My daughter-in-law, Beth Whitman, who wrote the book, "Wanderlust and Lipstick: the Essential Guide for Women Traveling Solo", upon hearing my travel story, said that I should share it on my blog.
I bought my Town and Country van upon my retirement for the express purpose of having a place to sleep in the event my genealogy research needed one more day in an area. It is aggravating to drive miles to a motel when one is doing research in a small town off the beaten path.
Just such a situation presented itself in Allegany County last Monday. I was in the area where I wanted to be, and I needed one more day to do research. Folks told me there was a motel just off the state highway in the small town where I needed to see the town clerk. I located the motel set off in a field, on the outskirts of town, but I was not impressed and knew I would pay too much for what I would find. Just across the street was an ice cream stand and I stopped for a cone. Behind the stand was a small RV park, lawns nicely manicured and obviously not full.
I inquired of the manager, told him I only needed access to the washroom and would sleep in my van. He said I could pull in right next to his trailer and I would be only a few feet from the washroom. Since I needed neither water nor electricity, his camping fee was $10! Best of all, the washroom was the finest I have every found in a campsite. It had seats and foot pads in the showers, was light, clean, neat, well supplied and it was heated!
It took me five minutes to shift the van's back seat to the side, unroll my pad and sleeping bag. Then I went for a long walk in beautiful countryside. Bright and early the next morning, I bypassed McDonald's and had breakfast in the small restaurant in town where I got pancakes, sausage, eggs and home fries for $3.97. Tables there were shoved together so patrons could sit and visit. I inquired of these local folk about the Benham family and got not only clues but specific directions to a family home. This is my kind of fun!
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Ethelmae, Linda and I seek out these types of restaurants too. A few years ago a friend from church(aged 75) decided to travel to out-of-the-way places and send letters to his grandchildren. A few of us asked to be icluded as those kids. We "travelled" to Mongtolia & Antartica.
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