OT Road Trip Update

Sittin in the RV with AC on high in Moab Utah, over 100 degrees now, gonna have a cowboy dinner then cruise up the Colorado River tonight. Were about finished with Utahs Grand Circle: Zion, Bryce Canyon, Scenic HiWays 12 and 24,,,Capitol Reef Natl Park and 95 thru Glen Canyon to Natural Bridges then Canyonlands Natl Park then Dead Horse Point SP then Arches tomorrow whewwwwwwww Theres times we drove hours on hours with no towns or schools or homes or phone of course, not sure where the few people in the area go to work or school or the doctor?????????

If you like Mountains n Canyons n Valleys n Rock Formations n Arches n Bridges UTAH IS THE PLACE but the next time were takin it in May or October when its cooler n less yuppies.

Having done BOTH auto touring and RV touring WE LOVE THE FREEDOM OF THE RV LIFESTYLE THE BEST. Sure its three times the gas of auto touring butttttttttt I have my own clean comfy bed (know who slept in it the night before lol) n bathroom n shower n heat n AC, no different motel beds each night, no restaurtants three times a day, eat, snack n nap whenever we want wooooo hooooo

Headed to the Colorado Rockies next where its much cooler n watchin where the fires are???

It will be good to get "Back home again in Indiana" in a few weeks

God Bless yall n Happy 4th if I cant get back on line in the Mountains

John T Moab Utah

I'd sure like to do that someday. I'm thinking Air Stream. Then I could unhook for day trips and sight seeing,hook up again when I was ready to move on. If I had all the time in the world,it might take me a while to decide TO move on.

We are going to do some of that in Feb., it's 85 here in MN, that's hot enough for me. We just drive a car that gets 30mpg and stay in motels, haven't had a problem yet!

Yep that computes to the three times the gas I was talkin about (say 9 mpg v 27) grrrrrrrrrrrr lol but saving on motels and restaurants...Same as you never had any problems yet

Best wishes, see ya down the road

John T

Air Stream are great and classic trailers.......ya cant go to wrong with them in my opinion

John T

It's been record setting in Indiana, 105-106, so you really didn't go to a hotter place.

We did a month long trip thru the west two years ago. Had a great time, no schedule, just stopped to see what ever looked good. I know we must have passed within a few miles of a lot of you, but didn't have a way to contact. Some days I drove 50 miles, some 300, some not at all. We saw a whole lot of the country you can't see from an interstate and found some really friendly folks. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. It's the idea of travel without a schedule or destination that's important, not how you do it.

Airstreams are cantankerous to work on. Access to components is awful and they used a lot of parts that are Airstream only. Airstream parts- you only though Mother Deere charged a lot. I worked a a former Holiday Rambler Dealer we "don't work on Airstreams" any time during the season, couldn't afford to have the bays or mechanics tied up, we would consider it during the winter when we were starving. I like the way they look and the parts were expensive but fairly well built it's just a PITA to work on. Example most travel trailer to change a wheel or service the bearings you put a jack under the axle, do that with an Airstream and you can't get the tire out of the well. You have to jack the trailer up by the axle find a place to put a stand under it and then let the axle down to get the wheel/tire out. IIRC jacking on the frame was difficult because with the belly pan it was hard to determine where the frame was.

We took a trip out west when my first wife was first diagnosed with cancer. I used a friend's self contained pusher RV. That thing was fancier then most houses I ever lived in. It was not cheap on diesel fuel but we had our own beds and such. It was nice not having to pack suitcases every morning. Plus out west hotels can be a real pain to find in many areas and they are booked real early in the afternoons.

I liked that trip and thought the RV made it better. If I was going places with more towns and such I would not take a RV. You can drive a car and rent hotel rooms much cheaper then the cost of fuel/parking for an RV. Plus it gets both of you away from the daily house work/cooking thing. I always thought a vacation in a RV was not much of one for the wife if she still had to cook and clean.

I hear many complain about the beds and sheets. I have never had an issue with any of the hotels I have ever stayed at. Slept with out either too many time in my youth to complain too much.


PS Side story. My Great Aunt and Uncle would go on vacation with my family when I was a kid. They where skin flint type of people. You had to drive half the night to find the cheapest hotel/motel you could find. Then my Aunt would complain the whole next day about how terrible the place was. Made my Dad so mad he just started paying for the rooms himself and stopped where he wanted too. It was no fun going on vacation with five kids and four adults in a station wagon with no AC. The law would arrest you for child endangerment if you did that these days. I can remember riding for days on top of the suitcases in the back of the car.

Gets real tricky but we have been doing it for the last 5 years . Have always used the middle two weeks of October. Usually real good down around Phonix, Umah, Toombstone but you are taking chances after you get up above Flagstaff. Was at Crazyhorse three year ago when they had just had a 10 in snow two days before. That time of year never know what you get into. We have always just hit the road and some days drive 700 mi then the next maybe 100 all depends on what & where. When we first started I ask for things to see on here and got a lot of good pointers. I am sure there are some great folks in Kansas & Oklahoma but thos two states are just a long drive for very little to see.

We love to travel with our Airstream.I know we have money invested in the trailer but we feel we can travel cheaper in it. In 2010 a friend to a trip out to the Badlands and Mt Rushmore. We took the same trip not knowing they were about two days ahead of us. When we got home we were visiting and got to comparing notes. They stayed 13 nites in motels, same as we did in our camper. He complained how expensive motels were, he spent over 1300 dollars for motels. My wife is a meticulous record keeper and we spent 900 dollars on fuel and camp ground fees. I don"t know what his fuel cost but it wasn"t free. We get sick and tired of eating out all the time. We love to buy fresh fruit and vegetables along the way.
Your mileage may vary but we love our camper.
Hickory

Well John T. They are hardley sold around where they are made 6 mile from where I live and like was said dealer only items. I looked at some and that rounded style gives you no overhead storage room. I have an Insbrook myself. The Airstream has a shop where they are brought to for repairs in the factory.