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 2x2TB, 1x4TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 2x1.5TB, 2x2TB, 1x4TB 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 2x2TB, 1x4TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 2x1.5TB, 2x2TB, 1x4TB 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 2x2TB, 1x4TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 2x1.5TB, 2x2TB, 1x4TB 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 2x2TB, 1x4TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 2x1.5TB, 2x2TB, 1x4TB 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.
Video: Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac®: VST3 Plugin Support
Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac® now includes support for VST3 plugins, alongside VST and AU. Use them with MIDI or audio tracks for even more creative possibilities in your music production.
Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Macs®: VST3 Plugin Support
Video: Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac®: Using VST3 Plugins
With the release of Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac, we’re rolling out a collection of brand-new videos on our YouTube channel. We’ll also keep this forum post updated so you can easily find all the latest videos in one convenient spot.
From overviews of new features and walkthroughs of the 202 new RealTracks, to highlights of XPro Styles PAK 8, Xtra Styles PAKs 18, the 2025 49-PAK, and in-depth tutorials — you’ll find everything you need to explore what’s new in Band-in-a-Box® 2025.
Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac is here, packed with major new features and an incredible collection of available new content! This includes 202 RealTracks (in Sets 449-467), plus 20 bonus Unreleased RealTracks in the 2025 49-PAK. There are new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 4, two new sets of “RealDrums Stems,” XPro Styles PAK 8, Xtra Styles PAK 19, and more!
Special Offers
Upgrade to Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac with savings of up to 50% on most upgrade packages during our special—available until July 31, 2025! Visit our Band-in-a-Box® packages page for all the purchase options available.
2025 Free Bonus PAK & 49-PAK Add-ons
We've packed our Free Bonus PAK & 49-PAK with some incredible Add-ons! The Free Bonus PAK is automatically included with most Band-in-a-Box® for Mac 2025 packages, but for even more Add-ons (including 20 Unreleased RealTracks!) upgrade to the 2025 49-PAK for only $49. You can see the full lists of items in each package, and listen to demos here.
If you have any questions, feel free to connect with us directly—we’re here to help!
Cari amici
È stata aggerate la versione in Italiano del programma più amato dagli appassionati di musica, il nostro Band-in-a-Box.
Questo è il link alla nuova versione 2025.
Di seguito i link per scaricare il pacchetti di lingua italiana aggiornati per Band-in-a-Box e RealBand, anche per chi avesse già comprato la nuova versione in inglese.
Band-in-a-Box® 2025 pour Windows est disponible en Français.
Le téléchargement se fait à partir du site PG Music
Pour ceux qui auraient déjà acheté la version 2025 de Band-in-a-Box (et qui donc ont une version anglaise), il est possible de "franciser" cette version avec les patchs suivants:
Band-in-a-Box 2025 für Windows Deutsch ist verfügbar!
Die deutsche Version Band-in-a-Box® 2025 für Windows ist ab sofort verfügbar!
Alle die bereits die englische Version von Band-in-a-Box und RealBand 2024 installiert haben, finden hier die Installationsdateien für das Sprachenupdate:
Update Your Band-in-a-Box® 2025 to Build 1128 for Windows Today!
Already using Band-in-a-Box 2025 for Windows®? Download Build 1128 now from our Support Page to enjoy the latest enhancements and improvements from our team.
One of our representatives will be happy to help you over the phone. Our hours of operation are from
6:00AM to 6:00PM PST (GMT -8) Monday thru Friday, and 8:00AM to 4:00PM PST Saturday. We are closed Sunday. You can also send us your questions via email.
One of our representatives will be happy to help you on our Live Chat or by email. Our hours of operation are from
6:00AM to 6:00PM PST (GMT -8) Monday thru Friday; 8:00AM to 4:00PM PST (GMT -8) Saturday; Closed Sunday.
Norton Music
Dansk
Deutsch - Windows
Español
Français - Windows
Italiano - Windows
Nederlands
Polski
Português
Svenskt
русский
Japanese
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
Korean