Friday, January 15, 2010

Our two new best friends

We put many miles on our truck in the past three days hauling our world down to Florida. This is our second trip down here with our camper. This trip was easier for us for two reasons.


"Garda", our GPS. I am not advertising for this particular kind of navigator. We are probably the last two people in the United States to have one of these in our vehicle, but nevertheless, we certainly appreciated it on this trip. Granted, we didn't need her to tell us how to get from Wisconsin to Illinois, but she sure did help when we were traveling through Atlanta, for example. Knowing well in advance which lane we would need to get the truck and camper into before our next exit sure made our trip easier. And, it was fun to anger her by pulling off the route and make her "recalculate" her route. I am quite sure she was ready to swear at us a few times.



Speaking of exits, we also appreciated the help given us by this book we purchased at the Minneapolis Camping Show last winter. Again, I am not advertising for this particular book. There are others out there on the market which I am certain are just as helpful. Last year on our trip down to Florida, we wasted travel time because we would get off of the freeway to fill with gas only to find it was impossible for us to pull the truck and camper into a station at that particular exit. Well, no problems this year with this book as our guide. We also had to stay in hotels two nights because of the cold climate, so we used the book to find places with parking lots that were "rv friendly." Even if we weren't pulling a camper, this book would be a useful guide. It lists what restaurants, stores and scenic sites are at each freeway exit in the entire United States and Canada!


We were busy today getting settled. Tomorrow we will venture out a little bit more. Super Walmart was our only big adventure of the day. Our heads turned when we passed a vegetable stand today. And there are some state parks close by. 










2 comments:

Marlys said...

Don't you just love that GPS? I get rather dependent on them especially when they tell you when you can expect to arrive at your destination! It's uncanny how they are usually dead on!

Lisa from Lisa's Yarns said...

I got a Garmin for Christmas - haven't named him quite yet. I love it though! even when I know where I am going (sort of) it's nice to have because I like how you can see what turn is next!

I have changed the voice on mine so now an Australian man tells me where to go. His accent is dreamy so he makes my drives just a little bit more blissful. His name is Lee so perhaps I should name my Garmin after him.

I love mocking the GPS's 'recalculating' voice. I always do that when I am with mom & dad because we always seem to need to stop off or something. For some reason, the way she says 'recalculating' irritates the hell out of me!!

I am loving all these updates! I wish I had some vacation time and I could swing down for a weekend visit! Give my love to the McDougall game! When you get back, we'll have to do a Bananagrams night - I think you will love it!