Unless there are a few of you splitting the cost, renting (specifically 1 way renting) an RV is going to be expensive.
You need to work out mileage (eg you get 100 miles / day allowance and pay about 35c/mile over that), fuel consumption (somewhere between 8-10mpg for an RV and about $3/gal average for Utah at the moment), then a base rental cost of about $2.5k plus $900ish in fees, plus pots and pans cost plus linen, towels, sleeping bags etc.

Compare that to renting a car for the trip (quicker, better mpg etc) and either staying in KOA and park cabins, motels or even buying a $100 tent plus kit and using that for the trip.

You’re hitting the start of the peak holiday season here in the US as many kids finish for the summer around the middle of June.

Canyonlands, Grand Canyon, Bryce, Zion, Monument Valley are all fantastic.

are people that incompetent they don’t know how to ride a bike?

Ride a bike, or ride a bike well given the conditions found? Mountain biking is a sport that seems to have bred the ‘I can ride a bike, don’t need nobody telling me what to do’ mentality. Most sports have an acceptance that a level of coaching is a part of improving. It’s pretty arrogant to think someone else can’t help you be a better rider.

Turner Sultan. recently test rode a Stumpy Evo and it was a great bike. I then got straight on my 6 year old Sultan and removed the urge to buy the Evo because my bike was still as good on most fronts.

Gaggia Classic. Hang out on eBay and you’ll find one that was used 5 times and put in a cupboard.

If the Green Party had some better policies to deal with the non-environmental issues, they could be the 3rd way. Right isn’t great, Left isn’t either. Instead of putting money first or ‘the worker’ first, we might want to try putting the world we live in closer to the top of the list. Neither Conservative nor Labour give due deference to the context we as humans should have to the world we rely upon. If that’s knackered, we’re knackered.

Yep molgrips +1 even in the US they tend to have state control over the key infrastructure of transport and power

What do you mean by ‘state control’? Many states have a state corporation commission that regulates the activities of the privately owned power companies, but they don’t control them.

As pictured up there, a showing of Abigail’s Party will help set the scene.

No-where near in anything else I’ve seen

I take it you never saw Luther then?

Is he insured for the tree work? Trees don’t always fall where they should.

I used an extender leash in a bumbag to train our dog to run at my heel when on the bike. I had enough freedom of movement to follow the trail and keep away from him but could just put my hand on the leash to correct him if and when needed. We started off walking with it so he could get used to it, then on the bike on an open field, then on trails and building speed.
We went through a lot of chopped up hotdogs as rewards during this time!

It looks like the Toyota FJ Cruiser

For some amazingly incomprehensible reason, this is the slowest-depreciating SUV in the US. I have no reason why.

If you want fugly, the 2002 Avalanche is up there

The Pontiac Aztek has not aged well and amazingly looks bad from every angle

They are a decent little vehicle. I’ve got a few mountainbiking friends who drive them and they do very well. Wipe clean interior, no carpets, easily adjustable seats for bunging bikes in, all wheel drive. Not that bad for what it is. Not nearly as ugly as a lot of the vehicles I see every day.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_Element

An offer like that and you’re going to ride a bike?

Oh. I forgot. This is stw and she’s the voice on your phone. Go ride.

I have no idea what your life is like or where you’re going or what you’re doing, but to need a phone and a laptop and be 3-4 days without power means you are either very important or possibly too attached to your phone and laptop.
If you need this sort of capability, you’re getting into the pro levels of kit (military, remote news reporting etc) and that costs. Can you leave the panel out in the sun all day to charge the battery? (If you’re using the electronic stuff to drain the battery, then you can’t leave that around plugged in all day so you need a battery anyway)
What do you need it for and can you solve this another way? Will the phone be on all the time (if there’s no power, will there be anyone to call?), do you need the laptop, can you take a camera instead, a few SD cards, a battery to give you a couple of phone charges?
Get down to your actual needs and work up from there.

How far from a power source will you be and for how long?

They aren’t really up to the job you are asking of them unless you want something fairly big and expensive.

You’re probably better off looking for a USB battery and charging it up when there’s a plug handy. I’ve got a 50w panel but wouldn’t bother trying to use it without an additional battery.

For the Moab area I can recommend Mike Holme who runs Magpie Cycling. He’s a Level 3 IMBA instructor, knows the area better than most and is one of the nicest people you could hope to meet. A pro at what he does and a top bloke:
http://magpieadventures.com/moab-bike-tours/%5B/url%5D

You’re not that tall and not that heavy. Most bike manufacturers make bikes that would fit you fine, including Giant, Trek, Specialized, Cannondale, OnOne etc. I ride a XXL Turner Sultan and it would probably be too big for you.

Seaton Deleval for ice cream :D

Look up Cullernose Point near Craster and go there. Columnar jointing at it’s best. Just down from there is Rumbling Kern, probably my favourite spot on the entire Northumberland coast.
On your way up or down to Berwick, think about a visit to Tynemouth. A great castle (with WW1 gun emplacements too) and a lovely area with great food and beaches etc.
Inland, Rothbury is always good for walks and general mooching about.

So how do your summer parties work – an extension lead and a microwave?

Got my gas grill on the deck at the back of the house. Just like most people around here. I tend to grill a couple of times a week from this week until late September so it gets used a lot.

You really don’t like your macho posturing challenged with either facts or common sense do you? There is a place for charcoal grilling, but for most people, life is just too short and they have a lot of other things to do.

I was going to point out on the other thread that competition grilling is a totally different world to back yard bbqs, but then noticed it was yours too so I left that one alone. See – I do care.

The word ‘estimates’ somewhat devalues that ‘statistic’.

Weber also make gas bbqs and sell a lot of them. I seem to know people who would rather cook and eat than wait first.

Amazon US current best sellers:
http://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Patio-Lawn-Garden-Freestanding-Grills/zgbs/lawn-garden/3480667011/ref=zg_bs_nav_lg_4_3480665011

Heh. Fashion is a wonderful thing. I live in the land of the Weber and I don’t know anyone that owns one.
If you want the macho crap that goes with the stw lifestyle, don’t get a gas bbq. If you want ease of use, less mess and plan to use it as a more regular option to cook food (especially for less than a party), get gas.

Make sure the hire car has Sirius or similar. You need more radio station choices the further you are driving!
As suggested, try and stop a couple of nights in some places. Doing a road trip where you move on every night just makes it feel like a load of driving between hotels even if you go somewhere en route. Not having a schedule to meet to get to a destination makes for a more chilled day.

This is a GREAT website for finding crap things on your route:
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/%5B/url%5D

Eating out is pretty cheap, especially in the middle bit. You’ll mostly dine on beef, chicken and shrimp but that’s largely what they eat in ‘merica.
You can manage to book a couple of nights ahead and keep costs down. Last time we did it, we just booked stuff 2 nights ahead from a laptop so our route remained a little flexible depending on how we felt. Register with all the chains so you build up points and you might have enough by the end for some free or upgraded nights.
Get Navmii USA for your phone. Between that and a charging cable to a lighter socket adapter you’ll have data-free satnav for the whole country. You have to download different areas but it’s all free.
Find the best credit card for US travel and have that before you depart.
Have cash, but don’t worry if you run low. Very few places at all won’t take cards.

Impact driver along with a drill for the win. I bought both for my house renovation and now won’t be without either. The impact driver was a revelation and can bang 3″ external screws in with ease all day long.

Where’s your knees in relation to the pedal axle? It might be better for you to move your hands forward (or out) rather than your arse backwards.

I made my workbench then finished the top with a sacrificial sheet of hardboard. Just cut it to exactly fit on the top then edge it with 1×2 or something else similar so it sits nicely and doesn’t slide off, but can easily be lifted to replace it.

what did you make of matey’s blog up there..?

I used to know him when I lived in Bristol. He worked for a company near my employer and met him through Bike User Group stuff I was involved in.
He’s very militant about bikes. You could even tell that when you saw his bikes. He’s out there. Reason and sensibility were never part of his approach to cycling issues. Nice bloke.

Buy it, ride it, pay the extra baggage and take it home (after you’ve cleaned it). It’s no more complicated than that to travel with sports equipment.

I went to visit my stepson in Bristol last month, he lives across the road from Hamilton House in Stokes Croft and when he heard that I was gonna stick my bike on the train he gave a sinister chuckle..

Next time you go and visit your edgy stepson (living in Stokes Croft? Of course he’s edgy), pop in to Hamilton House and have a chat with the peeps at the Bristol Bike Project. Apart from it being one of the most life-affirming places on the planet, you might get a reasoned view of cycling in Bristol. It’s certainly no worse than any other city and, in places, a whole lot better.

If it gets that cold then the temperature changes aren’t going to help your drums either. If it’s uninsulated then the temperature changes will knack anything delicate as much as any moisture. Where’s the moisture coming from? Floor, walls, something else in the shed?

As said up there, dessicant in the cases and a low powered fan to draw the air through and ventilate.

Most baths are made from plastic resins, candles usually live in small aluminium trays, eg tea lights which get hot and can burn into a bath, giving off toxic fumes etc.

If you are unable to mitigate this particular hazard, how on earth do you get along on a daily basis? I know I can use candles without constantly destroying my home in clouds of noxious gases.

Try buying a headset. That’ll blow yer mind.

A friend of mine reckons the new Specialized shoes are fantastic, but he sells them so I’m looking for real world reviews. They do seem like a viable alternative to (the small-fitting) 5.10s.

why do tall people need to have no seatpin showing?

They don’t. However, as someone weighing in at 250lbs, I would rather put my weight on more frame and less seatpost. It flexes less that way. Same with having more spokes in my wheels.

I’ve joined a gym with the intention of getting trimmed and into shape reasonably quickly

Speak to the gym staff. I doubt you’re the first customer they have had with this sort of desire. Some of them might even be professionally qualified to provide the advice you seek.

If you’re a shortarse you probably won’t appreciate what some people need to have in order for a bike to fit. That top frame is 7cm smaller than my Cannondale which also attracts similar opinions. It fits taller people.

I visited Florence off-season (Feb a few years ago) and it was utterly fantastic. I can imagine the hell of it with tourists but you should be OK with it not being summer. There was no queue anywhere when I went. The Ufizzi is well worth seeing as are the centra piazzas. As for ‘various aspects’ – get up a hill or over the river.

justified is good

Justified is fantastic. Some of the best characters developed in a tv series. It really should be far better known than it is and they are showing the final series in the US right now.
Do yourself a favour. Watch Justified.

If your HRM stops reading, don’t assume your heart has stopped beating.