OMG!! Where is it Actually COOL?

[cherterr]

Exactly! Lol.
(Thank you apocolyptic end times weather crap since 2012)
South and central Texas used to be wonderful Sept. To April. Grr

 

[B and C]

I don't ever remember it being "wonderful" down here in September. End of October to April and maybe into May.

 

[cherterr]

Thank you for that b and c. Now I know there really IS a difference between Houston and Waco.

I lived in Houston proper for three years in 2006 and I don't remember it being this crappy then!

Been near A&M since 2013... We'll just say it's been a westher SuckFest.

I guess my fondness for Sept. relies on it stopping being in the 100s at SOME point during the month.

 

[B and C]

We usually don't hit a 100 here much but the humidity more than makes up for it. I'm hotter here in the 90's than when I am at my brothers near Dallas and it is 100+. Starting to look like earlier in October might be good this year. It hasn't been as hot as some years.

 

[cherterr]

Okay, now that we're done bitching about the heat in Texas.. LOL , I'm posting a map of where I've been this week.  ALL THE WHILE EXTREMEMLY comfortable.  It only got temporarily warm for an hour or two, but certainly tolerable INSIDE the van near Espanola a couple of days, and we FROZE our butts off Saturday morning at 7941 ft. in Fenton Lake SP.  Comfy today in Santa Fe.  Heading more west tomorrow.  And.. a little lower!

Here's the cherterr trail:

 

[highdesertranger]

I love it, a paper map. highdesertranger

 

[bullfrog]

Silver City should be similar weather to Santa Fe next few days but rain is in the forecast. You will go up in elevation I believe as you get closer to the Arizona border. It always seems to get colder sooner in New Mexico than most other places in the southwest to me.

 

[wayne49]

I pick up the official state map for every state I hit. Not just souvenirs, I use them, too.

The cherterr trail looks interesting.

 

[cherterr]

I love it,  a paper map.  highdesertranger

It's a whole spiral bound BOOK of paper maps!!   Not gonna catch ME lost in the middle of nowhere.  (My plastic compass/whistle/thermometer rides in my driver's door armrest too. )   
   No power or wifi required.  

 

[txmnjim]

will be nice tonight here in Rochester, MN down to 51. come on up
to see the leaves on the North Shore!

 

[Scout]

Im a fan of paper maps too. Is there something I can get on paper that shows the elevations? I don't know how you all know these elevations other than being there or from experience. I would like to find something to tell me which direction to go and when to avoid to stay out of bad weather

 

[Qxxx]

I still have a US Road Atlas from the 1980s. I took it apart so the states are separated. There is also a 21"x30" 2-page spread of the US, which I made acopy of, and have marked all of my travel routes over the past 40 years. I look at that to plan trips all the time into areas I've never visited. Don't need batteries, and it's a nice big spread rather than a miniscule grey screen. Unfortunately, the atlases today tend to have much smaller maps of the individual states.

Scout, maps may or may not show elevations. One thing you can do for elevations is go to google maps, select "Terrain" in the pulldown menu, upper left, and blow up the maps to see the terrain contour lines. Eg, 7200' next to Taos.
https://www.google.com/maps/@36.4011488,-105.560067,14z/data=!5m1!1e4

Also, if your google maps has the 3D icon below the compass icon, when you're in Satellite view, you can hold down the "Control" key and use the mouse to zip the map around 360 degrees in full 3D relief. It's wonderful for seeing the actual terrain.

 

[cherterr]

After trying a few online sites for Elevations... I fell in love with the one in my AllStaysPro.. No screwin around with input and several pages of crap they ask for. You just tap a spot on screen and TA DA..the elevation shows up in a little box. ( gotta be better than paper?)

The paper i know of from Bob's reccomendation are the Benchmark Atlases. Honestly, I keep meaning to pull one out, but I haven't sat still long enough yet! And thay ARE huge so show a LOT.

 

[cherterr]

Just FYI..for a nice WEEKLY forecast of anywhere I use THIS.. Every day!

http://www.usairnet.com/weather/

Just scroll down to little blank box above "go" box an type in any City, ST. If you need to recheck later it keeps a few in memory too to save retyping!

 

[Fivealive]

I find playing the elevation to stay cool game in the summer to be rather tricky, 75+ and sunny is way to hot for me in a van, especially now that my dog is older and has a heart condition. Sure you can go sit on top of a mountain pass but then you have to head down to the valley for supplies and what not and it can be crazy hot in those valleys. I find hugging the norcal and PNW coast to be the only reliable way to stay cool during the summer. Also when I say hug the coast I mean that literally, I have had days where it will be in the 60's on the coast and then jump up to the 80's just a few miles inland.

 

[Fivealive]

I'm working in San Francisco today and we are having a heat wave in the bay today and tomorrow.  This is about as hot of a day as it gets but you can see if you hug that coastline properly you could be enjoying 69 high and at the same moment it will be 78 a couple miles inland and a scorching 97 just 30 miles east in concord.  This map shows both the coast cooling effect and elevation cooling effect as Mt. Diablo is basically in Concords backyard and it will be 77 at the same time concord will be 97.  This also shows my issue with relying on elevation, as soon as you get off that mountain and into the valley below the temp change is very drastic, and you usually need to go down to those valley cities for resources. Compared to the coast that has the resources and cooler temps in the same space.

 

[Fivealive]

The other advantage of using the coast to cool instead of elevation is you don't freeze your ass off in the early morning. You can enjoy those mild highs in the 60's while still only having to deal with overnight lows in the 50's. Also it is a year round mild weather solution, no moving required at any time unless you want to change the scenery.