Travelers Thoughts

RV travel is a great way to see the country and spend some quality time with your family. Why not take advantage of gas prices coming down and start planning a family getaway.  Traveling by RV is less stressful than other forms of travel because you can control all of the departure and arrival times since you are not at the mercy of the airlines.  Depending on your location, you can also schedule your days to include sightseeing tours, or just go out on your own and find your own adventure.

When traveling with the family it is important to find family friendly sites to hitch up overnight.  The kids can go a little stir crazy if they don’t have some social outlet.  There are many RV parks and campgrounds that are family friendly and offer amenities for entertaining the children, and therefore attract many families. RV travel is quite the social outlet for some families. When you settle into these campgrounds, it is not uncommon to meet other families whom you form lifelong friendships with.  This is a great way for the kids to have some time to play with other kids and for the parents to swap ideas about entertainment in the area and exchange other RV travel ideas.

RV travel is also very popular with retirees. After retirement, many couples choose to sell everything they own and live in their RV’s and travel the country full time.  There are Senior RV clubs that offer social gatherings all over the U.S. and Canada for those who are full time travelers, as well as the weekend warriors. It is believed by many that RV-ing is the best way to see the country and a great way for empty nesters and retirees to reconnect with their spouses, after the hustle and bustle of raising a family and working 9-5 is behind you.

While RV-ing you may chose to “camp out” in campgrounds or off the beaten path somewhere secluded.  This decision may be easy for some that don’t like to “rough it”.  RV travel incorporates a few more conveniences than traditional camping. So many people find it fun and interesting.

You can plan a theme for your trip, like antique collecting, or touring the historic sites in the northeast, or all about the Wild West and rodeos.  There are unlimited possibilities when planning an RV excursion.  Let the road and your imagination be your guide.

Leave the mouthwash at home. Pack your most comfortable clothes and shoes, bring along your appetite and sense of fun, and DO NOT miss the Gilroy Garlic Festival next year.

Gilroy, in southern Santa Clara County, California is, of course, the location for the famous Gilroy Garlic Festival, an annual event that has transformed this little town into the Garlic Capital of the World. Millions and millions and millions of pounds of garlic are produced every year in this lovely farming area. Though garlic is not the only thing grown in Gilroy, it really put Gilroy on the map — so to speak. (Among many other varieties of produce, Gilroy produces a considerable amount of mushrooms too, another favorite of mine.)

Each year, since 1979, the garlic festival has been held and has been a fundraiser for local charities. Individual groups and charities also run booths at the festival, raising additional funds for their causes. Held the last full weekend in July (the last Friday, Saturday and Sunday), it is one of the largest food festivals held in the United States and considered by most to be the best garlic festival in the world.

Like most festivals, there is always something for everyone in the family — from food to entertainment to shopping. For the children, there is a world of fun activities waiting, including rides, face painting, bouncy houses, games, magic, arts and crafts. For the rest of the crowd, there is garlic inspired food of every imaginable kind. Yes, it is true there is even garlic ice cream. There are garlic recipe contests and cook-offs, celebrity cooking demonstrations, live entertainment, arts and crafts and so much, much more, even appearances by Miss Gilroy Garlic and her court. One of the highlights are the fun promotional products that the booths give out, love collecting that garlic swag! Even if you are not a fellow lover of this pungent bulb, there is plenty of food and fun for you too.

Um, now about that garlic ice cream, I am told the samples are free and free is for me; however, the basil and garlic stuffed sea scallops wrapped in prosciutto and served with a citrus beurre blanc sauce (one of the 2008 recipe/cook-off winners) has me absolutely drooling.

Garlic, in all its gastronomic glory, is also very good for you and has been used medicinally for thousands of years. It is claimed to help prevent heart disease, including atherosclerosis, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and cancer. Now if I can get help fighting off all those things with a few bowls of Garlic Seafood Soup, count me in.

Now if all this information has not convinced you to put this festival on your “bucket list”, then consider the following:

Garlic is known to repel mosquitoes and ticks. They despise or are overwhelmed by the scent of garlic and exposure to a high level of the toxins found in garlic can be deadly to them. So if garlic keeps away the mosquitoes and ticks, it goes without saying that it would make a suitable repellant against those other frightening, blood-sucking creatures of the night — VAMPIRES!

So go to the Gilroy Garlic Festival, stock up on lots and lots of garlic, and you can take it with you on your next trip to Transylvania. Oh, be sure to tell Vlad I spoke well of him.