Talk of The Villages Florida - Driving Trip instead of Hawaii

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Originally Posted by ElDiabloJoe (Post 2374990)

Agreed!! I used to love going to Cool Cats Cafe and that shave ice place at the end of town by the elementary school. Oh, and The Gazebo up around Napili area before Kapalua - those macadamia nut pancakes were a must-have! We always prefer to avoid the big spendy resorts and AirBnB it at Hononkeana Cove condos. Their cement stairs with handrail into the water makes snorkeling a breeze, and there are so so many turtles you don't have to look for them - you have to look out for them so you don't bump into them! Don't go too close to the end of the cove or you'll get longshore current-swept out into the ocean and become Tiger Shark chow.

We've been fortunate on our visits. My good buddy from work married a lady 17 years his junior. She is from one of the two original families on Molokai. Her dad, siblings, Aunties and cousins live and work on the west side of Maui (Lahaina) so they turned us on to a bunch of great tips! They were living up country halfway up Haleakala in Pukalani area, but he's over in Hilo area now.

Staying on Maui with a native born and raised is a very unique way of seeing Maui. I've never been so scared as when she drove us on the Road to Hana. She has driven it hundreds of times, so she is comfortable enough to exercise very little caution hahaha.

One of their biggest complaints is the cost of electricity. it's about 40 cents a Kilowatt-Hour, compared to 15 cents for Seco. They run their laundry at midnight to try to keep the bill under $500. Yikes!

Not only native born drivers. When husband drove the road to Hana I was so very glad no one was coming the other way!

Suggestion plot of map of presidential libraries

When we travel for other reasons we try to find presidential libraries. There are quite a few and if you fly into one city you can hit four or six with a car over the course of three or four days.

It's a lot of fun and very interesting.

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Originally Posted by jayerose (Post 2374707)

so, hawaii's flights are too expensive.

We would like to travel to each state and visit the main attractions there so now thinking about driving in a circle...perhaps from florida to alabama to mississippi to louisiana to arkansas to tennessee to georgia and back to florida...wow, i'm already worn out![

Call AAA! They still do paper mapped trip plans and are AMAZING help!!

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Originally Posted by jayerose (Post 2374707)

If you go to Mississipi, go to Laurel (cute town made famous by HGTV show "Hometown"); in Alabama there are so many civil war sites and a small yet great museum (I forgot which town, but found it in a guidebook--well worth the time); Louisiana is New Orleans for sure--Cafe DuMonde, French Quarter, and the National World War II museum--it is world class and one of the Best museums ever! In Tennessee, Memphis has Graceland and Beale St., Nashville has country music and the Grand Ole Opry.
Not on your list, but if you ever get there, New Mexico is beautiful--White Sands National Park; Carlsbad Caverns, Ruidoso is a beautiful mountain town, Las Cruces has an Old Mesilla section with lots of Billy the Kid history. This is all in the southern part of the state. Of course, Santa Fe, Taos and the pueblos are amazing.
Enjoy your trip!

Even though I use my smart phone on the road, I also use a current issue of “ The Next Exit” ( cost about $25 ) . It is for Truckers and RV traveling!

Fly to Denver, rent an RV self contained, and create a trip to different national parks. I have done this twice, once for two weeks, once for four weeks. from Denver, North to Cheyenne, Black Hills National Forest, Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, then across Wyoming to Yellowstone, stopping at Cody to take in the nightly rodeo. Yellow stone to Grand Tetons, Jackson, Salt Lake City, down to Arches, Zion, Mesa Verde, Grand Canyon, Durango, through the Rockies on Route 50, built from gold mine tailing, to colorado springs. . back to Denver. . . Every state is different, every overnight campground is different.

There are so many variations for this circle around the West with a large dose of National Parks, and wonderful site to see.

Hawaii is also a place to visit, at least three islands, The Big Island, Maui, and either O'ahu or Kauai. Would love to live there, but its very expensive. Also wonderful visit to all the volcanoes. We golfed at Volcanoes National Park golf course, the day before the eruptions several years ago. Wonderful beaches and swimming/snorkeling/kayaking. . . two weeks to make it worth it.

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Originally Posted by CoachKandSportsguy (Post 2375427)

That sounds like lots of fun. It was never an option for us before as owners of large dogs that couldn’t fly, but now that we have downsized to a little guy that can fly it’s doable. I just checked out camper van rentals in the Denver area and found a couple pet friendly options. Thanks for the idea.

We did not fall in love with Hawaii. We feel that Costa Rica is just as beautiful and is a lot less expensive.

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Originally Posted by tophcfa (Post 2375442)

You won't regret it. . :agree: