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A big part of my fascination with the Midwest is probably my upbringing on the Minnesota farm. Seeing and hearing the corn grow, eating tomatoes and peas fresh from the plants in the huge garden.Riding the tractor with Dad, tending chickens with Mom. The amazing smell of new cut hay. Riding my pony, and the odd calf... Fording the usually shallow creek between us and nearest neighbors, chasing butterflies, finding tiger lilies and lady slippers in the woods.. The barn dad built from lumber he cut and milled himself still stands. He always told me I helped, but all I did was paint very low boards, and pull nails for him... I was six.but I sure loved being there with Dad. Life on the farm was pretty simple, but rich. We depended on each other, our family, and our neighbors. None of us had a lot, but we all had about the same...as my childhood friend Rose says, we had no idea others had more, so no big deal Those farm years, before we moved to "town", gave me a huge appreciation for life, green, and simple. I'd love to go back to those days. Easy, no. My parents worked unbelievably hard. Satisfying, certainly. And that big prairie sky... I remember laying under the oak in the pasture, watching the clouds. Imagining the rest of the world on the cloud figures. Since then, I've been lucky enough to see a lot of the world. But, you know, those cornfields are pretty darn amazing, too. Sherry

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" I have not been in a state or a Providence that I have not found places that were interesting or that we have not enjoyed. Now I do pick and choose the time of year to visit Death Valley is far more attractive to me with a Feb. superbloom that July heat wave. Now Big cities and traffic are not my thing so I will drive miles around Chicago , New York etc. we do enjoy the differences. Thanks Gary

I just got back from a week in the Midwest. Basecamp, northern Missouri at Mom's house. Driving miss Daisy, we went on to Wisconsin to celebrate her birthday with her twin. I wish I had more photos. We followed the great river road ad much as practical. It's an amazing, beautiful drive. Whether the Mississippi is to your left, or your right, it's just beautiful. I can never get enough. Sherry

If you travel a little further east, you can see the fireflies in all their glory, North Carolina - Blue Ridge Parkway - June timeframe That is Trumpetguy's stomping ground, maybe he'll chime in.

John's points are well taken: bugs, humidity, close horizon, etc. I am a Westerner and had not been as far east for over thirty years as we were this past June to pick up our Ollie. However, I feel the same way as Gary and Mike: I have never been in any region of the country that I have not found interesting or as having its own beauty. I still remember the enchantment, for instance, not far from Hohenwald, of waterfalls and fireflies along the Natchez Trace Parkway at dusk--pure magic. On the other hand, it was so refreshing to cross the continental divide on the way back to our SE nook in Arizona: towering peaks; wide vistas; clear, dry air; sparkling clear, rushing water. (I do miss those fireflies.) By the way, we now live about 100 miles from the location depicted in Gary's photo. My photo was taken at Lake Scott State Park, an oasis in the otherwise dry--and very flat--terrain of Western Kansas. --Jeff

Adorned with beautiful landscapes, such as the Palo Duro Canyon and Guadalupe Mountains National Park, and offering some of the most spectacular beauties such as the Wichita Falls, Lake Travis and Padre Island National Seashore, Texas is a... Read More Facebook post: See post

There are many interesting historic military installations around the country. It might be interesting to have a thread where folks could post pictures and information about their visits to these places of US history. Many active military installations also have nice museums and historic buildings.

We spent some time in Davis Mountains State Park TX last month on our way back from New Mexico. It's near Fort Davis, Marfa, and McDonald Observatory. The Airstream in this picture is a 1960's model that the owner completely restored. That's our trailer in the middle of the picture!

My guess to the "why not" is that a lot of times too many choices can be confusing and overwhelming, to the uninitiated and actually turn people off who aren't good with decisions. So it's good for a company to pick what works well and at a good price and offer that. The problem comes in when that is all they offer. This is where Oliver excels, for people who know what they are doing and what they are looking for, they do everything they can to accommodate the customer's request, like the AC, more solar, or even the AC/DC marine fridge. One just needs to know what they are looking for and ask.

Good point, Gary. We also find beauty in every region. Sherry's picture stirred good memories of the many times we've driven across Kansas on our way to and from home. Having lived in a dozen states from Hawaii to New York there's not a region we wouldn't go back to! Mike

Been there, and I have no plans to return: The horizon is way too close. The rivers and streams are sluggish, unattractive and full of brown muck. There are too many people. There are too many big rigs crammed onto the main roads, going too fast. The air is thick and wet. There are too many biting bugs. The weather is violent and unpredictable. The camping opportunities are limited, commercialized, and way too expensive. The freeways and bridges are rough and decayed. It is so darned FLAT. There is a very cool train museum in downtown Omaha, gas is really cheap, and uhmmm, that's about it for me. I was born in Iowa and grew up in St Louis and Nashville. I got out of that part of the country in 1981 and have no regrets about leaving, nor any plans to travel east of Denver any time in my lifetime.... I picked up Mouse in May and nothing I experienced during the 21 day trip did anything to change my mind. Bah humbug. Come out west for a visit. You need to add a few Rockie Mountain states to your travel map. ;) John Davies Spokane WA

And, then, there is that wonderful huge prairie sky. Like this, on my way to Moline, to fly home to Florida The sky goes on forever, as does that silver ribbon of road. I just had to watch for tractors.... Sherry

I finished editing the video and put it on our blog on here. The Truma portion starts on pg10 http://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/reed-karens-blog/page/10/#post-66175

You won't regret going with the Atwood. Remember that you need special wiring to connect it to your thermostat to turn the fan on and off. Otherwise the unit will run constantly. This can wear on you after a few days. I solved this with a separate Honeywell digital thermostat to control the Atwood. Send the signal to a 30 amp relay and you control the Atwood the same as your AC at home. Oliver should be able to do for you during the build. when I bought my Airstream it came with a Dometic Brisk 15000 and I did the same mod with it. Works great.

I think that this is an issue only if you live and camp in a humid climate. I was bothered by the water draining off the back in TN because there was some tree debris on the roof and the water stain was brown and difficult to remove. I needed to use Starbrite marine hull cleaner to get it off. 409 would not touch it. OTH I live and camp in an arid climate and the water will not be a problem IMHO. I have no regrets about the Air Command, but I do recommend that you get the bigger model if you plan to use it a lot. Mine is the 13.5k "equivalent" and it works pretty hard on nasty hot days, but I chose it due to the ease of running it off my generator, and because of its REALLY quiet noise level. I will be giving it a really good test next week. We will be camping two days and nights during a killer Northwest heat wave. But it's a dry heat LOL. John Davies Spokane WA