D.C.

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our E-mail Digest or RSS Feed. We will then send you the stories that are posted each day in an e-mail digest. We use a service called Feedburner for delivery of these emails. You will receive an e-mail from Feedburner after you subscribe and you must click on that email to activate your subscription. Thanks for visiting and enjoy all the information! RV.Net Blog AdminBy Barry Zander, Edited by Monique Zander, the Never-Bored RVers Washington, D.C. – I would call it the “phoniest” town we’ve seen.  Walking on the streets and through museums, around monuments and restaurants and on the Metrorail subway system, seems like everyone has a cellphone up to his or her ear, although they may be listening to music on an I-pod.  What did you think when I called Washington, D.C., the “phoniest” town? In the Museum of African Art With one exception, I would describe what we’ve experienced a notable, memorable stop along our route.  It’s been years since we both visited the nation’s capital.  We carried our impressions back with us and supplemented that with new appreciation of the grandeur of it all. We feel like we did it right. The first trip into the city (except for following our GPS’s routing of us through the plate of spaghetti they call freeways and roads) had us boarding a Gray Lines Tours bus for “DC at Night.”  We knew we would have a chance to revisit the must-see sights in the daytime; so, seeing... Read more

IN THE SHADOWS OF SHENANDOAH

By Barry Zander, Edited by Monique Zander, the Never-Bored RVers A continuing saga, which I call “Micro-Blogs” … In the uplands, the trees were just starting to come into their spring greenery.  In the valleys, the bright yellow forsythia, white and pink shrubbery and wildflower blossoms and lush green everywhere kept us enchanted for mile after mile (much akin to fireweed in the Yukon Territory). Looking out from Skyline Parkway at the Blue Ridge Mountains So Babcock, West Virginia, was a pleasant enough state park, but it wasn’t in its glory when we visited in mid-April.  Nor was Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park, one of the most visited national parks in America.  The rhododendron bushes were leafy but have not yet bloomed, so we missed out on their rich hues, but the Shenandoah Valley is a place of beauty. Once we arrived at Shenandoah River State Park, Virginia, we were surrounded by healthy forests that we always enjoy, sprinkled with colorful trees, butterflies and the beautiful Shenandoah River. This valley is a tourist’s paradise, with its abundant caverns open to the public.  We picked the most renown, Luray Caverns in Luray, for a trek underground.  We seem to gravitate toward caves in our travels, having gone underground in at least a dozen and maybe closer to two dozen — that makes us expert cavern tourists. Far beneath the surface of the Earth is an enchanting lake, seen in Luray Caverns in Virginia A vintage Mercedes-Benz in Luray's... Read more

THE PLIGHT OF A MILLION BATS

By Barry Zander, Edited by Monique Zander, the Never-Bored RVers Another spontaneous detour on our 6-month journey across America took us to Russell Cave National Monument just over the state line from Chattanooga outside of Bridgeport, Alabama. The beginning of seven miles of Russell Cave The “why” to visit there: it’s “an archaeological site with one of the most complete records of prehistoric cultures in the Southeast. Thousands of years ago a portion of Russell Cave’s entrance collapsed, creating a shelter that, for more than 10,000 years, was home to prehistoric peoples. Today it provides clues to the daily lifeways of early North American inhabitants dating from 10,000 B.C. to 1650 A.D,” to quote the National Park service handout. The “caution” of visiting this remote park is the RV parking is very limited.  There are two spaces for RVs and buses, but I gave up maneuvering into them with our 50-foot truck and trailer length, parking instead across car spaces.  Luckily, since only two other visitors showed up while we were on site, there was plenty of room for us.  Smaller rigs, 5th wheels and motorhomes probably have less trouble than our 28-foot TT. And at this point, I’ll mention that when Ranger Antoine Fletcher was listing the numerous species of animals in the park, he said they have about everything but Bigfoot.  I corrected him immediately – our trailer is a Bigfoot.  We were also impressed to hear there are more than 700 varieties of... Read more

REFLECTIONS FROM THE ROAD

By Barry Zander, Edited by Monique Zander, the Never-Bored RVers We’ve been traveling cross-country for two weeks now on our way to the Canadian Maritimes from California.  I’ll let you know more about the travels in Part 3 of this article. PART 1 – FREE OVERNIGHT PARKING – From my “I wish I could find the picture I took Department,” I send along this: In Mark Polk’s March edition of RV Consumer Magazine — http://issuu.com/rveducation101/docs/rv_consumer_magazine_march_2013/1?utm_source=RV+Consumer+emag+this+Month+March+2013+++&utm_campaign=RV+Consumer+magazine+RV+101&utm_medium=email — he has a brief item about Walmart parking, which probably applies to all one-night on-the-road no-charge parking places.   He mentions how putting down the jacks on hot asphalt to level the rig can damage the parking lot surface. We have seen several instances of what we feel is parking-lot abuse during our travels, but none so memorable as the Scamp mini-trailer on the edge of a parking lot with awning out, rug down, barbecue going and chairs and tables all arranged.  It looked like the owners had set up camp for the week. We try not to be judgmental, but put yourself in the role of store manager.  You can understand why he or she would think about putting the lot off-limits for overnight RV parking.  Most managers of businesses work hard to preserve an image of a clean property.  We hope you consider yourself their guests. PART 2 – TRUCKIN’ AND RVers Anyone... Read more

PLANNING YOUR ROUTE

By Barry Zander, Edited by Monique Zander, the Never-Bored RVers Today I was going to publish some of the comments received from our last blog, but a flash of thought took me in another direction.  I’ll convey your comments in the next article. On yesterday’s trip through several desert communities, we noticed RVs on the move.  We guess that for many snowbirds, the beginning of March is the onset of spring, and maybe our Canadian visitors need to get back across the border so they don’t lose health benefits. For most of us long-term RV touring travelers, taking off on a months-long journey can be done two ways:  planned or unplanned. Monique and I try to be spontaneous, but there are some realities that we have learned to take into consideration. In a couple of weeks we’ll be off on a six-month trip that will take us into 20 states, the District of Columbia and seven Canadian provinces. Having two goals to achieve this year is where the Our Mission: Fill in the Empty Green Spaces planning comes in, and spontaneity is where we expect to find adventure.  The two goals are; 1) filling out the U.S. map on our rig with all the continental states, including Alaska, and 2) experiencing the Canadian Maritimes (Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Labrador and Prince Edwards Island) plus Quebec and Ontario.  An additional goal is filling up on lobster and crab while on the East Coast. For those of you new to RVing or heading out on your first long trip, let me share what... Read more

Wyoming DOT’s solution to highway accidents caused by migrating wildlife

By Bob Difley “Everyday in the U.S., 190 million motor vehicles hit the road, and one million animals get hit by motor vehicles. That’s counting cars, buses, motorbikes, and trucks, but not ATVs, snowmobiles and other off-road vehicles. The figure includes mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians, but not insects and bugs, who somehow never count.” wrote Mark Matthew Braunstein on the Culture Change website.  http://www.culturechange.org/issue8/roadkill.htm “For every dead animal counted, three or four more die unnoticed. Even at 55 m.p.h., we smell the remains of far more dead skunks than we see. The walking wounded die far from the road, so only instantly killed animals are seen and get counted.” For those of us who call ourselves wildlife watchers these numbers are appalling. These numbers are the result of many factors, such as more highways being built, many of these highways cutting off wildlife migration routes and breeding grounds, urban and suburban populations expanding into wildlife habitat, lack of fencing keeping wildlife off busy highways, and reduction of wildlife habitat forcing populations to seek additional space away from protected areas. Unfortunately, the protection of wildlife is often derided as the agenda of wacko liberal environmentalists. But kudoos have to go out to the Wyoming Department of Transportation (WDOT) for tackling a problem where pronghorn antelope migrate 170 miles from Grand Teton National Park south to... Read more

Adventures with Jonny is a fun book for traveling and camping with kids

By Bob Difley If you travel with young children or grandkids you know how difficult it can be to keep them occupied and interested in the outdoors in this digital age we live in. Mike DiLorenzo, a father of three, had the same dilemma, and as a lover of the outdoors, he not only wanted to keep his kids interested and occupied, but also to teach them about the outdoors so they would generate their own interests. So he wrote a book. Adventures with Jonny traces a typical American or Canadian family on a camping trip to the National and Provincial Parks, and is written through the eyes of a young boy, Jonny, and combines both entertainment and education to help more kids understand and appreciate–and be excited by–the outdoors. The first part of the book is illustrated (with wonderful illustrations by Jenniffer Julich) and follows the young family on their camping trip, including a game–or what Mike calls a “Funtivitity”–on every page designed to keep young minds engaged on the long road trip to the park. But the book is more than a clever illustrated guide for parents and kids, the second part of the book includes educational material such as; safety tips for the outdoors; hiking, camping, and travel tips; road games; the Junior Ranger program in the National Parks along with thumbnail sketches on some of the most popular National Parks; pictures and fun facts about animals of the National Parks; state parks; Canadian Provincial Parks;  and even... Read more

RETURN TO THE PAST – PART 2 OF 2

By Barry Zander, Edited by Monique Zander*, the Never-Bored RVers This is the second of two articles about our trip to Death Valley earlier this month, the sequel to our excursion to China Ranch Date Farm.  Included at the end is my golf story about why I’m glad I four-putted the 18th hole. A Sea of Fellow Travelers -- No Mirage! PART 2, THE ENCAMPMENT – There are those who return each year to the Death Valley 49ers Encampment to don the outfits of the American West as it was back in the 1800s.  It’s a four-day variety show, complete with horse riders alongside buckboards pulled by mules, a “return to the days of yesteryear,” as we heard on the Lone Ranger radio and TV shows. Many come to the Encampment to commune with history, but everyone comes for the entertainment – top-notch singers and musicians who rank among America’s most notable western performers.  Some venture into the desert to escape the cold.  There’s no quiet like the quiet of the desert, and there’s no more beautiful landscape than the striated hills in every direction. Yet, I’ll bet the most compelling reason most drive hour after hour to return year after year is to socialize with friends they’ve camped alongside for years if not decades.  2011 was the 62nd year of the Encampment [http://www.deathvalley49ers.org]. Monique and I made the 600-mile round-trip for the second year in a row seeking adventure.  Like last year everyday held new vistas and opportunities for Western Singer... Read more

Vote for Your Favorite Park

The second annual America Is Your Park campaign was recently launched by National Park Foundation, in partnership with Coca-Cola, America’s State Parks, and the National Recreation and Park Association. America Is Your Park campaign urges families to get out and discover fun ways to get active in the park while helping their favorite park win big. Families can vote for their favorite park to win the title of “America’s Favorite Park” and a $100,000 recreation grant made possible by the Coca-Cola Live Positively initiative. “Our national parks are home to our country’s treasures—from our iconic landscapes to the hallowed places where history happened,” said Neil Mulholland, President and CEO, National Park Foundation. “Thanks to dedicated partners like Coca-Cola and the America Is Your Park campaign, our nation’s parks can continue to receive the vital support they need.” Last year, thanks to more than 1.6 million votes cast by its supporters, Bear Head Lake State Park in Ely, Minnesota, was named “America’s Favorite Park.” The following two articles may be of interest: Minnesota state park wins national contest How Bear Head Lake won national contest? Bear Head Lake is using the recreation grant to build a new warming hut to ensure safety and comfort for winter sports enthusiasts all season long. Vote for your favorite park. Pictured above Great Smoky Mountains National Park. © Rex Vogel, all rights... Read more

Are You Bear Aware?

Wildlife is a huge part of the mountain and wilderness regions of Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Arizona, Alaska, Alberta, and British Columbia. Deep snowpack, more grizzlies Grizzly bears are powerful, top-of-the-food-chain predators, yet much of their diet consists of nuts, berries, fruit, leaves, and roots. Bears also eat other animals, from rodents to moose. (Credit: talktocanada.com) Numerous encounters between grizzly bears and humans have been reported this spring, attributed to a growing bear population stuck in the low country as a result of the deep snowpack. High winter snowpack levels mean bears are moving to lower elevations and are likely to stay there longer than in previous winters. Grizzly bears are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, but their numbers have been growing in recent years, increasing the chance for encounters with humans, according to Chris Servheen, the grizzly bear recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In addition, heavy snowfall this winter has taken longer to melt in cool spring weather. “You have more bears, and then you have these high snow levels so the bears can’t be in the mountains where they want to be,” Servheen said. In a nonfatal encounter, two hikers were mauled by a bear in the Gallatin National Forest (Montana) when they came across a young grizzly bear and a sow chasing an elk. The 36-year-old woman tried to climb a tree when the sow bit her in the leg. The man was bitten in... Read more

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