Started Jack & Joan's Epic Road Trip

[CaptnJohn]

Although I rarely pass a semi, on my last trip pulling about 2000 miles, only 1 flashed lights to let me know to pull in. I always flash the lights when being passed by a semi. Only about 15% give the 3 flash 'thank you' after pulling in. I asked a driver why not long ago. He gave several reasons from many drivers that started in the past 15 years never were properly trained at much more than that. Some are just in a hurry. Some don't care. The biggest surprise was a growing number cannot speak English well enough to carry a conversation if at all.
Since the time I drove in the 1970s regulations have changed to make it harder to make a living. My company encouraged drivers to stop and assist motorists if it were safe. Now with time constraints on driving time it is hard to make a living. Everything is tracked electronically so dual log books can no longer be used. Safer now that many find the need to speed to make a buck is questionable.

[Spdragon]

Thank you for letting us tag along on your adventure. I have 8 years till retirement and look forward to being able to do something like this.

[Wolverine 1945]

Originally Posted by CaptnJohn

Although I rarely pass a semi, on my last trip pulling about 2000 miles, only 1 flashed lights to let me know to pull in. I always flash the lights when being passed by a semi. Only about 15% give the 3 flash 'thank you' after pulling in. I asked a driver why not long ago. He gave several reasons from many drivers that started in the past 15 years never were properly trained at much more than that. Some are just in a hurry. Some don't care. The biggest surprise was a growing number cannot speak English well enough to carry a conversation if at all.
Since the time I drove in the 1970s regulations have changed to make it harder to make a living. My company encouraged drivers to stop and assist motorists if it were safe. Now with time constraints on driving time it is hard to make a living. Everything is tracked electronically so dual log books can no longer be used. Safer now that many find the need to speed to make a buck is questionable.

Right On !!!
Try driving I94 between Detroit & Chicago,,,
You take your life in your hands every time,,,
you drive 70 or 75 to keep from getting run over,,,
by some Cowboy in a 18 wheeler !!!

[tonyz1]

Camper70, thank you for allowing us to follow your adventure. I really enjoyed the pictures and writeups. With every passing post I think I became a little more envious of your adventure. Hopefully we will be able to follow your example one of these days and take our own epic road trip, but until then we will be awaiting the start of your next trip To follow along! Many thanks.

[camper70]

Hey Wolverine 1945 I'm feeling your pain. You are getting hammered with more snow in the Midwest aren't you. Glad it is not Western Maryland. We ahve been in the upper 80's the past two days.

[camper70]

SpDragon and Tonyz1 I hope you guys get to make your own epic trips when you retire.We hope to do it again next year and concentrate more on southern Tx. We would like to get back to Hill Country to see the Blue Bonnets but when Tornado season kicks in I don't want to be any where around. We have a trip planned to Myrtle Beach sometime this year but I won't do a thread for it.

[Wolverine 1945]

Originally Posted by camper70

Hey Wolverine 1945 I'm feeling your pain. You are getting hammered with more snow in the Midwest aren't you. Glad it is not Western Maryland. We ahve been in the upper 80's the past two days.

We just had a couple of fairly good days,,, temps in the 60s,,, finely got a couple of things done outside !!! Heave rain today with heave snow forecast for our friends up North !!!

[oldsmasma]

What a great read during yet another Ontario snow and ice storm! Thanks for the journey and bringing back some memories. Years (and I mean YEARS) ago we flew into Houston and rented a motorhome for two weeks. We saw the Lexington and the Alamo too. Also spent time on the Riverwalk in addition to (in no particular order) Padre Island, Galveston, the Space Center, and King Ranch. It was a great trip and by flying in it let us see at least part of Texas while we were still working and only had vacation time to travel. Thanks for the travelogue!

[camper70]

oldsmasma thanks for your sharing your memories too. We still have a lot of Texas to see and hope to be able to do that next winter when we try to escape Maryland's winter. Hopefully the Rio Grande, the Big Bend area, and the Gulf Coast.

[Wolverine 1945]

Come on spring !!!

[sherman12]

Camper70, Now What? Back to work? Are you going to do the 2-3 day weekend thing through summer that most of us still working have to contend with? Finally got my rig moved in the driveway from its winter positioning. Just moving it in the drive felt great, you know, crawl before walk, lol! First weekend adventure for, you guessed it, 3 days, coming up last weekend of April. A lot to do before hand. However, temps today in the Buffalo, NY area, 38 degrees with nothing out of the low 40's and rain all week.

[camper70]

Hi Sherman12! We are pretty busy during the summer. My DW is in charge of a school lunch box program for our Church which gets lunches to kids who might not get a lunch during summer months. Myself I golf in a senior group every Tuesday and another group of guys on Thursdays. A cousin and I try to golf another day of the week. I've been retired for 3 years and loving it so no back to work for me. We will probably try to get out for a few long weekends though. We have a trip planned to Myrtle Beach the first week of June but are thinking about moving it to late September. Nothing like the excitement of Myrtle Beach during Hurricane season. lol. We are hoping to do another winter trip down south come January.

[sherman12]

Camper70, enjoy the summer. Chasing around that little white ball and bending over often is good for the heart and waistline!

[Mama]

Just found this post and after reading your last post, I'm excited to go back and read this entire thread! We are talking about a major road trip this fall. Nothing as long as yours but 2-3 weeks will be our longest trip yet. We are hoping to be full time RV'rs when he retires in 15 years. So learning from others is my mission for the next 15 years hey? LOL Thanks for all the time in posting - it does help those of us that do not know what we do not know!

[camper70]

Your welcome Mama. I actually got a some of my ideas of what to see and do from this forum. There are a lot of helpful people on here.