No comments about Oregon (Lonely Planet CUSTOM Guide).

5 comments about Honey, Let's Get a Boat... A Cruising Adventure of America's Great Loop.

1. Honey, Let's Get a Boat... A Cruising Adventure of America's Great Loop
   What a delightful read! Although the 'Stobs' made thier cruise 10+ years ago the story is timeless.
   If you are looking for a dynamic and exciting retirement, then this is the first book to read. The Stobs had little knowledge, or experince-but they did have a dream. A dream they have lived and loved! They have certainly persuaded us to through away the 'pipe and slippers' - we will have a bit of what they are having!
   See you all on the US Great Loop! If it doubt - just do it! Look at the stories to thrill the friends, children and granchildren!



2. The title might set the wrong tone as this book is a colorfully written actual account of this ambitious trip taken by a husband-wife crew on a 40 foot trawler capable of 9 knots. It was their first big boat but they were a quick study and courageous. Bonus is an entire section summarizing all the resources they used to prepare for the trip with contact information and recommendations. He is a travel writer so you get a lot of the local flavor and history as they cruise.



3. If your you're going to or are just thinking about boating the Great Loop you must read this book. A great read.



4. This is a delightful book if you keep in mind what it is. It is informative, light, enjoyable to read, and creates a spark of fantasy in readers who may never set foot on a boat. For those who already have a boat or plan to buy one, it is an invaluable reference for a type of boating that is growing in popularity. Three cheers for the Strobs.



5. The first few chapters of this book made me laugh out loud,as the Stobs struggle to learn about their new boat and deal with the invariable problems with a new-used boat. Then the book settled down into a straight travelog, interspersed with a little strained humor. Worth reading. Gave me a new interest in cruising the Tennessee-Tom Bigbee.

5 comments about North Carolina Atlas & Gazetteer (North Carolina Atlas and Gazetteer).

1. These are one stop maps. Just about anything you need to know to navigate an area on foot, motorcycle or car is on easy to read pages, provided you are not overwhelmed by details normally found on Topographic maps. If you are looking for a road atlas, buy one and leave these to those looking for a little more detail. Plenty of other useful info included such as park information, camping, fishing piers, boat ramps etc. The info varies by Gazetteer.



2. I bought this book to explore the national forest areas of North Carolina. I was very disappointed when I got the atlas to find that even the larger forest roads are not on the maps! The road map I picked up for free at the Welcome Center Rest Stop shows the roads as well as this atlas.



3. We've used this atlas for years, and we were happy to find an updated version. This is so handy for finding a way around accidents or construction on the highway, or for finding alternate directions to your destination. It includes road names and highway numbers.



4. We'll be using this atlas for an RV trip. Although we haven't yet done the trip, the maps look like what we need (detailed, topographic, forest/side roads). I will say that it's missing decent regional and statewide views. The Benchmark California Road & Recreation Atlas, Fifth Edition (Benchmark Road & Recreation Atlas) series does an excellent job of panning the state, and then drilling down. The Gazetteer series just has the drill-down. Makes it tough when you want to get a macro-view of your route.



5. I have several of the Delorme atlases. They are all good, but all share a fatal flaw: there is no overlap of areas covered by different pages. The problem arises when the location of interest is on the border between two pages, or when the route of interest covers more than one page. It is not easy to follow the roads, and the user has to flip back and forth between the pages, which may not adjacent.
   
   Many booklets of maps share this idiotic design, and I don't know of alternative booklets of topographic maps for this region -- all I can do is give the Delorme atlas only 3 stars (instead of 5) for unthinkingly doing the common thing. I guess it dates from the days when this kind of booklet was made by taking a pair of scissors to a large map on a single sheet of paper.
   
   It would only add maybe a couple of pages to the total number of pages by doing it right and providing an overlap of a quarter of an inch or so around the border of each map. The intelligently-designed and user-friendly atlases that I have seen that do this even use shading to indicate the overlap.

No comments about Western Europe Itineraries (Lonely Planet CUSTOM Guide).

No comments about Virgin Islands (Lonely Planet CUSTOM Guide).

No comments about Northern Italy: Venice & the Veneto, Milan, Lombardy & the Lakes, and Piedmont.

No comments about Central & Colonial Mexico (Lonely Planet CUSTOM Guide).

No comments about Maine (Lonely Planet CUSTOM Guide).

2 comments about The Last Frontier: Incredible Tales of Survival, Exploration, and Adventure from Alaska Magazine.

1. "The Last Frontier" is an interesting collection of feature stories that originally appeared in "Alaska" magazine from 1935 until the present. They were chosen by the current editors of the magazine. The subject matter is quite varied, featuring outdoor adventure tales, life among the native people, wildlife exposes and much more. The stories are as varied as the people who inhabit the last great American wilderness.

   The caveat I would note for anyone interested in reading the book is that most of the stories are quite short, and because they were published for a then-contemporary audience, someone not familiar with local history or geography might sometimes get lost in the narrative. Also, "Alaska" started out as a sportsman's magazine, so a lot of the early stories are about hunting and trapping, which some people might not enjoy.

   Those cautions aside, "The Last Frontier" is a decent read for those who likes outdoor adventure stories.




2. I bought this book for stories about fishing, hunting, trapping, wilderness travel and "white knuckle" adventure. What I found was a book that covered a wide variety of topics, all relevant to Alaska but in some cases a little "tame" or mundane for the typical adventure reader.

   So, as is always the case, whether or not you'd like this book depends on your particular interests. I give it a high rating because it has something for everybody. In fact, the book contains almost 60 stories and if you find only 10 that you really enjoy the book is worth buying. I also rated it high because while every story is not a "gripping" adventure thriller, many of them are, and others are informative, entertaining or interesting in other ways.

   Among the more "riveting" stories are two about men surrounded or pursued by wolves; one about researchers on a frozen lake during an earthquake; one about a fisherman caught under a capsized fishing boat and one about a daring float plane rescue of men stranded in a deep canyon river. There is the obligatory "avalanche" story and another about a raging walrus, and several "big fish" stories.
   
   One or two stories deal with the psychological effects of prolonged isolated, wilderness living. Another, and one of my personal favorites, is a unique and revealing story about crime and punishment in the bush. It is entitled "Of Traps and Treasures--Klutuk."

   Another story, "My Sunset Moose" deals with the realization that time changes everything, and that for better or worse, change must be accepted. Another, "A Trapper Leaves the Country" deals with the same subject, in the same somber way, but in a different context.

   But my single favorite story is "A Few Mosquito Bites." I believe that any man or woman or any child old enough to understand simple language would enjoy this story about a man, his hybrid wolf-dogs and life in the wilderness. In fact, it would be worth buying this book just to get this story.

   But please don't think that every story is about men going hunting or fishing, or getting killed or maimed in the woods! Many are written by women about the extraordinarily tough and determined women who were attracted to life in the the world's last great wilderness and last free country!

   Lots of stories, lots of fun, easy reading. Recommended.

5 comments about Grand Canyon, The Complete Guide: Grand Canyon National Park.

1. This guide had beautiful pictures, detailed maps etc... It listed lodging but no reviews of lodging, just a glorified description. Had I not seeked out advice and reviews about lodging at the Grand Canyon, I would have been seriously disappointed. This book is more of a thick glossy brochure than an actual "guide" to help you plan a trip.



2. Out of all the Grand Canyon guides I bought, this one was my favorite.
   The color photos are amazing, and the background info about the
   canyon's history, geology and wildlife is fascinating. If you're going
   to Grand Canyon I would definitely recommend buying this book.



3. The Grand Canyon is universally acclaimed as one of the great natural wonders of the world. Now in a fully updated and beautifully illustrated third edition, James Kaiser's "Grand Canyon: The Complete Guide" is the ideal guide for novice visitors and a superbly informative reference for the seasoned visitor as well. A complete and 'user friendly' travel guide and planner for visiting the Grand Canyon, this ideal reference includes the Havasu Falls, topography maps, trail descriptions for both day trips and overnight hikes, mule rides, scenic flights, Colorado river trips, public campgrounds, historic lodges, the canyon's geology, native wildlife, history, and a great deal more. Compact and easily portable, "Grand Canyon: The Complete Guide" truly lives up to its title and is an invaluable addition to personal and community library travel guide collections -- as well as the supplemental reading lists of the armchair explorer!



4. This author gives a comprehensive overview of everything to do here. The photos are fantastic and I love the snippets of history too. I only wish he wrote more guides for other places.



5. This book is more detailed than most I have found. It gave me much needed background info.