Traveling Companions

First: about my photo on the top of this column. My friends say I look mean, mad or otherwise unhappy. I’m not, and wasn’t that way when the photo was taken. But if that’s the way it appears to everyone but me, then I promise to pose for another photo where I will smile and appear as my normally happy self. So please don’t think that I am a gloomy guy.

For this issue, I’ve decided to tell you about two annual guides and one hot-off-the-press new book aimed squarely at RVers—specifically, beginning RVers.

The first annual guide is the 2005 Big Rigs Best Bets Campgrounds Directory. This is a whopper of a book—450 pages of information about RV parks and campgrounds that accommodate king-sized RVs. For the first time ever, authors Ken and Ellie Hammill have included listings in all 48 of the contiguous states. The Hammills published their first guide in 2001 with coverage of only four states.

The Hammills are full-time RVers who travel in a diesel-pusher motorcoach. Five years ago, while they were sitting around the campfire with other RVers, the conversation turned to campgrounds and the difficulty RVers encountered finding campsites that could accommodate their big rigs. “The more we talked, the more obvious it became how disenchanted we were,” explained Ken. He and his campfire friends agreed that information in popular directories about big rig accommodations was either not specific enough or downright misleading. With no publishing experience, Ken and Ellie went to work on their new book, completing it in less than a year. The reaction was immediate and positive. With the publishing winds at their backs, the Hammills set out to other parts of America, adding listings in new states with each successive annual edition.

Information in the Big Rigs Best Bets Campground Directory goes beyond telling which parks are suitable for big RVs. In addition, specific campsites are noted by space number for their ease of access, scenic beauty or other amenities. This year’s directory also includes an exhaustive directory of parks that offer wireless Internet access, a service increasingly demanded by laptop-toting full-timers and other avid RVers.

But the really remarkable thing about the directory is that the authors have personally visited each park. You may get the impression reading the book that Ken and Ellie spend a lot of time in campgrounds. And, yup, it’s true! On a typical trip Ken and Ellie will settle into an RV park or public campground, then Ken will head off in his Jeep toad to inspect other big rig park candidates. For the Hammills, publishing the directory is a way to combine business with pleasure. And in the process, they have provided all RVers who travel in super-sized RVs with a valuable resource. The price tag: $19.95, and worth every penny.

North to Alaska

RVers who plan to drive to Alaska this summer via the famed Alaska Highway will likely not be alone. At RVbookstore.com, sales of books and DVDs about traveling to the far North are up about four times what they were last year at this time. Our theory is that a lot of RVers put off a trip to Alaska last year, hoping that the then-high gas prices would come down the following season. Alas, no such luck. We think that as last year wound down and the RVers’ thoughts turned to the summer of 2005, they said, “OK, we can wait or we can go.” Apparently, many decided to go.

For these RVers and other motorists heading north, there’s one resource that should be required reading for the trip. It ought to be illegal to not pack it along (I joke, or course, but such a law wouldn’t get an argument from me.) That resource: The Milepost, which, since 1949, has been THE guidebook for motorists who are headed to Alaska, the Yukon Territory, British Columbia, Alberta and the Northwest Territories. The first edition was a mere 72 pages. Then, there were about 1,000 miles of connected road within Alaska. Today, The Milepost is a full-color book of almost 800 pages and 300 color photos, and includes logs of attractions, activities and services along 88 scenic highways and roads in Alaska, Yukon Territory and other parts of Western Canada.

A popular feature of the book is its foldout Plan-A-Trip Map. There is also good coverage for the Alaska Railroad and the White Pass and Yukon Route; as well as the Alaska and BC ferry systems. Field editors who live in Alaska and Canada drive the roads and visit the Inside Passage every year to provide up-to-date, comprehensive information to travelers. When you want to know where you'll find turnouts, gas, food, lodgings, public campgrounds and RV parks, or restrooms; which Alaska glaciers are easy to reach by road or what the Talkeetna Moose Dropping Festival is—The Milepost tells you. Anyone who is headed to Alaska via the Alaska Highway will miss a whole lot of what there is to see and do without having this book along. The directory sells for $25.95.

For Beginners Only

There’s no shortage of how-to books aimed at beginning RVers — a new one seems to surface every few months. The latest entry is The Everything Family Guide to RV Travel and Campgrounds. The subtitle is “From choosing the right vehicle to planning your trip—all you need for your adventure on wheels.”

The first two thirds of the book is a primer for RV newbies with all the basic questions addressed: which type of RV is best for you, what are the costs of RVing, and how do you prepare for a first trip. Author Marian Eure, an RVer herself, explains how to use everything in the RV—appliances, the holding tanks, electrical and water systems and all the other odds and ends that make RVing possible.

The last third of the book, about 150 pages, could have been used better. Eure provides a list of campgrounds in every state that she says “are well suited to RVs.” Unfortunately, she only includes a few campgrounds per state. And as we all know, there are a heck of a lot more good campgrounds than that in even the smallest states. Consequently, this information is much too incomplete to be of much practical use.

For beginning RVers, though, and because of the book’s modest price of $14.95, this is a good guide that will get a newbie up to speed fast on all the basics of RVing.