Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

Thanks for sharing your experiences. Most of the regulars here have had similar ones, but those misadventures did not dissuade us from pursuing other RoadTrips throughout our lives. I hope yours don't deter you either, but rather that you consider them a learning experience that you can share (and have shared) with others so that they don't have to learn the hard way. There is a phrase that I recall from many years ago that still applies:

Too soon old; too late smart.

AZBuck