We may be out of touch for a while but I'll be accumulating blog entries while off-line.
We're currently at Sheridan WY and are heading north to Canada in a leisurely fashion. Even in South Dakota and Nebraska we found ourselves without cell phone coverage and you can't expect state parks (except in Texas) to have wifi, so we were without internet access for several days. On our current route, I expect that we will frequently find the same conditions.
I'll leave you with some random thoughts.
It's fascinating to see some of the loads carried by the eighteen-wheelers that pass us, which they always do. In Louisiana we saw pieces of drilling rigs and also loads of the floating booms used around oil spills. Of course we also saw those same booms in the water trying vainly to hold back the oil spill. In Nebraska on the state highway far from the interstate we saw several loads of pieces of wind turbines. Those things are huge! I found it amusing that we saw parts going both directions. Wouldn't you think they could coordinate? On that same highway we saw contract harvesters moving their equipment north into South Dakota. We never did figure out where they were harvesting, or what, but we saw numerous convoys consisting of two, three, four huge wide loads in John Deere green along with grain trucks and assorted harvesting attachments. Many times even though a load was not tarped, it was impossible to identify the nature of the load, huge pieces of metal beams, large housings for something, a lot of mysteries.
Another mystery is why a disproportionate amount of the big rig traffic is on I-40 and I-70. Or maybe not such a big mystery if you look at the map of the US. Those highways go from the east coast to the ports in California. I-10 gets the Gulf Coast to LA traffic which is apparently less. The stretch of I-90 that we've traveled so far has been eerily empty of eighteen-wheelers. It has had, however, a lot of RV traffic. After speaking with numerous other RVers, it appears that everyone from the eastern part of the US hits the Black Hills of South Dakota and then goes to Yellowstone, which means they use this section of I-90. We'll part with I-90 at Billings when we hope to also part with the heavy traffic. But then, just looking at the atlas, it's hard to tell just where the traffic will be.
A few years ago the "toad" (vehicle towed behind a motorhome for you non-RVers) of choice was a Saturn. These days, we are surprised to see how many toads are Honda CRVs. Of course, that's why we bought one--its ability to be towed with all four wheels on the ground (no car dolly required) as well as the other features that we desired. Anyway, it's always gratifying to have your choices validated by others.
A final word, this one on RV park restrooms, which are definitely not built to a common plan. Either the stalls are huge or they are so tiny that you wonder where your knees are supposed to go. One park in Texas actually used shower curtains for doors to each stall, and you could tell which ones were occupied by the knee shapes poking out. And speaking of shower curtains, the showers are generally totally inadequate. Many times there is absolutely no provision for hanging your clothing while you bathe and no control of where the water goes, so the floor in the shower area will be constantly wet. Sure glad we've got our own shower, cramped though it may be, so we can find some things amusing and not irritating.
We're currently at Sheridan WY and are heading north to Canada in a leisurely fashion. Even in South Dakota and Nebraska we found ourselves without cell phone coverage and you can't expect state parks (except in Texas) to have wifi, so we were without internet access for several days. On our current route, I expect that we will frequently find the same conditions.
I'll leave you with some random thoughts.
It's fascinating to see some of the loads carried by the eighteen-wheelers that pass us, which they always do. In Louisiana we saw pieces of drilling rigs and also loads of the floating booms used around oil spills. Of course we also saw those same booms in the water trying vainly to hold back the oil spill. In Nebraska on the state highway far from the interstate we saw several loads of pieces of wind turbines. Those things are huge! I found it amusing that we saw parts going both directions. Wouldn't you think they could coordinate? On that same highway we saw contract harvesters moving their equipment north into South Dakota. We never did figure out where they were harvesting, or what, but we saw numerous convoys consisting of two, three, four huge wide loads in John Deere green along with grain trucks and assorted harvesting attachments. Many times even though a load was not tarped, it was impossible to identify the nature of the load, huge pieces of metal beams, large housings for something, a lot of mysteries.
Another mystery is why a disproportionate amount of the big rig traffic is on I-40 and I-70. Or maybe not such a big mystery if you look at the map of the US. Those highways go from the east coast to the ports in California. I-10 gets the Gulf Coast to LA traffic which is apparently less. The stretch of I-90 that we've traveled so far has been eerily empty of eighteen-wheelers. It has had, however, a lot of RV traffic. After speaking with numerous other RVers, it appears that everyone from the eastern part of the US hits the Black Hills of South Dakota and then goes to Yellowstone, which means they use this section of I-90. We'll part with I-90 at Billings when we hope to also part with the heavy traffic. But then, just looking at the atlas, it's hard to tell just where the traffic will be.
A few years ago the "toad" (vehicle towed behind a motorhome for you non-RVers) of choice was a Saturn. These days, we are surprised to see how many toads are Honda CRVs. Of course, that's why we bought one--its ability to be towed with all four wheels on the ground (no car dolly required) as well as the other features that we desired. Anyway, it's always gratifying to have your choices validated by others.
A final word, this one on RV park restrooms, which are definitely not built to a common plan. Either the stalls are huge or they are so tiny that you wonder where your knees are supposed to go. One park in Texas actually used shower curtains for doors to each stall, and you could tell which ones were occupied by the knee shapes poking out. And speaking of shower curtains, the showers are generally totally inadequate. Many times there is absolutely no provision for hanging your clothing while you bathe and no control of where the water goes, so the floor in the shower area will be constantly wet. Sure glad we've got our own shower, cramped though it may be, so we can find some things amusing and not irritating.
posted by Al and Linda @ 5:57 AM
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