Author: Easin' Along

There is one aspect of RV life that caught us surprise…you gotta plan ahead…months ahead. With baby boomers retiring by the thousands every day and taking to the highways, RV travel is becoming very popular. In the fairly recent past, RVers could hit the road and there would be a campsite available wherever the traveler chose to spend a night or two (or longer).  Those days are over.

We learned this lesson last winter when we planned a trip to Florida with the intention of staying for a month or longer and as far south as possible on either coast. I began making calls in early December to RV resorts in Naples, West Palm Beach, Winter Haven.  About the only response I got, besides laughter, was that the park was full and that I could make reservations for the 2019 season in May 2018. I then tried state parks only to learn that those reservations are made online if you stay up until midnight eleven months to the day ahead and try to book a site before the internet crashes under the volume of hits. Experienced RVers know the tricks and Canadians and Northeasterners are pretty determined when it comes to escaping their winter doldrums.  They know how to work the system. Eventually, we obtained reservations in the Florida panhandle and as far south as Tampa as well as Jekyll Island, GA and had a wonderful experience although in weather cooler than we wanted.

This year, we said “Shuck Florida”, we’ll go to the Southwest.  An online blogger friend, Ingrid (Live, Laugh, RV), began posting some beautiful pictures from Arizona which drew us in.  We passed through there in our inaugural RV trip in Sherman, a rented motorhome, and wanted to return when we could stay longer. Ingrid suggested Lost Dutchman State Park in Apache Junction, AZ as one of her favorites.  I began making calls in April, and was very fortunate.  In addition to Lost Dutchman for eleven days, I secured Dead Horse Ranch near Sedona for a week, and Lake Havasu State Park for the following week. So, eleven months out, Arizona was booked for a month, but it’s still a long way to Arizona.  Where do we stay on the way there? Where do we stay coming home? When do we come home?

Through my short experience with RVing, I have developed a few rules of thumb regarding travel which I applied in planning this next trip we named “Lucy Does the Desert”. The first rule is that four hours of driving is enough driving, and, at the recommended speed for towing of 60 miles per hour, our range of travel is about 225 to 250 miles, stop to stop. Second, To recoup and smell the roses a bit, we try to stay two nights at every stop until we reach our destination. Two nights allow us time to stretch our legs, shop for any essentials, gas up and move out early on the day of departure.  We will break this rule a time or two on the way home, but rarely.

Using those two rules, we planned our route.  I use RV Trip Wizard, a great online tool for route planning. Without getting too far into the details, this tool asks for the starting point (Knoxville), the destination (Apache Junction, AZ), your preferred daily travel distance (250 miles), and preferred travel speed (60 mph), and then provides the user a choice of routes.  The website will point out every RV park, and state or national park with details on each site within that 250-mile range.  RV Trip Wizard will also calculate fuel costs based on the mpg of your vehicle, but that’s getting too far in the weeds for this discussion.

I also rely heavily on MilitaryLiving.com to choose RV campgrounds on Military Installations. We love using military facilities for their affordability, security, laundry facilities, and proximity to commissary and exchanges for food shopping. On our trip southwest, we will use military installations for 14 stops out of 30.

Using those two tools, Helen (adorable wife) and I planned a route across the southern and southwestern part of the country, taking about three weeks to reach Arizona. Stops along the way include Montgomery, AL, Biloxi, MS, Alexandria, LA, Galveston, TX, San Antonio, TX, and White Sands, NM.  With RV Trip Wizard, online research and the suggestions of others, I made all of those reservations over the past nine months. Using pictures borrowed from Google Images, I have posted a few pictures of many of our destinations throughout this post.

Once we booked RV sites in the destinations above including Arizona, we next needed to decide whether to return home after our time in Arizona or do a little exploring while we were out there.  We voted to stay longer and explore.  Our son and his family live in Southern California and we can’t pass a chance to visit them so we booked a week in San Diego, and another in Seal Beach, CA—close enough to camp with them for several days without taking Lucy into the congested Los Angeles Area. This stop will be big fun!

Next, we decided that we might we well put Las Vegas in the itinerary to have some fun and see some of the Grand Canyon.  We’re staying at Desert Eagle Campground on Nellis AFB. After Vegas, we travel to Zion Canyon in Utah for hiking around the red rocks of the desert before we travel to Page, Arizona and some time on Lake Powell. Our final stop in the desert is in Moab, Utah near Arches and Canyonlands National Park.

By the time we reach Moab, it will be May and we have traveled for two and a half months. I’m certain that Helen will be ready to dump me and get back to pickleball, but we have a stop planned in the four corners area of Colorado to see two couples of dear friends we met over forty years ago on our first Army assignment in Germany. One couple lives in the area and another couple will fly in for a reunion.  We can’t wait.

Besides route planning, a three-month trip requires a look into the calendar and taking care of personal business long before the departure date.  Right now, we are finishing up our taxes, something I rarely do early.  We also have to plan for any medications we receive through mail order and make arrangements for receiving them on the road.  The mail itself is an issue to deal with as well.  This past week I learned about a mail forwarding service called US Global Mail that will relieve family and friends the task of doing this for us.

We also plan (there’s that word again) to switch from cable to satellite tv.  I’ve seen plenty of RVers with satellite domes beside their campers and looked into it.  Satellite service is less expensive than cable for the plan we want and, for a monthly fee of only seven bucks more (and the cost of the equipment), we can add service to Lucy for the time we’re gone and cancel when we get back.  We’ll use Dish TV as the provider and the installers arrive on Friday. Hopefully, Tennessee Volunteer basketball will make a deep run in the NCAA tournament and I couldn’t miss it.  Masters Golf is also a must-see.

In addition to the above, we’ve decided that it doesn’t make sense to pay for internet and home phone service that we won’t be using, so we’re cutting the cord. We will have access to Wi-Fi on the road so we can continue to access the internet once we move out.  In the interim, we’ll make use of cell phone hotspots (sparingly).  If you don’t see Easin’ Along in the next week or two, that’s why, so please don’t give up on us. We’ll be back, we promise. If we are online next week, I want to share a few tools that keep us organized on the road. So Ease Along back here.

That’s the plan and some of the planning details. We’re not ready to hit the road yet. There are still decisions to make like what clothes to take and food for the fridge and pantry, but we’ll get to that soon enough. Helen has a “can’t-miss” gal-pal trip to take next week, and Lucy needs a little primping before she goes to work, but the day of departure will arrive soon.  We’re excited and we hope, and would love, to have you Easin’ Along with us. So, let’s go!

P.S. If anyone has suggestions for things to see and do, or restaurants to try in or near any of the places mentioned or pictured above, please send them along in the comments section below. We want to hear from you!

Note: Last week we posted a review of reader’s destination suggestions. Researching all of those suggestions not only was a lot of fun, it also enhanced the innate sense of wanderlust we feel right now as we plan our next journey and doing little else. So, after reading up on your suggestions, I decided to take you back to one of our favorites, and a place that was suggested often by our readers. I hope you enjoy a post from three years ago–our visit to Maine.

It was challenging to leave Cape Cod, the National Seashore, and Nantucket, but we had other stops to make on this journey, so it was time to Ease Along. The roads were leading to Maine.  Helen (adorable wife) and I had been to the Bar Harbor area and Acadia National Park about twenty years ago, where we had a wonderful time, and were eager to return.

By this time we were in the fourth week of our trip up the east coast and, up until now, we had stayed as close to the shoreline as possible. When we reached Maine, we planned to turn inland and head for the deep (and I mean deep) woods. Before we reached our destination, however, we took a couple of diversions that were noteworthy.

A large part of Easin’ Along is food. We have worked hard to find fun and exciting places to eat, then share the experience with others (I know, tough job, but…), and Bob’s Clam Hut, Kittery, ME was one of those great experiences. We discovered Bob’s while watching Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives on the Food Network during the time we were planning the trip, and made it a must-do.  I have linked to our time, and our great meal there in depth in the food section of Easin’ Along (click here) and I hope you will take the time to share this fun time with us.

After we stuffed ourselves on clams and chowder at Bob’s, we left Kittery and drove north. A short distance from Kittery, we arrived at US 1 and turned east to visit Kennebunk and Kennebunkport. We didn’t know what we would find, but had heard about the area during the Bush Presidential years and had seen pictures of the city during that time.

Arriving in Kennebunk Beach first, we followed the signs to a parking area at a public beach.  It had been a cloudy throughout the morning and during lunch at Bob’s, but when we pulled up to the beach area, the sky cleared and we suddenly found ourselves in perfect weather.  We took a beach walk to shake off the clam lunch and snapped a few pictures of the beach and some of the grand coastal homes sitting above the shoreline.  Kennebunk Beach had the feel of an affluent area with many permanent residents.  There were a few condominiums in the area, which were tastefully done and well landscaped. We wished we could stay longer, but we still had to get to our destination before dark, so we got back in the car and followed the signs to Kennebunkport and US 1.

Kennebunkport was busy.  It had more of a tourist feel to it, and there were lots of shops and restaurants along our route with lots of people going in and out of them.  Each of the establishments we saw had a neat appearance, with small, tasteful, signage and plenty of flowers and flower boxes.  Nothing flashy about this place and the shops had many benches along the street with plenty of people to fill them in no apparent hurry. Again, this town deserved a more extended look, but, regretfully, we made our goodbyes to the ocean for this trip and headed northwest. See the picture Gallery of this visit here.

Our next destination was Aurora, ME and the Great Pond Adventure Center, an installation run by the Navy, and dedicated to all things outdoors.  It is open year-round, very popular, and we were fortunate to obtain a reservation.  Booking after Labor Day helped.

We had planned to stop at The Eagles Nest in Brewer, ME to pick up Lobster Rolls for dinner (I know–another food stop), but the wait was 45 minutes, so we pressed on.  After we passed Brewer, the landscape changed significantly.  The scenery changed from commercial buildings to farmhouses, and the sand and the seashore turned into rolling hills, grassy meadows, and tall timber. Maine is gorgeous.

When we left highway 27, we still had nine miles to get to Great Pond.  We had called ahead to get suggestions for dinner in the area, but the staff member we talked to sort of laughed and said we had better do something about that long before we leave a populated area.  We stopped at what was probably the last convenience store around and picked up a frozen pizza,  a big comedown from the Lobster Rolls we had planned to enjoy. Nevertheless, we’re flexible.

The Center at Great Pond has 14 cabins, a wilderness campsite, a pond-side campground, and five yurts (don’t ask).  We were assigned one of the rustic log cabins named “Old Speck.”  This cabin had two bedrooms on the main floor, a loft with twin beds, kitchen, living room with fireplace, one bath, and a screen porch. Oh yes, it had a tin roof. We were about 30 yards off the pond, but couldn’t see it for the trees along the shore. Nevertheless, there was a trail down to the pond and our dock.  There were two things it didn’t have–TV and Wi-Fi. I have to admit, and this gave us pause.  Primarily because our beloved Tennessee Vols had a big game on ESPN the next night, and we weren’t sure we could live being “unplugged.” The cabin did have a radio, so after our pizza dinner, I found a good country music station from Bar Harbor, and we decided to read for the evening.

Helen read her book while I read the comments from the cabin guest book.  I’m glad I did. The comments went back several years, and many families shared their wonderful experiences in this cabin and on Great Pond. Some had spent holidays there and had gone ice fishing.  Many, like us, had reservations about being without their cell phones, but ALL said that, in the end, living without these distractions for a few days had indeed been a blessing.  At 9:30 I settled into a cozy bed to the sound of buzzing nighttime insects and had the best night’s sleep of the trip.

The next morning we drove about 12 miles to a general store with a small diner.  We had a lively conversation with a local couple who were there for coffee.  The gentleman we spoke with had spent thirty years in the Navy before retiring to Maine, and we shared stories about our military experiences. The lady working behind the counter also provided good conversation while she prepared enormous sandwiches for us to take back for lunch.  After picking up some postcards for the grandchildren, we drove back to Great Pond, stopping to take some pictures of the area.

Back at Great Pond, we had time to do some laundry at the Lodge in the large commercial washer and dryer that is there for the guests.  We then took our sandwiches out to the dock at “Old Speck.”  The weather was perfect, and the pond was very still.  We both looked forward to the afternoon because we had scheduled a ride on the Great Pond in a pontoon boat.

At 1:00 we boarded a pontoon boat with about six other couples and Lance, our guide, for a one hour trip around Great Pond, a beautiful natural pond which covers approximately 300 acres.  The couples were all from a military background, and most were retired.  We sat next to a couple from Maine who were celebrating a birthday by spending the weekend in a Yurt.  They were a lot of fun.  Lance, a young staffer from North Carolina, was very knowledgeable about the pond and gave us a grand tour and seemed very eager to answer our questions.  Lance’s fondness for Great Pond was very apparent. Except for one small fishing boat and a young bald eagle, we pretty much had Great Pond to ourselves.  When we arrived back at the Lodge, I don’t think I could have been more relaxed…Wow!

That evening we returned to the Lodge where there was satellite television so we could watch a portion of the football game until 7:00 pm when the Lodge closed.  At 7:00 we retreated to the front porch and picked up the game on our MacBook via WatchESPN and the Wi-Fi from inside the Lodge.  The front porch looked out over the pond and the setting sun. The view was spectacular. Tennessee lost the game, but it didn’t matter…this picturesque setting was enough.

We’ve had some excellent experiences on our trip, but this stop was my favorite.

The next morning we took a quick walk then loaded up for our drive across New Hampshire and Vermont, going along the road less traveled, hoping for a peek at the turning leaves. The trip was lovely, but the tree leaves weren’t quite ready for us — more about that in another post.

We did make a stop in Brewer for Lobster Rolls from Eagles Nest.  We’re a determined bunch for sure! Now…we can return to the road and continue Easin’ Along.

In our post last week we asked readers to tell us about your favorite U. S. travel destination or give us the name of a destination on your bucket list. You responded and we’re eternally grateful. The suggestions you provided are awesome and some even awe-inspiring. I lost myself in research on each of them and compiling the photographs made me genuinely giddy with excitement at the prospect of visiting each of them. I hope it happens.

Listed below are a few of your suggestions. Most of the text came either from an official website such as a Visitor’s Bureau, The National Park Service, or from reference material like Wikipedia. All of the photographs came via Google Images. Therefore I say upfront that corrections are welcome and anyone claiming copyright infringements will prompt us to print proper credits or retractions. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy this online tour as much as Helen (adorable wife) and I did.

Chattanooga, Tennessee

I wanted to start close to home. This suggestion came from a high school classmate and good friend who makes his home in one of America’s great cities. David recommended a visit to the famous Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel as a base of operations. From there, visitors can enjoy a meal at the nearby Terminal Brewhouse before visiting the Tennessee Aquarium featuring fresh-water species from all over the world. Next, take a walk along the 13 mile Tennessee Riverwalk, and finish the day with an Oyster Po’-Boy at the Boathouse Rotisserie. Sounded good to us!

Horseshoe Bend, AZ

Ingrid, an online friend and blogger (Live, Laugh, RV) that we hope to meet on our trip to the southwest, suggested visiting the Horseshoe Bend overlook which is 1,000 feet above the Colorado River near the town of Page, AZ. While in the area, Ingrid also tells us that a guided tour through a slot canyon is a must. Thanks Ingrid, we can’t wait. 

New Bern, NC

A trip to the coastal region of North Carolina ranks near the top of the list for Nancy, creator of the very interesting blog, Defining Third Age. Nancy is an avid sailor so her choice is understandable. New Bern is 87 miles northeast of Wilmington and sits at the confluence of two tidal waterways. Within walking distance of the waterfront are 164 homes and buildings listed on the National Register. Helen loves it that there are over 2,000 Crape Myrtles in the city. New Bern is also famous as the home of Pepsi-Cola.

Newport, RI

Jeanne, a friend from Knoxville, says that Newport, RI is one of her favorites for its rocky coastline as well as the magnificent homes built by some of America’s wealthiest families. Helen and I stopped there once for a meal of fried clams and took a quick glimpse around.  We both agree with Jeanne that this beautiful city deserves a long, second look.

Sawtooth Mountains, ID

Shelia, a westerner, tells us that the beautiful western lakes are always worth a visit and lists the Sawtooth Mountains of Central Idaho as a treat for the traveler. I am in her debt because I am not familiar with this portion of the Rocky Mountains and it took only one peek at a photograph of these rugged peaks for me to add the Sawtooths to my bucket list. These mountains range in height to over 10,000 feet and, within the Sawtooth Wilderness, a visitor can find over 400 lakes 350 trails for day hikes. Let’s go!

Theodore Roosevelt National Park, ND

The only National Park named directly after a single person is recommended highly by Mary, an experienced traveler who writes about her visits to state and national parks on her blog, Reflections Around the Campfire. National Parks are a national treasure and Helen and I love to visit them.  Mary described her time at Theodore Roosevelt NP as “superb.”  This park, located in the Badlands of North Dakota is known for wildlife viewing with bison, cougars, feral horses, badgers, bighorn sheep, and 186 species of birds found there.  The park also boasts of over 100 miles of foot and horse trails for backcountry hiking and camping. I’m all in!

Thousand Islands, Canada

Although we still have only scratched the surface when it comes to traveling the U.S., Canada is still a draw for me, so I included the Thousand Islands in this little travelogue. According to Wikipedia, Thousand Islands, also suggested by Nancy, constitute an archipelago consisting of 1,864 islands that straddle the Canadian-U.S. Border in the St. Lawrence River. The Canadian Islands are in the province of Ontario and the U.S. islands are in the state of New York. To count as one of the Thousand Islands, land in the river channel must consist of at least one square foot, be above water year-round, and must support at least two trees. The pictures I found online show some extremely picturesque scenery and are truly worthy of an in-person view.

Thanks to all for these fantastic suggestions. There is a lot to see on the road less traveled and I am certain that readers and travelers alike will find your contributions both interesting and helpful. For me, this exercise was a large amount of fun and made me very eager to start…Easin’ Along.