The conclusion of our 2,022 mile trip across the northern United States to begin our second season as volunteers in Grand Teton National Park. [Part 1 here] Friday is another travel day and we stay at a Harvest Host in Shoshoni Wyoming. We visited before and it was easy to come back. The farm dogContinue reading “Nine Days on the Road – Pt. 2”
Category Archives: Travel Adventures
Nine Days On the Road – Pt.1
This past week Dave and I crossed a large section of the country, using self-imposed travel rules to determine when to stop, took advantage of Harvest Hosts and campgrounds for our overnight stays, and were amazed by the sights along the way.
What does it take to depart our Sticks & Bricks for a 6 month deployment?
You might be surprised to learn that packing our clothes and gear in the Airstream for a six month trip is far easier than the tasks involved in leaving the house. Packing and loading is a matter of following a checklist and can be accomplished in roughly two days. Prepping the house to sit empty takes more effort, and planning starts a few months out.
Our Cunning Plan
Dave and I have often thought of this adventure as the fruition of a four year old “cunning plan” (Black Adder fans can probably hear Edmund & Baldrick chortling). An elaborate, convoluted, and multi-part scheme that flaunts believability in its potential for success. The plan gets its start in a love story.
Moored, Shift Colors
We’ve begun the return to Pennsylvania in earnest. Our first over night stop was a very pleasant surprise, in Phipps Park, a county park in Stuart Florida. Maybe the friendliest check-in ever, massive boon docking sites, clean if not modern bathrooms, palm trees, and water features.
Thanksgiving and Vacation at Geiger Key Florida
Home for the next week is the Geiger Key Marina and RV Park. It is an old fish camp, with a well rated restaurant as well as water sport equipment rentals. Our camp site, number 22, was a little challenging to get into, but worth it. Flat and with a tiki hut, it backed onto the water, looking into a mangrove island.
Back Home along the Gulf Coast
Just three miles beyond the street we lived on, Sarah’s Lane, is Buccaneer State Park, our home for the week. If you follow in our footsteps, avoid site #13! The 50 amp power has an open ground, the 30 amp doesn’t work at all, but the 20 amp does at least keep batteries charged. The “help” was both comedy and tragedy. All part of the glamping adventure!
DFW and Fredericksburg Texas
Dave and I go our separate ways on our last day in Fredericksburg, Texas. He bikes off on adventures over local trails, and I take the truck into town for a little window/Christmas shopping. And lucky me — there are two quilt shops in town. I pick up a souvenir piece of fabric for a someday project. Dave is impressed with the variety and quality of the outdoor recreational spaces that the town and county made available to the folks of Fredericksburg.
Heading to Texas!
It is hard to believe that we say goodbye to the west coast and begin the eastward swing of our clockwise trip around the country! One moment it feels as if we have just pulled out of the driveway, and yet in the next moment it feels as if we have always lived like this. Maybe it is the Navy training — home is where the Navy sends you — or you park your camper!
Traveling the Central and Southern California Coast
This morning we are set to get underway again, bound for Paso Robles, wine country. Dave has chosen a Harvest Host at Bon Niche Vineyard. Their views get rave reviews. Our route takes us out the Salinas Valley where dozens of fields are churning with the activity of harvesting lettuce, acres of artichokes are ripening, and tractors are raising choking clouds of drifting dust in preparation for planting the next crop.