Three words to describe Texas: oil, hats (red and cowboy), and guns. At least that was our expectation. We didn’t see any oil rigs until we reached central and west Texas. We saw no red hats and only a handful of cowboy hats. And no open carry weapons. Lots of gun decor though ( I don’t get it).
What we learned: not everything is bigger in Texas. Like this pumpkin float.
We drove an hour for what I expected to be a festival with over 100 pumpkins floating in the river. It was about a dozen total.
But we saw some beautiful views and a really crazy storm on the way. And had dinner at a fun restaurant so it wasn’t a total waste.
Another lesson: always street view a business before signing up for a class. Camryn and I enjoyed the glassblowing class we took. But the fact that it was in a shed in the instructors back yard made for an anxious start.
We rounded out Camryn’s visit with a stop at Buc-ees and Putt Pub, cards, hot tubs and lots of kitty time.
Following a great visit with Camryn, we packed up and hit the road for New Mexico. Our first stop was Fort Stockton. A great little campground on top of a hill. Nothing fancy, just what we needed for the night.
Our second day of travel was more eventful. It included a stop at auto zone, just 4 miles from the Mexican boarder. You can see Jays fb post for those details.
I -10 west in El Paso is closed for construction so we faced the unnerving decision to follow GPS or the detour signs. Ultimately we decided on the detour. And we were treated to an amazing ride through the mountains.
We arrived safely at our destination, Las Cruces KOA Journey. For those familiar with the KOA brand, this place should not be a Journey. It’s gorgeous!! Definitely upgrade to the view sites. It’s worth it. We even put down our patio (only the 5th time since we owned it). New Mexico is prettier than I expected. Lessons learned.
For those of you concerned about the flooding in Arizona, we are in Arkansas right now. Yes we have plans to be in Arizona in the winter but no where near the flooding. So we’re good.
We learn a lot with this lifestyle. So far in Arkansas we’ve learned:
1) Owners rally aren’t really for us. This week’s new experience was a Grand Design Owners rally. For those you don’t know GD is the manufacturer of our camper and they have about 10 rallies each year in various locations around the country. The campground we’re at hosted the Arkansas rally last week. We didn’t know about it until after our arrival. Fortunately for us, they had a couple last minute cancellations and we were able to join. Unfortunately, because we didn’t plan for the rally, we still worked the during the week. So that did limit our experience. Overall it was a positive one, though I don’t know that we’ll do it again anytime soon.
2) Everything closes early in these parts. On the way here we saw a billboard that said “late night munchies? We’ve got you covered. Now open until 10 pm”. We figured it was “in the country” and didn’t think about it. On Friday night we went downtown for dinner, most of the shops on the main strip were closed! At 6pm on a Friday!
3) Amber lights on your towing system mean something is not right. And Jay and I make a good break changing team!
4) There are northern and southern apple varieties. And northern are 💯 % better! Thank goodness Lyman orchards will ship to Arkansas!
5) our kitties love the outdoors.
And lastly: Hot Springs has a great bike trail. Curvy, by a river, several bridges and art along the way.
We head out on Saturday to Texas. I wonder what fun new things we’ll learn there.
Last weekend was beautiful – weather wise here in Branson MO. On Saturday we went to Top of the Rock and did the Lost Canyon Tour. It’s a golf cart tour through the canyon and caves. They even have a little bar in one of the caves. They were starting to put up some of the light displays for their Christmas tour. I can imagine it’s beautiful with the lights at night. I highly recommend it if you’re ever in this area.
Supposedly there is lots of wildlife in this area. The only thing we saw was this beaver.
On Sunday we tried out a bike trail. We didn’t get very far. It’s more of a mountain bike trail than we usually do. Lots of rocks and roots. That would be fine but our bikes shut off when we go over big bumps (do not buy Jasion bikes!) and we were afraid of getting stuck in the woods if they didn’t turn back on so we called it quits after about 0.5 miles.
For dinner we headed to downtown Branson and Full Throttle distillery. We’d heard good things about it. Our dinners were good- nothing really to rave about. After dinner we walked over to Branson Landing. I had heard there was an hourly water fountain display,designed by the same people who did the Bellagio in Vegas. It was incredibly…underwhelming.
During the week we don’t do much besides work , fix dinner and snuggle the cats. This week we celebrated Gander’s gotcha day. Can’t believe we’ve had one year with this little love.
This weekend we had planned go on a bike ride on Saturday but my bike tire was flat. So instead we headed to silver dollar city, a local amusement park. In addition to rides and shows, this time of year they also have amazing pumpkin displays (I love my pumpkins!) and artisans performing and selling their crafts. I had a great time but it was REALLY hot. 🥵. We didn’t last very long.
Next weekend we’re off to a state we’ve never been to before, Arkansas. I hope to have lots to share.
It’s been a really busy week since my last post so bear with me.
On Wednesday, during a quick run to the farmers market, the truck went into limp mode. Long story short, $150 for that repair, and we need to stop idling the truck so much. 🤷♀️ But at least it didn’t happen on a travel day.
On Friday we left Illinois and headed to Branson Missouri. If anyone remembers the planned map, we took Lake of the Ozarks out. I’m sure it’s beautiful but we decided we wanted longer stops and the place on the lake would only allow 2 week stays so we skipped it and made Branson and Hot springs each 3 weeks.
The route took us through St. Louis and along a stretch of Route 66. The signs for some of the kitschy attractions did not disappoint.
The drive was mostly uneventful, except the pump for the auxiliary fuel tank stopped working. Turns out the “dipstick” fell off. Jay ordered that part so 🤞🏻 that won’t be another repair bill. 🙄
We spent the long weekend exploring Branson. A bike ride along the lake, lots of beautiful views, and a mountain coaster ride.
There was an air show in Branson this weekend featuring The Blue Angels. We tried to go but parking was sold out. But we did get to see several of the jets as we drove around.
One thing we noticed as we drove around is that roads are not constructed like they are in the northeast. In New England if a road needs to go over a mountain there will be a slow climbing path probably with lots of switchbacks. But in the ozarks, you’re just going straight up over the hill, or down. This is what 19% grade looks like from the passenger seat. 😳 Thank goodness we weren’t towing!
We’ve talked with lots of people on our adventures and gotten some recommendations of things to see and do so the next couple weeks should have a lot to share (if I can remember to take more pictures.) Stay tuned.
Ya take the good. Ya take the bad. Ya take them both and there you have…..
We had a great weekend. Spent Saturday doing some much needed chores around the camper. Then played cards with our new friends. On Sunday we took a bike ride to Rend Lake. It was a great trail and a beautiful day.
Sometime yesterday our fridge stopped working. It did this once before in Maryland (after the lightening strike). That time it came back on in about 4-6 hours. So yesterday we decided just to wait. This morning it still wasn’t working. So it became meal prep Monday for me. Cooking everything I can to not lose everything in the freezer (my Saturday chores included grocery shopping 🛒). And Jay started trying to take the fridge out while we waited for a repair man.
Come to find out, 2 wires in the camper’s underbelly were not crimped together. It’s a miracle it’s worked for the past year! Gotta love the quality construction on these things. 🙄. But at least it’s working now. And the $175 bill could have been much worse. Just part of life.
Things have been pretty quiet around here. The truck was in the shop last week so we didn’t get out to explore at all in Kentucky. Over the weekend we traveled to Whittington, IL. On the way we saw nothing but corn 🌽! I think they planted every tree in this campground. It makes internet connection for work, challenging but we’re making do.
There isn’t much to see here but it was a convenient stop that is close enough for a visit from our friends Geri and Kevin. So glad we got to see them and meet their son Michael and his girlfriend Kelsey. We also met new friends Jerry and Barb.
The weather has been incredibly hot 🥵. Upper 90s- over 100. Greater than Jays normal operating temperature. Monday was so bad we had to celebrate Geri’s birthday inside! It’s a good thing we bought a big enough camper.
While Camryn isn’t traveling with us, she is an Avery so it’s far game to share here. She walked the entire length of Manhattan on Saturday. 19 miles! So proud of her for “traveling averywhere” and finding “joy in the journey”.
This journey of ours has led us to some amazing sights. Some of them are beautiful, like the views as we traveled through western Maryland this weekend.
Others have been concerning. Like the sign on the road leading to our campground on Saturday “Road not suitable for large trucks.” 😱 Or the sight of our camper almost scraping bottom on the way out on Sunday morning. 😱😱
But I don’t think I’ve ever had a more entertaining view from my office.
This young kid works here. And apparently part of his job is chasing the geese. 🤷♀️ He got a little too close I guess and nearly went for a swim. It took him, Jay, 2 other guys and a backhoe to get it out. It was really entertaining.
I’d say Geese:1 Kid:0.
On a side note, we’re in Frankfurt , KY. (That’s the capital for those you don’t remember 4th grade geography.) I’m not sure if Kentucky qualifies as “the south” but it should. The people are very nice and CHATTY! Everywhere you go, expect it to take at least 15 minutes longer than you thought!
Anyhow, we’re only here for a week. And we’re working so I wasn’t expecting to see much. Who knew the campground would provide live entertainment right outside my window!
We had a great weekend here in Maryland. On Saturday, it was a beautiful day for a bike ride so we headed to the WB&A trail. We rode 22 miles round trip. This pic was taken just before we headed up a steep hill with lots of switch backs. Thank goodness for the e bikes!
On Sunday, my sister and her husband took us sailing. Jay and I work really well together but I don’t know if captain and first mate are in the cards for us. That’s a lot of work! Kudos to Carolyn and Mark for their teamwork. It was a beautiful day out on the water followed by a terrific meal in the harbor. A great way to spend our last weekend on the east coast (for a while anyway).
The week in Rehoboth was pretty chill. We spent a lot of time in the pool. I also managed to finish a couple of books. I love reading in the sun. Or curled up under a blanket on the couch. I guess anywhere really.
As usual, we didn’t take a lot of pictures but fortunately our friends did! Thank you Audrey and Theresa for “sharing” the photos.
We left Rehoboth on Sunday and headed to MD. About an hour after our arrival a storm came through and lightening hit the cabin behind us! Jay and I just stared at each other in silence for about 45 seconds. Once we could breathe again, we discovered our surge protector was toast. I guess it did its job. And it’s covered by warranty so all is well here.
After all that excitement, Jay and I were back to work this week. We’re thankful we weren’t hit hard by the storms last night. We hope to explore some more now that the weather is cooler.
So apparently Jay and I both suck at keeping this thing going. At the encouragement of friends, I’m going to try again. Do me a favor and comment once in a while. It helps to know someone else is interested and paying attention.
So last time I posted, we were in pigeon forge in October. So this will be a long catch up post with some highlights. Feel free to skip this one if you want.
We spent November in Myrtle beach. It was a busy month with visits from both Howard and Justin, dinner with Mike and Barb and a Thanksgiving trip to Maryland. Jay was sick for Thanksgiving so he stayed in Myrtle.
For December we were in Keystone heights Florida. The campground was a lot of fun but the area was not very impressive. We fly to NY to spend a couple days with Camryn. After about a week back in Florida we flew back to CT for Christmas.
In January, we staying in Crystal River Florida. Camryn and Conor came for a visit and we swam with manatees and pet penguins at the zoo. We also got a friend for Gander, another kitten we named Sunny. They were instant best buds.
For February it was back to Port St Joe to connect with friends we met there last year. It was great to see everyone again. We also discovered a couple fun bike trails including the Timpoochee trail. This is exactly what Jay and I want in a bike trails- lots of pretty views and places to stop and eat, drink and shop along the way.
For March we headed to Bowling green Florida and stayed at Torrey Oaks. Our friends Donna and Jim snowbird at Torrey Trails, right next door. We had a blast with them and their Florida friends. We learned to play bean bag baseball. And we took in a Cirque du Soleil show in Orlando. Our last night we headed to Bradenton for the Freedom 500. It was REALLY hot but once the sun got a little lower in the sky it was a really fun time.
We spent April meandering back to CT. We stopped in Lake City SC, a cute town with lots of restaurants to check out. There’s a little campground in walking/biking distance to everything but the train goes through town FREQUENTLY. And due to all the cross streets the whistle goes on forever.
Next stop was near Raleigh, where we visited with Gary and Liz. Then it was on to College Park MD. I ended up rushing back to CT with Carolyn a week earlier than planned when Mom fell on her deck outside. Amazingly no broken bones or other serious injuries.
Then we spent May and June in CT. We celebrated Ken’s 80th birthday and mom’s 90th. And visited with lots of friends in between. It was a very busy couple of months.
We left CT on 7/2 for our next phase of this crazy adventure. We spent the holiday (and the following week) in Sturbridge MA. We found another fun bike trail. This one had a section more fit for mountain bikes than e-bikes but we survived.
Then we started our summer vacation with a few days in New Hampshire. We rode about half of the Franconia Notch Recreation Trail. Another great trail but make sure your e-bike is fully charged if you want to do the whole thing (about 17 miles round trip with 800 ft elevation gain). We also got to spend a day in my happy place- on the Baker River. I wish it could have been longer but we left New Hampshire on Wednesday to head to Poestenkill NY to meet our friends and head to Dover DE on Thursday morning. This was our first time “boondocking” with our toy hauler. And it was VERY hot. We closed the door to the garage section and managed to keep the rest of the camper cool with 2 ac running off the generator. The cats weren’t thrilled with the smaller space but we all survived. It’s an experience we don’t need to repeat again anytime soon.
Yesterday we left Dover and headed to rehoboth beach DE. We’re all happy to have full hook ups (and the full length of the camper) again. The pool and swim up bar are added bonuses.
Below is the map of our year to come. If you want to meet up on our travels, let us know. Thank you for following along on our adventure. I’ll try to do better this time.
Traveling Averywhere 