June 2021 – The view from the edge of our empty nest.

Easy Questions With Complicated Answers

"Where do you live?" - Answers from the road we travel.

3 By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; 4 through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures.
Proverbs 24:3-4

Sometimes it feels like we are giving a loaded answer to what is a fairly innocuous question. “Where are you from” or “Where do you live?”. We answer as succinctly and clearly as possible. “We are full time RVers. We live and travel in our RV year-round.” Then we pause for the reaction. We have gotten it all in response. Stranger, acquaintance, friend or family, it is sometimes difficult to know what reaction we will receive. It seems, however, that the reactions seem to fall into one of three different categories.

Perhaps the most surprising (and thankfully, the least common) reaction is what I call the “Trailer Trash Look”. They immediately look down upon us and the way we are choosing to live. They give us a confused stare. These are the folks that might not understand or have any experience with camping. They might not understand the amazing diversity of campers and camping styles that are found in this country. They might think that campgrounds are like run-down mobile home parks (sometimes they are). They might have prejudged (and misjudged) people that live in trailers or motorhomes as desperate, nearly homeless folks that are under/unemployed and not hardworking. They might be very “inside the box” thinkers. They might just be jerks judging our lifestyle.

How we choose to live might not be what they imagine it to be.

They are easy to handle. Simply smile, end the conversation quickly and move on. No amount of explanation or education is likely to change their opinion, and this type of person doesn’t generally want to hear it anyway.

The second type of reaction we get is the one I struggle with the most. I call it the “Green Is Not Your Color Look”. Envy shows clearly when folks’ initial response is said in a generally pleasant but slightly sarcastic tone. “I wish I could do that” or “Must be nice” or even “Well, aren’t you lucky?”. Sheesh. This lifestyle is usually a choice. It is the culmination of a lifetime of hard work and sacrifice in my choices. It is not simply the result of waking up rich one day. We chose this lifestyle because of its richness in experiences. My husband and I planned for this opportunity. We made financial decisions to be able to prepare for this lifestyle. We live responsibly and aware of our ongoing financial choices, following a monthly budget and sticking to it.

Our lives are about choices, and occasionally about how we react to our adversities.

I am never quite sure how to respond to people who make these comments, but for some reason I feel compelled to try. I say “Well sure, you can choose to do this lifestyle too! People of all walks of life have made it their choice”; or “It is indeed nice, thank you. I’ve been a saver my entire life, so this is the time when we can enjoy those savings”; or “Well, not lucky really, but blessed. This is something we have worked hard for, so we are really blessed to have the opportunity for these experiences.” No matter how we have responded, it seems that our message never quite connects with the commenter. They never quite hear that their limitations are usually of their own making. All of our lives are mostly about our choices, and occasionally about how we react to our adversities.

By and large, however, we get great support and enthusiasm. The most common response is true and genuine happiness and understanding for our choices. “That is amazing.”, “What an adventure.”, or “I’ve always wanted to do that!”. This response is sometimes followed by questions about our favorite places or future destinations. It is a pleasure to share with these folks. We connect with them and learn about their lives as well. Often they have had an equally interesting and different life that they are living, and we love to learn about them. We often connect on a very human level, appreciating our differences and enjoying the time learning about our amazingly diverse world.

By and large, we receive great support and enthusiasm about our nomadic lifestyle.

Regardless of people’s reaction to our life in a 350 square foot trailer and a truck, people usually want to know what it is like for us. They want to understand the day-to-day – the good, the bad and the ugly of it all. What is hard for us? Why are we doing this at all?

People can understand and usually even guess the harder parts. These are the things that stop many others from living this lifestyle for very long, or from trying it at all. You are separated from your friends and loved ones by many miles and often many months. You must eliminate most of your personal items, by either selling them, giving them away or storing them out of reach (often at a great cost). You must live a life of greater solitude (if you are single) or of less alone time (if you are part of a couple), or of very limited personal space (if you are part of an RVing family). These can be the tougher parts of FT RVing.

Learning to live in a smaller space requires a coziness that can be fun, but that also leaves you searching for your own personal space. Here, the “dining table” becomes an office and craft room.

The galley kitchen is fully functional, but a complete “open concept” with the “living room” and “dining room”.

The sofa in the “living room” gives a small bit of “personal space” to our doggos on a daily basis.

Andrew and I have found ways to work through these challenges. We recognize that every so often, we will be returning to our “hometown base” of Maryland and Pennsylvania to see our families – including our mothers, siblings and children. We need that time and they need that time. Life goes on and there will always be graduations, illnesses, marriages, births and even deaths to draw us together. We just work these things into our travels – expected or unplanned, we know they will happen.

We also always leave an open-ended invitation to our friends and loved ones to visit with us. When passing through a certain state, we have met with new and old friends along the way. When visiting a fabulous place, our kids and sometimes our close friends will fly in for a visit/vacation. Because of our nomadic ways, these visits must be planned out, but it really is not much different than millions of families around the globe that live far apart from their loved ones for a lifetime.

We love when our loved ones visit us! Here, two of Andrew’s kids stopped by Colorado for a visit, including a Colorado Rockies game!

My baby, Ella, cooks up some Thanksgiving dinner with us on Tybee Island, Georgia.

Shedding our home was a difficult process that was also very easy in the end. Selling a home that you love or leaving a town that you feel a part of can be a challenge. Ultimately, we have found that the simplicity of life is a positive outcome to our loss of possessions. Having no yard work, property taxes, utility bills and large capital and maintenance projects frees up our finances to create experiences and feel little stress when the kitchen sink springs a leak (yes, those things still happen in a tiny home on wheels).

It took many months of Facebook Marketplace sales, yard sales and donation trips to our local non-profit thrift store to shed us of nearly all our personal belongings.

WHY? So why do we do this full-time RVing thing? Why do we choose to live apart from loved ones and friends? Why do we choose to shed our treasured belongings and live in such a small space? The reasons are many:

Meeting diverse people: The gift of camping in this lifestyle we choose is that we DO meet many kinds of people. They are varied and different from us in many ways. If we still lived in our little neighborhood where our “sticks and bricks” home was located, we would meet mostly people that were similar to us demographically. But because we meet new neighbors weekly, we meet people that come from much more varied walks of life. Campers, we have found, come from very different geographic, familial, financial, political, ethnic, racial and career backgrounds.

This Native American display at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science was a great way to show the diversity of people and lives that we have met while traveling the country.

In South Carolina, we met a traveling couple and their three furry family members, complete with a motorcycle sidecar that allowed the entire family to camp and motorbike around the country. Both Mike and Jean were retired from really interesting careers in horse racing, with Mike being part of a world class, hall of fame horse training family and Jean being a thoroughbred rider. He shared interesting stories of growing up while rubbing elbows with Hollywood stars like singer Burt Bacharach, actress Angie Dickinson and many others, with dinner parties, hosted by his mother, being the norm for their family.

In Florida, we met Doris, a single 89 year old full-time RVer who had recently downsized to a 25 foot class C camper. She retired from her traveling jewelry sales career (also in an RV) and declined the opportunity to move in with her daughter. Instead, she spends her free time as a daytrader and self-described youtube fanatic, following other full-time RVers she meets along the way.

We have met camping families that homeschool their children with experiences and discipline. We have met a lesbian couple that travel and blog their way through their adventures and chronic illness, entertaining and helping others along the way. We have met those that are our political polar opposites, and yet, we enjoyed a campfire together. We enjoyed meeting the retired couple in their 70s that were RVing for the first time, making a cross-country trek in their Class B camper to visit their daughter in Washington state.

This interesting neighbor, whom I met Thanksgiving weekend, purchsed this military surplus equipment at auction and converted it into a unique way of camping.

The ways all these “neighbors” we meet travel and live are all very different – seasonal snowbirds, workampers, weekend warriors, location independent full-time employees, traditional 65+ retirees, young risk-takers that fund their travels with an entrepreneurial online presence and yes, even those that are struggling financially and hanging on to whatever stability they can find while living in an RV in a stationary location. We have enjoyed meeting them all.

This globe-trotting traveler was going to circumvent the WORLD in his Unimog before Covid converted his trip to an exploration of the USA.

Embracing a more minimalist life: This benefit of FT RVing wasn’t one of our initial goals, but it has been an unexpected enjoyable outcome. We have grown to enjoy a smaller, more casual wardrobe (we usually wear the same five outfits weekly). We cook simple, (generally) healthy meals a few times a week instead of daily, and we enjoy the extra time to slow down our pace. Most urges to acquire material things are shifted to our loved ones – we love sending care packages of objects found in our travels to those we miss back east. We have left the race to build a career, to have a beautiful home, to drive a nice car. Instead, we have less “stuff” – part time work, just enough to support our lifestyle, a tiny home on wheels with no mortgage payment and one vehicle that is our shared mode of transportation. In exchange, we have more experiences that we value far more than the items we have removed from our lives.

We are more glampers than these minimalist retro campers that we saw in the Casey KOA (Illinois). but no matter how small or big your rig, minimalism is a necessity of life. When something new comes into the rig, something else must leave.

Having incredible life experiences – By and large, THIS is what most people are excited about, and I really must agree. The romance of travel and the beauty of our country is what we were drawn to and what many others we meet think about when we first tell them where we live. The sunsets are indeed a little different in every place we settle for a while. The animals are diverse and interesting – from the swamps to the sandy beaches to the mountains. The really cool things we try are so numerous we will never be able to get through the entire list. But even the simple everyday events of exploring a new thrift shop, shopping at a newly discovered farm market, or chatting with a shopkeeper in a newly discovered little downtown – even in these simple life moments we make discoveries and are amazed by the world around us.

The sunrises and sunsets are indeed a little different in every place we settle for a while. This beautiful sunrise in Myrtle Beach, SC, like all of them, is courtesy of our good and gracious God.

The animals are diverse and interesting – these large turtles lived among us in our central Florida campground.

The Sand Hill Cranes mate for life, dance for joy, and are among the most interesting we lived among while wintering in Florida.

After falling in love and then living three decades apart, and then while we each went through some of the most difficult years of our lives separately, we focused on our children, and simply “getting through” the tough years. When we rekindled our lost relationship, we were finally able to look ahead to the day when life could again be beautiful and full of love. As our children became young adults, our obligations and roles changed, and we were able to instead focus on our life together as a couple. Full-time RVing became a way to quickly reinvent our lives, to step away from past pain, and see what life had in store for us in this next phase of life – finally celebrating “our time”.

Andrew’s surprise 50th birthday party (four years ago) – about the time that we started to actively plan for “our time”, to begin in July 2020.

We are Andrew and Tina, husband and wife FT RVers, living in our 36 foot fifth wheel trailer, traveling the country with our two dogs and a cat, missing our loved ones, and living a very blessed life.

Home Sweet Home – at a Harvest Hosts stop near Leavenworth, KS

1 For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.
2 Corinthians 5:1

Some Of The Best Experiences In Life Happen When You Just “Go With The Flow”.

John 7:38 ESV “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”

The Schmidt Party of Nine – L to R – Jonathan, Ellie, Sarah, Andrew, Tina, Abby, Patrick, Christy and Ben

Several months ago as we were planning our visit to some of the western states in our RV, my husband, Andrew, talked about a couple of bucket list items of his brother’s that were in the area where we would be traveling. Included on Patrick’s list was seeing Brit Floyd (a Pink Floyd cover band) in concert at Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre in Colorado. He also wanted to attempt to climb Grays Peak, the “easiest” of the state’s “14-ers” (fourteen-ers), which is any mountain at least 14,000 feet tall.

We checked out the event schedule at Red Rocks. Lo and behold, Patrick’s bucket list band was playing this summer! Seeing it as a great opportunity to visit with his brother, Andrew asked Patrick, “Are you in”? The beginning of an unexpected lifetime adventure was suddenly evolving and we didn’t even realize it.

Patrick and his family bought concert tickets and airline tickets. We bought concert tickets and booked a campground nearby. Andrew’s three children heard about what we were doing for that leg of the trip and decided to come along as well. More plane tickets, more concert tickets!

Bucket List – A panoramic view of Red Rocks Ampitheatre, Morrison, Colorado

The phrase “going with the flow”, infers change and flexibility. Of the “Schmidt Party of Nine”, none of us except Patrick had ever seen or knew much of anything about Red Rocks or Grays Peak, but for some reason, we were all excited and ALL IN! As trip planning proceeded, we devoured videos of climbers and concert-goers. We became very excited and immediately realized that we might also be a bit unprepared! We purchased bear spray, trekking poles and began shopping for very outdoorsy backpacks that were capable of holding hydration packs. We crafted emails to the kids, helping to prepare them for what was ahead for us. We heard more and more information from Patrick and learned about things we might encounter such as altitude sickness and the legalities of marijuana. We ventured further into our excitement and completely became fans of Patrick’s bucket list items!

As our post-Covid world began to open, we were disappointed to discover that the concert date was postponed (the band was likely moving on to a larger venue for our June visit) and in that instant, Brit Floyd at Red Rocks was yanked out of reach for us. The great part about this bad news? Everyone still wanted to make the trip to Colorado! We pivoted and decided that we should still go to Red Rocks, as our research and Patrick had by now told us all that the fabulous venue had to offer – museum, a hall of fame, miles of trails, yoga, movies and more.

So this week, the idea sparked by Patrick came to be. The spark that was further fanned by his generous sharing of information and enthusiasm absolutely CHANGED THE LIVES of all nine of us, aged 19 to 54. We saw and experienced beauty and inspiration like we have never before seen and felt.

This experience of a lifetime began with Patrick’s enthusiasm for two very specific goals.

It is safe to say that we are all so grateful that we decided to go with the flow and jump on the new experiences that Patrick wanted to experience. His goals became our shared goals.

At Red Rocks Amphitheatre and Park, we hiked a challenging 1.5 mile trail that helped reality set in for what we were to experience the following day on Grays Peak. The beauty was overwhelming. The merging of natural rock formations with man-made architecture was incredible. The altitude affected our breathing. Our muscles burned in the hot Colorado sun even at only 6,500 feet. We felt first-hand how conscious hydration and calorie replacement is a real thing. We toured the museum and music hall of fame, bought souvenirs in the gift shop and every one of us vowed that we would return some day to see a concert here (and Patrick ended up seeing the replacement band at the venue the next night).

We went to bed early that night, each of us feeling some anxiety for the mountain ahead of us. We awoke at 1 am to make the drive to meet Patrick and his family at the base of the mountain parking area at 4 am. The stars shone like never before. We all could feel the nerves in our guts and the chill of the suddenly 40 degree mountain air.

4:04 am, June 11, 2021 – before dawn, adrenaline pumping in the cold air and darkness. feeling underprepared but thrilled.

As the sun was just starting to rise, we hiked the bridge over the river of melting snow and began our ascent, ready or not. The trip to the top of Grays Peak is 4.5 miles and is one of the most popular mountain hikes in the state. The youngest in our group quickly were able to pull out ahead of us, not affected as much by the thin air and having the advantage of less weight and more fitness in their bodies.

Arms outstretched, Abby strikes a pose that many of us struck over two days – an attempt to show appreciation for the overwhelming vastness of beauty we were encountering as the sun rose.

At times I had to stop and catch my breath every 10 steps. This first third of our ascent was the most difficult for me, and I grew angry at how difficult it was (I had lost 15 pounds in anticipation of the hike, but grumbled at myself for having not lost 30!). “What on earth had Patrick gotten us into!?” I thought to myself. This was where the battle was mental as much as physical.

We slowly stepped toward the approaching sunshine, step-by-painful-step.

Mercifully, after about a mile or so into the hike, as we entered the valley between two mountains, the ascent became more gradual and the views more glorious than could even be imagined. My lungs began to acclimate to the lack of oxygen and as I watched the time and distance progress on my Fitbit, I could sense my progress and my attitude improving.

Our group of nine began thinning out, and Patrick, Sarah, Andrew and I gave the kids their desired “go-ahead” to move on at their own pace and said a silent prayer that they would make good choices in what truly could be a dangerous place. After that point, we didn’t see Patrick and his wife Sarah again, who had settled into a location slightly behind us as they adjusted to perhaps more-than-expected altitude nausea and unbeknownst to us at the time, a catastrophic boot failure that forced their return to our vehicles.

Go ahead – go as far as you can go! We will do the same.

At some point, Christy, Andrew’s oldest, had decided to reverse direction and left the “youngsters” and turned back to the “old folks”, worried both about her next steps on the snow-covered and increasingly difficult trail they had encountered, and about her parents lagging behind. As we met each other, she was both surprised and pleased to see us, not really believing that we were still attempting the difficult climb. Renewed in spirit, she joined Andrew and me for the rest of our hike, and passed that spot that had caused her initial retreat, conquering fears and growing in personal strength at the same time.

Cell service had long ago disappeared before we even reached the parking lot, but as we entered the second mile of our ascent, we rose above the tree line and suddenly our phones could “see” the cell towers and began to allow all the texts and pent up phone data to come through. We received a text from one of the kids – “If you can see this – we are almost to the top!”. We were inspired to do our best and push our personal limits.

Another hour or so into our uphill battle, we saw the approaching image of Ben and Abby, Andrew’s middle and youngest children, returning down the mountain and amazed to see us. We discovered that they had not quite made it to the top. Their obstacle was a ledge of ice in what was becoming increasingly high winds that began just as the most challenging mountainside switchback section of the trail began. They made an attempt and decided that safety would be their choice this time. Patrick and Sarah’s children, Jonathan and continued on, eventually becoming the only two of our group that would complete the full ascent.

Abby and Ben returning toward us – excited about their accomplishments.

Seemingly in disbelief when they see Andrew, Christy and me – still making our ascent.

Andrew and I (along with Ben) eventually arrived at the same location where Ben and Abby had decided to turn around an hour earlier. We took our first sit-down rest of the day and watched as other hikers slowly moved across the narrow trail of ice, now melting into a sometimes more treacherous slushy snow. Grown adults, some trying to hug the wall of snow above them or crouch low to the ground to avoid slipping into the long slope below them slowly and methodically crept across the part of the path we could see before the first switchback.

The photos don’t effectively show the challenge these hikers had traversing the beginning of the switchbacks.

The slope, the ice, the snow, the loose rocks – the factors that helped us make a decision as to when our ascent was completed for the day.

We seriously contemplated whether or not we might make an attempt, but witnessed (and photographed) too much struggle with more prepared, fit and younger hikers than us. It was ultimately a very satisfying and easy decision. The mountain had not actually defeated our aging bodies. Our fear had not won out over our desire to make it to the summit. We simply decided that this was how far we should go today. We had achieved something far beyond what we had expected and were proud of all of us.

Andrew attempted a phone call to our nephew, Jonathan who we expected might be at the top by now and the call went through! He and his sister had made it to the top, all 14,278 feet, representing a victory that our entire group felt and shared with them. Jonathan is an experienced and savvy outdoorsman, and he volunteered that this trek was “hardcore” for him. At one point, he even helped in the rescue of a man that was stuck on the mountainside.

We were thrilled for Jonathan and Ellie and even more satisfied that we had made the right decision to turn back down the mountain. At this point, three miles and 11,111 steps in, perhaps at about 13,000 feet, we realized that our adventure on this mountain was only half over.

With the decision made to start our decent, we were able to savor the journey that much more. Ben was often able to “get ahead” of us, and then take a seat for a while to enjoy the views of this peaceful place until we caught up with him.

As the adrenaline finally began to ease, our muscles began to ache. The use of our muscles changed as well, and the need for agility on a downward hike became mission critical. The sun was now shining on our hard working bodies and we continued to shed our layers. We stopped more frequently to simply stand and savor the views. The three of us, Ben, Andrew and I, caught up with others – first Christy and then Abby, and not a mile from the end of our day, even Jonathan and Elie caught up with us and passed us, no doubt happy to return to their mom and dad to tell them of their incredible feat.

All smiles as we savor our accomplishment – and only halfway through our day’s adventure!

Our group once again growing, we carefully made our way back down the mountain.

Exactly 7 ½ hours from the beginning of our adventure, all nine of us were finally all together again, with smiles and cheers and hugs all around. It was just after noon. We had crammed quite a bit of adventure into our morning. Along the way, we touched lives with some amazing people. Two young boys, perhaps 8 and 10, with their dad, passed us on the way up and on the way down the mountain. Several hikers with large backpacks that included skis and poles passed us, then skied down from the summit, and when the snow ended, hiked the rest of the way, passing us once again. Young adults in the best shape of their lives zipped past us, wished us “Good Morning” and gave us words of encouragement. Dogs of all varieties were living a great dog’s life and looking incredibly happy, one even carrying his own backpack, no doubt filled with his food and water. We were even passed along our descent by an ultra-marathoner and his dog that were literally running down the mountain.

There is nothing like a little mountain hike to reconnect with siblings.

Through all of it, we learned that hikers are an incredibly supportive and positive group. They taught us that the victory isn’t necessarily at the top of the mountain, but in your own personal challenges and hard work, and your arrival at that place where you can say to yourself “I am so blessed to be able to do this and so proud of what I achieved today,” THAT is when you celebrate great victories.

We made it – no injuries – and only tears of happiness.

To say the photos don’t do the views justice would be a gross understatement. These are views that will make you cry (some of us did). These are places that if you stand quietly, you can hear God speak to you, simply because you are that much closer to heaven. These are experiences of places and people and animals and plants that will inspire you and become a part of your soul – changing your DNA while fully absorbing the experience.

Thanks so much Patrick, from all of us. I aim to go with the flow more often because I have been reminded that joining an adventure with others that I never even knew I wanted can bring inspiration, achievement and love of life into my world better than anything already on my bucket list.

Isaiah 40:3-4
A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up,
every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged
places a plain.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bonus photos: We explored Morrison, Colorado in the afternoon of our visit to Red Rocks, where Schmidt Party of Nine enjoyed a meal together. It is also at a nearby wings shop where Christy and Ben tried “Rocky Mountain Oysters”, a unique “delicacy” of bull testicles. An acquired taste, for sure.

Boulder Beer Shake (chocolately), in Morrison, Colorado

A last minute addition to Ben and Christy’s bucket lists – check and check!

More Bonus Photos: Straight from the Denver airport, we wasted no time discovering Colorado, with a stop at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge, where we spotted, Mule Deer, White Tail Deer, Prarie Dogs, Bison and one VERY large rabbit!

The Midwest US – It’s Not Just For Passing Through

Train tracks seem to run through many of the small towns and sounds train whistles are a common lullaby when you lay down your head at night. This track ran through downtown Hays, Kansas.

We have begun our first big “trip” since launching full time RVing in July 2020! Covid, state-based health insurance requirements and family needs caused us to tailor our early travels solely on the east coast between Maryland and Florida. But finally we are vaccinated, we visited our families, and we are heading west!

Annnndddd, we’re off! Westward ho on the midwest express!

The plan for this summer is Colorado, Wyoming, a sliver of Idaho, Montana and South Dakota – all squeezed in between early June and the end of September. We are hitting all the “big” items – national parks and some of the most popular tourist sites in the US, including Pikes Peak, Yellowston and Glacier National Park. We know it will not be the peaceful, easy-going pace to which we have become accustomed, but we also know that these are big bucket list items.

We passed through only a sliver of West Virginia, without so much as a potty break…but we will be back, for sure!

But first, we have to get there! We left Lancaster, Pennsylvania on May 25th and are not expected to arrive in Larkspur, Colorado until June 8th. That gives us time for a leisurely pace to explore the path to “getting there”.

Our initial goal? Make no advanced reservations. Well, we blew that plan, but with good reason. Less than a week before our departure, I was reminded that we were facing Memorial Day weekend! Ugh! I scrambled to make reservations for at least two or three nights, and estimated where and when we might hit those locations. In the end, it was a blessing, because it created some shorter travel days when we might otherwise have felt rushed to “get there”! For the remainder of “getting there”, we made no advanced reservations, allowing us to drive at whatever pace we desired, stop as many times as needed for breaks, and really try to enjoy the journey!

Our secondary goals? The Rule of Threes: Travel no more than 300 miles in a day, end our driving day by 3:00 pm and stay at least three days in any location. We knew we would not hit every goal on the mark, but we wanted to try to benchmark our travels against these guidelines to ensure our pace was more relaxing. It is an RVing “rule” we learned early on while preparing for full-time RVing, and it has served us well. The trick is to not get caught up in “hurry up and get there”!

The first stately stop was in the great state of Ohio.

May 25, 2021 – 327 miles – Our first day on the road would be our longest, with our first stop at Spring Valley Campground, a private RV park in Cambridge, Ohio. We called for reservations an hour or two before we arrived, got a 50 amp full hook-up site ($34, a free upgrade from 30 amp because of an electrical problem that required we change sites upon arrival). The campground was conveniently JUST off the I-70 highway, but felt more isolated than that, with less traffic noise than you would expect. The staff and other campers were friendly and helpful. There was plenty of open space, a big lake and a pretty setting. The next morning we enjoyed breakfast at the nearby Cracker Barrel and I got my fix of sausage gravy and biscuits! So far, so good – Ohio was lovely, and there was much we could have visited and seen, but now we had those holiday weekend reservations that gave us a deadline.

Fishing was available, and because the campground was hidden behind a ridge and many trees, the highway noise was virtually unnoticable toward the middle and back of the park.

With neat and shaded sites, Spring Valley Campground was a great stopover.

A large lake and open space gave us pretty walks and space for the dogs to run.

May 26, 2021 – 215 miles – Our next stop was Cornerstone Retreat and Campground in New Castle, Indiana, yet another stop on the I-70 trail we were forging for ourselves. A private, Christian campground, it was an immaculate campground with well maintained and decorated grounds. You could tell that this would be a huge summer escape for families and was also host to seasonal campers. The highway noise seems louder here than at some of our previous stops, but it was fine for an overnight stop. We didn’t even unhook the truck from the camper and instead, took a stroll around the grounds, with Andy ordering pizza that was delivered to our site from their campground cafe!

May 27, 2021 – 154 miles – Our third stop was a pre-planned visit to Newton, Illinois, where we would visit the first two full time RVing friends we ever made. We originally met Janine and Matt in a camper on the sales lot at Beckley’s RV Sales in 2017. They had just listed their house for sale and were buying a new fifth wheel for their full-time travels. We were also buying our rig, with plans to launch our full-time travels in 2020.

Another state inwhich we rest our heads for a night means a new sticker on our travel map!

Here we sat, two couples chatting in a fifth wheel that we BOTH intended to buy! It worked out well – neither of us ended up buying that specific rig on that day, but from that day, an online friendship evolved and we caught up with them by happenstance again in January 2021 in Sarasota, Florida. So when they invited us to stop by in Illinois on this trip, we were excited to do so! They were spending a month “moochdocking” at their son and daughter-in-law’s home (for those that don’t know, that is when you pull up and camp in a friend or relatives driveway or property).

Our reservation was at Casey KOA Journey, again, just off of I-70, but this time, for two nights. The campground was exactly what you might expect from a rural KOA campground and while it was perfectly fine for an overnight stay, it was just as pricey as we have come to expect KOAs to be and still included that I-70 traffic noise (but it was a holiday weekend, so we took what we could get!).

The feelings evoked by these midwest country roads are that of peace, beauty and the simplicity of life.

Classic KOA cabins on the edge of a field after an evening rainstorm.

One of the coolest vintage camping setups we have seen in a while, complete with matching cooler, shower/bath tent and chair.

A KOA Memorial Day weekend stop in Newton, IL, hummingbird sighting included!

On our “free day” we drove over to the town of Casey, Illinois (pronounced Kay’-Zee by the locals). This little town’s claim to fame is being home to more than a dozen “World’s Largest” items and even a larger number of “really big things”. What a day! I am a sucker for many of these little roadside attractions. We walked, shopped and photographed our way through this adorable town. The town is special – the restoration of old buildings is well done and there is enough there that we could have spent an entire day, with lovely restaurants, stores and sights.

But it was an evening visit with Janine and Matt that was our reason for arriving to the area instead of just passing through. Any home cooked dinner when traveling is a special treat, but we also enjoyed great conversation and even did a little shopping of Janine’s gorgeous hand designed and created jewelry. Janine is multi-talented – a jewelry maker, rug hooker and blogger (Visit her at https://www.etsy.com/shop/JanineBroscious or https://joyfulwonder.wordpress.com/).

After a great dinner and conversation in their 2018 Grand Design 310GK that is JUST LIKE OURS (it is always easy to find your way to the bathroom that way!). We walked next door to share dessert and meet some of their beautiful family! It was yet another great evening of meeting kind, fun, welcoming and interesting people as part of this way of life.

We learned about their son and daughter-in-law’s adventures in their fixer upper home, with their busy children and foster child, a sister that also lives with them and their role in the community as a pastor’s family. By the end of the evening, and the end of our visit to this part of Illinois, we learned that it was certainly a place beautiful enough and enjoyable enough that we should come back again and do some further exploration (after all, we didn’t have time to visit the home of Burl Ives!).

May 29, 2021 – 241 miles – As we added another state sticker to our travel map of the United States, we headed to Columbia, Missouri for our next night’s rest. It was another planned visit – this time a welcomed invitation from a college friend that I haven’t seen in more than 30 years! Another drive under our 300 mile limit and three three o’clock “curfew” found us stopping at Cedar Creek Resort not far off the same I-70 interstate we would be taking all the way to Colorado.

Headed from Illinois to Missouri on I-70.

The campground was newer, and we were able to snag a pull-thru site. We were greeted by the camp hosts, took the dogs for a walk around the loop, admiring the nearby fishing lake along the way. Had we stayed longer, it was clear that there were miles of pretty country scenes to explore. After a restful afternoon, we got into our “camping best dressed” (for me, that simply means nicer jeans, wedge shoes, a pretty blouse and some makeup, as well as my new necklace purchased from Janine!). The visit with Lee and her wife Stacey was terrific and it was a treat to catch up in person after perhaps two decades of no contact and another decade of only a social media connection. Laughter and joy seemed abounding, and the visit was comfortable despite Lee and I being the only two that had ever known each other before. It was an evening that reinforced for me why this lifestyle is such a gift – to be able to “swing by” Missouri for a little visit on a cross country road trip! These are opportunities that I treasure.

It is having the opportunity for visits like these that are a terrific opportunities presented by full-time RVing.

May 30, 2021 – 171 miles – With our holiday-restricted-visiting-with-friends stops behind us, it was time to move on. Feeling excited, we knew that our next stop would put us somewhere in Kansas, which somehow felt like we were in the “midst of the middle”. We opted for another short travel day so that we could boondock overnight at a Harvest Host location – Z&M Twisted Vines Winery and Vineyard near Leavenworth. For those that do not know, Harvest Host is a membership website we joined where we can camp (usually boondocking) overnight at no cost at any of thousands of various businesses in North America. They ask that we patronize the business in some way as a thanks for the night’s rest. We had a great experience, meeting a couple of resident chickens in addition to one of the owners, parking our rig in the middle of a 40 acre field and tasting food and wines, while relaxing and watching the sun set. We settled on a couple of bottles to go home” with us, including a Jalapeno Wine named Hellfire!

Toto, we’re not in Oz anymore (but we can visit the Oz Museum when in Kansas)!

May 31, 2021 – 230 miles – Having anticipated straight roads and corn fields throughout the state, we actually saw many beautiful scenes in Kansas with nary a corn field to be found! With enough days to be able to slow down our pace even more, our next day’s travel took us only as far as Minooka Park COE Campground in Dorrance, Kansas. Set on Wilson Lake, said to be the state’s clearest waters, we loved the views so much that we immediately extended to a three night stay!

We saw hundreds of wind turbines all across the state of Kansas.

With a pull-through site, expertly maintained grounds and views among the best we have camped this trip so far, our first Army Corp of Engineers campground did not disappoint! We had cell service and shared our entire loop with only one or two other campers (and only $24 per night!) Our first day was misty and raining much of the day, so we used the time to relax, read, catch up on bills and business and sit by the campfire with a blanket and a nice drink in the evening.

When the sun shone the next day, we had by then discovered that in nearby Hays, Kansas, we would be able to lay eyes on our first bison, another key bucket list item for Andrew (nicknamed “Brave Buffalo” as a child). The town of Hays has its own little herd of ten bison, including four babies, four females, including one that is a rare white in color, and one apparently busy bull! While not the wild bison we aim to see later this summer, this little herd in Hays was a great way to whet our whistles and visit a town we really enjoyed!

This little herd included a rare white bison named Ghostbuster.

Baby bison! Not wild, but wildly exciting to see!

Across from the bison herd is Fort Hays – a Kansas state historic site where there is great history of some difficult times in our nation’s history following the Civil War, including massacres, broken treaties with Native Americans and the birth and growth of a nation in the plains of Kansas. There is a small museum and gift shop and a self guided tour of the grounds and buildings that remain from the 1800s.

We then made our way a short drive into town, enjoyed some great BBQ at Blue Smoke BBQ and wandered through a few of the best little stores we have seen in a while. Thanks, Hays! Your brick streets, restored 1800s buildings, the train running through the center of town, your historic sites and yes, especially your bison were a great way to spend the day! On the way back home, we made another stop at Cathedral of the Prarie, AKA St. Fidelis Church. It was beautiful and a great moment to say a prayer of thanks and light a candle, acknowledging that Saint Christopher has been protecting us and to ask for his continued blessings.

June 3, 2021 – 240 miles – This was the final stop of our westward travels, and the first sticker from our list of targeted states, on the very eastern edge of Colorado. Five nights in what really is beautifully in the middle of just about nowhere. Painted Rock Park is a campground with full hookup but really no other frills. We are one of only four campers in the perhaps 35 site campground. But if you want an affordable place to settle ($38.50 per night), rest and have few responsibilities, this place is worth a visit. We’ve only seen the owner once – a day after we arrived. He stopped by to say hello and see if we needed anything. He is a rancher about an hour away who had purchased this land on a whim at auction, putting in the campsites two years ago, but also renting out a nearby community room and hosting hunting events.

This most eastern part of Colorado really looks a lot like Kansas!

We have used this time as our last restful respite before the hustle and bustle of a crammed summer of being tourists and hosts, as we will also have some visits from family members along the way (three kids, a kid’s significant other, and a brother and his family at least). So this time and location is perfect for walks down country lanes, a stroll to see a sunset, time to pay bills, do laundry, stock up on groceries and do a little writing about our life adventures past, present and future. We’ve seen a friendly snake in our path, watched the crop dusters fly in the distant fields and smelled the pungent odor of manure spread on the fields at night (thank goodness for air-tight windows and A/C!). On a 30 minute trip down the road, we visited the Kit Carson Fairgrounds and rode their historic carousel before heading to the circa 1970s Safeway. We also attended our first in-person Catholic Mass since before the pandemic, a promising sign of the world opening up to all of us. This truly is a wonderful place with a very different look and feel from many other places.

As each day passed on this westward drive across Interstate 70, the scenery was ever changing and beautiful, from state-to-state-to-state. It was clear that the midwest is named the “bible belt” for a reason – the faith, strength and kindness of the communities we visited were evident. I can see a world in which the midwest might feel a little out of place in the middle, with the notable differences in values, culture and lifestyle from those that are generally seen on the east coast or the west coast of this country.

Each town we drove through and visited had its own special reasons to stop. There were many things we would love to stop by and visit “next time”. We were reminded that our “rules” to make few reservations and our “rule of threes” are good guidelines for us, as we kept finding ourselves feeling rushed to “get there”. Slowing down a bit was a way to remind us that we are already there – wherever we are at this moment. It only takes some billboard reading, map scanning or some Google searching to see that the midwest has a lot to offer – and certainly shouldn’t be for just passing through! We will be back!