The Wanderings of busman7

Around 4:00 pm on Saturday October 9, 2010 I had the ultimate pleasure of looking in the rearview, while crossing the Blue Water Bridge from Sarnia to Port Huron Michigan, to see Ontario/Canada fading from my view along with thoughts of all the insane hassles of the past couple months.

My welcome to the US for my transit along US Route 66 to Mexico & ultimately El Salvador, was a hassle free 1/2 hr, of going through the formalities of entering the country with a van-load of personal possessions + a bank draft for the funds to purchase the property there. The border agents were professional, polite, as friendly, as their job allows in carrying out their duties in a timely manner.

Would recommend that crossing to anyone traveling outside the norm.

There’s a saying that “you get what you pay for” meant to mean that normally, the more you pay the better the product. Well paid $200+ for a GPS (Gonna Play Stupid)device, but I guess when one buys something with a name like TomTom, they should have guessed that when it finds it necessary to repeat it’s name to confirm what it is, that it’s possibly a couple bricks short of a load!!

TomTom isn’t at all user friendly, being almost impossible to program & then it gets lost in Chicago, insists on directing you in the wrong direction in Missouri, all the while saying the state road you are traveling on has no name.

TomTom ranks right up there with my all-time WORST buys!! While my $6.97 Rand McNally Road Atlas purchased at Walmart, got me out of the mess that Tommy the retard tried to get me into, with the added bonus of having “Historic Route 66” shown & of course all Walmart & Sam’s Club locations marked.

Unless you have lots of money to spend on a toy that has pretty moving pictures but it’s only info that can be trusted is as a clock (that can’t figure out time zone changes), it’s better to spend the $6.97 at Walmart so you can find where you’re going!!

Finding “The Road less Traveled”  is a topic that comes up over & over on Independent travel forums by people going 1/2 way around the world seeking adventure. Wonder how many of those posters have overlooked, the road les traveled right in their own back yards?

During my trip down US Route 66 (my next posting) I discovered 2 jewels in the Mother Roads crown, less than a mile from I-44, in the town of Cuba Missouri. The, newly renovated, Wagon Wheel Motel & The Missouri-Hicks-BBQ, both great places providing excellent value for the money & hiding in plain sight providing one takes the time to slow down & smell the roses!

Stay  tuned for highlights of my travels on “The Mother Road”! 

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 13th, 2010 at 08:50 and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.