Travel tips

Well, our trip out west has ended.

We went to/through VA, NC, MS, TN, AR, OK, TX, NM, AZ, NV, UT, ID & WY. We were gone 29 days.

First, let me advise you to check out casinos with hotels - even if you don't gambol. Most of the time the casino hotel rates are much less than a 1st class hotel nearby. The casinos also have excellent restaurants inhouse. Many of them feature buffets with low prices. Most have free live entertainment nightly (usually a band). If you smoke, be sure to have enough tobacco with you. Cigarettes go from 9 to 15 dollars a pack. Everything in the gift shop is high. Some have parking garages and your vehicle is safer there than it is at Holiday Inn (lots of roaming security & cameras). If you do gamble - call ahead for reservations. If you are rated with Harrah's, MGM or other group, you can get the room comped easier than you can online, if that casino is associated. Remember to load the "Casinos USA POI" into your GPS.

Carry extra windshield washer fluid with you, as there are lots of large bugs out west - Walmart or Sam's Club has much lower prices than gas stations or truck stops.

Don't always rely on online reviews! We went to Chaco canyon in NM. All the online reviews recommended using the "North entrance" to get there. The park is paved, but the 2 entrance roads are state maintained gravel. Well, the north road has to be one of the worst "maintained" gravel roads I have ever driven. Severe washboard all the way, except for the muddy part at a stream we had to cross. A park ranger told us the "Southern" entrance was better. It was, but was way, way longer. And the southern entrance has an extremely steep hill (down, on the way out) that I doubt that anything without 4WD could climb after a rain. I can't imagine a camper getting up that hill with out straining!

Stop at major brand Truck Stops for fuel and restroom breaks. We found Love's to be the most clean and friendly and they didn't care if you bought anything or not. Load a couple of truckstop POIs into your GPS as exits can be few and far between out west in some areas.

Plan for enough time to be able to see what you want to see. We were at Yellowstone almost 3 days and still did not see everything. Have someone to always have the camera ready to shoot, as animals can appear and disappear very quickly. Plan on doing some walking to see some site there. We are going back to see the rest - maybe next year.

That's it for now.