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I want to say first that we decided to spend Monday night in Vandalia, Oh. That is the official home of Dayton International Airport. That was a good decision. Our flight left on Tuesday morning at 6:55 a.m. We spent Monday afternoon with my sister Dorothy and her husband Bill. They invited us out to lunch. We have a lot in common apart from rving. Our ideas are pretty much the same although different at the same time. They are great people and we hope to be rving with them soon in New Mexico in Gila National Forest.
We stayed at a Super 8 which is pretty much against my religion, but it was so close to the airport, five minutes away, that we couldn't resist. The room was nice and not too cheesy. The beds were comfortable, they had all the extras but it wasn't the Holiday Inn.
The town of Vandalia is really something. They have a population of 27,000 and the streets are really beautiful and in an country setting. The main strip has just about every junk food restaurant that exists. At the Pizza Hut we met a really nice woman who shared pictures of her son and her sisters. We talked up quite a storm while we waited for our last junk food meal of the trip before heading home to oatmeal and black bananas :).
A word of caution, we got to the airport about 55 minutes before our flight. Even though it is a small airport there is a Trans Air flight that leaves at the same time as ours. So the security check line is forever long. We didn't have any trouble except for the fact that they questioned our Mexican IDs.
Next time we go to Cincinnati, we will use the same airport. Dayton is only 45 minutes from Cincinnati.
We got to Laredo, btw there is no charge for long term parking. Picked up our bags and headed for the border. The ICE stopped us before crossing into Mexico. They gave us the once over. They had us pull over, took everything out of the SUV and then ran the car through the X-Ray machine. It took over 30 minutes. Who wouldn't stop two good-looking fifty something guys traveling together with Mexican plates.
We hit three checkpoints along the highway from Laredo to Monterrey and the state police were doing their job. No problem with us, we encourage the checks on both sides of the border. We arrived home safe and sound to a clean house and the grass had been cut.
A secret I will share, I think we have found an rv in Dallas, Tx. It is a Sportsmen 202RB, 22.5 ft with a walkaround bed and all the bells and whistles including an outside gas grill, LCD tv, DVD, stereo, rain sensor awning, etc. It isn't the unit we had hoped for but it is more than what we had and the price is a steal taking into account the import taxes we have to pay. More on that later.
We stayed at a Super 8 which is pretty much against my religion, but it was so close to the airport, five minutes away, that we couldn't resist. The room was nice and not too cheesy. The beds were comfortable, they had all the extras but it wasn't the Holiday Inn.
The town of Vandalia is really something. They have a population of 27,000 and the streets are really beautiful and in an country setting. The main strip has just about every junk food restaurant that exists. At the Pizza Hut we met a really nice woman who shared pictures of her son and her sisters. We talked up quite a storm while we waited for our last junk food meal of the trip before heading home to oatmeal and black bananas :).
A word of caution, we got to the airport about 55 minutes before our flight. Even though it is a small airport there is a Trans Air flight that leaves at the same time as ours. So the security check line is forever long. We didn't have any trouble except for the fact that they questioned our Mexican IDs.
Next time we go to Cincinnati, we will use the same airport. Dayton is only 45 minutes from Cincinnati.
We got to Laredo, btw there is no charge for long term parking. Picked up our bags and headed for the border. The ICE stopped us before crossing into Mexico. They gave us the once over. They had us pull over, took everything out of the SUV and then ran the car through the X-Ray machine. It took over 30 minutes. Who wouldn't stop two good-looking fifty something guys traveling together with Mexican plates.
We hit three checkpoints along the highway from Laredo to Monterrey and the state police were doing their job. No problem with us, we encourage the checks on both sides of the border. We arrived home safe and sound to a clean house and the grass had been cut.
A secret I will share, I think we have found an rv in Dallas, Tx. It is a Sportsmen 202RB, 22.5 ft with a walkaround bed and all the bells and whistles including an outside gas grill, LCD tv, DVD, stereo, rain sensor awning, etc. It isn't the unit we had hoped for but it is more than what we had and the price is a steal taking into account the import taxes we have to pay. More on that later.
I too have noticed that security is much more time consuming and sptrict at smaller airports. It takes us twice as long to get through Juneau Alaska airport as it does in Phoenix. The new RV sounds great. You mentioned rain sensors for the awning, it would be great if it sensed the wind also.
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