Travel Ideas

      My wife and I happened on what to us is a great idea when traveling in the US.
      It was prompted by our lack of desire to spend the amount of money they ask these days for a new car. We have driven a 1968 Volvo 144S sedan for many years. These days we won't drive our own car more than 30 miles from home. It's too risky and can absolutely destroy a vacation if your transmission goes out in Yellowstone Park!
      But we wanted to take a long trip and visit a lot of friends in many places. And we certainly didn't trust our good old reliablle '68 Volvo although it was still performing well.
            So, we checked with Avis and found out we could rent a car for 29 days with unlimited mileage for $800. We bit and rented a Buick Regal with air conditioning and cruise control.
      We started from San Luis Obispo CA and headed north. We visited a friend in Portland OR. Next we visited another friend in Billings Montana and then stopped for a couple days in Fargo ND/Moorhead MN to visit relatives.
      Next we headed south to Sauny's early home, Maryville Missouri to visit all her high school friends. While going through Iowa, the cruise control quit! This was a good test of our method. The car was of course drivable so we continued. When we left Maryville we went south. As we caught the Interstate East at Kansas City we encountered the Kansas CIty International Airport, So I turned in, found the Avis building, parked, went in and dropped the keys on the counter. I said the cruise control went out in Iowa. The dealer in Maryville said that ****'s garage here in Kansas City has one and now we need another car.
      Without batting an eye, the counterman said, "We have another Buick Regal right there", pointing at a pretty bright red car just outside the door. It has California plates and we have been trying to get it back there. Here are the keys." We spent a few more minutes changing papers while my wife loaded our baggage and we were back on the freeway in less than thirty minutes with a new car.
      We went on our way, to Louisville to visit a friend, to Niagara to visit the falls, to Bangor Maine to visit a friend, to Boston to visit more friends. We stopped in Amherst to visit Emily Dickinson's home. Then we rocketed down to Orlando Florida to visit more friends.
      Then we spent the rest of the trip sightseeing. We went through Mobile Alabama over to New Orleans and spent a day. We went to Hot Springs Arkansas and it was like stepping back into the 20's. They came by the name honestly. There were bathhouses all over with those little hexagonal tile floors and deep tubs and lots of amenities. We enjoyed a good soak. I recommend it!
      Next stop was a friend in Albuquerque.
      It was too far to drive all the way home so we went to Boulder City Arizona. We didn't know what Boulder City was and expected very little. We drove over miles and miles of desert and had a few thoughts that this might not be our finest day. We finally approached the Colorado River, the state line between Arizona and Nevada. We broke over a hill and there was Boulder City. And across the river,----- Laughlin Nevada, a would be Las Vegas with sparkling lights and many casinos, a veritable jewel in the desert. We had a motel reservation in Boulder City. It was an excellent room and had a pool and as I remember cost $29 for the night! It turns out that Laughlin is surrounded by Federal land and they didn't have room for unlimited motel expansion. So the motels were in Boulder City and the Casinos across the river in Nevada, a rather cosy arrangement.
      So, of course, we went over to a casino, had a great supper for a very low price. Sauny got $20 worth of quarters and gave me $10. I promptly ran them up to $5 and gave it back to her. I'm just not very lucky. But she ran hers up to about $55 and quit. We went back to the motel, got up in the morning, went back to the casino for breakfast and she did a little bit of gambling while I went to get the car. She lost about $5 in the process but our whole stay there didn't cost us anything because of her winnings.
      The next day was the 29th day and we drove back to San Luis Obispo and turned in the car. I don't think we could have driven our own car for that price if one considers all the wear and tear and possible needed repairs.
      And the peace of mind during the trip was priceless!
      In our opinion, it's the only way to go!