well off the beathen path

Yes indeed, Total Escape is alive and well - and still online! the redesign is finally here 2019 October marks the 23rd year of our presence on the world wide web. Site founder, DanaMite has been redesigning the site and making it easier to find everything - over 10,000 pages on just California. This particular overhaul has been years in the making and I needed to 'hire out' on certain skills in to accomplish it. Big thanks goes to  Jamison  who helped me get CSS headers in order and looking great, and the new navigation launched last month on Total Escape. Mobile users will be pointed to the main URL  http://www.totalescape.com/index.html Desktop users can still use the classic feel http://www.totalescape.com/classic.html Search Bar is located back on top, the Outside Blog now visually matches the rest of the site, and we have created some new sub-sections of the site, which include: DESTINATIONS - http://totalescape.com/destinations/ JOURNEY - http://total

Responding to the width of any device. The phrase 'responsive web design' did not exist a decade ago because bigger was better and the large 1500 mega pixel wide flat displays were all the rage back then. Wider photographs, crystal clear imagery, streaming videos and playing movies on your home computer. Gone were the days of ugly web 1.0, w/ limited screen space and 800 width, as advertising banners and text ads filled any blank space. Fast forward to today and web sites now need to look good on all computers, from desktop to palm sized. NEW SITE DESIGN IS IN THE WORKS for the content site of Total Escape. Map store sales are on the way out! Total Escape is celebrating 18 years online this month and it continues to be the independent travel guide to California Outdoors and Off the Beaten Path.

It often seems as if I have forgotten about this long standing blogger blog, leaving it for months at a time without a post (maybe while traveling for weeks or working other more pressing projects). Over this past winter, I spent much time rebuilding older pages to a new format (WordPress) Outside Blog and I will continue this throughout the year. Covering the back roads like no other! I, DanaMite , am dedicated to the whole of Total Escape, my 8000 page web site on California travel destinations, off the beaten path . Established way back in 1996, in the web 1.0 days, on a 33k modem. First and foremost that I can offer is real world content, real experiences, travel logs, photos, GPS data and research I gather while exploring the golden state. Sleeping on the ground, tent camping outside of developed campgrounds, way back there "out in the field". Lakes, Rivers, Wilderness, Outdoor Recreation, Small Towns & Unique Lodging Managing databases on California d

As independent innkeepers, marketing hotel property online and off line is now equally important. Gone are the days when you could run a small advertisement in the local newspaper and hope travelers see it. Now a full menu of advertising campaigns is necessary to even survive. A professional looking web site about your lodge with great photos, a map and current room rates, is a must in todays competitive market. hotel advertisement ON LINE - First you need to understand your cyber market, the folks that are surfing the web looking for a place to stay next weekend. Most are on the web daily, many for well over a decade and they expect web site to work properly. Amazing looking photographs to illustrate just how unique your property is just the start. They expect all links, emails, forms or PDF downloads to work correctly, all seasonal pages to be updated a few times per year, and they expect to be able to gather recreation and tourist information on your local California region

Yeah, I know you've heard it. America is in a recession or a depression. But that doesn't stop you from wanting to travel. Needing to get away from your daily grind. Can you expect to escape your hurried life for a weekend, for under $100? What bout a $200 limit? No seriously. You would spend that much or more just staying home & hanging out in the city. Really! Think about it. Shopping, dinner at a restaurant, coffee afterwards, or a concert, some drinks during, plus the parking. It adds up super fast as you already know. Total Escape web site traffic is WAY up -- 50% from last winter, cuz people are realizing they gotta travel locally & inexpensively. This goes for the maps store at the dot net & our main site at dot com . DanaMite has the ideas for cheap road trips all over the golden state. Thanks goes to all the newcomers & the avid Escapers. The new residents in Cali, the transplants, the native, the locals, anyone who uses Total Escape on a regul