RV Vacations For Dummies®, 6th Edition
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Published simultaneously in Canada
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2019954069
ISBN: 978-1-119-56017-3
ISBN (ePDF): 978-1-119-56019-7; ISBN (ePub): 978-1-119-56018-0
Congratulations! After looking at all those recreation vehicles (RVs) rolling down the highway and wondering what driving one would be like, you decided it is time to find out. You’re probably like us:
Whether you want to travel on vacation for a few weeks, catch a long weekend in the mountains, enjoy your favorite fishing hole, or get on the road full time to fulfill a lifelong dream, you can do no better than to experience it all in an RV. When you travel by RV, you can be close to the ones you love or find a place full of peace and quiet you can have to yourself. RVs provide a wealth of self-sufficiency and control over your life on the road. That is just the beginning of the list of benefits traveling by RV will give you.
On the road, we meet families with children, independent young couples who bring their offices along and work on the road, pet owners who don’t want to leave their animals behind, retirees who’ve been planning for years to discover America gradually, fussy diners who don’t want to down another fast-food meal, sleepers who don’t like to wonder who slept in their bed the night before, and those with disabilities or those with dietary restrictions who know that their specialized adjustments in the RV enable them to travel safely and securely, and on their own terms.
In the first chapters of this book, we tell you just about everything you ever wanted or needed to know about RVing, tempered by our own experiences with tents, vans, trailers, Class C, and class A motor homes, with over eight years of that full-time living in one for travel, work, and play.
Then, we give you an insider’s look at some all-time favorite preplanned route suggestions, particularly suited for RVs, in what we think is the most diverse, beautiful, and exciting travel venue in the world — the North American Continent, from Florida across parts of Canada to Alaska. And, finally, we offer some practical tips that make all this travel easier on the mind and budget.
Throughout the book’s suggested travel routes — 16 in total — we give you the information you need to find your way and point out popular highlights. We share some favorite campground locations with you, and because, in most cases, you’re carrying your own kitchen, we steer you to places where you can pick up local produce, regional farm to table foods, or one-of-a-kind takeout meals to pick up and eat later.
There are a few ways to use RV Vacations For Dummies as a reference guide. You can start at the first page and read all the way through. If you’re a more experienced RVer, you can flip to a favorite travel route, and start checking out the recommended destinations and campgrounds. You can move from chapter to chapter, picking and choosing information that interests you most.
You won’t find much in this book about repairing a malfunctioning RV. We learned to leave that to the experts. That said, through the years, we’ve acquired a few handy preventive maintenance routines, which we pass on to help you and your RV stay in shape and cut down on repair bills.
Please be advised that travel information is subject to change at any time — this is especially true of prices. And with an RV, any noticeable change in the cost of gas will make an equally noticeable difference in your budget — your home on wheels has a particularly large appetite for petroleum! We, therefore, suggest that you write or call ahead for confirmation when making your travel plans. The authors, editors, and publisher can’t be held responsible for the experiences of readers while traveling.
Your safety is important to us, so we encourage you to stay alert and be aware of your ever-changing surroundings. Keep a close eye on cameras, smartphones, purses, and wallets, all favorite targets of thieves and pickpockets. And always lock your vehicle in or out of campgrounds.
To keep this book from being longer than the Great Expectations tome, we use a number of abbreviations in the driving chapters.
Campground amenities are abbreviated as follows:
Here are the abbreviations for credit cards:
And we use the following abbreviations for road names:
We use some general pricing information to help you as you decide where to camp. The following system of dollar signs is meant to be a guideline only and denotes the range of costs for one night in a campground.
|
Cost |
Campground |
|
$ |
$10 or less |
|
$$ |
$11 to $20 |
|
$$$ |
$21 to $30 |
|
$$$$ |
$31 to $40 |
|
$$$$$ |
$41 or more |
As we wrote this book, we made some assumptions about you and your needs as an RVer. Here’s what we think might be true about you:
If you fit any of these criteria, RV Vacations For Dummies, 6th Edition, gives you the information you’re seeking!
Although divided into six parts, the book consists of three major sections. Parts 1 and 2 provide the how-to info that you need to get started before you hit the road. Parts 3, 4, and 5 include 16 wonderful trip suggestions, each in a different area of the United States and Canada. And, finally, Part 6 gives you some interesting and out of the way attractions for RVers who want to set up to explore some locations beyond the planned trips in this book and some ten of the bring-along items you will want to have with you.
What is an RV and what is RVing? You find out in this part, and you see why we think it’s the greatest thing since the invention of the wheel. We tell you where to consider traveling and when, give you helpful tips, fill you in on some best features of RVing, and debunk some RV myths.
Here you discover the how to budget for a trip. This part includes tips for getting started — what to plan for, how to prepare, and what you need to know about choosing and using campgrounds, accommodating special needs, and more.
In Chapters 8 through 12, we explore parts of the eastern United States by RV. The driving routes in each chapter offer a variety of scenery and activities, and includes scenic roadways, sightseeing attraction, or national parks. Two routes — The Coast of Maine: Lobster Land and The Gulf Coast: Tallahassee to New Orleans — follow along the sea. The Blue Ridge Mountains: Skyline Drive and Blue Ridge Parkway brings together two great American roadways with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park — all without the hassle of commercial traffic. Western New York: Cooperstown to Niagara Falls lets you see a museum for baseball greats and witness the grandeur of Niagara Falls. The Natchez Trace: Natchez to Nashville, takes you through the old and new South, past the birthplaces of such icons as Elvis, and other famous folks from the south. And, of course, we share popular campgrounds and cafes to find along the way.
Chapters 13 through 17 take you through the middle of North America with a choice of five itineraries, at least one of which should be within a reasonable driving time from a Midwestern home base. Texas Hill Country: Bluebonnets and Barbecue tells you about natural wildflower shows and where to find the best barbecue. The Heart of Ohio: A Circle around Circleville carries you on a loop from aviation history to rock-’n’-roll, with a pause in the world’s largest Amish community. Northern Minnesota: Paul Bunyan Country visits a classic American icon that delights kids of all ages, takes you to the start of the great Mississippi River, and leads you to North America’s largest shopping mall. Lake Superior Circle Tour takes you around the largest surface area of fresh water in the Western Hemisphere and across the border to Canada and back. The Ozarks and Branson: Hot Springs to Springfield lets you in on how to get good deals in an area that is a very popular travel destination for music lovers from North America and from all over the world.
In Chapters 18 through 23, we follow the trail of American icons through some of the world’s most incredible scenery. Montana and Wyoming: Tracking Buffalo Bill follows the famous showman through Yellowstone National Park and to the town of Cody, Wyoming, which is named for him. New Mexico: Billy the Kid Meets E.T. lets you visit a notorious real-life cowboy and the alien visitor from the film E.T. (whose space-alien relatives are said to have dropped in on Roswell, New Mexico). The Oregon Coast: California to Washington combines scenery with seafood, taking you beachcombing, kite-flying, and wine-tasting, while California’s Central Coast: Malibu to Monterey explores what some people think is the most beautiful place on earth. Route 66: OK to L.A. follows the remnants of the famous road and digs out some little-known and big-name landmarks along the way. ALCAN Trip: Seattle to Fairbanks takes you through some of the most magnificent scenery in Western Canada and into Anchorage, Alaska as a stayover location for some unforgettable day trips.
The Part of Tens highlights campgrounds and destinations beyond the itineraries in this book. We know that after RVers get started, they soon want to travel more and more and discover new destination and attractions on their own. This part includes our choices for one of ten best out of the way, hard to find, or often overlooked destinations in every U.S. state and Canadian province. This part ends with the listing of Ten Greatest Travel Gadgets to have along on any trip to improve safety, keeping in touch, and enjoying the stays wherever they may be.
Here find facts you need to know to complete the last details for your RV vacation, some toll-free telephone numbers and a few websites to explore. We include a list of common RV and campground terms to help with budget planning and choosing a campground.
In the margins of this book are helpful icons. They are intended to focus attention to certain kinds of information. Here’s what the icons mean:
This icon pegs the bargains and money-saving tips for your RV vacation, from where to purchase groceries to campgrounds that represent a good value.
This icon flags when something is of interest to the younger travelers.
This icon highlights information worth remembering.
For hints, tips, or insider advice to make your trip run smoother, look for this icon. Although the point of a travel guide is to serve as one gigantic tip, this icon singles out nuggets of information that may be new to you.
Accompanying this icon are special warnings for RVers, whether you face a low bridge ahead or a difficult parking situation.
There is never enough room to cover everything in a book like this. To help fill in the whole picture we render up some more tips for readying the RV for travel. For each region and outdoor environment there are some suggested precautions to follow and details to pay particular attention to. Finally, some low-tech hacks and routine items worth making into pre-travel and travel habits. To access the Cheat Sheet for this book, visit www.dummies.com, enter RV Vacations For Dummies Cheat Sheet in the Search box on the website, and click the link that appears in the search results.
It’s time to enjoy the freedom of the open road! How you use this guide is up to you. You can start from the beginning and read straight through, or dip into the middle and extract information of interest. Think of us as an interested, experienced guide full of helpful suggestions. The information can help you with choices for stocking up with your favorite supplies and deciding when and where to travel. With your RV as home and all the highways of North America on the other side of the windshield, you can feel like the king or queen of the road.
Part 1
IN THIS PART …
Getting to know the many benefits of vacationing by RV
Choosing the perfect places to visit
Discovering the best season to visit each region