RV rental – California

January 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Thanks to all those who responded and gave travel time tips. Much appreciated. Next on the list is car rental. Two of us want to rent a RV from LA to Vegas RETURN. We then want a car to drive LA to San Francisco ONE WAY. Lonely Planet has good advice but any tips and info from others experiences please. Recommended company? Insurance? Package deals? How about Driveaways for LA to San Francisco? Any benefits esp. price if car rental organized through travel agent along with flights? We’ll be flying in to LA from New Zealand.

Be sure to tell the rental agency in advance that you want written endorsement on your rental contract that you can take the car into Nevada. It’s never been a problem when I’ve told them in advance. The advice about auto insurance is also good.  Assuming NZ handles insurance similar to Australia and the UK, I can say the categories here are different from what you have back home.  See what if anything can be covered by your company.

Two examples about insurance differences (I), I’ll be heading to Scotland next month.  The insurance that comes with the car covers all damage, and all medical except for the driver.  The remaining insurance comes from an “umbrella” policy that have here in the US, based on my commitment to get the maximum insurance available on the rental contract.  (II) In the US the insurance is divided into personal liability (as in being responsible for repaying costs for personal injury – medical, lawsuits), collision (damage to vehicles), being the major ones, with another category for uninsured motorist.  The latter covers you if the UM is considered at fault, but is driving without insurance.  Some states make it illegal not to  have insurance, but that doesn’t prevent uninsured drivers from other states from driving in California.  I’ve never had to invoke UM, but its good to have.

 

 

Filed Under: RV Rental Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

How is Bucharest?

January 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

I am sure you will enjoy your trip to Bucharest.  You will note that the city is incredibly clean, very western European, and rich. You won’t see many Ford Mustangs or Explorers because the income level is so high that you will more see Mercedes SUVs, Land Rovers and Jeep Limited Cherokees.  In fact, the Mercedes brand name is probably more well-known there than Ford. If you are thinking in terms of Fords, I am not sure you will be able to afford Bucharest.  Quite frankly, people there are apparently on a
higher status plane than you.

As for shopping malls, they are so many that you probably would not be able to cover the basic ones in a couple weeks’ vacation.  And be ready to spend some major Euros and Deutschmarks because the exchange rate is in Romania’s favor these days.  Do visit the Gucci outlet on Ceau Ceau Boulevard – Here you can have clothing, jewelry and other necessary accessories individually designed.  Nearby, enjoy some Caspian Beluga or malosol on toast points for an appetizer with your American lobster from Maine, flown in daily at one of Bucharest’s new “California style” restaurants.  Jicama and cilantro are no strangers to todays’ Romanian cuisine. You will certainly enjoy the quiet of a true civil society. Regrettably, however, because of the high standard of living, you might be a tad disappointed with service industry workers.

Prepare for your journey by considering your wardrobe.  You won’t seem out of place if you wear a decent pair of English walking shoes and riding boots, although expensive, have become de rigeur for Bucharest’s inclement weather.  A camel hair sport coat will make you “fit in” with the locals.  Accessorize with a silk scarf.  This is one country, by the way, where furs are frequently encountered and you won’t be stigmatized for wearing one.  In general, please dress well;  you wouldn’t want to be considered one of those dirty unwashed tourists who is under the false impression that he can “do” Romania on the cheap. The local custom, if you want to be treated as well as the ordinary citizen, is for travelers to bring their belongings in belting leather luggage. You’ll pay a bit higher than normal tip for your sky cap service and a bit more than usual per bag for the taxis, but fitting in will determine how you are treated in this fortunate country.  Fortunately, you will be able to save money on your car rental and, again fortunately, you will be pleased to note the ready availability of parking spaces and the high level of civil society.  This is no Bulgaria where you need fear your windshield wipers being stolen.  

You are undoubtedly traveling to Romania for investment purposes. Everyone who is anyone is trying to get a piece of the thriving Romanian economy these days so be prepared for some hard bargaining.  But Romania’s place in Europe is incredibly secure and its ports clean and thriving.  The Tisza and the Danube have especially delicious drinking water.  One pays a bit for such a favorable location and cleanliness – the price of Central European success so near tourist mecca of the nearby intriguing Balkans.

I’m afraid that the Romanians have become a bit lazy over the centuries from their massive wealth and no longer perform their own folk music and customs, being completely westernized. However, you will note that Romani (Gypsy) musicians make quite incredible incomes preserving Romanian folk customs on behalf of Romanians. This symbiotic cultural arrangement is the result of a centuries long special inter cultural communion resulting in a selection of personal tasks within the society.  If ROmania had not treated its Romani so well in the past centuries, you would not be able to enjoy the odd Roma violinist.

Do in enjoy your trip.  It may be expensive, but such luxuries are enjoyed rarely in one’s lifetime. Don’t hesitate to come back to this newsgroup and let everyone here know about the wonderful time you had there.

Just one more tip.  I would suggest renting your RV rental in advance.  SUVs and other luxury cars are in great demand these days. You wouldn’t want to end up slumming it and taking taxis everywhere so plan ahead!

 

Filed Under: RV Rental Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

K1500 Questions

January 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

I am considering ordering a new K1500 truck from the local Chevy dealer and have some questions I would like to know about before I talk to the salesman and look the fool.

First, what are the merits of automatic transmission over manual?  Friends I have spoken too say that automatics are better for very slow creeping over the roughest of terrain.  On the other hand, manuals are better for creeping downhill (engine brakeing).  My two current vehicles have manual tranny and both my wife and I like shifting for ourselves.  This truck is intended for a go anywhere RV rental for 2 to 4 weeks a year, a second car otherwise.

Second, what is different about the manual transmission offered with the 5.7l engine vs. the manual on the smaller engines?  I would expect the larger engine to require a transmission with a higher torque handling ability.  Are the gear ratios different?  Does this unit have “granny” gear, and if so, would this counter the above cited advantage of an automatic?

Third, I have never owned a 4X4 before, so I do not know the merits of various systems available.  According the the pamphlet from the dealer, push-button 4-wheel drive selection is standard on all 4X4 units, but the photos all show a shift lever in the cab.  The price list I obtained from the Edmond’s WWW site does not mention this “option” at all.  Is this issue affected by transmission choice?  What about the front wheel hubs?  Is limited slip available for the front?

Lastly, how much over invioce can I expect to pay?  According to the Edmond’s list, the truck optioned the way I want it comes to $21K invoice, $23.5K MSRP.  I live in the San Diego area where trucks sell very well.

Autos have several advantages over manuals for off-roading.  First, the torque converter effectively increases your gear reduction when going uphill at lower engine rpms.  At higher rpms, the converter slips less (if at all).  Also, you don’t have to worry about stalling and the whole need for a third foot in tricky situations.  When going downhill, the wheels are turning the engine (engine braking).  Torque converters don’t like to work in this direction and will require the wheels to turn faster before the engine starts to turn.
Therefore, as you say, a manual is better for downhills.

 

Filed Under: RV Rental Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Hal Turner’s Racism

January 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

I have no problem with fishing where the fish are, that’s what I pay them for.  But in the end of things a profile, like a medical test, is judged by its false positives and negatives. Certainly membership in a recognizable group is a factor.  Stopping all blacks, however, more in the interest of real estate values than drugs, is a pretty shitty profile. And if I thought police were stopping all blacks just because they were black, I’d be screaming against profiling also.  But, I don’t really think that (race) is the sole thing looked at.  I’m sure other factors are also used.

For example, in a vehicle, the officer might look at the age of the occupants, visible clothing, visible signs of gang affiliation, type of car (rental, for example), number of occupants, where the vehicle appears to be coming from, where the vehicle appears to be going, and so forth.  Or, on an arriving flight, the officer might look at the age of the person, clothing, visible signs of gang affiliation, where the flight came from, where the flight is going, and so forth.

  In fact, I know for a fact that blacks are not the only ones stopped. Many years ago I was stopped, and my vehicle searched, by border patrol agents when we arrived back from a vacation in Canada.  Of course, back then I fit the typical image (profile) of a person who might have drugs in the vehicle – long hair, hippy-style clothing, an older car (not the typical RV rental, but I only lived a few miles from the border), and so forth.  Since we didn’t have much luggage in the vehicle, the search took about five minutes and we were on the road again.

  And I didn’t get angry at the officer either.  Heck, my mother even thought I was using drugs – so it was not really surprising the officer thought the same thing.

Filed Under: RV Rental Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

1965 Custom Cab vs. Camper Special

January 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The camper special was designed for the addition of one of those slip-in campers.  It had a heavy-duty cooling system, so you could lug the beast over hill and dale.  It had beefed-up springs on the back for the added, constant weight.  And a larger battery (Amp-Hour rating) and matching alternator.  It may have had nicer finish and interior, because it was intended to be a Rental RV as opposed to a farm truck opr work truck, and people on vacation tend to like a few more creature comforts, but I’m not certain whether “Camper Special” meant it was more aesthetically pleasing.

I never knew about the custom cab option – I thought this was a marketting thing and meant not much, really.  (I never saw a pickup that didn’t have this.) Like the twin I-Beam label on the side of the vehicle – they all had it, so why bother.

I believe this is right, but I stand to be corrected by those more knowledgeable.

 

Filed Under: RV Rental Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Cost of Motels vs. Recreational Vehicle Travel

January 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

I would like to start a discussion on the costs of travelling in Rental RV vs. the cost of using Motels/hotels for trips in Canada and the U.S.

You need to be more specific.  How much do you expect to travel?  There are many costs of an RV (taxes, insurance, registration, maintenance) that care more or less amortized over time.  If you travel a lot and polan to keep an RV for a long time, your costs will be significantly different from buying an RV for one trip of ay 6 months around the US. Where you travel and the kind of accomodations you like (RV resort vs public campground or budget motel vs up-scale motel) also make a difference in costs.  In general, I would not recommend buying an RV simply with an eye to saving money.  Then tend to be money pis unless you are skilled at maintenance and enjoy working on them yourself.  This doesn’t mean you should not get one, just that they are not automatic money savers over motels.

There is more to this Rving than just an economic analysis. These are two very different ways of seeing the world. You can save money in an RV by cooking your own meals, overnight lodging etc. On the other hand, your gas mileage sucks (10mpg max with a gasoline engine) and you have some pretty big capital costs.

The big difference is in the experience you have traveling. With an RV you will never pull into a town and find all of the motels are no vacancy. You can just find a Walmart Parking lot and you are set for the night. It is very common for me to head out friday evenings and drive until I am tired, then I find a roadside rest or just pull off the interstate and park. I get a nice nights rest in my own bed, in the morning I have a cup of fresh java and hit the road whenever the mood strikes, sometimes its 5 am othertimes not untill 7 or 8. Then when the coffee has been processed there is nothing like having your own facilities on board.

 

Filed Under: RV Rental Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Update to SALE – CHEAP RV RARE/UNCOMMON

January 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The following cards are still for sale…note that they are all RV, and in near mint to mint condition (never been used)

Wrath of God    $5.00
Aladdin’s Ring  $5.00
Living Artifact $5.00
Kudzu           $4.00
Darkpact        $3.00

Conversion      $1.00
Channel         $1.00
Uthden Troll    $0.75
Blue Ward       $0.50
Cursed Land     $0.50
Red Ward (2)    $0.50 each
Iron Star       $0.50
Glasses of Urza $0.50
Siren’s Call    $0.50

* This is a sale, not an auction.  All prices are non-negotiable, and sales will be made on a first-come, first-served basis.  Note that there is only one of each card available unless otherwise posted.

* Cards will be shipped in cardboard sandwiches in normal envelopes at a shipping cost of $0.25.  If you wish your cards sent another way, let me know and we’ll work something out, but the buyer will have to pay for any “special treatment.”

* Payment must be in U.S dollars.  Money Orders are preferable; Checks are accepted.  Cards will mailed to the buyer when a money order arrives or when a check clears. (if I could go back one line, I’d put a “be” before “mailed.” 8^)

* I reserve the right to cancel or refuse a sale, though I’m not sure why I’d want to! :)

*I’ll try to respond to everyone, but I’m very busy…if you don’t hear back within 48 hours, it means the cards you wanted were already sold.  Anyone who wants a card that’s available will hear from me within 48 hours, barring some catastrophe that keeps me from my account.

 

Filed Under: RV Rental Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Short Vacation Tales of Las Vegas

January 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Everyone is recovering from vacation and getting ready for school. Tracy starts again on Monday.  We’re busy and not ready for school. Winnings?  None that I would ever confess to in public.  We did get to see Englebert Humper (dinck, or what ever it is that he humpers).  Very pleasant.  Getting to the place with proper tickets was a clusterfsck, though.  See below. Speaking of clusterfscks, one of the FM hard rock stations in Vegas was FSCK FM.  So close, so close, you had to read the advertising sign very carefully. They did it on purpose, of course.

A couple of dear relatives that work for the airlines gave us “Buddy passes”.  This means you fly free and they meant so well, but flying is at a priority lower than the lowest paying standby passenger.  Also, lower than whale shit on the bottom of the ocean, to tell the truth.   This means you get on the plane last, if there is room for you, and you won’t know if you are going at all until they are almost closing the door to the plane for the last time.

We didn’t make the flight to Las Vegas out of Austin, so we bought direct flight tickets.  Buying walk-up tickets is painful, but not as painful psychologically as paying for room and entertainments that cannot be used.  Shucks.

Ofelia bought the Humperdumpel tickets on line and they were supposed to be picked up in Las Vegas.  We went to the show room (by taxi, way off the strip) several hours in advance of the show to get the tickets and were told we had to go to a specific ticket outlet in the Forum at Caesar’s Palace.  Taxi ride to the Forum.  We asked around and no one knew what we were talking about, until finally a concierge said that she thought it was somewhere near Planet Hollywood.  Walked all around the Planet — nothing.  We finally asked at Planet Hollywood, and deep within the restaurant was a tiny ATM-looking ticket gadget that recognized our confirmation number and the card we used to buy the tickets in the first place.  Taxi back.  Show was good; taxi back to our hotel/casino.  That was four taxi rides and each one took a different route, but each came within about 20 cents of the same price.

Ofelia wanted to see a traditional Las Vegas review, so we went to “Jubilee”.  Not bad.  Lots of dancing with a certain amount of T&A.  In truth, because they were dancers, there was considerably more A than T — big butts, but little on top but a smile.  The top stars and singers didn’t have to strip, however.

There were some impressive circus flyers.  This art form has evolved greatly away from traditional trapeze exercises.  My favorites were a couple of Chinese acrobats.  They were very agile, very flexible, very powerful gymnasts.  They could crawl through anything, butt first.  Not feet first, but butt first.

Then, there was going home. We got up at 4:00 AM to take the earliest possible flight out of Las Vegas.  The route was through Denver, but then the troubles hit.  The 10:00 AM flight out of Denver was overbooked and they were paying $400 vouchers with standby on the 3:00 PM flight and guaranteed transport on the 7:00 PM flight.  Early in the morning, the people in the know said the evening flight, itself, was overbooked and next day looked the same.   Was there any other airline with a flight to Austin?  All were sold out, or overbooked.

So, we decided to rent a RV.  I had a class and Ofelia had to be at the hospital two days down the line.  We rented a car and were going through the last security check before leaving the lot, and the inspector noticed my driver’s license was expired.  The wretched piece of dreck had expired on my birthday and I had not a clue.  We had to go back in and re-rent the car in Ofe’s name and on her card and I had to promise not to drive.  My conscience didn’t bother me at all. Under the circumstances, I did use the the speed control as my fuzz-buster.  Ofelia didn’t and got busted in Decatur, just out of Wichita Falls.

We spent seventeen driving hours on the road with one sleep stop — without toiletries or changes of clothes.  The motel did give us toothbrushes.  The male vs. female argument went on as to which is conceptually worse, to take a shower and get back into the terribles, or to be more faithful to oneself and just stay honorably grungy all the way.  Tracy cannot conceive of a day without a shower, and she was not particularly impressed with the argument, “You’re going to get back into THOSE?”

 

Filed Under: RV Rental Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

“Free” Bahamas vacation – yeah right!

January 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

This is just a warning message.  I just got a call that I “won” a “free” vacation to the Bahamas.  I originally registered to win a car, but that was stupid on my part.

I “supposedly” won the following:

(1) Stay at Holiday Inn Galleria in Ft. Lauderdale Florida for one night
(2) cruise the next day on the Discovery I ship to the Bahamas.  Stay for 3 days/2 nights in Freeport at the Royal Islander Resort
(3) cruise back to Ft. Lauderdale and stay at the Holiday Inn Galleria again for 2 more nights
(4) then they give you a rental RV to go to Orlando for 4 days/3 nights

What’s the catch? $239 per adult (2 adults) + $109 port taxes per adult.

When asked why pay? Response: well, we give you a rental RV.  When asked when do I have to pay? Now; when I started saying something, they hung up on me.  They simply called the wrong person.  I am sitting here studying fraud for my law school exam tomorrow, and they happened to call me.  I just wanted to laugh.  Anyway, this message is just a little “beware” message just in case anyone gets one of these calls.

 

Filed Under: RV Rental Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Advice on European Vacation

January 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

After seeing so many good articles in rec.travel (I loved the summary on castles!), I’m sure this will be a great place to get advice on my upcoming vacation. I’m planning a vacation to Europe this May. We will be going to Italy, France and Britain, spending about one week in each country.There will be four of us in Italy and Britain, and five in France. So far, the tentative itinerary is as follows:

- Arrive in Rome.
- Venice (Maybe stop in Florence on the way if we have time)
- South of France (Provence and the Riviera)
- Loire Valley
- Go up North to Calais to cross the channel, possibly stopping in Paris for a day (most of us have been to Paris before)
- Britain. We don’t really know where we want to go yet in  Britain, except that we’ll for sure be in London for at least 2 days, and probably   go to Edinburgh.

I’d like some general advice on the itinerary. Is it too frantic? Will we be spending too much time traveling? We’d like to get a mixture of cities and countryside on the trip. What are the can’t miss attractions? What are some of the ‘unusual’ activities you’ve undertaken and enjoyed? Our interests are fairly diverse, but we all enjoy meeting people, history and architecture (my primary interest!), and scenery.

I also have a few specific questions I’d like help on:

- We plan to travel by train and bus in Italy, but would like to use a combination of rail and RV rental to get around in  France and Britain, so we can explore some of the more out of the way areas. What would be the most economical arrangement? Are the EurailDrive passes a good value? Or should we get a regular rail pass and rent a car separately?

- On the flexible rail or rail/drive passes, the offer is usually something like 5 days train travel, 3 days RV rental in any 15 days. Would this be enough given our itinerary?

- What would be a good base for us in Riviera/Provence? We’d like to stay in a small town or village that is centrally located, but will consider bigger cities if it’s much more convenient. Four of us will be coming from Venice and one from Paris.

- Similarly, what would be a good base for use in the Loire Valley? I’ve heard that Blois is nice.

- Are there any moderately priced ‘historic’ accommodations in the areas we are planning to visit? Ie., converted chateaux, abbey, monastery, convent, etc.

- We plan on making hotel reservations in Rome, Venice and whereever we decide to stay in the South of France. Is this enough?

- What would people suggest for a week in Great Britain? This is the fuzziest area in our itinerary right now.

- Since we want to visit Scotland and need to end up in London for the return flight, where should we go when we first arrive in England from France?

 

 

Filed Under: RV Rental Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,
« Older Posts