work, ride the two hours to my school, pick me up, and we'd ride two hours together back to the house. He loved riding, and this gave him an excuse for a Friday afternoon ride, and a Sunday afternoon return trip, with a happy passenger. I didn't have a motorcycle by that time, having sold mine for college expenses, so it was fun to ride with him.
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