Mississippi River and Travel Theme
November 11, 1997
One way to enjoy the RV lifestyle is to develop a travel theme. Anyone who has traveled very much has experienced theme travel, whether they knew it or not. For example, many have spent a summer exploring Alaska or Nova Scotia. During these theme trips, our major goal may be to enjoy life to its fullest while maintaining a general goal or travel theme. For some this means stopping in every museum, visitor’s center, and park office along the way to learn as much as possible about the people, climate, wildlife, scenery, food, history, vegetation, geology, and anything else that sparks our interests and wonder. For others, it consists primarily of relaxing with good company around a campfire - escaping the regimentation of civilization and its TVs and newspapers. There are many other themes that are exploited by RV organizations. Caravans of RVs follow a schedule of travel to explore Mexico, the Copper Canyon, the parks of Utah, the fall colors of the Northeast, the Oregon Trail, the Rose Bowl, Mardi Gras, or some other theme. These organized caravans are great for those who can afford them and don’t mind the regimentation of the caravan lifestyle. The caravan guides provide an abundance of information during these trips and can help minimize the hazards associated with the RV lifestyle. But, for those who prefer the freedom of traveling alone - with a freedom to change directions whenever they wish but who still wish to have as much information as possible - there is another option. Books are available for some of these trips that can be very useful. As long as you are willing to accept the fact that the routes and places to visit suggested by the books can also regiment your life, these books can be very informative.
For me, some of the most enjoyable aspects of the RV lifestyle and travel is the joy of finding something unexpected. Consequently, we have named our motorhome “Serendipity.” In our travels, we have found that random meanderings along country roads can produce the desired results, but the probability of finding some really exciting serendipitous experience is enhanced by a little research. We do not like to make detailed trip plans because they may force us to travel on days when the weather is bad in order to reach a certain destination where our reservation awaits. Of course, the risk is that when we arrive at an RV park there may be no vacancies. We find that arriving at an RV park by about three PM, decreases the risk of seeing the “No Vacancy” sign. Also during the summer vacation period, the probability of admittance into a state or national park is greatly enhanced by arriving on Sunday through Thursday. Weekend campers fill these parks Friday and Saturday.
The authors of the theme-travel books have minimized the work involved for the traveler. Some RVers would not dream of beginning a trip without careful plans of the exact route to be taken, and with confirmed reservations at RV parks for every night. The road to and through Alaska is well covered by “The Milepost.” But another series of books, that is maybe less well known, is the “Discover! America’s Great River Road” by Pat Middleton. The first volume covers the “road” from Prescott, WI to Galena, IL, the second from Guttenberg, IA to Alton, IL, and the third from St. Louis, MO to Memphis, TN. No book has yet been written for the north or south ends of the Mississippi River. But an excellent brochure is available that maps the entire Great River Road from its beginning in Minahi, Ontario to its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico at Venice, LA. The authorship of this brochure is uncertain, but my best guess is that it was produced by the Mississippi River Parkway Commission (MRPC) in Minnesota (612-224-9903). The MRPC is a multi-state organization which “works collectively to preserve, promote, and enhance the scenic, historic, and recreational resources of the Mississippi River, to foster economic growth in the corridor, and to develop the national, scenic and historic parkway known as the Great River Road.”
While enjoying the fall colors in Northern Minnesota, we observed a circular, green sign along the highway south of International Falls. Slowing down a bit, we were able to read “Great River Road.” But, there was no river anywhere in sight.
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