Campgrounds – The view from the edge of our empty nest.

The Beach Is My Church – Where I Can Dwell In The House Of The Lord

Traveling to beaches in the off-season can provide great peace and solitude.

Going to the beach can be a different experience for everyone. This is how I love it.

There is no joy for me in sunbathing. The blazing sun from 11 am to 3 pm in the summer months, and sand so hot it hurts my feet are of no interest to me. Sand sticking to my sweating body, and itty bitty bathing suits – both make me uncomfortable.

Busy boardwalks with lights, sounds, and carnival barkers have generally overwhelmed me, and I just feel a bit sad for the little hermit crabs lined up in tiny cages to be sold away from their home. Summer crowds and parking shortages quickly make me wish I was elsewhere.

And yet, despite all these factors, I really do LOVE. THE. BEACH.

The beach is my church. This is especially true now that I am a full-time RVer, having moved away years ago from any traditional church which I have loved. Now, the beach is the place I go to fill up my soul; where I find inspiration, consolation, and yes, even perspiration. It becomes my therapy and the place where I can take calmer, deeper breaths. The beach fills up my soul.

This song captures much of my feelings about the beach.

The best way to attend “beach church” for me, is with early morning walks to watch the sunrise, but any time of day will do. It can be any time of year, but I prefer the “fringe seasons” of spring and fall the most, with milder temperatures and few crowds. This generally involves walking the dog in the shallows. It almost always includes listening to my most inspirational music in my headphones, with sneakers on my feet (but sometimes barefoot). The pace is set by my mood, adjusted for the temperature in the air – and then, into motion I go!

Step by step I feel the fresh air on my face, hear the Sanderlings and Piping Plovers converse, and smell the salty, fishy odors of the aquatic life that abounds around me. The waves lap near my feet and with each and every step, I find my way – refreshed, and into another beautiful day.

Sunrise and sunset – the best times of day for a walk on the beach

Alone time is treasured by me, and another important part of my beach church. When in attendance, it is just me and the Lord, enjoying our time, figuring out life’s puzzles, praying for those with complex needs, and placing specific intentions on those whom I love.

At times, the music is Christian pop or classic church hymns. Oftentimes, I draw strength from music that wouldn’t be found in more traditional churches. The music from Les Miserables is one. Josh Groban is another. A classical symphony is a go-to for me as well. Music is a big part of my special beach church.

The exact place I walk matters less. The most preferable requirement is the softness of the sand and the lapping of water nearby. Bonus points are awarded for walks that can be circular in nature, where I enter the beach in one location, walk to the other end, and am able to circle back to my starting location with a change of scenery (rather tough to find on a linear beach, but it is possible). Ocean beaches and bayside beaches are the best, but in a pinch, I can find similar solace and faith-filled mornings from a large lake, river or water canal.

Cape May Beach, NJ – Sunset on the Delaware Bay

A great benefit of our traveling life is having the ability to steer our travel toward beaches whenever needed. My dear sweet husband finds that HIS place of respite is NOT on any sandy surface, but rather, on some distant mountainside. Yet his generosity and giving nature are always willing to drive me to my next beachfront.

Some of my favorite “beach churches”

Cape May area, NJ – Bayside or oceanside, this beach church has been a recurring theme in my life. When bayside, in the Villas, Cape May Beach, or Townebank neighborhoods, there are two options. Visitors can walk the traditional sandy shores of Delaware Bay, or stroll on Shore Road, which runs parallel to the water, with level sidewalks and a birds-eye view of the sandy shores just below.

If you prefer ocean beaches, Cape May has a two mile paved promenade that provides expansive views of the sea, “America’s first seaside resort”, and spectacular Victorian mansions. Cape May county is at the southernmost tip of New Jersey (affectionately known as Exit 0), so a visit to the beach near Cape May Point can also give you the opportunity for ocean waves, a lighthouse and a beautiful sunsetover the water (Sunset Beach is where the ocean meets the mouth of Delaware Bay). There are multiple nature reserves in the area to provide other unique and beachlike walks, including the Cape May National Wildlife Refuge, and several locations of Cape May Wildlife Management Areas, including Cox Hall Creek and Higbee Beach.

My DH doesn’t love the beach, but he loves me, so off we goooo!

I love this place so much that in 2015, I finally purchased a vacation home that is only 387 steps from the sand! (Insert shameless plug here —> Visit www.DreamsComeTrueCottage.com to find our Villas/Cape May Beach vacation rental. It is rented out to guests year-round for as short as a two-night getaway or for as as many weeks as you would like to stay!).

414 Fern Road, Villas, NJ is even a nice visit in winter – and only 387 steps to the dunes!

There are also a lot of campgrounds available in the area, and we have enjoyed many over the years, but unfortunately, none of them are within walking distance of the beach. Cape May is also well-known for its beautiful, historic Victorian architecture and abundant B&Bs, so your options are quite varied.

Sunset at the mouth of the Savannah River, Thanksgiving 2020

Tybee Island, GA – Tybee Island is near Savannah, and this beach is on an island, with a perfectly placed campground near the transition from the Savannah River (that leads up to Savannah) to the Atlantic Ocean, creating that perfect, circular, extended beach walk. Start out on the north side of the island (the campground is a very short walk to the sandy shores) and walk south until you reach the lighthouse area of the beach, then circle back through town to return to your starting spot at the campground. River’s End Campground is city-owned, and the only campground on the island, and albeit tiny and tight, it is a campground worth visiting (and staff will lead you to your site upon check-in).

Carrabelle Beach, FL – The sand here is as fine and as white as any you might find on the most gorgeous Caribbean islands. This area is known as Florida’s Forgotten Coast because it is among the last of the unspoiled, undeveloped shores of Florida’s Gulf of Mexico, and is said to have been slighted for several years in the state’s tourism promotion materials.

We spent our first Christmas as full-time RVers at this location in 2020, at the height of the pandemic, so the isolation and solitude of the area were especially important to us. We enjoyed a visit from our youngest child, Ella, who drove up overnight from college in Gainesville. We woke up Christmas morning to unusually cold temperatures for the area, with frozen, cracked spigots at the campground’s fish cleaning station that spewed water into the air like a frozen fountain. Moving my daily beach walk to the warmer hours of mid-day became an easy choice!

Carrabelle Beach, FL, Christmas Eve, 2020

Carrabelle Beach Campground is just a short walk across the road in Carrabelle Beach that will give you daily, simple access to all the solitude you desire. The campground itself is made up of privately owned lots and an HOA, but many of the sites are available to rent by the public. This campground is also VERY tight, so take your time and be cautious. It is worth all the effort to try to attend this “beach church” on Carrabelle Beach.

Tight but lovely campsites at Carrabelle Beach RV Resort

The dunes at Pirateland, Myrtle Beach, SC

Myrtle Beach, SC – There are several campgrounds in Myrtle Beach that are right on the beach, but the one that we have enjoyed is Pirateland Family Camping Resort. Full disclosure – we have only ever visited this campground in the fringe and off-seasons, but frankly, that is when we believe the beach (and this campground) is best (as well as most affordable). All of the amenities you could ask for are included at this campground, but I go for the beach, of course. With some sites that are right alongside the ocean, just over the sand dunes, you can hear the waves crashing!

Even sitting five or ten campsites back, you are steps away from the solitude and peace of a beach walk. Our longest stay in Myrtle Beach was a month in November 2021, when we were joined by friends and nearly all of our adult kids for a wonderful Thanksgiving visit, still mild enough for an outdoor feast and a nighttime campfire. We could hear the waves crashing in the quiet off-season air, and we all walked the beach with much thanks and gratitude. Bonus item of note: Pirateland has a wonderful outdoor chapel along the canal. We attended their Sunday non-denominational service during a fall visit in 2020 and it was casual, simple, lovely, and welcoming, with beautiful music and a pastor and support staff whose words inspired us (in the colder weather they move their service to a warmer enclosed pavilion).

Sunrise, North Beach, St. Augustine, FL, August 2019, Aaaahhhh!

St. Augustine, FL – The North Beach Camp Resort is situated between the North River and the Atlantic Ocean on the north side of St. Augustine. The public beach is direct across Coastal Highway and a brief, easy walk from your campsite. The extra treat in this campground is the private, sandy campsites. The campground is protected and shaded by moss-laden oaks and palmettos down every road and between each campsite, giving you a feeling of privacy that belies the actual closeness of the sites.

We saw protected sea turtle nests in North Beach, FL

We enjoyed our visit here the year before we were full-time RVers, in 2019, as we arrived with our youngest, Ella, on a college-visit tour of several southern US states. There is much to see in the area, including the historic Fountain of Youth, but isn’t a walk on the beach a great way to take a few worries and years off your heart and body?

Pickens, SC – Mile Creek County Park has a campground that is absolutely, entirely surrounded by water. There is no ocean, and no large expansive beaches to walk for miles, when you walk the narrow point and tiny islands that make up this park and campground, you will see Lake Keowee all around you. This place is home to my reigning FAVORITE CAMPSITE EVER, with a little bit of beach and lapping waves on the shore that I believe qualify it for this list of important inspirational beachy places.

You can’t camp much closer to the water than at Mile Creek Park

I’ve written about this campground before, so to see the photos and read about my private little “beach church” in the rural upcountry of South Carolina, visit here: https://timetravelsandtribulations.com/this-is-the-best-campsite-of-my-camping-life/ If you are staying in the area long enough (and you absolutely should), be sure to take a drive up to Pretty Place, SC, a chapel nestled in the mountains. It is also known as the Fred Symmes Chapel and is part of a YMCA camp, but is open to the public. Pretty Place is an apt name, and this scenic drive is worth the effort.

Beautiful Lake Keowee – less sand, but miles and miles of beauty.

We visited this park in early fall and actually lived through our first severe tropical storm/residual hurricane there. It took half a day before any vehicles could even leave the campground because of all the downed trees, so our visit was partly an adventure I would not like to revisit. The campground, Lake Keowee, and all of upcountry South Carolina, however, are all places I will return to again.

A winter visit to OBX, Camp Hatteras, Rodanthe, NC gave us a campground practically to ourselves

Outer Banks, NC – The most recent beach we visited is beautiful in a different way from all the others. We camped at Camp Hatteras RV Campground the week before Christmas 2022. It is located in the Outer Banks (OBX) in the Village of Rodanthe, known in part, for the 2008 movie Nights In Rodanthe (pronounced Row-DAN-thee by the locals).

The thing that makes the OBX unique is its near-constant battle with Mother Nature. These barrier islands off the coast of North Carolina are wild and natural for many expansive miles, but the pounding oceanfront storms and the associated sound-side flooding leave the land in a constant battle for land.

A large section of the singular north-south state highway 12 is regularly flooded and covered by sand dunes swept away by the wind and rain. As a result, parts of the highway have been rebuilt into big jughandles that veer off into the Pamlico Sound to avoid further destruction on the barrier islands. Left behind, are miles of protected sand dunes, beaches, and waters for recreation and enjoyment. Also left behind, are heavily damaged piers and homes, abandoned after a storm, and left to fall into the ocean, bit by bit with each passing season.

A walk on the beach can be difficult in some areas, as the tides roll all the way up to what is left by the protective dunes in some cases, as was the case directly in front of our campground. Nearby, entire beachfront rows of homes have been destroyed or moved to seek protection yards away, leaving the second row of homes to feel Mother Nature’s next wrath.

Digging out a beachfront road after a storm (the ocean is JUST beyond the yellow house)

It is tragic to see the loss of homes and businesses, but the beauty of nature lives on. As I walked the narrow beach and saw the resulting waxing and waning of the land and water, I was moved. It felt as if I was just a little bit closer to God on my walks. He designed a world that is in constant motion and is forever evolving – working to maintain the important ecosystems that are life-sustaining.

If you have some favorite beaches where you find your faith strengthened, and your soul refreshed, let me know. I am always willing to ask Andrew to steer our truck and fifth wheel (and he is always willing to accommodate me!) to discover a new and lovely place of God’s creation.

At peace on the beach, Cape May Beach, NJ

Psalm 139:9-10 says this, “If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me.”

Safe travels, and I hope to see you at any of God’s peaceful, beautiful, wonderful, powerful beaches!

It isn’t always best to be alone and walking at the beach. Sometimes it is nice to just sit quietly in God’s beauty and love.

A February Side Trip Holds Great Surprises

The open road on a loosely-planned side trip makes for extra fun

Sure, the big summer trips are amazing. Thousands of miles and hours upon hours of planning go into the big bucket-list-check-off kind of traveling. Sometimes, however, it is the unexpected side trip that provides beauty, entertainment and fun that you just cannot plan for.

We recently did a wild thing – we bought a new camper. We weren’t unhappy with our old one, but we did it anyway. That is a story for another post on another day. Today, our side trip is the focus – a 2,839 mile trip from Clermont, Florida to Carthage, Missouri, to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania – in FEBRUARY!

This was the fairly unplanned “February Side Trip” we took to pick up our new home on wheels:

The first half of the trip was loosely planned out (and the second half was hardly planned out at all). I made reservations that kept us on a southerly route for as long as possible, before we had to turn north toward what the weather reports told us was a cold and snow-covered Missouri.

A restored Florida prarie, repleat with a small herd of bison and wild horses

Stop #1: Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park, Gainesville, FL – The sole goal of this stop was to visit my baby, Ella, a bright 20 year-old (both in brains and in personality) attending college in Gainesville. Florida state parks are notoriously difficult to get a campsite reservation for, but I snagged one night just days before our departure. It is a pretty little campground in an even prettier little state park that was developed with the intention of restoring and preserving prairie land in the state. Our little 20 hour layover turned into learning about what old Florida might have been like, and got glimpses into some wildlife that we had not expected! We spotted bison far in the distance (part of a prairie restoration project), several armadillos up close, and two magnificent Bald Eagles resting in a tree far above us. There is an observation tower and a small visitor’s center that are also worth a stop, and we are told that wild horses live on the prairie as well.

We ended our short stay with a visit to see Ella while on her 15 minute work-break at Walmart, and even had the pleasure of meeting her supervisor, a really sweet lady that spoke so highly of her single son and of Ella, that she had me convinced that Ella really should consider going on a date with him (naw, it’s not awkward when mothers play matchmaker, is it?)!

Two American Bald Eagles roosting in the trees above our heads!

We hope to return to Paynes Prairie Preserve some day to focus on hiking – and perhaps a longer visit with our youngest child!

Stop #2: Grover T’s BBQ, Milton, FL – We have enjoyed our Harvest Hosts membership for nearly two years, and this addition to our adventures did not disappoint us. With a wide open and level area to park for the night alongside several other RVs, we made our way into the restaurant for an early dinner. One nice benefit of an overnight Harvest Hosts boondock is that with generally no water, power or sewer, the easiest thing to do is to take our time and enjoy our evening at our host’s business.

The menu is extensive, but as always, the brisket catches my eye

A polite and capable young man was our attentive server, and we discovered that all HH members at this stop receive a complimentary order of some darn good onion rings. We added a LOT of food to our order, enjoying fried jalapenos, brisket, bbq, and an order of wings and ribs to go home with us! It mattered little that there was only one type of red house wine. We were in a rural area of Florida, where the food was delicious, our fellow boondockers were friendly, and the prices were very affordable. Stop by Grover T’s some time if you find yourself in the Milton, Florida area! You guessed it – for us it will always be a return trip when passing through the state’s panhandle.

Stop #3: Big Creek Water Park, Soso, MS – Don’t let the name fool you. This campground is part of the Pat Harrison Waterway District and includes a beautiful 2,000 acre lake (and no “water park” as you might imagine). It was a bit too cold and rainy for us snowbirding Floridians who have become accustomed to warmer temperatures. But the campsites run all along the lake and the sites are spacious. We were only one of three campers on our loop, so our stay was private and quiet.

Our back yard for two days. It was a the jarring cold (after two winters in warm weather) that made us want to return when spring arrives.

The gem of this two-night stay was a day trip to nearby Laurel, Mississippi, the home of Ben and Erin Napier of HGTV’s Home Town fame. I have enjoyed the show since its start, so it was fun to nerd out as a fan for a day. However, Laurel is worth a visit even if you do not know the show, as the historic, once-deserted downtown is indeed bustling and alive in recent years. We ate a great southern meal at Cafe La Fleur and stopped in a number of great little shops. We ended the day with a visit to the Scotsman General Store and Woodshop, where they were filming the show behind a window that looked in from the store and into the woodshop!

NOLA-style lunch in historic downtown Laurel

French dip and grits, among other tastiness

A gentleman acting in a public relations capacity (and an AZ transplant), answered our questions about the impact of such fame on a perhaps reluctant rural town. We shopped and hung out while cameramen and production staff worked busily setting up the next shot for the show. We saw other stars of the show (Malorie) and past homeowners that were featured in prior episodes (among them, Brooke and son, Kingston, from one of my favs – season 5, episode 1). It was a great day, discovering some of the secrets of Laurel. Before we even left, I was ready to think about when we might be able to return for a deeper dive into a small town that is experiencing the wild ride of hope, restoration and fame.

The more I learned, the more I liked them.

Watching them shoot a scene from the Scotsman Co, into the glass viewing window of Ben’s workshop.

Driving into town
Great shops all around
Murals of progress
Another scene readying
Now I wanna re-watch some episodes
City Beautiful is a proud nickname
More shopping fun
Welcome to the Sotsman
Our little souvenier

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Stop #4: Twisted Lane Candles, Pine Bluff, AR – Harvest Hosts includes a lot of wineries, restaurants, museums and golf courses, but this was our first candle shop. Nestled in the middle of a residential neighborhood in rural Arkansas, we made a hard left and a sharp right and went all the way back to a little cul de sac that had a level, paved parking pad right in front of a cute little, fully operating candle manufacturing business (AKA a converted garage beside their home)! After parking, we walked to the backyard to the back door where the owner was kind enough to share her story and business evolution.

The straight lane before the twisted lane…

We sniffed every one of her available scents and we walked away that evening with some adventurous scents that are totally “us”! I have long loved candles, but have also long-loathed food smells and too-strong flowery smells in candles, so it quickly became clear that I might just be in Twisted Lane Candle’s target market. With no dyes, no frills, wooden wicks and some uncanny real-life often masculine scents (think Pipe Tobacco and Bourbon, or even Mud), you might just be amazed like me! In addition to all of these great features, it is important to note that these candles last 60 hours or longer, depending on the jar (due to supply chain issues, they recently had to change their jars). Never before have I found such a clean, slow-burning candle. Check them out! Even if I never get to stop back in Pine Bluffs, Arkansas, I surely will be ordering some more candles on her website!

One of our scented purchases to support our Host

Stop #5: Coachlight RV Park, Carthage, MO –

We arrived at the place that was the reason for the entire trip! We bought our new rig, sold our old rig, and had a great experience (yep, I hope to write that story soon as well). But the secret sauce in little Carthage, Missouri? AMAZING Mexican food! A quick Google search for restaurants in the area revealed to us a heavy leaning toward Mexican food. Generally not our go-to cuisine (for me, Mexican and Chinese foods are a once-in-a-while kinda thing), we relented and chose Habaneros Mexican Grill for a trip out on the first evening for dinner and a search for moving boxes.

Always in search of the best Jalapeno Margarita, I ordered one with our server, who quickly returned with a bottle of jalapeno and cucumber-infused tequila. Yep, I was up for it. I followed that cocktail with Habanero Steak that included roasted vegetables and a baked potato. What a deliciously spicy meal! Andrew’s meal was equally enjoyable, but I honestly was so taken with mine that I barely noticed his meal (we are always willing to share a bit of our meals with each other to expand our culinary experiences)!

Cucumber-jalapeno infused tequila made it unique…the glass made it LARGE

Oh my, this dinner was soooo spicy and delicious – Habanero Steak!

A day later, in need of a lunchtime meal to wait patiently for our new rig to be ready for pickup, we went to El Charro and were just as impressed by the quick take-out service and delicious meals. In both cases, these were locally owned, busy restaurants that offered quick, efficient and attentive service with some of the best Mexican food we have ever enjoyed! We KNOW we will be back in the Carthage area some time in the next year (warranty work), and we will happily return to both restaurants.

Both businesses were decorated like the small-town, small-biz businesses that they were….an it worked.

Stop #6: Craighead Forest Park, Jonesboro, AR – As we left Carthage following our nine-night stay which included a lot of work and a little bit of delicious restaurant eating, we woke up, broke down camp, got into the truck, opened up the GPS and THEN decided where we would go next. This was a big moment in our full-time RVing life, as it was the most unplanned travel day so far. We had nowhere planned, we could point ourselves in any direction (except westerly), and we chose on a whim – Craighead Forest Park.

Pulling in as the sun sets – a little too late!

Arriving at dusk, a big no-no in our travel world, we pulled into a city-owned 692-acre park that included a small campground and a 3.2 mile trail hike around a lake, which was just steps from our campsite. Once again, we had struck waterfront-camping gold (one of my FAVORITE ways to camp).

We found a campsite and checked in with the campground host as darkness fell, discovering that not only was the campsite only $15 a night, but they offer free all-you-can-burn firewood stacked up for campers to enjoy as well! Unfortunately, we had more wind and rain than sunshine, despite deciding on a three night stay, so we will have to save the campfire for our already-desired return visit some day.

Our new living room front window did not disappoint on our first stop

The dogs especially enjoyed our walk around the lake and we were impressed by the many waterfront tent sites with wood platforms, many covered pavilions, recreation facilities and even a dog-jumping dock along the lake. Yep, we’ve added this little gem to our list of places we would like to return to, but I would bet that when warmer weather returns, this first-come-first-served campground is tougher to get a site in. I think it may be only a matter of time before the city of Jonesboro realizes their untapped market. If they allow reservations and implement an online reservation system, they can likely charge double or triple a night in their high season and still fill up the campground every night. Shhh. I won’t tell them if you don’t!

Stop #7: Natchez Trace RV Campground, Hohenwald, TN – Out of 11 stops from Clermont to Gettysburg, we had only two disappointments along the way. This was our first – a two-night stay at a Thousand Trails campground (we camp for free in Thousand Trails with our membership). In trouble from the start, our RV Garmin GPS was unable to get us to our destination, in an area that was so rural, we had no cell service to call the campground or pull up a Google map, and no ability to turn around our new 37’ 10” RV beast until we wasted 1 ½ hours and the last bits of sunlight for the day (this would have been a helpful time to find an old Tennessee paper map in our glove box). The Thousand Trails employee was a total savior for staying after closing time to help guide us to the campground (once we got a sliver of phone service), but we were all alone in the darkness trying to find an open site. We used the days off to buy groceries, do laundry and catch up on bills and such, so we didn’t get to explore anything fun in the area. We understand that there are some nice lakefront sites in the campground, and we saw that it is the future home of a “tiny home” community. Unfortunately, we were tucked back into the darkness at the rear of the campground, filled with roadway drop offs, narrow turns and low-hanging branches. A stressful stay that we hope to not repeat for a long while.

Stop #8: North Georgia Hair Cutters, Dawsonville, GA –

A covered pavilion and firepit are planned for future guests

A brand new Harvest Hosts campsite – with water and 50 amp electric!

For me, the best days are sometimes when you can combine some practical tasks with some pleasant experiences. This Harvest Hosts stay was that type of overnight campsite for us. This was our first Harvest Hosts stay that included water and 30/50-amp electric hookups! Freshly paved and soon to include a pavilion and firepit, this business owner made it easy to pull in (again, as darkness fell – what were we thinking?!) and relax for the evening. In the morning we made a small donation for the campsite hookups and I got a nice haircut at the salon before heading out for the day, hoping to avoid another later-than-we-would-like arrival that afternoon. No sightseeing needed today – an affordable overnight stay where we met some kind and interesting people was all we needed to call this stop a success.

Stop #9: Carolina Landing RV Resort, Fair Play, SC – Unfortunately, our second Thousand Trails stay on this February road trip was also our seconddisappointment, but the saving grace was that we were close enough to welcome our first visitor in our new rig – our friend, Steve, who lives in nearby Pickens, SC. Despite the poorly maintained, muddy and narrow campsites, we had a great visit with Steve on our last day in the area. It was a far better ending than our start, which included three full days with no water. We were happy to see Steve and catch up and we will also be happy to find a different campground for our next visit to the area.

Oh my – the mud
In great need of landscaping
We had to back out of our pull-thru
Junky sites abound

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Stop #10: Sycamore Lodge RV Resort, Jackson Springs, NC – This was our first stop as members of Coast To Coast, an additional campground membership we recently obtained to have affordable camping options when visiting family in Maryland and Pennsylvania. This campground was a convenient stop on our way north and it was absolutely lovely, rivaling even The Campsites at Disney’s Ft. Wilderness (without Mickey Mouse and the four parks, of course). Wide open sites, a peaceful large pond with a fountain, and amenities that include a Sunday church service, this campground is surely one to which we will return one day to enjoy the full two-week stay permitted by our membership.

The towering trees made this stay beautiful – our first stop as a Coast To Coast member

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Stop #11: Weldon Mills Distillery, Weldon, NC –

The final stop of our “February Side Trip” was a place, like so many on this trip, that we liked enough to want to return to again. Happily, this was our third visit to this Harvest Hosts site, where, in the past, we enjoyed a distillery tour, a whiskey tasting flight, delicious cocktails and the stories and experiences of the former JAG-officer-turned distillery business owner. This visit was like the others – an opportunity to boondock alongside a half dozen other travelers, enjoy “happy hour” and trade our stories of traveling adventure.

Weldon Mills Distillery is still our favoriate Harvest Host location

They have creative cocktails both on and off the menu

I may need to make a merch purchase on a future visit

As we drove into Gettysburg the following afternoon, we reflected upon how much we experienced when we pulled back on our planning and loosened up on our travel worries. By making fewer plans and reservations, our ability to be agile gave us the opportunity to see and enjoy more. When we discovered a place we liked, we extended our stay. When we were open to “roughing it” a bit, we met people and places that we would have never planned on meeting.

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This trip to leave Florida, pick up our new camper in Missouri and arrive in Pennsylvania for our nephew’s wedding could have been completed in fewer than 10 days. But what fun would we have discovered in pushing so fast and so hard? Not nearly as much as taking our time, taking the roads less traveled, and arriving just in time to see the nuptials. Two thousand, eight hundred and thirty nine miles (not including the lost miles in Natchez Trace) of little adventures and discovery, enjoyed over the entire month of February (plus one day), making life a little bit richer. Our memories will last far longer.

Safe travels, and be sure to enjoy the side trips along the way!

Grover T’s
Welcome to a new state for us!
A rainy morning Mobile skyline
Louisiana, we will be back
Another little sleepy town
Lunchtime deliciousness in Carthage, MO
Welcome to TN
The Memphis Pyramid
A differnt Gainesville (GA)
Dogs checking out the new seating
More Memphis
We criss-crossed the Mississippi several times

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If You Build It (The Holiday Celebration), They Will Come!

The truth is, you miss your loved ones when living on the road. While there are many families around the country and the world that live far away from their children, parents and siblings, it is a somewhat new experience for us. We are new-ish empty nesters, so that transition can be tough even if you haven’t moved into a house on wheels. But once you are mobile, every exciting destination is another series of miles farther away from those you love.

So it was with this distance in mind that we decided to try to lure our loved ones to us for Thanksgiving and Christmas. We believed that if we could find some great places to visit, we might just be able to host a big Thanksgiving dinner or a fun Christmas celebration from our little ol’ camper.

The dunes of Pirateland Family Camping Resort, Myrtle Beach, SC

Well, I think we struck holiday gold!
This is how we did it and how it felt.

Thanksgiving:

Months before the holiday, we selected Pirateland Family Camping Resort in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina as our destination for Thanksgiving. There was a chance the weather could be as warm as the high 60s, but also a risk of much colder temperatures. Fortunately, the holiday week leaned toward the warmer side. The other advantage is that Myrtle Beach is a drivable distance from Maryland and Pennsylvania where most of our children live and has a generally quick and affordable flight option from the Baltimore airport (but not from Gainesville, FL), so we could extend an invitation to more of our loved ones.

I love Pirateland because it is right on the Atlantic coast. I have been there twice before, but my parents went there for many years, and like us, always in the off-season when the crowds are low, the prices are lower and the weather is mild. This year, we booked a month, with a beachy site only five sites from the dunes. Very affordable with longer stays in the off-season, campers can stay for as little as $30 a night, tax free for a stay of three months or longer.

We could hear the waves rolling in from our beds at night.

We extended an invitation to all six of our kids, our future son-in-law, our moms and our friends, Steve, Kenda and Katie. By the time everyone committed yea or nay, we were happy to discover that we would be hosting a Thanksgiving dinner for ten! We booked an extra campsite for the days around Thanksgiving, and found a camper to rent on Outdoorsy.com (not an endorsement, but a decent experience), which would give the kids a place to stay comfortably nearby. Steve and his family also booked an adjacent site, and arrived with their Class C RV.

The “kid camper” sat in a site alongside our own.

In the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, I collected seashells, driftwood and sand to create a pretty tablescape. I painted autumnal cups for each guest. We bought lights on a string and set up our Clam Quick Set Pavilion Camper (we love ours, but would have loved the Escape Sky Camper more, had it been available for purchase!) adjacent to the campground’s pavilion to create a windbreaker and larger dining and serving area. We even put out our little outdoor Christmas tree, with fresh new color-changing lights to usher in the festive spirit. Our Solo Stove (not a sponsorship of this site, just a big fan!) provided a warm campfire on chilly nights, and we stocked up on a variety of beverages and snacks for the surrounding days. We shopped for spare blankets and sheets to accommodate our visitors and took a number of trips to the grocery store, much like we did around the holidays for many years from our sticks and bricks home. The preparation was familiar and exciting to a mom that missed “nesting” opportunities with no children at home.

An outdoor dining room fit for a bunch of beach bums!

When Thanksgiving week arrived, we had friends and kids arriving on a few different days, which further built up the excitement as each person arrived. Even my son, Lorne, was able to arrange a few unexpected days off from work and a last minute flight. Ella endured long and circuitious flights from Gainesville, and Adalie made the flight despite flying not being her favoriate thing to do! It was the first time I was blessed with a visit from all three of my kiddos since our “Bon Voyage Crab Feast” in July 2020. As the big day arrived, our hearts were full of joy, filled with nearby friends and family. We embraced the busyness and slept a little more peacefully at night.

Many of the beach area campsites have covered pavilions, and we added our screen room to protect us from any weather that could interrupt our celebration.

No fine china here, and don’t worry if you get a little sand on your dinner plate!

We all shared in the meal preparation, as we found that any one RV kitchen capacity would struggle to provide such a large meal. It worked out great because everyone was kept just busy enough with meal preparation but not too busy that we couldn’t relax as well. We stood around in the sand of our Thanksgiving “dining room” to share a blessing and then sat down to a feast that rivaled any we had enjoyed for the years we lived more traditionally. Andrew and I, along with Steve and Kenda, sat at the “old people table” and I smiled as I listened to the quiet chatter at the nearby “young adult table”. Our children (and friend Katie), were chattering, laughing, joking and enjoying this now-very-rare time together.

Yum!…and a scene that gives a parent’s heart great peace.

During their all-too-brief visit, some of us enjoyed an afternoon discovering some of the many thrift stores in the area, and nearly everyone left with a bargain or two. We took walks on the beach and some made s’mores by the campfire at night. By all accounts, Thanksgiving 2021 was an enjoyable and filling success. Both my stomach and my heart were filled with all things good that week, with a very traditional, yet non-traditional Thanksgiving holiday.

Blessings from the sandy dunes of Pirateland Family Camping Resort.

Christmas:

When we launched our full-time RVing life, it was a fairly new concept to at least half of our loved ones, so we wanted to begin our trip by inviting our kids to camp with us at Walt Disney World. Alas, Covid had other plans, and for a variety of reasons, we postponed the trip one year so that we might instead celebrate “Christmas in January” in 2022.

After a year’s delay, the invitations were issued and the flights (or bus reservations, for Ella) were booked. This time we used our pop-up screen room as a tent and we squeezed our camper and the tent into one site at The Campsites and Disney’s Fort Wilderness (if you are a camper, you gotta try this outrageously expensive campground at least once). We decided early on that for this trip, we were gonna go “all in” on making this trip “all inclusive” for the kids, as this was going to be their (and our) Christmas gift all wrapped into one fabulous trip.

So as each kid responded with the dates they could join us, we booked shuttle rides from the airport, bought park tickets, made park reservations, and learned how to maximize our attractions with Disney’s ridiculously expensive Genie+ service (like the old Fastpass service, but no longer free).

I pre-assembled meals in the freezer for each day we had guests and then dumped the meal into the InstantPot each day upon return from a park for an easy yet tasty meal. We stocked up on a ton of candy and healthy snacks that we could all take into the park each day (the food at Disney is costly, and mostly meh), and budgeted a daily stipend for each kid that they could use as they wish for food, drinks or souvenirs.

Pre assembled Instant Pot freezer meals kept us well fed in a simple way!

Plenty of candy (and healthy snacks) for everyones park backpacks

Once again, we made sure the “house” and “yard” were decorated for the belated Christmas celebration, with string lights, garland, two mini Christmas trees and even artificial snow and snowballs on the ground. We had travel hand sanitizers and holders, and mask lanyards to help keep everyone safe while in crowds, and handed out passes so that everyone could gain entrance to the parks and have photos taken by Disney PhotoPass cast members along the way.

Bug awaits his favorite visitors!
We had a prime location within walking distance to The Settlement are, the boat to Magic Kingdom and the bus station!
Christmas in January still has many decorations.
It’s how we do Christmas in FL
Decorating, Mickey style
Our map grows.
Festive decorating…
…And it “snowed”!
A tent and our 5er
Fresh air dining in January
Pretty lights and gifts …
Now all we need are for the kids to show up!

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Because there was less overlap of visitors than we had hoped, we pushed through a four day stretch of visiting parks before we could enjoy a day of “rest” back at camp. It was a complicated schedule that my dear husband, Andrew, developed so that each visiting kid could at least have an opportunity to see their “favorite” park during their stay, no matter how brief their visit. It was successful but tiring!

Throughout much of that week, Andy and I experienced moments of “parental peace”, which is an elusive feeling for parents and quite an oxymoronic term. Perhaps it was the Disney magic, sprinkling a little Pixie Dust on our group, or maybe it was the fact that our kiddos were all now young adults, ages 20 – 30 years of age. Whatever was the cause – we felt peace.

Some serious competition
Hang on for dear life!
Tough stuff in Star Wars land
Previous mamma and baby
Laser fighters
Happy hours!
Feasting on turkey leg in MK
We made it to this iconic place!
Tree of life…and love
Taking it all in!
Sooo fun to watch
They went on this ride soooo many times
Animal amazement
Isn’t this amazing?
It’s a car…it’s a boat!
Iconic “Hollywood”
Right outta the movie!
Can we ride it?!
Childhood memories
A happy group
Ben gets silly…
..and is always up for a pose

Sometimes it happened as Andy and I strolled hand in hand, a few steps ahead of a couple of the kids. We heard their laughing, cajoling, and complete excitement as they experienced Disney. It happened as we watched two of the girls excitedly spot amazing animals on the Animal Kingdom Kilimanjaro Safari ride. It happened again as we screamed and held onto each other on the Hollywood Studious Tower of Terror. It certainly happened as we all got goosebumps and tears in our eyes, looking out across the sky at EPCOT’s spectacular laser, water, music and fireworks Harmonious show. It even occurred when we happened upon our first Disney Characters in the Magic Kingdom that returned us all briefly to their childhoods. In their presence we were witness to their happiness – and that is the secret ingredient in parenting that gave us the gift of “parental peace”.

In all, we were able to see each of our kids and our future son-in-law at one or both of our holiday celebrations this year, but we never had a moment when they were all with us together at the same time. As is true for any mother, you never sleep as well as the nights that all of your children are under the same roof with you, and while we were not quite successful in getting us all there at one moment, for a group of adults, each with busy lives, we came pretty darn close. When that night happens some day, when my husband, my three children, my three bonus children, and their significant others are all with us at the same moment – yes, I will sleep very well with a happy heart full of parental peace.

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Adalie, Lorne, Ella, Christy, Chris, Ben and Abby – we miss each and every one of you wherever we go, and we always look ahead to the next time we are together.
Love, Mom/Tina and Dad/Andrew

Safe travels and many blessings for togetherness in your journeys.

Cheers, from us to you. (When your loved ones cannot be with you in person, Google Duo on the beach for “happy hour” with my mom is the next best thing!)

Montana – Not A Tourist Trap But Rather A Great Destination

The DeSmet – on Lake McDonald, in Glacier National Park

Our Montana summer has been amazing, and this is my final post about our experiences there. Altogether, our month and a half in the state warranted five blog posts, each highlighting a different experience and area of the state.

Montana – The Second Best Of “The Last Best Place”!

To say that Montana never ceases to amaze us would be an understatement. So don’t be disappointed by the title of this post (you will understand later why the best is still ahead!). As we continued with part two of our three segment tour of the Treasure State, we set up camp at a quiet little campground in Island Park, Idaho called RedRock RV Park (which is really close to Montana). We knew this might be a great stay for us when the road took us on a five mile gravel drive past dozens of dispersed campsites, into free range grazing land and around the massive and beautiful Henry Lake. As we approached the campground, the sign said it all – “Shhh, it’s quiet around here”.

The campground has a place for painted rocks…
…so I painted my first rocks and left one behind!
the flowers around us were beautiful
Our “back yard”…and a dispersed camper
The road headed out to Henry Lake
Shhh, it is wonderfully quiet out here
The prettiest sunset this summer was right behind our RV, enjoyed with 2 dozen other neighbor campers
There are many of these cattle “gates” in roads out west

See the dots? Swipe right (mobile) or click the right arrow to scroll through the photo gallery.

The campground is adjacent to public land on the back side of the property as well, so our “back yard” for two weeks was filled with wide open spaces, acres of open space for Calvin to enjoy being off lease, hundreds of friendly grazing cows and a smattering of boondocking RVs across the distant panorama. This was our perfect jumping off point and only a 25 minute drive to the west entrance of Yellowstone National Park (which is actually in Montana AND Wyoming).

The magic, as it were, began the next morning when we ventured in the direction of the national park. The campground employees had told us to take our time on the little gravel road out to the highway, as it wasn’t too uncommon to see wildlife. Sure enough, as we neared the end of the drive, out popped four giant male moose, with full racks of antlers covered in velvet. They grazed along the side of the road and allowed us ample time to take photos and video. They jumped the four foot barbed wire fence with ease, casually crossed the road in front of us, posing for more photos along the way. Once on the other side, they continued their breakfast of tree leaves before wandering slowly into the woods again.

We were completely energized, having checked off a big item on our “animal wish list”! We made our way through the little gateway town of West Yellowstone and into the mid-morning line of cars waiting to enter the park. We knew that our late arrival would set us up for a crowded visit, but all along we had planned this day to be just a drive-thru visit to become assimilated and perhaps hatch a plan to maximize the coming days in the park.

Don’t show up at the park between 10 am and 4 pm if you want to avoid crowds…

The first and most lasting impression we had as we drove along the Madison River and deeper into the park was the immense grandeur and diversity before our eyes! Crystal rushing waters, massive boulders, wildflowers in blues, yellows and orange were abounding. It wasn’t ten more minutes before we looked out across a grassy valley along the river that we saw a herd of elk! We quickly pulled over and stood in awe as we watched the huge animals make their way across their perfect habitat. Elk sighting – CHECK!

Watching them move through the grasses and water was a real treat

That day I was able to wade in the Firepole River , where the rounded and colorful rocks under clear waters gave us a little glimpse into the beauty we would be seeing later in Glacier National Park (teaser to an incredible Part III of our Montana journey).

The clear, cold Firepole River on day #1 in YNP!

We stopped along the way at the less-busy “attractions” in the park that day, noting the location of the very popular sights so that we could visit another day at an earlier hour. We quickly realized that this park is different in its topography with each turn we took. Open grasslands, turned to mountain cliffs and misting geysers and smoke-pots.

We left in mid-afternoon, just as much of the park started to empty out, leaving the wildlife to their privacy for the evening. Hungry, we sought some “Linner” (a mid-afternoon meal that combines lunch and dinner into one meal) at the aptly named Firehole BBQ, whose claim to fame was their appearance on an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives (BIG fans!). SOLD! We were all in! I enjoyed what was perhaps the best brisket I have EVER HAD. Andrew had a sampling of ribs and a pork BBQ sandwich, which were equally rewarding (he had been hunting a good rack of ribs for weeks and after a couple of disappointments, was rewarded well in West Yellowstone).

The restaurant was noticeably empty, and the young man that worked there said that this was nearing the “end of the busy season”, a surprise to us, feeling like mid-August was still the height of summer back east. He went on to explain that the restaurant as well as most of West Yellowstone and even the National Park itself all shut down in the winter months, with cold weather not seen anywhere else in the continental US, and snow piled up as tall as buildings. It was difficult to imagine on a beautiful August afternoon, but it was a solid reminder that this national treasure sits on harsh and precarious ground.

Over our two-week stay in the area, we spent a total of five days in the park, arriving earlier each time than the time before so that we could beat the crowds and find the animals at their most active.

We saw our first bison on day two in the park. Having learned that it can be more important to watch for where cars are parked than watching for the wildlife itself, we pulled over on the side of the road and walked toward the gathering crowd. In our not-so-distant view was a large male bison, laying in the grass in a light wooded area by a creek. It was a sunny and warm day and he just seemed content to lie still while we took photos and admired his vast size and incredible beauty. Wild bison – CHECK! We were satisfied and exhilarated to finally see what Andrew had sought for a lifetime, and had no idea that in the coming days we would see hundreds more of these magnificent beasts.

We were blessed to see animals of all shapes and sizes, nearly every animal on our wish list , and many others that we hadn’t expected (we missed out on seeing any American Bald Eagles). There were many black ravens, as well as some yet-to-be-identified birds (perhaps you bird lovers can help us in the comments). Even the little chipmunks were adorable. We enjoyed a sudden visit by a coyote on a back road we were scouting (another couple had seen a black wolf on this road a previous day, so we were hoping to strike it rich with a visit). More moose, elk, many fish, and then, near the end of our visit, we saw the gathering crowd witnessing a mother black bear and her two cubs. They were perhaps 100 yards away, devouring a huckleberry bush in the comfortably warm afternoon sun. There were perhaps 100 humans looking through their cameras and binoculars for hours as these amazing creatures of God entertained us all. The “oohs” and “aahs” were heard among the park visitors as the bear cubs could be seen leaving the bush and wandering up the hill to a log, where they licked and swatted playfully at each other.

The winner of our two-week visit was most certainly the bison. We found many in both the Lamar and Hayden Valleys of the park. Bison grunted, grazed, rolled in the dusty dirt to get relief from bugs, and occasionally, one male would tussle and butt heads with another as the males were in the rut and busy competing for females for mating.

As you meet fellow visitors to the park, invariably, the conversation tends to become an exciting discussion of the various wildlife encountered. Everyone is happy to share photos, video and tips on locations for the best sightings you seek. One couple shopping in a gift shop alongside us in West Yellowstone witnessed the carcass of a recently killed male bison being scavenged by other wildlife. While there, they watched a video taken by another park guest of two bison in full mating battle, and watched as one bison gored the other in the head with his mighty horn, killing him instantly. Seven park rangers then labored to move the body of the huge animal to a safer location where nature would take its course in the circle of life, feeding an abundance of other wild animals.

Beyond animals, the natural features of the land were like nothing we have ever seen before. Old Faithful Geyser is the best known, and was absolutely amazing to see early one morning, but the beauty goes so far beyond this crowd pleaser. The hydrothermal features included mud pots, lesser-known geyers, large swaths of downed trees from previous volcanic activity, bubbly fumaroles of gaseous waters, hot springs, steam vents and the near-constant smell of sulphur (one of the only times in my life the odor has not been offensive). None of them disappointed.

Waiting for Old Faithful…
…on a rainy morning

We stopped at many road turnouts to take a peek at the various interesting spots. Side roads took us to outlying areas that felt like we were part of a secret in nature, and we even found our way to a very, very, VERY old (50 million years old) petrified Redwood tree.

A 50 million year old petrified Redwood tree

We ate and shopped our way through West Yellowstone, enjoying one of our best dinners at the Madison Crossing Lounge (try their cocktails!) on my birthday. We ate huckleberry fudge ice cream one afternoon, and we even had a great check-up visit to the West Yellowstone Vet one afternoon with Bug and Calvin.

In what felt like a great departure from the camping life, we got tickets to see Disney’s Newsies at The Playmill Theatre, also on my birthday. It had been a number of years since we had been fortunate enough to see a live show (thanks, Covid), and this little summer stock theatre was just wonderful! The theatre was only perhaps a dozen rows at center stage and perhaps eight rows on two sides of the very small stage – so small that our seats shook as the actors sang and danced! At intermission, guests remained in seats and the actors brought concessions around for sale! Even as we left, we saw the actors dressed as ushers and ticket-takers for the next show of the evening; they truly did it all!

In the summer, there are two shows each day and three different shows continuously through the summer! The quality of the performance was quite impressive overall, and the small atmosphere made for a very personal performance.

The ONLY challenge we had (on soap box) was feeling comfortable in what seemed to be a warm vat of Covid – approximately 300 people (267 guests plus actors) packed into a very warm, very small theatre, elbow-to-elbow and knee-to-knee, with perhaps only a half dozen people choosing to wear masks. We went into the show knowing that vaccines and masks were not required, but we were not prepared for the tightness of the facility. Thankfully, we are vaccinated, and we wore our masks, and did not get sick, but I have no doubt that performances like these are part of what is driving the severe infection spread throughout the state this summer (off soap box).

Another day found us in Ennis, MT where we had a great lunch at Tavern 287, wandered through the Nearly New (thrift) Shoppe, and Willie’s Distillery, where Andy added to his bottle collection and we chatted with several retired service members that were hanging out in town to watch the 8th Annual Montana POW/MIA Ride To Remember ride down the main street (motorcycles).

We believe these are snowdrift fences…
But tell me if we are wrong.
Ennis, MT – a cowboy town
This was on display downtown
Here is a close-up
Bistro 287 croissant grilled cheese and soup
Beautiful park in the middle of town
…and a cool sculpture
This is a great fly fishing sculpture coming into town
Willies Distillery
Thinking of Dad when shopping at Deemo’s Meats
The owners came from NJ to MT
Picking up some adult beverages for our expected guests
A cool stop to drink and eat
with a cool fence

On a long 12 hour “Sunday drive” road trip with the dogs, we combined a needed visit to Walmart (the best place to buy RV TP, lol) into a big loop south and around and up north again through Grand Teton National Park, which is adjacent to Yellowstone National Park. We saw Jackson Hole and a number of little towns that catered to visitors with cabins, all terrain vehicles, biking, snow sports and much more. We watched sunset at a turnout along another section of the Snake River, formed into layered terraces by glaciers millions of years ago, and then made our way through the evening pitch darkness through Yellowstone Park and back to our campsite by midnight.

Wildflowers are a daily treat
As the sun sets on the Snake Reiver
Terraces in the land formed by glaciers
Blessed every day
Even more beautiful in person

We even took a little day trip up to Big Spring, close to our campground in Island Park, Idaho. It is the birthplace of a river, where we could feed bits of hot dog to the eager and abundant trout that swarmed the warm spring water that is the headwaters of the Snake River.

In the end, Part II of our visit to Montana exceeded our already lofty expectations. Some observations we made along the way, in no particular order of importance:

There are no big grocery stores in much of the state. The stores that are there are expensive and very busy and have a small town feel that made us stand out as outsiders.
When visiting, enter the park EARLY. The summer crowds are excessive frome 10 am – 4 pm, so plan accordingly to see the most sights and to have the potential of seeing the most wildlife.
The population of all these popular areas swells significantly in the summer. Island Park, Idaho, for example, has a population of 268, but has approximately 2.3 million visitors that stream through its main highway each year.
We continue to notice that Montanoans are very friendly and welcoming in their state. Since tourism is their 5th largest employer, they value our presence in their state and take great pride in being a part of such a special place.
Many of the summer employees we met were not Montanoans at all, but rather out-of-state visitors that return each season to spend time in this outdoor paradise, earn some money, and then return to a warmer climate each winter.
There are no sales taxes in Montana – and alcohol is remarkably affordable. This makes for a fun time shopping and dining out!

And finally….we agree – Montana is indeed THE LAST BEST PLACE!

Safe travels, and stay tuned for Part III – we promise this will be the BEST of the “last best”!

The posts on the little grocery store in Island Park were cool.
We sampled some Huckleberry Cordials
BIG camp chai in our campgrpund

Visiting “The Last Best Place” Does Not Disappoint!

Montana, known as the “last best place” has not disappointed, but especially not here in the Jefferson River Canyon, likely still looking much like it did when Lewis and Clark explored the area oh so long ago.

For his entire adult life, my husband Andrew has kept one bucket list location in his heart. Montana. Known to him only by reputation, the state of Montana was his representation of peace, tranquility and escape from what troubled him. He always imagined himself, his dog Jake, a log cabin, a big stack of firewood and a long snowy winter with mountain views and purposeful isolation.

When we began “re-dating” in 2014, he shared his “big sky country” dreams with me. His dream evolved into our joint goal. As our dating life moved on to married life, and as our travel plans evolved into a traveling lifestyle, Montana became number one on our destination list.

So it was on July 21st, 2021 that we crossed the border from Wyoming into Montana in our big Ford dually, towing our Grand Design RV home on wheels! Quite literally, we got goosebumps and cheered while driving down the highway past the “Welcome to Montana” sign. Andy instantly called his mom to share the excitement, since she knew all too well how much arriving in this location meant to his soul.

With the caveat of a two week campground stay just over the border in Idaho (to visit Yellowstone National Park in Montana and Wyoming), we will be exploring Montana for 56 days before leaving on about September 15th on our way to South Dakota! Even in our Idaho campsite, we look out across our Northern “backyard” of public land and see vast mountains that are located in Montana.

Now nearly halfway through our Montana adventure, we are here to report that the state has not disappointed in the least!

As bucket list items go, one could argue that Andrew didn’t exactly get what he imagined for his Montana experience. Andrew didn’t make Montana a solitary experience as he has always dreamed it would be. He didn’t stay in a cabin with mountain views. There was no snow at our feet this summer in the “Treasure State”, and with warm summer temperatures, an endless fire in the fireplace with a big stack of wood didn’t happen either. And sadly, loyal and wonderful Jake did not live long enough to make the trip west by Andrew’s side.

But he would probably share that the real life version of his bucket list to “the last best place” has filled his soul in a bigger, deeper way than a check-mark on a list. Our “cabin in the woods” was our RV, set up next to wide open spaces on and near state and public lands. Our fireplace and stack of firewood was instead a rare evening campfire on a cool night, and the snow was only occasionally glimpsed on a far away mountain top. And while Jake was with us in spirit and thought, we had three other furry friends by our side the entire way; Bug, Calvin and Stencil have loved Montana as well!

It isn’t a mountainside cabin in the Montana forest, but our little cabin on wheels has ever changing and beautiful scenery.

The most important part for both of us, however, is that we did it together. Because all these years of imagining his solitary journey to Montana was really a beautiful way to escape what was unhappy in his life. His Montana dream was a way to safely frame for himself and others that he wanted peace and love in his life. As is always the case, God listened and led. Andrew listened and followed. He no longer wants to be alone with his dog and escape to a snowy wilderness. He (and I) wanted a loving partner with whom he could share the rest of his life. Whether that life led him to Montana or around the world mattered little anymore, because his life became the journey rather than the destination.

God led us. We are now companions on the journey.

This song has been a fav of mine for a really long time, but as we gaze out over something spectacular on this leg of the trip, or sit with new or old traveling friends by the campfire, or when I simply take a quiet walk in the cool morning air, I am reminded of this song and the beauty of all of our journeys in life.

WHAT WE SAW AND WHERE WE SAW IT

Stop 1 – Billings, MT – We stayed at the first-ever KOA campground, and it was quite nice (I am not usually a fan of KOAs, but this one was one that we enjoyed). It sits right alongside the Yellowstone River, which is beautiful with its white shores and perfectly smooth and rounded stones of all sizes in the river bed.

Oddly, this is also the place where a camping neighbor and I witnessed a trailer being hauled through the campground a bit too fast…and with their awning still completely extended! Luckily, they noticed their lapse in “careful campsite take-down” and stopped up the road before they got on the highway (mental note to myself to be extra careful on travel days, ‘cause we don’t wanna be THAT guy!).

We adventured into downtown Billings and found a great locally owned non-profit fair trade store called Global Village where we bought some fabulous gifts for family members. We bought some books and goodies at non-profit This House Of Books, a unique co-op style bookstore aiming to keep small-town bookstores alive!

We also found our way to Billings’ downtown farmer’s market where we were sure to get some Flathead cherries, a Montana summer tradition. We came home with an armful of corn on the cob, chokecherry jelly, cheese balls, perfectly ripe peaches and handmade tortillas, all local products that make Farmer’s Market shopping a favorite pastime of ours.

The next visit in our travels is perhaps Andrew’s favorite so far. As the weeks of 100 plus degrees continued, we were able to use our America the Beautiful National Parks Pass for the first time with a visit to Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. The telling of our experience will be a story for a future post, as it is an important and special place that deserves more time and attention than I can provide here. To be sure, any trip to the state should include a visit to this historic site.

Fun music at the Farmer’s Music!

Stop 2 – Livingston, MT – Osen’s RV Park was conveniently located just a few minutes drive from Livingston. It is neat, quiet and has one of the nicest, cleanest and lushest dog parks we have seen out west so far (security cameras on the fence overlooking dog owners might be the key to getting certain folks to clean up after their dogs). The new campground owners were hospitable and we enjoyed the quiet and simplicity of the park and the small grassy plots at each site.

Livingston was a great little walkable town despite the continuing heat wave and limited vistas due to smoke from distant wildfires. We found fun little shops and restaurants and as has been the theme this summer, many friendly folks.

In a quirky coincidence, we happened to shop in and visit with the very nice owner of Dan Bailey’s Outdoor Company while visiting Livingston. We learned about his love of cycling and fly fishing. We met his dog (we have met several great dogs in local fly fishing stores) and shared a little of our travels with him as well. The very next day, that store owner was in the news with a follow-up story to an incident that occurred between Fox’s Tucker Carlson and a man named Dan Bailey in the same store in Livingston just days before our arrival! The incident was recorded and the posted video went viral. Given that this verbal altercation was initiated by a man with no connection to the store bearing his name, the store’s owner felt it important to clear up any confusion that followed and distance themselves from the incident. So up popped this story shortly after we visited, with the friendly owner speaking of the incident that had brought them national attention for unwanted reasons. Small world….or is it big brother Google that noticed that my phone had been at that store?

Our best meal was at the joint venture of Gil’s Goods (the food) and The Murray Bar (where we ate the food). Filled on a busy weeknight with authentic cowboy hat-laden locals, outdoorsmen and visitors, we sat at a high-top table and enjoyed a delicious meal. My Greek salad an Falafel (yes, in MT) was among the best I have had for quite a while, Andy’s brick-oven pizza was a good treat and our drinks of choice were extremely affordable. Andrew’s go-to of Crown Royal on the rocks was a generous double pour and my jalapeno margarita was very well crafted, with jalapeno flavor infused into the tequila onsite.

We then wandered across the street to Uncorked, a wine bar and store set in an old train depot that was relegated to the outdoors due to Covid. It turned out to be a great evening on a covered patio, sitting by the train tracks and bustling with a few other busy tables. We shared a bottle of wine, enjoyed talking with a table of local senior citizens out for an evening of wine and charcuterie plates, and watched the rhythmic coming and going of the trains.

We spent our 6th wedding anniversary (August 1st for those kiddos that missed it) taking a beautiful Sunday drive with the dogs through nearby Paradise Valley and the Custer Gallatin National Forest. With scenery that wanders along the Yellowstone River, this valley is a place that we could find ourselves building that cabin of our dreams (if not for the price tag of land in this state!).

We took an impromptu detour into the forest and found ourselves on a tiny dirt road, passing bible camps, beautiful ranches, private getaway cabins and backcountry camping in tents and trailers of varying sizes. As we rounded a turn in the low mountain terrain, we came upon what we later found to be the location of a devastating wildfire in 2013. It was incredible to see how the fire jumped over valleys and took turns on certain mountainsides, only to decimate what ultimately was hundreds of acres.

Now more than eight years later, the green underbrush and wildflowers are growing among the blackened sticks of the mature trees that once stood over them. It will take quite some time for full restoration to occur, but it was both a sad and beautiful way to see Mother Nature work her magic. What began as a lightning strike, raged into a wildfire that cleared an area of forest that will eventually fully rejuvenate as part of a natural and needed process. At a time when we struggle as a world where wildfires are too frequent and too large due to the manmade harm from global warming, it was a moment of balance to be reminded that great good can still come from great devastation.

Bug and Calvin loved the large plush dog park at Osen’s RV Park

Wine bar with a train serenade

Stop #3 – Whitehall, MT – Whitehall, Montana is about 50 minutes from Bozeman, but we ended up with less time to explore than we had anticipated because shortly before arriving, we discovered a cracked rim on a truck tire which needed replacement sooner than later. We pre-ordered the rim to be shipped to Bozeman ahead of our arrival and then lucked out on getting it replaced when we arrived because someone else with an appointment was a “no-show”, opening up a fortuitous slot for us as we stood before the employee explaining our plight (we drove nearly an hour to get here, we are only going to be in the area for a week, and this is our only vehicle – “so can you help us?”).

Back in Whitehall, we were excited to see the absolutely stunning and open layout of the Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park. We were conversely disappointed to see that we had NO cell service throughout most of the campground. This situation made the perfect opportunity to install and test out our WeBoost cell signal booster. Once installed, we were happy to at least get one or two bars for the rest of our weeklong stay (we had read that a booster can improve low service, but cannot provide service where none exists, so even the slight improvement helped us conduct required vacation rental business during our stay).

The highlight of our stay was a two-hour Classic Tour of the Lewis and Clark Caverns. It was about a ¾ mile hike to the entrance of the cave, complete with dramatic vistas of the valley and Jefferson River Canyon (a tributary of the Missouri River).

The tour itself had an interesting start where we had to remain silent and wear masks to protect the bats that lived just inside the entrance, so as to keep them calm, safe and healthy. Once we walked deeper into the cavern, we crouched, shimmied and even slid on our bottoms at times through the many-leveled caverns. With a quick refresher course in minerals, geology, stalagmites (from the floor) and stalactites (from the ceiling), we looked on in wonder at the physical beauty and the great history.

Explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark never actually discovered the caverns, but they camped below on the Jefferson River and explored the surrounding area, so they were credited for their work by naming the park and the caverns after them.

One nice feature about this tour as compared to the ghost cave tour we took in Colorado in June, is that it was well lit and had many railings installed along the way. Stairs were carved into the limestone which helped me maneuver more comfortably in the shadows and uneven flooring. Also, the tour began at one end of the cave and ended many feet lower on the mountainside, where a long tunnel had been blown through the stone for easier egress.

While in the area, the heat wave finally broke free when several days of periodic storms brought cooler temperature and some much needed rain. Much of the wildfire smoke that we had been seeing since arrival in Colorado in June was finally clearing out on some days, and we were much more comfortable and able to enjoy the outdoors even more.

The next stop upon which we will report is actually a two-week period of time when we will LEAVE Montana for camping, so that we can have cloe access to the West entrance of Yellowstone National Park! But there is much more Montana ahead for us this summer, so stay tuned!

Safe travels, and may your bucket list journey be filled with joy and discovery!

You’ll be with us always, Jake, in our hearts and memories!

Why Oh, Wyoming?! Casper and Sheridan, We May Be Back!

Stops #2 and #3 in Wyoming

The road through Wyoming was unique in its beauty.

Life still happens when you are a full-time traveler. It is not a perpetual vacation. This leg of our summer of travel fun got hit with a little bit of “life”, smack in the middle of Wyoming. We had planned that the last two of our three stops in Wyoming were going to be filled with a couple of hikes, a stop at a rodeo, some downtown historic district shopping and a mix-in of a museum or two. Instead, we had to go with “Unplanned Plan B”.

“Unplanned Plan B” really ain’t so bad after all.

We did enjoy a delicious restaurant meal, but much of the rest of our time in Casper and Sheridan Wyoming ended up at home – watching movies, eating (waaay too much ice cream), crafting (I can’t wait to show you some of my recent crafts!) and catching up on household duties (yes, ya still gotta pay bills, run the biz and clean the house as a full-time traveler).

Perhaps it was something in the water, but within two days of arriving in Casper, we all started needing to stick very close to the bathroom – and I mean ALL of us. The dogs, the humans and ultimately, even the cat. At first, we thought only Calvin was having issues. Then we spent a couple of days feeling very “off”. When we thought Calvin was in the clear, we ventured out for a few hours, to do some exploring and enjoy a meal at a local steakhouse, only to come home to find that Bug also was now suffering the same fate…ALL throughout the camper. Sigh. It was then that we decided that sticking close to our RV home was our best “Unplanned Plan B”.

What, we have to go with “Unplanned Plan B”?!?!?

Welcome to Casper – where things won’t work out quite like you planned!

The drive throughout WY was exceedingly dry, but occasionally we saw refreshing water scenes like this one, on the way to Casper.

When it came time to move from Casper, north and west to Sheridan, we felt like the dogs were well enough to travel, only to discover an hour into the trip that Stencil the cat was suffering a similar fate. Worse yet, she was struck as we were driving up the highway. She became agitated and meowed and complained (not unusual for her on travel days – just about the only thing she hates about the RV life). Then the complaining paused and we smelled the distinct odor of a cat that had just had an accident in her crate. With no pull-offs or rest stops in sight, and not really sure how to safely resolve the issue and clean up the cat on the side of the highway with only a water bottle, we drove the next hour and a half with the windows down. Thankfully, it was a short travel day and Stencil settled down and found a place to rest in the back of her crate and away from her offending odor.

Bug recovered and found a way to completely relax on this travel day!

We arrived at Peter D’s RV Campground, cleaned up the cat and her crate, set up our home on wheels, and almost immediately, the hottest of the HEAT set in. It had been in the 90’s for days, but for the remainder of our stay, the effects of global warming were apparent, with record-breaking temperatures between 99 and 109 degrees for days on end. Additionally, the wildfires, still many miles away in Montana, Oregon, California were spewing a grey haze of smoke throughout Wyoming. Each day, as our pets healed, we did our best to keep the A/C running and the camper cool. The shades were pulled, a blanket was hung over the door window to reduce the sun’s impact, and we managed our electricity use to prevent any further problems (the electric capacity was being taxed since it was so hot that most folks decided to stay home each day). The smoke and heat beat out some exploration of Wyoming.

Instead of Plan A, full of fun visits and exploration, we wound up our visit to Wyoming mostly at home. The nice thing that I learned about this experience is that it was really nice (once everyone’s intestines were settled, at least). We are blessed to be living this semi-retired, traveling lifestyle. We don’t have to feel rushed or compelled to “cram it all in” to a specific timeframe. We didn’t get to see and do Wyoming like we had planned, but we can return some time and try again. Perhaps we will pass through here again this fall on the way to Denver for the Broncos-Ravens football game (that is another adventure we have in the planning stages!). Wyoming will be cooler then – and this time, we won’t drink the water.

(The fun we still had):

We were able to stop by the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center in Casper during our stay. Operated by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the center does a great job of educating and bringing the late 1800s to life. The Platte River runs through Sheridan and is the location where the major western frontier trails converged (before Sheridan even existed). Pioneers, missionaries, Mormons, miners and explorers traveled thousands of miles, mostly on foot, through this area. Sometimes 600 wagons a DAY passed through the area. We discovered the Atlatl (AT-lat-uhl), a Native American hunting tool that aided in throwing a dart. We learned about the varied reasons for westward exploration of North America, the hardships they faced and the methods and planning that brought them success in their amazing efforts.

Always a fun hobby of mine wherever we travel, we hit a few thrift stores for some bargains, and then we enjoyed dinner date night at FireRock Steakhouse. The service was strong (thanks, Bailey) and the food was delicious. Top on the list was the Firecracker Shrimp appetizer. The French Onion Soup was the 2nd best we’ve ever had (sorry, but Dobbin House Restaurant in Gettysburg, PA has everyone beat!), and the Blue Cheese Wedge salad was PERFECT! The flavor on our steaks was amazing, and when there was a temperature problem with the main entrée dishes, they cooked it all over again and made it right. Thanks to the manager that was attentive and wanted to be sure we had a great experience. The décor was dark, appealing and BUSY!! Our cocktails were exceedingly well made.

A Club Car Martini with a cinnamon rimmed glass

We enjoy trying the beef wherever we go out west!

My DH fell into the crab cake trap – again. As native Marylanders, we know what crab cake is supposed to taste like. The lesson: stop buying “Maryland Crab Cake” from places that are NOT in Maryland! We should not be surprised that Wyoming crab cakes are not going to be as they claim.

Don’t EVER order a Maryland Crab Cake when not in Maryland! (we knew this, but instead, curiosity won the day!)

While at home, I enjoyed lots of crafting. My latest project includes a counted cross stitch that I now have about ⅓ complete. I also have been making vinyl stencils for glass etching, and as always, sending gift packages to our loved ones back east.

Most of the campgrounds where we have camped out west have been unimpressive, even disappointing (and expensive for what you get). There are MANY great campgrounds around, but we simply booked too late to get the top picks. But we were happy to find Peter D’s RV Campground. This is camping a little more like I remember it! Privately owned and exceedingly polite and helpful, our dogs enjoyed their morning walk with a visit to the camp office where owner, Peter D, would offer them a treat. The campground is spotless and meets all the basic needs (there is no pool, but I am told there is a town pool nearby). Our reservation was made with a phone call and a verbal promise that we would have a site when we arrived. No cash on hand to pay the bill? That’s okay, just bring it when you can! The laundry is spotless and includes a “take one, leave one” book nook. The dog run is large and there is a center grassy section of the campground that sports a beautiful vegetable garden (thanks so much for the squash we were sent on our way with on travel day!) and a few resident bunnies that seem very content.

These bunnies layed on their sides in the grass no matter how close we approached – they had few worries in life at Peter D’s RV Campground

The campsites are TIGHT, but that is the only criticism I could mention. With slides and awnings out, we were within six inches of our neighbors. All sites are pull-through. The cost is exceedingly reasonable ($35 per night this year in celebration of their 20th year in business) and puts all those gravel covered KOA Journey’s to shame. The location is on the edge of a residential neighborhood, close to everything, but sits below the highway in a little hollow, so the highway noise is reduced and hardly noticed. This is a terrific quick stop or even good as a stopping point for a while as you explore the Sheridan area.

Photo Credit: Sharon Nothnagel on FB Group “Grand Design Solitude Owners” (we are rig #3)

While in Sheridan we enjoyed an afternoon exploring the Trail End Mansion and learned about how a poor Texas cowboy, turned wealthy rancher, governor and senator, built and lived in this beautiful mansion. I have always been drawn to old homes, and this Flemish Revival is exquisite from the early 1900s did not disappoint..

We wandered into downtown Sheridan and shopped a few of the unique stores and admired the plentiful sculptures all around town. We ate at Just Ledoux It Saloon and Steak Out, a restaurant with a great story – honoring a man that I didn’t know of until I was intrigued by his mention on their menu. Visit here to find out about his interesting life.

We ended our evening with a couple of drinks at the historic Mint Bar, founded in 1907. Uniquely decorated, this is the place we felt like we were truly hanging with the locals. We saw some genuine modern day cowboys and felt like we almost fit in with our own western garb. One additional happy discovery in Wyoming is the price of drinks! We managed to have two whiskey’s and a glass of wine here for $17.

Since 1907 (first, the Mint Saloon and now the Mint Bar)

A feast for your eyes from top to bottom. If the walls weren’t covered in old photographs as shown here, they were covered in shingles with branding symbols burned into the wood.

Lots of taxidermy, amazing curvy and carved wood on the bar and some local humor (complete with a lady that was nearly fall down drunk before 5 pm).

Yep, and a creepy glass-enclosed Jackalope!

We left Wyoming with happy memories and a lot of excitement for our next destination – MONTANA!

Safe travels, and remember that it isn’t your plan!

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!

Look carefully at this “tramp art” left on our picnic table – it is a bison made of found items.

These are the moments in camping that you savor – Minooka Park COE Campground, Durrance, KS

Fargo, Georgia – Where Wildlife Outnumbers The Human Life!

Since my dear husband and I are not (yet) regular boondockers in unimproved land areas (#campinggoals), we are not often faced with the feeling of isolation and true solitude. We both grew up in a world without cell phones, where our parents were not able to reach us or determine our exact location all day as we played outside in the woods behind our neighborhood. As children, that was normal. Teenaged Andrew and Tina would drive at night on a country road (trying to avoid parental detection, but also not easily able to reach anyone if we got an unexpected flat tire, or ran out of gas (a more likely scenario in my teenage years). As teenagers, that was normal. We were comfortable with it because that was the only option back then.

We were typical kids of the 70s – and playing outdoors iwas how we spent or days. (Photo credit: Children’s Environments Research Group)

Today, however, that feeling of being completely on your own, if only for a few hours, seldom happens. If a child leaves the house, a parent generally has the ability to know where they are located. If a problem happens, help is usually a simple phone call away.

For the first time in a long time, Andy and I recalled those feelings as we drove through Fargo, GA on a gorgeous fall day in October 2020. It was Halloween weekend, and our destination was the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, also known as the Okefenokee Swamp (cue spooky music). The one-lane road laid out ahead of us, as straight as a pin, with small pine trees and natural green growth on both sides. We drove and drove, windows down, the dogs excitedly sensing that our destination was near. We rode for 20 miles from Fargo, down Route 177, with the last dozen miles absent of businesses, homes or crossroads of any kind. Miles before our destination, our cell service became unusable. Texts stopped coming and going. As dusk fell, we felt like we had already left civilization before we had even arrived.

There were miles of road into the state park – and not much else!

The entrance to the park is gated and closed each evening, and it felt as if we were leaving one world and entering a new one as we passed through it. It was after 5:00 pm when we arrived, so with the Steven C. Foster State Park Trading Post closed for the day, we went straight to our campsite.

This spot is just a few steps from our campsite.

The next morning we awoke to a very quiet morning and we took a walk. The campground only has 66 campsites, and it was largely empty (and grew emptier at the end of the weekend – spoiler alert, after the weekend, we were one of only three campers on our loop). Our first task had little to do with seeking solitude. In fact, sad to say, we needed to find cell service so that I could handle our small vacation rental business in the coming six days, and Andy needed to make sure he could see his Baltimore Ravens play football on Sunday from our remote location.

We hadn’t wandered 50 feet from our campsite before we turned a corner and saw deer. At first a couple, then several. They were accustomed to human presence, but still wild and skittish. It was as if they understood that we were a temporary visitor to their land, their space. They obliged us, and allowed us to watch in awe at their morning beauty.

That morning we arrived at the Trading Post, located about a half mile from our campsite, really hoping we could meet our tech needs and still take in this beautiful place. As we approached the building, I noticed a couple on their cell phone video-chatting with their family members. As we entered the screened-in front porch, I saw a gentleman on his laptop. I was encouraged. Upon entering the store, we were met with an oasis of civilization. Camping supplies, snacks and tourist trinkets were all for sale. This was also the place we could rent boats to see the swamp up close, or even schedule a guided tour. But the moment of victory was the confirmation of free wifi! It only worked in and around the trading post, but it was blazing fast and able to handle my email, file processing and wifi phone calling and texting needs for the next several days!

Later that day, Andy had managed to maneuver the satellite dish to acquire the minimum NFL channels needed to watch the Sunday game, albeit at about 85% satellite connection. “Please Lord, don’t let it rain on Sunday!”, I whispered under my breath (ultimately, it DID rain on game day – for about 1 ½ hours, right up until kick-off, when the skies finally cleared and the game came into focus!).

Victory times two! Time to enjoy Okefenokee!

We spent five days immersed in the wildlife. Every hike we took, every trail we wandered, and even just walking down the state park road, we stumbled upon a new animal discovery. We saw a multitude of deer, several bucks included. We watched them eating, running and scratching their backs in the late afternoon sunshine. Andy spotted a raccoon and we enjoyed the sight of many birds of all sizes. We saw bears on three occasions, surprisingly close to the state park employee resident cottages, sitting below the acorn trees. Other campers had reported that the bears had also been seen in trees, so we became adept at looking up, down and all around us as we walked.

The bears and the deer seemed to like the acorn trees and showed up nearly every day

This was perhaps the largest buck we saw during our stay.

It was thriling to be able to get up close and personal with the animals.

On Halloween night, we lit a campfire, and set out a small bowl of candy as about a half dozen children came by to keep the Trick-or-Treat tradition alive in a very different location. What we noted was the absolute darkness of the sky. Absent of any light pollution, the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge reveals a big dark sky that was wondrous – it is difficult to describe the vastness and open miles of blackness.

The highlight of our stay, however, was an afternoon on a rented skiff, out on the water trails of the swamp. Having received surprisingly little instruction for its operation (once we finally asked!), we were pushed off the little dock and out onto the open waters that completely surround the little island that the campground sits upon.

Andrew quickly learned to drive our little boat well – and we had two oars with us as well in case the engine failed us.

The canal that left the campground Trading Post was narrow, but opened out to wider waters.

The initial waterways of the swamp are wide open and the birds were soaring over our heads. There were other birds that stood on fallen trees, waiting to spot their next meal. The landscape was unique and stunning. The quiet feeling of being alone in this natural swamp world was pervasive for most of the next four hours we spent on the water. We spotted only three other groups of people in our water travels – two skiffs like ours and a group of six kayakers paddling silently with binoculars and cameras in hand.

This skiff, like ours, was one of only three sightings of other travelers that day on the water.

The bird life was soaring all along our travels.

Our goal for the day, however, was to see alligators. With a small map in hand, marked with water trails and natural points of interest (hollow tree, Alligator Cove, Five Sisters cluster of trees, etc), we noted the wooden signs staked into the swampy waters with arrows to guide us, and made a left turn down a water “trail”, identified the narrow open water surrounded on both sides by millions of lily pads.

The Five Sisters was a marking landmark on the map and helped us navigate the water trails.

It immediately grew darker, as the overhead tree cover and Spanish Moss filtered out the sun. Andy had to drive the skiff slower, to adjust for the obstacles in the water – mysterious bumps underneath us that were likely hidden logs of long ago fallen Cypress trees. I was reminded of a 1970s animated Disney movie called the “Rescuers”, where an international team of mice flew to the spooky bayou swamp to rescue a little girl named Penny. The mystery animal sounds, the black waters, and the shadows cast by large overhead growth all created an impressive backdrop for our day’s adventure.

The mix of dark and sunlight in the swamp made a mysterious and beautiful scene.

Awww, Bernard and Miss Bianca, along with Evinrude, cruised the swamps fearlessly….Andrew and Tina were a little more tentative.

Disney’s bayou may not have been in Okefenokee, but it sure felt like it!

It didn’t take long before we noticed bubbles under the water, and small ripples on the surface that told us we had just missed an animal of some sort startled by our presence. We were keenly aware that there were MANY eyes upon us, and we would have to remain quiet and alert if we wanted to see our prized alligator. About an hour into our travels, we were rewarded.

We estimate that snout to eyeballs was about 1 1/2 feet,,,with a lot more gator under the murky water!

Andy saw him first. Just the eyeballs initially, then the crown of the head, the long snout. The rest of this massive alligator remained hidden in the water. His head alone we estimated to be more than a foot long. I immediately began snapping photos in the general area he described seeing the gator, but it was another 30 seconds or more before I actually SAW the beast and was aware of him through the camera lens. All of the wildlife, especially the alligators, are incredibly well disguised in their natural habitat.

Invigorated by our sighting, and thrilled with the size of the prize, we relaxed and were able to see the rest of the phenomenal water world in which we were now fully immersed. I jokingly reminded Andy that I was worth more alive than dead, in case he had enough of me already, as this would be the perfect place to plan the disposal of any evidence of ne’er-do-well activities. I also wildly wondered that this was the perfect place for a band of criminal brothers to live a life of seclusion and safety from the world that wanted them caught for their bad acts (cue more spooky music).

We traveled about ten miles into the watery day trails on our skiff and were fortunate enough to spot two more alligators. They were both smaller than our first, but both were completely OUT of the water, sunning themselves on logs. We accidently coasted to within four feet of one (learning to maneuver the skiff), and thankfully, that alligator did not flinch one muscle.

We managed to get the nose of our skiff (where I was seated), to within four feet of this gator (accidentally)!

As we left the swamp day grails, we found this beauty sunning on a log.

Upon our return to the civilization of the Trading Post, we missed our final turn into the canal that led to the dock, a final reminder of how far away we were from the human world to which we were so accustomed. This was truly a special place set aside by our nation to provide refuge for wildlife, and we were so blessed to be able to become a part of it for six days. We were rewarded with breathtaking sightings of animals, natural growth that was astounding, and just enough time apart from the human world to feel enveloped by God’s great design.

Relaxing on our little skiff, taking in the beauty of God’s natural outdoors.

Safe travels, and Go Gators (double entendre intended)!

The thrill of the gator hunt was exhilarating!

This is The Best Campsite Of My Camping Life

A panoramic sunset just outside our camper door.

Sometimes the very best campgrounds have no cable, no wifi, no sewer hookups and limited amenities. These are the campgrounds that use their natural resources – provided by Mother Nature (and a massive man-made lake) to become among the best out there.

Well, I have found the best – at least My Best – and it is a hidden gem that I am willing to share with you. Just don’t tell too many people, please! We want to return there someday, and I hope my best campground ever still has my best campsite available when that day arrives!

Let me set the picture. The campground is in the rural upcountry area of South Carolina (the northwest corner of the state). It sits on a series of three very small islands that are connected by a narrow road in the middle of 18,372 acre Lake Keowee. This area is a water-lover’s paradise – pontoon boats, canoes, kayaks, speed boats and jet skis – just a few of the watercraft you will find. Fishing, water skiing, swimming, sunbathing, hiking and more can all be found very nearby.

But the thing that makes this place so darn special is the view – just sit in your camp chair and take in the 360-degree amazing water views. Add a small breeze, the warm fall sunshine, and a campfire at dusk and you have all the makings of a perfect camping day.

Okay, here are the details…and then some more photos at the end to prove my point.

Mile Creek County Park is in the foothills of Pickens County, SC. You can visit MileCreekPark.com to find out more about the park itself. If you want to reserve sites at the campground that is part of the park, simply go to ReserveAmerica.com. The roads are narrow and sloping at times. The sites vary in shape and size and setup significantly, so don’t fudge any camper lengths when selecting your site. Even if you cannot snag a waterfront site, you will still enjoy lovely views, as these are tiny islands, and these sites are perched high, tucked low, and hidden among trees – giving you a feeling of privacy that belies the closeness of the sites to each other.

Our GPS screen on the drive into the campground gave us great perspective about the size of these three tiny islands. Our site was located at the last blue breadcrumb shown by the read triangle (the top edge of the 2nd island).

We had only four nights to stay at Mile Creek Park, so we never left our little island. Why bother? We had what was essentially a little private sandy beach beside our site that I imagine would be great for summertime swimming, although even during our late October visit, we spotted someone swimming nearby in the lake. We had trees all around us that were changing into their fall color show. And we had water – lots of water….On. All. Sides.

A view of our campsite from across the lake (campground island number three) shows our rocky shore and our sandy shore.

Yep, it is my favorite campsite ever. Site #42. Of course, we’ve only been FT RVing for 16 weeks, so I am really excited about what great beauty we have yet to find along the way, because this is a beautiful country.

A setting sun on our tiny Home Sweet Home on wheels.

Safe travels – and may we all find the perfect spot just to sit a while.

Note that ALL of the following photos were take FROM OUR CAMPSITE.