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September? Anybody see September? Between a computer crash, a Labor Day road trip to Lake Chelan Washington (we saw the Kingston Trio perform!), a trip to Hawaii for our son’s wedding (I know, tough duty but someone had to do it!), and an end of summer golfing road trip with a group of friends, the month completely blew by us. We’re hoping that you were also busy getting your last summer travel in – and are getting ready for the fall – and didn’t really miss this "gem" of a newsletter! We love the fall. The crisp days, the turning of the leaves, the cooler nights – you can just feel that change is afoot. Whether you are getting kids ready to go back to school, settling into the fall football season, or getting the last vegetables come out of the garden, – or planning your road trip dream; fall signals a time of settling in and “nesting” for many of us. Speaking of football season (Phil’s favorite time of year!), tailgating and rooting for your favorite team is almost a national pastime – and a great RVing activity. Whether the weather is sunny and beautiful or cold and dreary, you RV provides the opportunity to prepare great tailgating food, prep your clothing choices for the weather, enjoy climate controlled partying, and of course, not standing in line for the restrooms may be the best feature of all. What ever your fall has in store for your family, we hope you enjoy this gorgeous month.
Phil and Carol White
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| Money Magazine article hits the news stands!  The October Money Magazine is out and the article is terrific. In fact the whole issue is a “keeper” with a special section on preparing for retirement. Whether you are just starting your career, are at mid-life, or nearing “the big day”, this issue has lots of food for thought. If you check out page 96-98 at the news stand, or flip to those pages in this digital edition link – go to the table of contents (TOC) at the top of the page and scroll down to page 96, you’ll get to see Phil and I as well as our daughter Andrea, her husband Christopher and their darling children – three of our nine grandchildren.
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| I guess it was inevitable. We've "sent" so many of you out on your road trip dream, every thinking about people actually completing their trips! Congratulations to the Gregorich family -- but I see by their letter below that the travel bug isn't out of their system yet. Even better... Hello Everyone! We're all back in Orlando, Florida for a while. Our first RV journey lasted 11 months and 60,000 miles between both vehicles. Although we passed through many more, we actually visited 26 states and 3 provinces. We hope you have enjoyed our photos and stories at the website (www.awaywego.us) …We're going to keep the motorhome and hopefully take a month off every 6-9 months to do some more traveling. That's it for now. Take care. Mark, Cricket, Adam, Lucas, and Jake  |
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What can a GPS receiver do for me? John Booth of TripGadgets.com submitted this interesting article for this month’s newsletter. Thanks for adding to the newsletter. To many of us who have thus far avoided using a GPS receiver, you may be wondering what a GPS receiver does, how it can benefit you, and which models to look into. Let’s start with a description of the technology. Global Positioning Satellites (GPS) are a series of satellites that work in combination to provide latitude, longitude, and altitude information to GPS receivers around the globe. There are many types of GPS receiver. Some of the most popular units are used for overland travel (hiking, golf, etc.), water based travel, and road travel to name a few. This article will focus on road based GPS navigation systems. Most road based GPS systems on the market today combine a number of technologies to make for a highly effective navigational system. In general, road based GPS navigation systems help direct you to your destination. Listed below are the key features that a GPS navigation system should have: 1) Turn-by-turn navigation to your destination 2) Pre-loaded maps with a means to update maps over time 3) When turns are missed, the system should have the ability to dynamically reroute to get you back on course 4) Ability to integrate real-time FM radio traffic advisories into the route information. (more on this later) 5) The ability to save destinations for use later. Example, save your hotel address so you can explore big cities without fear of getting lost on the way back to the hotel. One of the most exciting new features available is the ability to receive specially formatted FM radio or Satellite service traffic information. Certain GPS receiver units are able to integrate information about traffic congestion or accidents. Systems capable of accepting this information can then suggest an alternate route around the problem. Based on the 5 essential features listed above, check out the Garmin StreetPilot c340, Magellan RoadMate 2200T - North America, or the TomTom ONE (with Plus service). Finally, consider renting a GPS navigation system for your next road trip. Rental is a great opportunity to try out a particular set of features and get a better understanding of how easy the systems are to use. ****** John Booth is the owner of TripGadgets.com which rents travel related electronics. John is techie who loves to travel. Before starting TripGadgets, John worked as Operations Manager for a consumer electronics wholesaler. Currently John and his family live in Indiana. They travel as much as possible testing the products they rent.
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Several Interesting Websites to check out this Month RV Lifestyle So what exactly is an RV lifestyle anyway? All sorts of things: RV camping trips, full-service tailgating, a great way to follow NASCAR races, extended vacations, a seasonal home, fulltime RV living...and the list goes on. In fact, there is no list. Your RV lifestyle is what you want it to be. And that's really the point of this website. Simple steps on how to get the most out of RVing - in a style that fits you. Trip Gadgets.com TripGadgets.com is focused on travel related rentals. They rent items that people may only want to use for a particular trip (GPS navigation systems, DVD players, etc.) Map Muse.com Interactive Mapping for all types of Interest Groups – MapMuse.com had added nationwide interactive mapping of RV parks and campgrounds to their services. Here is the link for RV Parks. We have gotten a tremendous response from the RV community, and many additions have been made to the maps. MapMuse’s goal is to help people find places related to their interests. MapMuse continues to add new topics of interest each week. If you have a topic that you would like to see mapped, you can suggest the interest on the MapMuse site, and there is a good chance it will be addressed. A new topic has since been added at the suggestion of a visitor- RV clubs and associations. You can view the RV clubs and Associations maps by going to this link We have done some initial research and have located 150 RV clubs and associations on the MapMuse maps. I am writing to ask that if you belong to an RV club or association that is open to new membership that you add it to the map. Through this kind of community effort, we hope to have the most comprehensive, and descriptive maps for RV enthusiasts to locate RV clubs and associations at home and on their travels. The following information can be provided for each RV club or association- the name, descriptive text, a photo, contact information, and a link to a website. There is an ADD and EDIT feature on the site. Once a visitor suggests a change, it is reviewed for appropriateness and then posted within a few hours. Please note that since RV groups may not have a physical address that can be mapped, groups can be located by city, state or zip code.
Don't forget! Personally autographed copies of the book are always available on our website for your next gift-giving occasion.
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What do you think? We are always anxious to hear from our readers and friends about how we are doing. Send personal experiences, articles, good road trip websites -- whatever you think others might enjoy.
Send us your tips and questions! Always feel free to email us with your road trip questions or tips, or thoughts about the book. We’ll be printing some of your comments in the months to come. Where have your dreams taken you? Please send us your travel pictures taken on your road trip dream. We want to share stories of trips that were inspired by reading Live Your Road Trip Dream – Travel for a year for the cost of staying home. Upcoming Appearances None in October Until next time.. Keep Dreaming...
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