Encourage Me Whilst Traveling
 

Hello ALL,
My DH and I will be starting our retirement traveling very soon. I would love it if you'd give me info about where you live---City and/or State--and tell me why we'd enjoy seeing your part of the country. We're starting out in Michigan, and as of this typing, have not as yet decided if we're going North first, South?, East?, or West? However, our hope is that we will encompass all of this wonderful God's country, as I like to call it. Please play travel agent for me, and help me learn about where YOU live. Like those of you who are already full time RVers, I'm downsising my sewing/quilting parafenalia, so hearing from you, too, would be helpful, and strongly encouraged. THANKS SOOO MUCH IN ADVANCE.
Martha

Head South It is Mardi Gras time till Wednesday,March 5th, Ash Wed. That is Lent,Spring Fiesta in Natchez, Miss, and Jazz Fes in New Orleans in late Apri. We also have Cajun Country, Tobasco , Gulf Coast, fishing, Quilt Shows, as well a Strawberry Festival...I live in the States Capitol, Baton Rouge just 75 milles from New Orleans...come see me ????

Well I'm in Wisconsin and I wouldn't recommend here! We're going to head to TN soon. I think KY and TN are just lovely this time of year. The trees are starting to bud and it's starting to get warm. And lots of good food along the way. Have fun on your travels!

I'm from Long Island NY. We have great beaches and you can stop in New York City b4 you come out this way. You could spend a lot of time in the city seeing museums, show, and various restaurants. I don't know if there is anyplace in the city to park camper

0March is Crane time here in the Platte River valley in Nebraska. Exit 305 on I80 is the Crane nature center and there are loads of viewing spots here as they migrate north in vast amounts.

OH, how I envy you. I'd be traveling south for March and around the Great Smokey Mountains/ Ashville, NC and Tennessee/Kentucky/Virginia for later Spring and early Summer. The Northeast is beautiful in the fall, as is New York City sites. There's the Padacah Quilt Show in April .... so much to see and do that's off the beaten path would be my choice if I could. Look forward to hearing about your travels. Are you going to blog your way around the country? It would be a wonderful read.

Best part of where I live is you can visit pretty much anytime and have some beautiful weather. There are no rv parks downtown but there are many beach rv parks starting on the very north county beaches all the way to the Mexican border and all the way through our "back country" of San Diego county. We have the San Diego safari park, in Escondido, the World famous San Diego zoo which is located in beautiful balboa park down town San Diego, and don't forget Sea World.

Well, I am in the most southern part of California - actually a few miles south of San Diego, 7 miles north of Mexico. Our average year round temperature is 70 degrees, very little rain, as San Diego is technically a desert. We have beautiful beaches, Balboa Park is next to downtown and fun to walk around and lots of museums. There is the Salk Institute and Scripps Aquarium, the World Famous San Diego Zoo (which is in Balboa Park), San Diego Safari Park is out in Escondido (about 20 minutes from down town). There is so much to see I can't name it all, if you run out of fabric or have the need to touch fabric - there is Eleanor Burns' Quilt in a Day store and Rosie's Cupboard quilt shop. (There are other shops but will save that for another time.)

Oh, I forgot the Hotel Del Coronado. It is really something to see and visit. And the beaches around it are beautiful. Walking the main drag in Coronado is fun.

We are roughly 2 hours south of Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm if you are into amusement parks - and from there is Los Angeles and all it has to offer. (I love the LA Art Museum with the La Brea Tar pit.) The drive up the coast frm San Diego to LA is fun. You have La Jolla, Del Mar, San Juan Capistrano, Mission Viejo, San Clemente. I haven't been to Venice Beach in many years but I know people that go up from time to time.

Okay - that's good for now - we have baseball starting in April....

I enjoy where we live, because there's not a whole lot of people in the entire county. We're 7 miles out of the biggest town in the county, the county seat, population of town is approximately 2,800, population of entire COUNTY is roughly 9,500. The best part is there's NO big box stores, just locally owned stores, but we have just about anything that we need.

I would head south as it will begin getting warm down here and the temps can be brutal. Come south while it's still enjoyable. Louisiana is my home state as well. New Orleans is a great place to visit. The World War II museum is outstanding. You will not find better food anywhere. There are some interesting places in Louisiana, St. Francisville is a small town outside of Baton Rouge where there are some cool antique shops. Natchitoches, LA is in central Louisiana and is celebrating its 300th birthday this year. It's a pretty little town with a river that goes down the middle. I'm a native Texan and can recommend Austin, Houston and San Antonio. Also, the Texas hill country, Fredricksburg area, is a fun place with vineyards and wineries. If you're into space travel touring NASA south of Houston is also fun. There's a town called Kemah down around Houston that has a fun boardwalk and some good restaurants. Austin is a music town and there are clubs and bars on 6th street that are fun if you enjoy that. Great Mexican food and BBQ in Austin. If you enjoy spending time at the beach you could head over to Gulf Shores, AL. Beautiful water and white sands. Hope this helps. We spend a lot of our time traveling. Enjoy it, but always like getting home to my kitties and my sewing room!

Seeing how it REALLY cold here and more snow on the way ... just wave and keep on going .... SOUTH!

When I retired (DH was already retired), we climbed into our RV and headed north from Oklahoma City. Went north all the way to SD and then headed west to the Oregon coast and then south just past Sacramento. Stayed with his brother for a week or so and then headed home. We were gone 9 weeks and I enjoyed every bit of it. I wish we could do it again but my health just won't allow it. I hope you see everything you ever dreamed of seeing. We never traveled over 200 miles in a day. Once we just went 35 miles and stopped. lol Have a wonderful endeavor in your travels.

I'm in Saginaw and even though some of Michigan is remarkable, I'm from Louisville KY and I think Kentucky really outshines Michigan by miles. You should plan to go to Louisville for derby week. Festivities start the week before the race with hot air balloon races, a huge parade through town that is reminiscent of Macys parades, thunder over Louisville that is one of the largest fireworks displays in the US - there is something going on every day. And there is so much else to do in the city, the wonderful Brown theater, casino's on the river if you are a gambler, wonderful shops - need I say more!

North Platte, Nebraska has the largest railroad repair yard in the world. There is a visitors observation tower where you can watch as long as you like. A few miles West is Ole's Big Game Lounge full of stuffed animals and the best steaks in Nebraska. A few miles East is Kearney with the Archway over the interstate. It is full of history and has a grand tour. There are numerous antique shops and fabric shops just off the interstate. Happy Travels!

DOGGRAMMA: You may want to rethink that part about heading to KY for a few more weeks. It is 14 here this morning, after a nasty ice storm sunday night. But they promise us spring will come. you are right though, we do have the "40 shades of green" springs.

Google "Americas most beautiful drives". There are several books like that. When we retired, we used one of those books like a diary. We went on most of the drives and added the date when we did it. Tells you something about every state. We found plenty of other places along the way. Have fun!

First of all, congrats to you both on your upcoming retirement! Its an exciting time. Being from northern Michigan, and previously a RV owner and traveler, I would encourage you to take the time to relax and enjoy this magnificent country we live in. Take the time to "smell the roses" along the way. One quick thought, if you want to select a area and live there for 5-6 months,consider "workamping" at one of the parks offering working opportunities. Often, this allows you a great way to become familiar with an area, venture out on your days off, and have an inside track on the local area from those you work with & for. Also it allows you to"exchange " your work for rent an benefits at the RV park. Its great on a budget. We did that for about 8-10 years until mu husband's health mandated we stop made many great friends long the way, and stretched the budget. Also there is a magazine called "Workamper News" you an subscribe to that shows you places looking for workers, which is a good way to get started. Good Luck& enjoy

There are 5 beautiful national parks in Utah, all worth a visit and, I am told, God lives in Yosemite!

Our NC Outer Banks is also a beautiful place to visit. There are also historical sites of interest there as well.

Congratulations and much enjoyment for you both. I live not far from you, in Lake Orion, MI. I would go to the Smoky Mts. , beautiful place. Have fun!

Florida is beautiful this time of year. Daytime temps in 70's & 80's. Don't wait too long though because it gets HOT! I am in SW Florida. We have beautiful beaches and Sanibel Island. Lots of areas to hike, etc.

No place like Maine in my experience. If you come in from the west you get to see the lovely mountains and then travel to she sea to visit lighthouses, quaint coastal villages, whale watching trips, LOBSTER. What's not to love about Maine????

I would wait until at least May to make it up here though unless you love cold, snow and ice :-)

Atlanta Georgia here and the 2014 Quilt Shop Hop starts the week of March 10-16. Also we have the North GA mountains, Dalonega and Helen, GA. The Georgia Aquarium, Stone Mountain Park (RV park available), The World of Coca-Cola and Lake Lanier (RV Park available). Drive 2 hours north and your in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, ie. Asheville (Biltmore House), Pigeon Forge/Seivierville, TN), and 3 hour south and your in Savannah, GA...Tybee Island, St. Simons, Cumberland Island and the beach. Lots to see and do...or just relax.

I live in Grants Pass, Oregon. We have the Rogue River and beautiful weather. It hardly rains in the summer but rains all or most of fall and spring and snows a little in the winter. Well worth the drive. We are an hours drive from the coast and an hours drive from Crater Lake. Come and see us. Lots of parks where you can park your RV and take your car to see the scenery.

I grew up in Windsor and fondly remember thinking all the rich people lived in St.Clair Shores. Starting out now in the winter? Then I guess you'll head south! Nothing I loved better than to get in the car and wander. Have a wonderful time.
MaryKatherine

Travel the West
 

When my husband and I retired, we loaded our trailer and headed West. So much to see and God's beauty abounds everywhere. Now we are slowing down some, so we find a nice place to make our headquarters for a while. For summer, the New Mexico mountains near Chama, NM are cool and beautiful. Here you can day travel into Colorado, see Santa Fe and Taos and ride a wonderful old steam train, the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic railroad from the mountains to the high desert. The Rio Chama RV park in Chama is a great place to stay a while.

During the winter - Nov. thru March, Arizona is lovely. The Desert Trails RV park near Tucson is great. You can walk the Saugaro desert, see Old Tuscon Movie studios, visit Tombstone, old mines, and the park is busy with activities to get involved with. In between times, Texas has many great sights and very nice state parks. Hope you have fun and enjoy your travels

I'm so very much enjoying all of your responses. THANK YOU.......THANK YOU!!!!!! Please keep them coming. If I hadn't been the one who initiated this request, I'd certainly be happy to just sit back and read all the posts. But since I am the one who initiated this, I'm truly grateful to all of you. I'm hoping this will be fun, as you all seem happy to share your cities/states with me. Looking forward to 'seeing' all of you when we get your way.
Martha

Traveling with Technology
 

I'd like to share a blog that I write about using technology while traveling and ways it can help you stay safe and connected. One page is also a list of links for crafting that I find valuable for new ideas as we go to different places. Wouldn't want to run out of projects! There are pages on taking your music with you, surfing safely, connecting to public wifi, finding free books and connecting with family back home. I used to teach teachers how to use technology and now I share with our new friends across the country.

Blog Home http://www.traveling-with-technology.blogspot.com/

Crafter page http://www.traveling-with-technology...after-net.html

My Missouri Ozarks are beautiful--trees, lakes, and nice people. :)

How fun it will be!!!

I want to share with you what we did a few years ago. We travelled for about 5 wks and as we did not know what to choose from all the beautiful places to go, we decided to play "the" game from a book my DH had read years ago.
It is from Jules Verne (in French) and was written in the 1900.

You can read about it here. (in english) http://www.julesverne.ca/vernebooks/jvbkwill.html

We decided to go see what the places he described in his book looked like ,100 years later. He made a game board with the States we wanted to go to and we sort of followed some of the "rules" that were written in that book but not all.
We did as described in the book and we rolled a dice. Of course we took more than a week to go from one place to another: it was a vacation after all. Some days we travelled 75 miles and some other days we travelled more. We we driving a car, not an RV but it would not make a difference I don't think. Just have to ajust the trip to your liking. This game allowed us to start and head down to places we might not have thought of going.

I was kind of disappointed that the dice had us start at Niagara Falls because I had been there before and I wanted to see places I had not been to.. Our board was made so that, if we rolled the dice to go there, we "jumped" right to another place that happened to be Chattanooga Tn. But having to cross the Canada-US border anyway, we decided to go anyway to Niagara Falls as I had not seen it from the US side.



I read in your profile that you like reading. May be you want to read this "adventure novel"
Here is the board my husband made and by which we played the game.

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being from the East side, we deliberately left off the states on our side of the continent as we have and had plenty of opportunities to visit them once and a while.
I experienced writing a blog (in french) during this trips and friends really "travelled" with us. my blog is awful with plenty of learning curves but nobody minded. It was so much fun.

When are you planning to leave and
How long are you planning to travel?
I can't wait to see what you will decide...

Lucky you! If leaving soon, I would travel south first. We live in Galveston TX which is an island off the coast and we have had low temps in the 30's and 40's for the past few days but to us that is frigid. It is supposed to warm up tomorrow to the 70's. I would go on line or call each state and some cities for their tourism catalog too . We have everything in Texas since it is such a large state. I think Kentucky (my home state) has a lot to see. There is the bourbon trail, a monastery that makes cheese, of course My Old Kentucky Home is in Bardstown, Louisville has a lot to offer also. Have a wonderful, safe trip.

I'm in Houston so we are close to NASA and Galveston - wonderful sightseeing places and great beaches. Also lots and lots of museums and cultural opportunities. We have a copy of the Magna Carta on display until Aug. 17 at the Museum of Natural History. It is awesome.

And of course, if you can, time your visit for the end of October/first of November for the International Quilt Festival.

April in Georgia is so flowering and beautiful! May and June are usually nice too but probably up North for July and August, then the fall here is gorgeous! I live just outside Atlanta, and recommend Stone Mountain Park for a nice place to stay. Be sure to hit Intown Quilters (Stone Mountain Park is at one end of 10-12 mile long Stone Mountain Freeway, aka Hwy 78, and Intown Quilters is at the other end less than a mile off the freeway!) for a brights and batiks fix, and then head for Jekyll Island on the Georgia Coast, about a 6 hour drive from Atlanta. The campground there is wonderful and so friendly! Take a historic tour of the island and learn about it, walk on the quiet beaches, eat some great Georgia shrimp and enjoy relaxing before you go to Florida....about an hour south of Jekyll. PM me with questions; I've lived in the Atlanta area all my life and gone to Jekyll for many, many vacations so I have a lot more I can tell you!

With all the freezing weather you are having at the moment I'd like to suggest Australia, especially Queensland which is the state I live in. I guess it might be a tad difficult to drive your RV . I hope the weather improves greatly for you (as well as the rest of your country) and that you have a wonderful time no matter where you venture.
Stay happy & safe.

I live in FL six months and KY 6 months. Just waiting for i t to warm up. LOve spring and Fall in KY . born there.I think I have the best of both worlds. hehe cmaras1234

[QUOTE=mhollifiel;6608302]There are 5 beautiful national parks in Utah, all worth a visit and, I am told, God lives in Yosemite!

That happens to be true about Yosemite. We go at least twice a year - some years more. When we drove thru the tunnel leading toward Yosemite Valley, it took my breath away and does it every time! Then when you drive up to Glacier Point - there is a very tight turn but you would go slow anyway because the view is absolutely spectacular! For my husband and I - it is heaven on earth.

Actually, everything starts two weeks before Derby, it's called Derby Festival. Thunder is April 12 and it IS the biggest fireworks show in the country that is not the 4th of July. Thunder Over Louisville is a huge air show that kicks off Derby. I'm pretty sure I heard the Blue Angels will be here this year. If you are thinking about coming to Louisville for this call the Galt House NOW to see if there are any rooms left. That is the best view. The Indiana side of the river always looks less crowded. There is a restaurant called Buckhead's that sits right on the Ohio that is great to watch Thunder from. There is a Tumbleweed Restaurant on the KY side that is also really great to watch it from. Free seats are on the riverfront wherever you can find one. But Kentucky is a beautiful state this time of year. During mid-April for just about two weeks we have all these flowering dog weed trees in bloom.

Oh, do come to Charleston, South Carolina! There's so much history here. Fort Sumter where the "shot fired was heard around the world", harbor boat rides, beautiful, grand plantations, aquarium, the Joe ball park that hosts the River Dogs!, The Citadel, beautiful beaches for ski doos, Art galleries, the USS Yorktown Air Craft Carrier, the Hunley, a submarine from the Civil war, LQS, wonderful people, and even though it is chilly now, around 40 degrees and rainy, the weather is supposed to turn warm and sunny again. That's what's so great about living here; the weather. We have the 4 seasons but they are usually short lived and then we have that wonderful sun again. Spring is my very best time of the year as we have BEAUTIFUL flowers blooming everywhere you go. And don't forget our old, huge live oak trees hanging with Spanish Moss! There are great restaurants, cafes, and other wonderful places to eat, bakeries, shopping, Come, you won't be disappointed...:D

I was born and raised in South Dakota. The beautiful Black Hills are located in the western part of the state. Mount Rushmore is a definite must see. The Badlands (located in the central part of the state) are very unique..quite, nice visitor's center. SD is also home to the world's only Corn Palace, located in Mitchell, SD. DeSmet, SD is one of the towns that Laura Ingalls Wilder lived in and wrote her famous books about. Did you ever hear of Little House on the Prairie, Little House in the Big Woods? Have a wonderful, safe, and blessed time traveling together. Enjoy each other every day. By the way, we also have some nice quilt shops here. Java Hut Quilts and More in Huron is new and fun. Other nice ones in Sioux Falls, Chamberlain, Winner, Dell Rapids, Watertown, Rapid City. These are several miles from each other (since our state is very rural) but well worth the trip, just in case you "need" a fabric-fix. (Tee Hee)