Date:         Tue, 12 Aug 2008 22:46:44 -0600
Reply-To:     brions cars <zion-porsche-vw@Q.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         brions cars <zion-porsche-vw@Q.COM>
Subject:      Re: Advice needed for cross-country trip
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

A wireless laptop will come in handy. Use hot spots along the way. Wireless service? It seems that everyone is limiting bandwidth and you can easily excide it and spend $200 extra a month. Of if you have an older unlimited plan...great. A nation wide cell phone...many providers work great in the metro areas. Get one that has greater coverage. A gps is fun but not a requirement. I use one on trails a lot. If your on the beaten path, maps are the best. AAA Plus or higher is cheap insurance for a tow; plus you can get all you travel maps from them. When you get closer to your destination, stop by an AAA office for more detailed maps of the local area. It sounds like you have a reliable vehicle and the means to survive the trip no matter what happens...so relax and enjoy it. If you come by Zion National Park stop by for a cold one.

Brion S.
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Ellen<mailto:elleninoregon@HOTMAIL.COM> 
  To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM<mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM> 
  Sent: Tuesday, August 12, 2008 8:53 PM
  Subject: Advice needed for cross-country trip


  The short story is this: I'm planning on quitting my job the first part of October, and embarking on a cross-country trip to see all my relatives.  This trip will take me from Oregon to Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Texas, California, then back home to Oregon.  About 6000 miles in all.  I don't have any particular time schedule.  I have a pension, and will look for more satisfying work when I get back home.  Lola (with just under 53,000 original miles) will make the trip.  I have AAA plus and sufficient funds should anything go wrong on the road.  I guess my question is logistics.  I don't have a laptop currently, but I see the need for one.  A wireless internet service?  GPS?  What else do I need to know?  This is all new ground for me.  Anyone who has done this, please let me know what worked, what didn't work, what you wish you had known.
   
  TIA,
   
  Ellen & Lola, '85 Vanagon ASI       Don't wait for a light to appear at the end of the tunnel; stride down there.....and light the bloody thing yourself.' ~Dara Henderson
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