That was pretty cool, Mike. I loved that you could get off the boat to take video from the shoreline for a completely different perspective. Navigating locks, underpasses, and tunnels kept you on your toes, I would imagine.
We are out this weekend on our maiden voyage. Just locally at Big Lagoon State Park. We got everything set up in an hour, then enjoyed a nice beer, grilled burgers for dinner, took a walk with the pups down to watch sunset along the water, and then called it a day. We'll stay at the campground until tomorrow evening.
John
Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 8TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 11TB SATA
I've been to 49 US States, and camped all over the west and Alaska. You are going to have a great time.
At some time in your travels, I recommend Alaska. Early spring when the days are long and before the black flies and mosquitoes emerge. Plan your gas as there could be 200 miles between gas stations.
We tried to stay every other night in a park so we could dump the black/grey water tanks. The other nights in a pull-off on a deserted road in the woods. We woke up once to a huge bull-moose grazing about 15 feet away from our camper window. We also saw a white wolf (supposedly good-luck) and a black bear outside the camper.
Watch out for big trucks on the paved roads if you go. Stay well back. They pick up gravel in their tire treads and then spit them out. We got a cracked windshield for a lesson.
Keep in touch and tell us about all your travels so we can be both green with envy and happy for you.
Thanks for the the tip. We are definitely planning on doing Alaska, but probably in about 5 years when I retire. That way we can take as much time as we need to make the trip. We're hoping our other trips will help build up to that trip (can't go too much farther than from Florida to Alaska).
John
Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 8TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 11TB SATA
When you do Alaska, take a day trip to Point Barrow, the northernmost point on the continent. You can't drive there, but it's worth the hop on a plane. We took a small tour with an Inuit guide and even gave out samples of his favorite food, raw whale blubber marinated in its own blood in the permafrost for over a year. Leilani tasted it, I declined.
Barrow has 35 miles of road that don't leave town, a great Mexican restaurant, and looking north to the Arctic ocean it changes color from dark blue to the lightest pastel blue as the sun goes around in the spring and never sets.
* * *
When you get to Florida, the Everglades National Park is nice but only in the dry season. Besides for few mosquitoes, the 'glades is a 50 mile wide, 2" deep river. During the dry season it dries up except for the deeper areas (sloughs, pronounced slews). Where the water is, the fish are, and where the fish are the gators, birds and other wildlife are.
I like February and March best. Long Pine Key in the National Park has some nice campgrounds, Flamingo has some more. Near Flamingo if you are lucky you can spot an American Crocodile. They are making a comeback from about 300 in the 1980s to thousands today. For gators go to Royal Palm - almost guaranteed. In the northern part of the park are the gators. The difference is salt, the fresh/brackish in the north is where the gators are and the salt in the very south is where the crocs are.
On the way in stop at "Robert Is Here", a fresh fruit stand where they sell the best fresh fruit milkshakes this side of heaven.
* * *
The Florida Keys are nice. Key West has gotten 'touristy' since the cruise ships started docking there, but it's still worth a visit. Park your camper in one of the keys north of Key West and drive in. Stock Island might have an RV park, and Bahia Honda has a State Park.
Oh, I could go on and on. I love traveling. We live in a 900 square ft cottage with no kids, no pool, no pets, no debt and spend all our money on experience rather than possessions. No Cable TV, no jewelry, buy moderate cars and run them until they are unreliable, and don't even run the AC. That's not for everybody, but it works for us.
Thanks for the tips, Bob. This is all good stuff. We're in a similar situation - we own out house outright (it was a foreclosure that we got for a steal and then I did a lot of the work to make it perfect for us). Our credit cards are paid off every month (in fact, we've been doing that for 25 years). We have internet through the cable company, but not cable TV. I've got an antenna on the roof that pulls in more content than I could ever watch in the little time we have to watch anyway. And we have NetFlix, so lots of content there. But we're even happy reliving the old shows through channels like MeTV. We've got an Over-The-Air TIVO (which was a one time purchase with no monthly fees that gives us a two week TV guide look ahead and the ability to program our favorite shows to watch when we want).
We love being outdoors and enjoying nature, but we're at the point that we just can't really sleep on the ground anymore (age catches up with you). So the trailer more than meets that need, and lets us travel with our dogs (since many hotels disallow pets, and those that do charge an arm and a leg).
We are going out again in October to a campground in Navarre to test the boondocking features, and then will plan on lengthier trips after that. My wife and I are all in. I will pack one of my arranger keyboards in the trailer, so I'll even be able to play a little music while out and about.
John
Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 8TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 11TB SATA
I try to travel every year. Last year I spent 5 weeks in Australia in a camping van (tiny Toyota van with the motor between the front seats, a tiny kitchen, bed that could turn into a table but never did). It was a rental of course. I had to use campgrounds because there was no toilet in the camper.
But it was a great vacation. From Brisbane to Cairns to the Great Barrier Reef to the northeastern point, over to Darwin (top center) down the middle to Kangaroo Island, and finally to Sydney via Adelaide, Melbourne and Mallacoota. We saw platypus, cassowary, kangaroos, wallabies, koalas, echidna, emus, dingo, 2 ton man-eating crocs (from a safe distance) and more birds than we could find in the the guide book.
The Australian people are some of the most civilized, good-natured, polite, and kind folks I've ever encountered. And they do a lot of camping down there.
This year I went to Vienna and surrounding Austria taking public transportation and staying in a hotel.
Good luck with your first adventure. I'm confident everything will be just fine.
When I was in the Army stationed in Germany in the early '80s, we went down to the local (German) Avis rental places and rented a relatively small Mitsubishi RV (looked a lot like picture below, but big enough to hold four of us) and headed south to tour Switzerland. It was a five speed manual transmission with the gear shifter on the column, and you had to be careful not to push it down to reverse when going for 5th gear.
We camped in the foothills of the alps, were able to walk into town for fondue and other great food, got sunburned (didn't realize until too late), but just had a blast. That was a wonderful experience.
John
Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 8TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 11TB SATA
That's a good sized camper for a vacation. Small enough to park in a city or a shopping mall for supplies, probably gets decent fuel efficiency, and big enough for two people to be comfortable in
I like the bed over the cab feature, as you can keep the bed made all day and still have sitting room in the back.
My father-in-law had one like this only it was over a Ford Econoline van. We borrowed it a few times.
I rented a slightly bigger one for a month in Alaska, again with the bed over the cab and it was perfect. The slightly bigger one was large enough for a toilet.
I hope you have tons of fun on your future adventure.
Join Tobin as he takes you on a tour of the new user interface in Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®! This modern GUI redesign offers a sleek new look with updated toolbars, refreshed windows, and a smoother workflow. The brand-new side toolbar puts track selection, the MultiPicker Library, and other essential tools right at your fingertips. Plus, our upgraded Multi-View lets you layer multiple windows without overlap, giving you a highly flexible workspace. Many windows—including Tracks, Piano Roll, and more—have been redesigned for improved usability and a cleaner, more intuitive interface, and more!
Introducing XPro Styles PAK 10 – Now Available for Windows Band-in-a-Box 2025 and Higher!
We've just released XPro Styles PAK 10 for Windows & Mac Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) with 100 brand new RealStyles, plus 28 RealTracks and RealDrums!
Few things are certain in life: death, taxes, and a brand spankin’ new XPro Styles PAK! In this, the 10th edition of our XPro Styles PAK series, we’ve got 100 styles coming your way! We have the classic 25 styles each from the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres, and rounding out this volume's wildcard slot is 25 styles in the Praise & Worship genre! A wide spanning genre, you can find everything from rock, folk, country, and more underneath its umbrella. The included 28 RealTracks and RealDrums can be used with any Band-in-a-Box® 2026 (and higher) package.
Here’s just a small sampling of what you can look forward to in XPro Styles PAK 10: Soft indie folk worship songs, bumpin’ country boogies, gospel praise breaks, hard rockin’ pop, funky disco grooves, smooth Latin jazz pop, bossa nova fusion, western swing, alternative hip-hop, cool country funk, and much more!
Special offers until December 31st, 2025!
All the XPro Styles PAKs 1 - 10 are on sale for only $29 ea (Reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the XPro Styles PAK Bundle for only $149 (reg. $299)! Order now!
XPro Styles PAKs require Band-in-a-Box® 2025 or higher and are compatible with ANY package, including the Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, and Audiophile Edition.
Introducing Xtra Styles PAK 21 – Now Available for Windows Band-in-a-Box 2025 and Higher!
Xtra Styles PAK 21 for Windows & Mac Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) is here with 200 brand new RealStyles!
We're excited to bring you our latest Xtra Styles PAK installment—the all new Xtra Styles PAK 21 for Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher)!
Rejoice, one and all, for Xtra Styles PAK 21 for Band-in-a-Box® is here! We’re serving up 200 brand spankin’ new styles to delight your musical taste buds! The first three courses are the classics you’ve come to know and love, including offerings from the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres, but, not to be outdone, this year’s fourth course is bro country! A wide ranging genre, you can find everything from hip-hop, uptempo outlaw country, hard hitting rock, funk, and even electronica, all with that familiar bro country flair. The dinner bell has been rung, pickup up Xtra Styles PAK 21 today!
In this PAK you’ll discover: Energetic folk rock, raucous train beats, fast country boogies, acid jazz grooves, laid-back funky jams, a bevy of breezy jazz waltzes, calm electro funk, indie synth pop, industrial synth metal, and more bro country than could possibly fit in the back of a pickup truck!
Special offers until December 31st, 2025!
All the Xtra Styles PAKs 1 - 21 are on special for only $29 each (reg $49), or get all 21 PAKs for $199 (reg $399)! Order now!
Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 21 requires the 2025 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
Introducing XPro Styles PAK 10 – Now Available for Mac Band-in-a-Box 2025 and Higher!
We've just released XPro Styles PAK 10 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) with 100 brand new RealStyles, plus 28 RealTracks and RealDrums!
Few things are certain in life: death, taxes, and a brand spankin’ new XPro Styles PAK! In this, the 10th edition of our XPro Styles PAK series, we’ve got 100 styles coming your way! We have the classic 25 styles each from the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres, and rounding out this volume's wildcard slot is 25 styles in the Praise & Worship genre! A wide spanning genre, you can find everything from rock, folk, country, and more underneath its umbrella. The included 28 RealTracks and RealDrums can be used with any Band-in-a-Box® 2026 (and higher) package.
Here’s just a small sampling of what you can look forward to in XPro Styles PAK 10: Soft indie folk worship songs, bumpin’ country boogies, gospel praise breaks, hard rockin’ pop, funky disco grooves, smooth Latin jazz pop, bossa nova fusion, western swing, alternative hip-hop, cool country funk, and much more!
Special offers until December 31st, 2025!
All the XPro Styles PAKs 1 - 10 are on sale for only $29 ea (Reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the XPro Styles PAK Bundle for only $149 (reg. $299)! Order now!
XPro Styles PAKs require Band-in-a-Box® 2025 or higher and are compatible with ANY package, including the Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, and Audiophile Edition.
Introducing Xtra Styles PAK 21 – Now Available for Mac Band-in-a-Box 2025 and Higher!
Xtra Styles PAK 21 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) is here with 200 brand new RealStyles!
We're excited to bring you our latest Xtra Styles PAK installment—the all new Xtra Styles PAK 21 for Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher)!
Rejoice, one and all, for Xtra Styles PAK 21 for Band-in-a-Box® is here! We’re serving up 200 brand spankin’ new styles to delight your musical taste buds! The first three courses are the classics you’ve come to know and love, including offerings from the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres, but, not to be outdone, this year’s fourth course is bro country! A wide ranging genre, you can find everything from hip-hop, uptempo outlaw country, hard hitting rock, funk, and even electronica, all with that familiar bro country flair. The dinner bell has been rung, pickup up Xtra Styles PAK 21 today!
In this PAK you’ll discover: Energetic folk rock, raucous train beats, fast country boogies, acid jazz grooves, laid-back funky jams, a bevy of breezy jazz waltzes, calm electro funk, indie synth pop, industrial synth metal, and more bro country than could possibly fit in the back of a pickup truck!
Special offers until December 31st, 2025!
All the Xtra Styles PAKs 1 - 21 are on special for only $29 each (reg $49), or get all 21 PAKs for $199 (reg $399)! Order now!
Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 21 requires the 2025 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows is here and it is packed with major new features! There’s a new modern look, a GUI redesign to all areas of the program including toolbars, windows, workflow and more. There’s a Multi-view layout for organizing multiple windows. A standout addition is the powerful AI-Notes feature, which uses AI neural-net technology to transcribe polyphonic audio into MIDI—entire mixes or individual instruments—making it easy to study, view, and play parts from any song. And that’s just the beginning—there are over 60 new features in this exciting release.
Along with version 2026, we've released an incredible lineup of new content! There's 202 new RealTracks, brand-new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 5, two new RealDrums Stems sets, XPro Styles PAK 10, Xtra Styles PAK 21, and much more!
Special Offers
Upgrade to Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows and save up to 50% on most upgrade packages during our special offer—available until December 31, 2025. Visit our Band-in-a-Box® packages page to explore all available upgrade options.
2026 Free Bonus PAK & 49-PAK Add-ons
Our Free Bonus PAK and 49-PAK are loaded with amazing add-ons! The Free Bonus PAK is included with most Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows packages, but you can unlock even more—including 20 unreleased RealTracks—by upgrading to the 2026 49-PAK for just $49. Browse the full contents of each package and listen to demos here.
XPro and Xtra Styles PAKs Special Extended Until August 31st!
XPro & Xtra Styles PAKs Special Extended Until August 31st!
The XPro Styles PAKs and Xtra Styles PAKs special offers are now available until August 31st at 11:59pm PDT!
Ready to take your Band-in-a-Box® 2025 experience to the next level? Now’s the perfect time! Expand your style library with XPro and Xtra Styles PAKs—packed with a wide variety of genres to inspire your next musical creation.
What are XPro Styles and Xtra Styles PAKs?
XPro Styles PAKs are styles that work with any version (Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition) of Band-in-a-Box® 2025 (or higher). XPro Styles PAKS 1-9 includes 900 styles!
Xtra Styles PAKs are styles that work with the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box® 2025 (or higher). With over 3,500 styles (and 35 MIDI styles) included in Xtra Styles PAKs 1-20, the possibilities are endless!
Get the XPro Styles PAKs 1 - 9 for only $29 ea (Reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the XPro Styles PAK Bundle for only $149 (reg. $299)! Listen to demos and order now! For Windows or for Mac.
Note: XPro Styles PAKs require Band-in-a-Box® 2025 or higher and are compatible with ANY package, including the Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, and Audiophile Edition.
Get Xtra Styles PAKs 1 - 20 are on special for only $29 each (reg $49), or get all 19 PAKs for $199 (reg $399)! Listen to demos and order now! For Windows or for Mac.
Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 19 requires the 2025 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
Don’t miss this chance to supercharge your Band-in-a-Box setup—at a great price!
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