Niagara Falls and Photo Story 3

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You can’t visit Niagara Falls without taking lots of pictures! It is just so magnificent. We were just there and did just that! So, how best to show all those photos? I choose Photo Story 3. It’s a free program from Microsoft and I’ve written about it in this previous article. After making the movie, I then uploaded it to Google Video so it can be shared with the world. You can do it too! This video took me less than 15 minutes.

Chris Guld
www.GeeksonTour.com

Shenandoah Valley is for RVers

Picture perfect scenery abounds in the mountains and rolling hills of Virginia. The peace and serenity that mother nature provides is at its best in the Shenandoah Valley along the popular Skyline Drive and Blue Ridge Parkway. Reaching just over 100 miles, Skyline Drive provides scenic vistas around every bend, and there are a multitude of stops along the way to stretch road-weary legs.

The area has something unique to offer the million plus visitors to the Shenandoah National Park, from flowery meadows begging to be roamed in spring to photography opportunities worthy of the greatest of artists to regional foods and festivals that leave you wanting more.

If after sight-seeing in the area, you work up a thirst for fruits of the vine there are some unique vineyards at which you may stop and refresh yourself. Barboursville Vineyards, established in 1976 by Gianni And Silvana Zonin, includes on its estate the mansion Jefferson created for Governor James Barbour. At the heart of the mansion is an octagonal great room that inspired “Octagon“, one of the winery’s premier red wines. An additional vineyard in this unique Monticello Viticultural area includes Horton Vineyards which produces Viognier, Marsanne, Mourvedre, Cabernet Franc and Syrah grape varieties.

Additionally, you won’t want to miss Thomas Jefferson’s 5,000-acre mountain top home and plantation, Monticello, located in Albemarle County. Visitors may explore Jefferson’s architectural masterpiece and discover his unique vision through the many inventions he included within the design of his home. Tours are scheduled every 5 minutes throughout operating hours and last about 30 minutes each. There are even specialized tours for families with children, plus a Mountaintop Hands-on Activity Center. From there guests may stroll about the grounds at their leisure, visiting the vegetable gardens, orchards and grove, or take the outdoor tour which lasts about 45 minutes.

President James Madison’s home, Montpelier, is nearby in Orange, Virginia. Raised at Montpelier, James Madison returned to live there multiple times during his life. The estate features the mansion plus archaeological sites, exhibits, other historic buildings, gardens, a visitor’s center, a freedman’s cabin, and more.

But the history tour doesn’t stop there, as the Shenandoah Valley is teeming with landmarks. Civil War buffs will want to be sure to stop in at the Civil War Museum at the Exchange Hotel located in Gordonsville, VA while in the area. Per a quote from their website:

“The Exchange Hotel became the Gordonsville Receiving Hospital which provided care for 70,000 soldiers, both Confederate and Union. In the reconstruction period, this hospital served the newly freed slaves as a Freedman’s Bureau Hospital. As the United States healed and the railroads boomed, this graceful building returned to its role of hotel. Now fully restored, the hotel is a museum dedicated to the Civil War era.”

If you haven’t figured it out yet, the area has far too many sites, scenes, and destinations to experience within a single day, so you’ll want a basecamp to venture from by day and return to each night. A mere 15-20 minutes from the two vineyards mentioned above is Shenandoah Crossing, an RV park and resort that provides just what weary RV travelers need, plus a lot of what just feels good — like an indoor/outdoor pool, hot tub, and sauna.

When you go, plan to spend at least a full day or two at Shenandoah Crossing, playing golf on the 18 hole course, or riding horseback, or just relaxing with family or friends.

Unlike any other RV park in the area, there are 3 levels of amenities at Shenandoah Crossing’s new RV facilities. All sites offer attractive landscaping, a gas barbecue, a patio with Adirondack style furniture, and small grassy yards. Full hook ups, cable TV as well as wi-fi internet are standard at each site. The Elite pull-through sites that can accommodate large RV’s, feature larger patios, additional Adirondack furniture and larger summer kitchens with cabinets, countertops and a stainless steel sink. There are also 6 pull-through “Presidential” spaces with large stained concrete patios. These come with deluxe furnishings and large summer kitchens that include built-in, stainless steel gas barbecues. They even include a fire pit, and each campsite is surrounded by a wall that offers both seating and privacy, plus wooden arbors that surround private hot tubs that seat up to 6 adults.

It’s amazing what they’ve created here, as the attention to detail is superb. Take the wood trellises and light fixtures: they’ve created these out of local red-heart cedar. They’ve also landscaped the entire resort with indigenous crabapple, oak, maple and evergreen trees. The result is an historical authenticity that permeates throughout the entire area.

For the youngest visitors (or even those young at heart), pony rides and hay rides are available. Additional amenities and activities include a playground, tennis court, basketball court, horseshoe pits, volleyball, baseball, miniature golf, a game room, a fitness center, horse-drawn carriage rides, a 60-acre lake with boats available, an on-site restaurant and bar, and even a petting zoo!

It’s beyond impressive and a vacation spot all on its own. Having visited the Shenandoah Valley many times, I always urge my friends to visit the area. I’ve yet to find anywhere that provides such a deep sense of connection to our early American heritage while simultaneously exceeding all of my vacation wants and needs. Shenandoah Crossing is now on my “must-stay” list, and I encourage you to add it to yours.

With very little effort online-savvy RVers can often find Shenandoah Crossing get-away packages at drastically discounted rates. Or you can learn more about Shenandoah Crossing by calling 866-211-5131.

RV Cooking Show - Black Hills & Trailblazer Chicken

It seems the beautiful Black Hills sum up our nation pretty well. Bison roamed the countryside and provided for the Native Americans, a good chunk of wild west and gold rush history took place in Deadwood and the surrounding area, Gutzon Borglum and his nearly 400 man crew managed the impossible and carved four significant figures into a granite mountain during some of the toughest years in America - the depression, and today the area is an outdoor mecca providing a wide variety of experiences for the RVer (even geocaching!!). Come with me as I explore just a few of the highlights of this sensational area. It is, shall we say, just a taste of what fun can be had there.

I’m also excited to introduce you to a rather unique dish - a recipe I got at a Trailmanor rally when I first hit the road - Trailblazer Chicken. It has 4 ingredients and cooks up to perfection in about 30 minutes. I’ve also tossed in a “RV Kitchen Tip” on handling chicken once you get it home from the grocery. Watch the video below:

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North to Alaska…BaBa Canyon

You won’t nfind this one on any map. In fact, we just sort of blundered into it late one afternoon while we were driving around looking for Stone sheep and caribou to photograph.

A few miles past the summit of the Rockies at the bottom of a long cliff we spotted a road of sorts–two-lane rustic trail might be a better description–leading away from the Alaska Highway. We turned in and were able to drive only a couple of hundred yards at most before we had to stop and turn the car around.

Just as we turned onto this trail, on a slab of rock someone had hand-painted “BaBa Canyon.” Whether that is the real name of this place or not, I don’t know. At any rate, after we drove as far as we could, we turned the car around, parked it and got out to walk a little. There was a foot trail of sorts leading farther away from the highway upstream along a small creek of gin-clear water.

I’d only gone a short distance before I abruptly turned around and headed back to the car for my photography gear. The view ahead of us was stunning, as this picture tries to show. We spent most of the next hour working our cameras trying to make just the right picture. Only then did we head back to the car for a drive back to our motorhome.

Contact Ron at rdcomm@gci.net for information on ordering his book, Guide to the Alaska Highway.

Did you see the video clip about the rescued lion?

Okay, forgive me, as this is not a story about RVing, or even RVing with pets. But it is a story that speaks to the heart, and my experience has been that RVers, being good-hearted people themselves, appreciate stories that do. And since the good folks at RV.net were nice enough (or crazy enough) to give me the ability to post here, I’m going to share this video clip with you just in case you haven’t seen it elsewhere. It’s the story about a rescued lion named Christian.

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Travel Courtesy & Comfort – Part 1 – Bernice’s Tips

You may be on vacation, but don’t leave your manners at home. When you extend these simple courtesies to other travelers, they’ll respond in kind. In addition, you’ll find life on the road and in campgrounds is more comfortable and enjoyable when you use these tips.

Travel Courtesy

• Don’t run your generator (or vehicle engine itself) and appliances all night long or early in the morning. Consider that in “mixed-use” campgrounds, you are sharing the area with tent campers. Most people who use campgrounds are there to enjoy some peace and quiet and to commune with nature. Noisy generators and loud televisions ruin the experience.  - David Iier, Cyberwest, Denver, CO
• Slow down when driving on dirt campground roads so you don’t raise too much dust for campers or for any vehicles following you. Also, although the children in your group may love shuffling in the dirt, stirring up big clouds of dust, remind them to do that far away from where people are camping. - Louie & Kiyo Shiroma, Culver City, IA
  
• Have a friendly attitude toward other drivers, whatever their vehicles. Give them the benefit of the doubt when it comes to their motives. Road rage/revenge leads to tragedy.
• Mind your manners wherever you roam. People everywhere appreciate a “please” and “thank you.”
• Be sure to ask if guest would like to see the inside of your vehicle. We all like to see how other people camp. It gives us new ideas for our own RVs.
• Never dump except at a dump station or a sewer connection at a campsite.
• Honor the campground’s checkout time. Someone may be waiting for your campsite.
• Be aware that using the auxiliary generator at rest stops stirs up dust outside the RV. Other travelers who are trying to eat their lunches may not appreciate it.
• When you’re traveling in a caravan, stay at least a quarter of a mile behind the RV in front of you. It gives the leader room to maneuver in case of stopped traffic or unexpected road conditions, and it gives people passing you a chance to get in and out of your lane. More space between the RVs also gives you a broader view of the countryside.
• Try to go with the flow of traffic, unless it’s over the speed limit.
• When three or more vehicles are backed up behind you and road conditions permit, pull onto the shoulder to let traffic pass.
• Blink your headlights when a trucker passes you to let the driver know that it’s safe to pull back into the lane. At night, flash your high beams for the same purpose. When the driver gives you a double wink with the lights, it means “thank you.”
• When you park on the street, make sure you aren’t blocking anyone’s way.
• When you’re staying with friends, use your calling card when you make calls on their phone.

Next week in Part 2, I’ll list some tips to help you to increase your comfort level while traveling in your RV.

A Better Bottle

You cannot fault its simplistic name as gimmickry; the CamelBak® Better Bottle really looks like it is a better bottle. Made from a new plastic called Eastman Tritan™, these bottles are safe for cold or hot liquids, they hold up just fine in the dishwasher and they are very impact resistant. The Better Bottles are BPA-free, so whichever side of that argument you fall on, you will not have to worry about it with these.

The advantages of the Better Bottle don’t end with its construction. They are available in 17, 25 and 34 ounce sizes, with four different types of lids. The 90-degree twist top lid free-flows when open, just like a traditional sports bottle (i.e. you can squeeze the bottle for a refreshing shower!). The “money lids” in my opinion, though, are the two bite valve lids. I have been using bite valves on hydration packs for years and they are very convenient, because you can take a drink with one hand and they do not leak when you are not drinking from them. As you can see in the picture below, the soft rubber valve opens when it is squeezed – which you can easily do with your fingers or your teeth.

Tough construction, a cool loop for clipping onto a carabiner and a bite valve for spill-proof drinking; The Better Bottle really is a better bottle.

Happy camping!

North to Alaska…northern British Columbia

Without fail, one 50-mile stretch of the Alaska Highway has produced more animal sightings than all of the rest of the road combined in our 36 trips up and down the road…and that’s saying quite a lot.

About 400 miles from where the road begins in Dawson Creek, BC, it crosses the Rocky Mountains. Starting just before you get to the summit and extending down the other side toward Muncho Lake, we’ve seen countless caribou and Stone sheep over the years, along with many black bears, a grizzly bear that surprised me one evening when I was out for a walk, and a host of smaller critters. This trip was no exception. Really the only large northern animal we’ve never seen along here is a moose. We see those often at lower elevations.

This young ram, that I photographed without ever leaving my seat behind the steering wheel, had his nose buried in the gravel alongside the road licking up salts and other minerals. This part of the road is actually just a couple of miles north of the summit alongside an exposed cliff that is often literally alive with Stone sheep. Caribou are often see near the top of the cliff and the bottom.

A Stone sheep is similar to a western bighorm in coloration but not nearly as heavyset. It’s body is more delicate like the all-white Dall sheep found in Yukon and Alaska mountain ranges.

Order a copy of Ron’s book, A Guide to the Alaska Highway, by contacting him at rdcomm@gci.net.

Can’t Remember?

By Lynn Difley

As I started to write this blog I realized I was thirsty, so I got up to get a glass of water. By the sink, I noticed that the plant needed water and was looking a little peaked, so I went under the sink and got the Schultz’s. Well, since I was giving the plant some fertilizer, maybe the other ones needed some, so I filled the plastic jug and mixed up a gallon batch to make my way around to give a shot to the rest of the plants. Over by the window, I noticed the bird feeder was nearly empty. Better fill it before I get a crowd of enraged finches on my hands. Once the bird feeder was filled I saw that the weeds were choking out the camellia plant and grabbed the trowel to take care of those pesky weeds. Well, they weren’t the only ones I found and next thing I knew it was lunchtime and I had a big pile of weeds to dump in the compost heap, so I did that and headed back inside. There was my computer patiently waiting and so I sat down to get to work and realized now I was really thirsty! Do I dare get up for a glass of water?

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North to Alaska…Prince George, British Columbia

On our last day before intercepting the Alaska Highway at Dawson Creek, the dog, as usual, forced me into a morning walk around the campground. Wildflowers were blooming on the edge of the property and I allowed the dog to do her thing while I photographed many of the usual suspects like Indian paintbrush. For me, there is no more pleasant way to spent a morning than being outdoors with a camera in hand.

Then I came to this beautiful flower which I did not recognized and still can’t identify. If anybody out there has an idea of what it might be, please post a comment to the blog. I love the picture, but I would like to be able to identify the flower.

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