Where to Go for an RV or Boat

Here's a nice family-run business in the Boise area where you may consider purchasing your next RV or boat. On the RV side, Dennis Dillon RV & Marine Center is the authorized Coachmen, Redwood (residential fifth wheels), Open Range (towables), Monaco (class A diesels), Fleetwood (class A and C motorized), and Outdoors RV (towables) dealer in Idaho and surrounding areas.

They also have five Master-Certified RV technicians on staff--the most in the state.

On boats, Dennis Dillon RV & Marine has the Centurion, Four Winns, Reinell and Supreme franchises in the area. They carry some pretty cool boats--many of which you can see from the freeway as you drive by on I-84 between Cole Rd and Orchard St in Boise.

They're a pretty nice little operation. Not in the mood for an RV or a boat? Try their main site HERE for a look at Kia, Mazda, Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Fiat, Suzuki or Nissan, too!

Posts Without Pictures

Just another of the free services that I offer.

Well, after about three months of working at home--and not traveling a single mile for business--I reentered the world of the business traveler last week with a one-nighter to San Jose. My thoughts:

1. The Quality Inn & Suites - Silicon Valley/Sunnyvale is neither quality nor sweet. Picture this nice setting: out the front door, you have the 101 whizzing by; around the door to my "suite" is this non-religious aura caused, no doubt, by a door supplier who didn't "get with" the frame supplier to ensure that the doors were the same size. It was like having a doggy door that went all the way around the entry; breakfast consisted of 37 ways to serve bread: waffles, bagels, toast, muffins (English or otherwise), etc. and a juice machine that had the old stalwarts apple and orange--with some odd concoction called "Pass-o-Mango" sandwiched in-between. Tasty. Um...

2. I recall that Norman Mineta was a commerce secretary under Pres. Clinton and a transportation secretary under Pres. Bush--but found out he was mayor of San Jose. What else I was reminded of this week, is that the rental car area at the airport that bears his name in San Jose stinks. Um, hey, San Jose? Seeing as how it rains there fairly regularly, you may want to invest in a canopy or two. How I love running from my car drop-off to the bus drop-off under the protection of my "fits-in-your-bag" umbrella. Nice work, Norm. And to the shuttle driver that closed the door as I was walking up to the shuttle--just two steps away--I saw the placard with your name on it, "Vincent." I'll be back in January--and I have a long memory for missed buses.

3. I hate Hyundai Elantras. XM satellite radio make them bearable, however.

4. I usually make a wrong turn on a business trip. This was no different. What stinks about NoCal, however, is that you can get off the freeway at an exit--but usually you cannot hop right back on. Thanks, Caltrans. Te amo.

5. I love me some CRJ Horizon Air planes. Irene the flight attendant was a breath of fresh air, however. The only empty seat on the plane was next to me (created a nice "buffer" between me and the loo...yup--I got to sit in the delicious back seat. Irene shared with me all of the fun that goes with turbulence with story after story. I thanked the Good Lord that my wife wasn't in that empty seat. I'm sure I'd have had "squeeze marks" on my forearm, chest, neck and head.

Clever Bumper Stickers

My wife always gets on my case about slowing down for cyclists, but since I am one, I believe in karma--and in not getting flattened by a motorist. I figure if someone sees me seeing a cyclist, then I may exponentially help my own chances of being seen. That having been said, we always chuckle when we see the "Start Seeing Motorcycles" stickers.

We see them. On our recent cross-country drive, we saw them. We saw them without helmets in Idaho, Montana and Minnesota. (Didn't notice in North Dakota--we were too rapt in the flat nothingness.)

The bumper sticker that does stick out from our trek was found on one of those mobile houses classified as an RV. You know, the one that cost more than your house (and your neighbor's--combined)? It read:

"Zero to sixty in fifteen minutes."

I'm guessing his carbon footprint is bigger than mine. Chew on that, Al Gore. Hah!

Cross-Country Travel in a Van

Aaah, the priceless joys of endless miles of open road in front of you. I suppose that if there's one thing I enjoy about the mindless...er...endless driving is the wide variety of "interesting" things you find in the most mundane places. Take this photo at a McDonald's in Butte, Montana (home of Levi Leipheimer, but you didn't ask). What you can't see is that the word "convenience" has been replaced by the word "indoctrination." What you can see is that the "c" in "changing has been oh-so-cleverly removed to create a baby "hanging station." This is the logical progression from the road graffiti of my youth, where equally-clever folks would scratch out the "w" on the electric hand dryers to reveal "rub hands under arm air" just below where the "on" in "button" had been etched away to reveal the important instructions to "push butt" (again, to be executed before you rub hands under your arm air).

I'm not sure which is a sadder image: the hanging station itself or the thought that there I was on the throne snapping a picture of it with my cell phone.

Pathetic? Yes. I was snickering as I typed this post. I need to grow up, yet strangely, I refuse.