Day 62 (August 23): Deja vu all over again
This day we put down the miles. The tripmeter started at 762 and ended at 1582. We started in western Montana and finished an hour into Minnesota. In other words, we crossed most of Montana and all of North Dakota. We also logged our first thousand mile mark.
There were terrifying construction zones; narrow lanes next to oncoming traffic aren't a big deal in a typical car but, holy cow, motorhome + narrow lane + cross wind = white knuckles.
There was a really funny sign outside the Teddy Roosevelt National Park visitor center (remember, we visited the park last time but not the visitor center).
The evening gave us an opportunity to try out a few of the travel apps we've collected on the advice of the never-ending world of RV lifestyle blogs out there. The KOA app helps you find exactly what you'd expect. The Good Sam is a bit broader, including all RV parks, including KOA but differentiating places that are part of the Good Sam network, which is like the AAA of the RV world. Then there are specialty apps. Co-Pilot GPS is kind of the coolest because you configure it with the dimensions/specs of your RV (height, for example) so that it can customize a route to your needs. Similarly, Roadtripppers opens up a crazy world of route-specific travel advice. Did you know that this route will take you past the world's largest sign that includes the words, "world's largest"? I didn't either but this app does. The one I've used the least so far is Campendium, which seems to be like Yelp for campgrounds.
We ended up at Big Pines RV Park in Park Rapids, Minnesota. Our experience warrants a paragraph endorsing not only the facility but the host. We arrived at 11:15 (not 9:30, as we had told him). Jared guided us to our (back in) spot and ensured we were all hooked up. In the morning, we found that "Big Pines"was an accurate monikor. It was a beautiful setting that the kids would have loved (nice oval road, good playground, riverfront).
In sum, we were pretty pessimistic about driving across I-90/94 for the second time in two months but it turned out pretty well. What's the secret? Simple: listening to the audiobook of John Hodgman's Vacationland. His sarcasm matches our taste perfectly and it was on topic for our upcoming visit to Maine. Check it out!
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| One thousand miles and a cool reflection in the dash. |
There were terrifying construction zones; narrow lanes next to oncoming traffic aren't a big deal in a typical car but, holy cow, motorhome + narrow lane + cross wind = white knuckles.
There was a really funny sign outside the Teddy Roosevelt National Park visitor center (remember, we visited the park last time but not the visitor center).
The evening gave us an opportunity to try out a few of the travel apps we've collected on the advice of the never-ending world of RV lifestyle blogs out there. The KOA app helps you find exactly what you'd expect. The Good Sam is a bit broader, including all RV parks, including KOA but differentiating places that are part of the Good Sam network, which is like the AAA of the RV world. Then there are specialty apps. Co-Pilot GPS is kind of the coolest because you configure it with the dimensions/specs of your RV (height, for example) so that it can customize a route to your needs. Similarly, Roadtripppers opens up a crazy world of route-specific travel advice. Did you know that this route will take you past the world's largest sign that includes the words, "world's largest"? I didn't either but this app does. The one I've used the least so far is Campendium, which seems to be like Yelp for campgrounds.
We ended up at Big Pines RV Park in Park Rapids, Minnesota. Our experience warrants a paragraph endorsing not only the facility but the host. We arrived at 11:15 (not 9:30, as we had told him). Jared guided us to our (back in) spot and ensured we were all hooked up. In the morning, we found that "Big Pines"was an accurate monikor. It was a beautiful setting that the kids would have loved (nice oval road, good playground, riverfront).
In sum, we were pretty pessimistic about driving across I-90/94 for the second time in two months but it turned out pretty well. What's the secret? Simple: listening to the audiobook of John Hodgman's Vacationland. His sarcasm matches our taste perfectly and it was on topic for our upcoming visit to Maine. Check it out!
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