Updates and Observations From The Road

September 19, 2009

First, I need to add more information from our Boston area stay. I was brain dead when I wrote that post and neglected to include a picture of Lee (shown here with his proud mother). My apologies Lee. Thanks again for all your help.

We are currently at the Country Acres Campground in Ravenna, OH for a brief, two night, stay. Yesterday we made a very long drive here from another two night stay at a state park in eastern PA. I will post more about these stops next week. Right now we just need to relax and recover from this week's hectic schedule. These short stays and long drives are wearing us down. Thankfully, we will be in the South Bend, IN area for a full week starting tomorrow.

Observations From The Road

- A great stretch of Interstate driving is on I-84 through CT. The surface is perfectly smooth and there are very few billboards.

- Some of the worst stretches of Interstate driving are through NY and PA. Very rough surfaces filled with deep potholes, major construction delays, endless billboards and confusing interchanges.

- Cigarette prices in NY and MA have become insane - $8 per pack and projected to go higher.

- Drivers in the greater Boston area are the worst; aggressive, unyielding and reckless to the point of madness.

- Flying J provides the best truck stops anywhere. Easy to access, stocked with unusual supplies, good food, clean and friendly.

- The most absurd place to buy beer is PA. Major amounts can only be bought at case distributors, which are not easy to locate. Smaller purchases can be made at liquor stores or restaurants, but usually for no more than 96 ozs. at a time.

- WalMart is extremely accommodating to RVers. Most locations allow overnight boondocking and supplies unique for RVs are always in stock.

- GPS systems are not designed to provide the best routes for large vehicles. More than once, directions we obtained from Internet GPS sites would have been difficult to maneuver in a 32 ft. motor home.

- Driving along any portion of I-95 is always crowded, rushed and lined with an absurd amount of billboards.

- The number of recently closed American car dealerships in all areas we have passed through is haunting.

- Love bugs are extremely hard to clean off of windshields.

- Gasmarts in rural areas of SC advertise very unusual food choices like buttmeat, souse and liver pudding.

- Local pronunciations of city names in MA are much different than how they are spelled; i.e. Worcester is Woo-ster, Quincy is Quin-zy and Peabody is Pea-baa-dee.

- The number and size of insects and spiders in coastal regions of GA is like something out of a horror movie.

- Too many campers are careless with their trash.

- Too many campers have no idea how to properly start a campfire - dousing the wood with copious amounts of lighter fluid is not the answer.

- The concept of living and traveling full-time in a motor home is confusing to many people.

- Regardless of the provider, cellphone connections in most rural mountain locations are difficult to find.

- People who drive luxury vehicles like to exceed the speed-limit.

- If you can't find the South Of The Border location, you haven't been paying attention to very large, very gaudy billboards for at least 300 miles.

copywrite 2009 by Lane A Geyer