About the Book
In this guide, renowned travel writing team Harry Basch and Shirley Slater offers updates on their favorite RV trips around the U.S., including scenic routes along Virginia's Skyline Drive and the New England coast, plus jaunts through the Heart of the Heartlands (Indiana, Iowa and Illinois) and to Alaska via Canada. On each trip you'll get all the famous, infamous, and off-the-wall attractions; campgrounds along each route, from luxurious private RV parks with heated swimming pools and golf courses to quiet, forested campgrounds in state and national parks; tips for making life on the road easier and more comfortable; and a complete guide to buying or renting an RV, with tips on how to decide which type is right for you. All this, plus information on wildlife watching and scenic views, the best parks and beaches, quick-and-easy recipes, packing suggestions, info on road etiquette and safety, and more. Head off the beaten path with Frommer's, to discover the real life lurking around the bend.
Table of Contents:
Introduction: The RV Life & Reasons to Hit the Road. You Set the Lifestyle.
PART 1: GETTING READY TO HIT THE ROAD.
1 Life on the Road: A Personal & Public History of RVing.
Excerpts from a Road Diary; or, If We Can Do This, Anyone Can.
How to Give Backing-Up Directions Without Destroying Your Marriage.
RV History: The Tin Can Tourists.
Six Common Misperceptions About RVs & Their Owners.
2 Getting Prepared: RVing Tips & Hints.
Driving Schools.
Learning Your Vital Statistics.
Making a List, Checking It Twice . . . .
What Kind of Wardrobe Is Right?
Stocking the Larder.
Don’t Drink the Water.
Trimming Costs: Eight Money-Saving Tips for the Road.
Safety, Sanity & Insurance.
The Community of Man: Getting Together with Other RVers.
3 Where to Sleep: Campgrounds & RV Parks.
Campground Glossary.
Should You Sleep by the Side of the Road?
Campsites: The Good, the Bad & the Ugly.
Using the Directories to Find a Campground.
10 Ways to Save Money on Campgrounds.
Membership Campgrounds.
Special Camping Situations.
10 Tips for Cozy Winter Camping.
How to Become Campground Hosts.
Plugging in Your Rig.
PART 2: RV ADVENTURES.
4 The California Desert & Las Vegas.
RVing in the California Desert & Las Vegas.
Travel Essentials.
The Best Desert Sights, Tastes & Experiences.
On the Road.
10 Scenic Side Trips.
5 Utah’s Parks & Canyons.
RVing Utah's National Park Country.
Travel Essentials.
The Best Utah Sights, Tastes & Experiences.
On the Road.
10 Scenic Side Trips.
6 Driving the Alaska Highway.
RVing Along the Alaska Highway.
Travel Essentials.
The Best Alaska Highway Sights, Tastes & Experiences.
On the Road.
Seven Tough Side Trips & Three Easy Ones.
7 The Dakotas: Black Hills & Buffalo Burgers.
RVing the Dakotas.
Travel Essentials.
The Best Dakotas Sights, Tastes & Experiences.
On the Road: South Dakota.
On the Road: North Dakota.
A Dozen Terrifi c Side Trips in the Dakotas.
8 The Rio Grande Valley & the Wilds of West Texas.
RVing Along the Rio Grande.
Travel Essentials.
The Best Sights, Tastes & Experiences of the Rio Grande.
On the Road.
Six Special Side Trips.
9 In the Heart of the Heartland: Iowa, Illinois & Indiana.
RVing in the Heartland.
Travel Essentials.
The Best Heartland Sights, Tastes & Experiences.
On the Road.
10 The Florida Keys (with Side Trips to the Everglades & Orlando).
RVing the Keys.
Travel Essentials.
The Best Sights, Tastes & Experiences of the Keys.
On the Road.
Two Great Side Trips.
11 The Blue Ridge Parkway & Skyline Drive.
RVing the Blue Ridge Parkway & Skyline Drive.
Travel Essentials.
The Best Blue Ridge Sights, Tastes & Experiences.
On the Road.
12 The Lobster Coast: New England & the Canadian Maritimes.
RVing in New England & the Maritimes.
Travel Essentials.
Best Sights, Tastes & Experiences of the Lobster Coast.
On the Road.
Five Side Trips.
PART 3: HARRY & SHIRLEY'S RV BUYING & RENTING GUIDE.
13 RV Types & Terms.
The ABCs of RVs: A Glossary of Common RV Terms.
Types of RVs.
14 To Rent or Buy?
Two Ways to Check Out Campground Life Without an RV.
Renting.
Buying.
Useful RV Websites.
Index.
About the Author :
Shirley Slater and Harry Basch are a husband-and-wife travel writing team whose books, articles, and photographs have been published internationally for more than 25 years. Former stage, fi lm, and television actors, they have written their syndicated column "Cruise Views" for the Los Angeles Times and other major newspapers for more than 20 years, produced six annual editions of Th e North American Ski Guide for Prodigy Computer Services, and written Shirley and Harry’s RV Adventures (a monthly newsletter), plus four books on worldwide cruising.
In 1990, at the 60th World Travel Congress in Hamburg, Germany, the authors were only the third writers (and the fi rst freelancers) to receive the prestigious Melva C. Pederson Award from the American Society of Travel Agents for "extraordinary journalistic achievement in the fi eld of travel."
On assignment for publications as diverse as Bon Appétit and Travel Weekly, they have covered 188 countries by barge, elephant back, hot-air balloon, luxury cruise ship, cross-country skis, paddle-wheel steamer, and supersonic aircraft, but their favorite method of transportation is by RV. In their fi rst motor home, a 27-foot Winnebago Brave, and their subsequent 36-foot Itasca Sunfl yer, they have logged more than 100,000 miles traveling all over the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Aboard other RVs—from mini-motor homes to 36-foot wide-bodies with slide-outs—they have traveled an additional 60,000 miles exploring the back roads and campgrounds of America. Th e journeys in this book are all based on the authors' personal experiences.
Shirley Slater and Harry Basch are a husband-and-wife travel writing team whose books, articles, and photographs have been published internationally for more than 25 years. Former stage, fi lm, and television actors, they have written their syndicated column "Cruise Views" for the Los Angeles Times and other major newspapers for more than 20 years, produced six annual editions of Th e North American Ski Guide for Prodigy Computer Services, and written Shirley and Harry’s RV Adventures (a monthly newsletter), plus four books on worldwide cruising.
In 1990, at the 60th World Travel Congress in Hamburg, Germany, the authors were only the third writers (and the fi rst freelancers) to receive the prestigious Melva C. Pederson Award from the American Society of Travel Agents for "extraordinary journalistic achievement in the fi eld of travel."
On assignment for publications as diverse as Bon Appétit and Travel Weekly, they have covered 188 countries by barge, elephant back, hot-air balloon, luxury cruise ship, cross-country skis, paddle-wheel steamer, and supersonic aircraft, but their favorite method of transportation is by RV. In their fi rst motor home, a 27-foot Winnebago Brave, and their subsequent 36-foot Itasca Sunfl yer, they have logged more than 100,000 miles traveling all over the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Aboard other RVs—from mini-motor homes to 36-foot wide-bodies with slide-outs—they have traveled an additional 60,000 miles exploring the back roads and campgrounds of America. Th e journeys in this book are all based on the authors' personal experiences.
