Davydd

Hello all again. We made three major trips this past year in our Class B conversion van. All three were centered around attending rallies with like minded Class B owners. The first was in the Hocking Hills area of southern Ohio. From there we went on to Washington DC and back to Indianapolis for the Indy 500, a yearly ritual. So as not to repeat myself all over the internet, here is a reference for that trip with heavy emphasis on road food. http://www.roadfood.com/Forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=27766 The second trip in June was west to Niobrara State Park in northeast Nebraska where we again got together with B owners and then came back to Minnesota via Iowa to further sample award winning pork tenderloin sandwiches. Niobrara SP was a surprisingly beautiful park situated on hills that overlooked the confluence of the Niobrara River and the Missouri River. It was also a Lewis & Clark Expedition stop. Again, another trip report. http://www.roadfood.com/Forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=28000 The last trip was in late September through early October out west primarily to Moab, Utah for another B rally. We passed through the Badlands, Black Hills, Rocky Mountain NP, Dinosaur, NM to get there. In Moab we spent time at Arches NP, Canyonlands NP and Dead Horse Point SP. We returned via the Grand Canyon South Rim and Taos, NM. Again I posted this B out West trip report in Roadfood.com with an emphasis on their favorite subject - road food. You might enjoy it. http://www.roadfood.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=30902 What forum would one post trip reports like this in American Road? We are pretty much parked for the winter now. Our next planned trip will be to Louisiana in April unless we get the itch and decide to head south in January. In three seasons of RV travel we have managed to put on 35,000 miles of travel covering 27 states so far. More and more of those miles have been on the blue highways as we learn to slow down and enjoy the country.

Hmm, I just voted for Blue Highway Brew. How come there is just one vote (as I reply now)?

What commonality! Very interesting information on US 36. When I bought my first brand new car, a 1966 Corvair, the first thing I did was drive straight west from Indianapolis to Rockville and stumbled onto the covered wooden bridges that I knew nothing about. It was a pleasant surprise. I ended up chasing around the whole day trying to find them all in Parke County. Last October we picked up US 36 east of Rockville and stayed on it till Springfield, IL. It couldn't be straighter and flatter east of Decatur. The corn harvest was going full blast and grain elevators can no longer hold it all. Corn was spread out in huge cones. Some exposed and some under cover.

Dave, I was not impressed with most B vans until they started converting the Sprinters. Have you looked at them? I think they feel a lot more comfortable inside. The major manufacturers are Pleasure-Way, Leisure Travel Vans, Great West Vans and Roadtrek, all Canadian converters with good quality. Winnebago Industries will start selling them in March. Mine can be viewed via the web link in my signature along with my pork tenderloin sandwich web site.

Thanks all for the welcome. If it is more Hoosiers you want I may let an old Speedway classmate of mine know about this forum. He just completed a round trip from Indiana to California in October via Route 66 in his 1966 Falcon. He emailed me some very interesting reports. My favorite drive is US 61 from Duluth to the Canadian border along Lake Superior. We made three trips up there this year. In the past we did the whole Lake Superior circle tour putting our kayaks in at selected bays.

It was on the NBC Nightly News tonight that you cannot do this. Here is the explanation and some alternatives. http://www.snopes.com/politics/christmas/soldiercards.asp

Hello all. Traveling on the road has been one of my life long passions since I grew up in Speedway, IN and autos were the center of the world for me. As a kid growing up in the 50s our vacations were always on the road and that was long before the freeways. Mostly we vacationed on a lake in northern Wisconsin. To get there it took twice as long as today. Our family of 6 in a Chevrolet would start out in the evening in order to arrive by noon the next day. One objective was to get through Chicago after midnight. My most memorable trip was from Indianapolis to a beachside motel in Clearwater, FL in 1955. My dad had a brand new Chevy Bel Air station wagon red with white top. Nine of us made that trip in July. My dad, my mom, aunt and uncle, cousin, two brothers and sister. I rode in the back with my younger brother and sister. No seats, just pillows and blankets. Luggage was piled on top of the wagon. There were no freeways back then. It was all blue highways. I remember when we arrived we stopped at a restaurant and my dad fainted from stress and exhaustion since he did most all the driving. The next year it was back to Wisconsin. I think nothing of making 11 hour road trips between Minneapolis and Indianapolis. I do it every year and sometimes multiple times. Our latest move was to buy a Class B camper van motorhome. I mentioned more about this in the RV board. Over the years we had traveled to most states by auto and had tent camped in many of the national parks. We are looking for a little more luxury now. My career started at the University of Cincinnati in Architecture. I did a brief stint in the United States Navy stationed in Newport, RI the whole time and I eventually landed in Minnesota. I had a long career with my own architectural firm for a while. I was the architectural technical director for 3 years designing and constructing the Mall of America and for the past 15 years managed new store production and new store prototype development at various times for Target Stores until I retired last June. Now I can be on the road when I want. However, Target allowed me the opportunity to travel all over the country. Now it is on my own nickel. My main fun on the road is pursuing the breaded pork tenderloin sandwich and here in the north, the walleye sandwich. I have sampled BPT's in over 80 restaurants with camera in hand in 9 states. The pursuit keeps one on the blue highways, the small town diners and places one would not normally think of going. I'm always looking for a great breakfast. I might add one eschews the chain restaurants and keeps off the freeways whenever possible.

Chris, I've been to your site. I think it is great.

I just found this forum through the demise of a diner thanks to Roadmaven. I have a Class B motorhome or B Van, or Camper Van, or touring coach or whatever you may want to call it. I love it. I can drive it anywhere and in fact I prefer the blue highways over the freeways. I can also park it almost anywhere since it will fit in most parking spots. It has a two-burner gas range, microwave, refrigerator, sink, built-in coffeemaker, bathroom with vanity, flat screen TV/DVD, electric sofa that turns down into a queen size bed, air-conditioning, gas furnace, hotwater tank, and generator all in the same footprint of a crew cab long bed pickup truck. The engine is a 5 cylinder Mercedes Benz diesel and gets a true 22 mpg and a high of around 24 mpg when traveling the blue highways at 55 mph. That is my preference. It seems plenty big for two of us and pure luxury compared to 40 years of tent camping. This past season from April to October we put on over 14,000 miles out 50 nights. Only 24 of those nights were spent in campgrounds. We stayed with friends and relatives a lot around the country and even a few nights in motels. We enjoy the flexibility in that regard. My quests take me to the north woods of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan a lot. I also travel to my hometown for the Indy 500 and Brickyard 400 races every year in Speedway, IN. This coming year we will rally with over 50 other B vanners in the Hocking Hills area of Ohio and Niobrara State Park in Nebraska. We hope to strike out this late winter or early spring for New Mexico and Arizona. Maybe the following year we will head to Alaska. If not we are definitely heading to the Rockies and will be able to travel the Going to the Sun road in Glacier National Park. What I do a lot of is pursue breaded pork tenderloin sandwiches. I've sampled over 80 in diners and restaurants in Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Missouri, Virginia and Texas over the past two years. It is a great way to hit the American road as far as I am concerned.

Sadly I missed this one in my pursuit of the breaded pork tenderloin sandwich. Roadmaven put me onto this forum.