THE ROAD THROUGH ENON

By Barry Zander, Edited by Monique Zander, the Never-Bored RVers

Back in about 1952, with my sister Linda and me in the backseat, our family left New Orleans, our hometown, for a drive up to Chicago, where my father had a convention scheduled.  Somewhere around mile 25 of the trip, we were diverted from U.S. Hwy. 61 because of a tanker truck on fire.

About an hour later, as my father drove our blue Cadillac through the underbelly of Louisiana, near the four or five houses that comprised the Village of Enon, he admitted we were lost.  That’s when my mother told him to stop the car., which he did.  She rolled down the window, and as a grazing cow looked up at her, she asked, “How do we get to Chicago?”

Thus began the legend of Enon in our family.  A fond memory, which Linda and I still refer to as a memorial to my mother’s often-unintentional wittiness.

This blog is written for two main reasons:  1) to get you thinking and responding, and, 2) as a platform to pass along responses from our last article about planning.

A few years ago as Monique and I were zooming eastward down Interstate 70 into Kansas City, I apparently wasn’t paying close enough attention to the lane signs and suddenly we found ourselves hauling our trailer on the Interstate 435 Loop around K.C..  Monique made sure I knew the error of my ways* as we kept driving … and driving, not exactly sure where we were going to come out (it was in the days before GPSes).

* we know that our stress level always rises when we’re in city traffic.

As we traveled onward to Babler State Park in St. Louis, we heard on the radio news that the 70 was stopped by a major traffic accident.  About that time we saw the sign for Interstate 70.  We had luckily bypassed the mess and continued on our way.

Tell us your stories of taking the wrong route, for better or worse, limiting it to 400 words or less.  Those are the types of memories that can make the journey more fun than the destination.  Send your story in an email:

Because of the numerous Spam comments on this site, the comments section has been deactivated.  Please email us at neverboredrvers@gmail.com and I will pass along your comments.

Now for the “2)” part of this blog:  Comments received to our last blog.

Hi Barry –

really enjoy your blogs!

you have more than likely already seen this (in which case please discard), but the route planner lets you enter multiple destinations and might be helpful.  Tis better to have it discarded than to not share, and I am sure there are others like this available.

http://www.drivingrouteplanner.com/index.php?page=step1_simple&transaction=route_planner_simple

Cheers –

Peter DeQuoy

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Hi Barry & Monique,

I will be following you as you take off across the country, like I hope to do in about 5 years.  I’m a single woman who will be traveling with my Sheltie (who can’t drive).

I’ll pray for your safety and health as you live the life many of us hope to live some day.  Appreciate all your tips and observances.

God speed.

Ma (Susan)

Nashville, TN

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Hello Barry,

My wife and I are excited for your upcoming summer trip to the east coast and Canada. We followed your blog closely on your Alaska Adventure and we are sure we will enjoy this trip just as much. We made our trip to Alaska Last summer and did a Blog, also…although nothing like yours; however, your blog is what inspired us. We are not fully retired yet but we are kind of on the same path as we are preparing to downsize and make ourselves available for more of the long-run trips and still maintain an anchor point where we will be close to friends and family.

Thanks for the Blog and we will follow closely

Safe Travels

Gordon and Nancy Miller

Google: catchusifucan.blogspot.com

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Hi,

I have been reading your blog for a while now as my husband and I are also “most time” RVers. We have a 21-foot TT that we bought in 2009 when we sold our lodging business in northern New Hampshire and pursued our retirement dream. We do have a base – we bought a small house in Kentucky (nice people, good tax structure – not tax free but definitely retirement income friendly and incredible neighbors who mow our lawn in the summer in exchange for use of the land for planting and horse grazing.)

We, too, are getting excited and in preparation mode for leaving. We are expecting to hit the road on March 4. The reason I am writing (I am really not trying to bore you or waste your time) is because we also plan to stay some time in the DC area this year. We will be camping at the Greenbelt Park in MD. We haven’t tried boondocking for 2 weeks before so this will be a grand experiment (no generator).

I am looking forward to reading about more of your travels.

Linda Freschette

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Hi. Yes I have noticed that comments were not working, so I gave up on you.  Thanks for clearing that item up.  It’s nice to be able to add a comment and not have to figure out the letters and numbers to do so.

As for your trip…WOW… what a nice plan.  Make sure to follow your schedule and don’t rush, but let us all enjoy your fun.

Good luck !

Gary

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I’m looking forward to your trip and hearing about your adventures. I’ve wanted to do just that my whole life and finally we retired last year after working 6 & 7 days a week. We weren’t exactly looking for a 5^th wheel but one found us and we try to use it once a month. We live outside Sacramento and have used it on short runs, been to the Redwoods last summer and took it down to Ventura to visit The Channel Islands National Park returning through Palmdale over Tehachapi and back up I-5 home.

We’re planning a four to six-week northern US states trip (skipping the western states) traveling as far as Cleveland trying to hit mostly National Parks but not limiting to just that. It’s a start.

I enjoy reading about your adventures and just wanted to say thanks. Keep ‘em coming.

Bill Aubin

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Hello! My names Dan from NE Pa. I just wondered if you could send me the links to your blogs or websites. I love following along when I can. We hope to do this someday.

Thanks, Dan Moser

Good luck 🙂

[Dan, I am working diligently to put more content on my website.  As soon as I’m satisfied that it’s worth accessing, you’ll be the first to know (along with a few other friends and readers.  Thanks.]

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Enjoyed your What We’re Doing On a Snowy Day article and noticed your plan to zigzag through New England. We have been 5^th wheel camping, out of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, for the last 4 years with major trips in the spring, summer and fall, one month, one month and two and a half months respectively.  Our fall trip this year is Vegas and the National Parks in Utah, but we do have a New England trip on our bucket list with the theme being, clam chowder for lunch and lobster for supper every day, called “an eating trip.”  We have friends who have done a similar, although driving only, trip and have a listing of restaurants they have enjoyed.  Anyway, we would certainly enjoy keeping up with you on your blog and seeing your plan for the zigzag.  Hope the snow gets out of there and you have a great trip.

Dick and Sherry Parker

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From the “Never-Bored RVers,” We’ll see you on down the road.

Because of the numerous Spam comments on this site, the comments section has been deactivated. Please email us at neverboredrvers@gmail.com and I will pass along your comments.

© All photos by Barry Zander.   All rights reserved