Archive for January, 2006

>Spring vacation 1977. My parents thought leaving the snow and cold of Wisconsin during spring break and taking four children on a warm, sunny vacation to Florida would be a memorable trip. However, they had no idea how memorable it was going to be, and not for the reasons they had in mind. Full Story…

>Skepticism turned to disbelief Monday afternoon as Patricia Tuell watched the boxy, 26-foot motor home slide into the dirt driveway of her Ferrum home.

Never in her wildest dreams did she think that one click of the mouse would bring $250,000 worth of prizes right to her doorstep.

But as she gazed at the new motor home, her eyes wide and shining like marbles, she had one thing to say:

“They said it was going to be green. But it’s brown.”

Tuell is the winner of American Online’s “Win What You Want Now,” an instant-win sweepstakes she entered while online at the AOL Web site.

Tuell said she plans to take a trip to Disney World with her older daughter and her three children, and then another trip with the other half of the family. Full Story…
How to Buy an RV, Before you Buy it An RV Education 101 E-book By Mark Polk

>A decline in the number of visitors to the Blue Ridge Parkway has led to some concern about trends in parkway usage.

Last year, 18.7 million people visited the parkway, according to preliminary figures released this month. It’s the third year of decline in a row, a 6.3 percent drop from 19.9 million in 2004 and 20.2 million in 2003.

Officials have attributed the drop to everything from gas prices to the weather, but a tightening of National Park Service funding may also be contributing to the disappointing numbers.

Camping stays also declined last year, to 65,630 nights last year from 88,561 in 2004. Noblitt attributed this both to the rainy weather and the primitive facilities.

The parkway covers 469 miles in North Carolina and Virginia. Full Story…