I’m sitting here in the Man Cave thinking about what’s next for Easin’ Along. Helen (adorable wife) is in Charleston which leaves me alone here in Knoxville. I’ve gone totally Bohemian this week, (pizza boxes all about, clothes on the floor, TVs on in every room, etc) but I’ll get my act together before the boss returns and the rules go back into effect. Lucy, our new fifth-wheel is in her home at the storage facility after her initial shakedown trip. The plans and reservations for our trip west need just a few final touches and will be complete. I just returned from exercise class on a cold, blustery day, full of energy and thinking about warm places on the road less traveled.
While sitting here staring at the keyboard, I take a break to go through a few pictures from trips taken over the past three years with the thought that some of my favorite photos might add a little bit of warmth and sunlight to this dreary day. I’m grateful that I took the time to do this. Not only did most of them help to brighten up the day, but they also served to remind me that, while we have seen a lot of the country since we retired, there is a whole lot more to see.
This week I’m going to approach our blog a bit differently. Instead of me telling you about what we have been up to lately, I want you to share with us two pieces of information. We know that there are a lot of seasoned travelers out there who have visited interesting and beautiful places throughout the U.S and would share that information with others. We also know that there are readers who have heard of interesting places and have them saved on their bucket list. So first, we are asking you to tell us about your favorite place and what made it so special. Second, we would like to know about a place you want to visit at some point in the future and why.
Please use the comments section below to share your thoughts and some of your memories. Take as much or as little space as you need. We love getting comments and, over the past three years, have met and made many online friends by way of the comments section. Readers may also send us an email (and pictures) to easingalong01@gmail.com. We will review the comments, suggestions, and any pictures we receive in next week’s blog post and share them. I hope you will take the time to reach out to us.
In the meantime, I have put up a few pictures below from the trip file and a few words about what made these places special. I hope it brightens up your day…they always do that for me.
So, tell us, if you were Easin’ Along, where would you go?
Hi Joe,
This is a tough one…here are some ideas.
Coastal Maine
Vermont – Burlington, Lake Champlain, Ben & Jerry’s…
Thousand Islands New York or Canada – we liked the Canadian side
New Bern NC – great old colonial city, pretty and near another favorite-
Beaufort NC
Where do we want to go? We are east-coasters, so we want to do the National Parks out west…will probably buy our RV this spring or next to get ready for this big adventure!
Hi, Nancy,
Great suggestions! I love the northeast. We have a trip to Canada in the “talking stage” right now so your list will be a great starting point for research. We’re doing west this spring. I’ll let you know our favorites. Thanks!
Can’t wait to see your recommendations. Do you use Boondockers Welcome?
Nancy,
We have some great information to share. I can’t believe that I’ve never looked into Boondockers Welcome until you asked about it. Since we are retired military, we try to stay at military campgrounds whenever possible because they are always nice and very reasonably priced. We also use RV Trip Wizard a lot to select RV campgrounds and plan routes. Nevertheless, I’m going to look into what might be available on our western trip. Thanks muchly!
one of my fav trips was driving north to see son Michael in Brooklyn with stop in Baltimore along the way. Then we went further north to see work colleague of hubby, Bill in Newport, RI – fun to see the beautiful homes there. And of course, on my bucket list is Niagara Falls with a stop along the way (or a detour) to LL Bean in Maine.
Hi, Jeanne,
Helen and I stopped in Newport, but only for lunch (clams) on our way North. I want to go back for a longer look at the area and the homes. Thanks!
when you go to Newport plan a couple days – so many wonderful homes to see – from the ‘cottage’ to the elegant mansion. and buy combo tickets – saves $$.
Jeanne,
Got it! Thanks so much. Newport is on the list!
I recommend a visit to Lake Powell at least once and April/May or September are the perfect months to visit Page, Arizona. The campground at Wahweap is ideal. And of course, signing up for a slot canyon hike at Antelope Canyon is a must along with visiting Horseshoe Bend. I’ve written several posts on the subject from our month long visit there in April 2018.
https://livelaughrv.net/2018/04/
Feel free to email me anytime for more info on Arizona, Colorado or Utah. Happy planning! And keep me posted on your travel itinerary for a possible meet up 😊
Hi, Ingrid,
I read many of those posts and they were to motivation to plan our next trip. We will be at Page in May. I am going to send our itinerary to you by email. Hope we can meet up…maybe at Lost Dutchman.
I’m a westerner, mostly northwest with a 4-year stint in Colorado, so I love going to the mountains. Mt. Rainier, Mt. Hood, the North Cascades, the Sawtooths. I grew up around water so the beautiful western lakes and the Oregon and Washington coasts are favorite places to go. Happy traveling wherever you go!
Hi, Sheila,
This is great information. If you have time, send us the names of a few western lakes that are among your favorites. I will check out the North Cascades and the Sawtooths for sure. Thanks for Easin’ Along with us.
Friends, There are a lot of places to visit and restaurants to enjoy in Chattanooga. Some of our favorite places to eat are: Nikki’s Drive Inn(great fried shrimp and onion rings), Tony’s pasta at Bluff View, Terminal Brehouse (near the Choo Choo) , Taco Mamacita (North Chatt), Bluegrass Grill (great breakfast/brunch place in South Chatt), Boathouse Rotisserie (on Tn River near downtown) At the Boathouse I like to sit at the bar to drink sweet tea and eat a great oyster po-boy with fries. Of course there the touristy places. Do something different. Spend time at the National Cemetery. Do it around the Fourth of July or Memorial Day.
David,
I’m so glad you sent this in because Chattanooga is one of America’s great cities. I’m keeping the list of eating places and will visit them soon. We plan to take our grandchildren to the Tennessee Aquarium in the near future.
Everywhere, Joe. I would go everywhere. Each state, city, park, etc. has its own personality and worthwhile attractions whether big or small.
Our State and National Parks are my favorite places, but please don’t ask me to choose my most favorite among them. Glacier, Grand Teton, Redwoods, Yosemite, Sequoia, Bryce, Zion, Acadia (National Parks), Custer, Fort Stevens and Itasca (State Parks) would be my top choices and I would go back to any of them in a heartbeat. Why? The spectacular scenery and opportunities for hiking, biking, kayaking and plain old exploring.
The biggest surprise among National Parks I’ve been to was Theodore Roosevelt in North Dakota. I thought it would be a quick stop and a check mark on our list of Parks, but it was simply superb. The biggest surprise among State Parks was Itasca in Minnesota. To walk across the Mississippi River at its headwaters was an amazing experience and lunch at the Douglas Lodge there was a delightful treat.
Aside from those in the National Parks, our favorite campgrounds are often Army Corps of Engineers facilities. Because both Alan and I love the mountains and any kind of water, we truly enjoy the COE campgrounds which are well-designed and situated on a lake, river or reservoir.
Because travel throughout the U.S. has been our passion for nearly 40 years, Alan and I have been lucky enough to have made it to the most important places on our bucket lists. (We put 40,000 miles on our first travel trailer in 17 summers and hope to top that with our new one now that we’ve escaped from the workforce.) But there are three particular places that we’re already planning return trips to – Oregon, Michigan and Alaska. Here’s why . . . Oregon has an excellent network of State Parks with a good number of them right along the coast which allows travelers easy access to the ocean. That’s not the case with many states. In addition, people who live in Oregon seem to be extremely friendly. Between federal and state facilities, Michigan has an enormous number of places to play along the shorelines of the Great Lakes. The towns we stopped in were charming, the campgrounds were gorgeous and any place with the Soo Locks rates pretty high in my book. As for Alaska, well, I don’t think there’s any place as spectacularly beautiful or incredibly unique (and quirky). It is, honestly, indescribable.
Just remember, Joe, you said you didn’t care how long our responses were and I took you at your word. This was a fun post and I’ve enjoyed the comments immensely. However, if you and Helen get to meet Ingrid and Al before Alan and I do, I will be extremely disappointed! In closing, one additional comment: I don’t know how the heck we missed the giant fish in International Falls, but we did! Have a great day!
Mary,
I’m so glad you took me up on my offer and filled up the space with some great suggestions. Oregon keeps coming back up in comments here and on my FB page so I guess that will have to be a priority for us. We loved the Great Lakes area around MI and WI, but we were not RVers then. I will go back with Lucy soon. Since Teddy Roosevelt created the National Park system, I would hope that a Park named for him would be first rate. Adding that one to the bucket list. We hope to meet Ingrid and Al in March, so you better start packing. Come on down to AZ and we’ll build a fire and have a party. One more thing…the statue of Willy the Walleye is actually in Beaudette, MN about 60 miles west of International Falls. We took the picture on our way and I didn’t remember it being that far away. Senior moment. Thanks again! Joe
What a delight it is to read your posts. Russ and I just loved the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone. We are not RV’ers, but you make it sound wonderful. We saw beautiful camping areas … and we hiked to some of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.
Our daughter, Mary, and Russ traveled all over Oregon national parks and parts of Washington (Mt Rainer & Cascades) when she was living in Seattle.
We all want to make it to Glacier.
Don’t overlook Northern California and the redwoods. We spent some time there in the fall a year ago and just loved it.
Happy travels!
Hi, Roberta,
You and Russ would love the RV lifestyle. We recommend it to anyone who enjoys travel in the U.S. Our plan is take Lucy to the Northwest next summer. Timing is tricky because we like to hit the road when the kids are back in school, but we also have to deal with the weather. We were in Yellowstone in May once and it was snowing sideways. Nevertheless, it was still beautiful. Thanks for visiting Easin’ Along. Helen says hi.
My wife and I spent two weeks in Newfoundland two summers ago. It was gorgeous and filled with the friendliest people! We now have an RV and look forward to driving up there ( actually just me- the wife says driving all the way from Texas is too far- shes flying up) and spending a month to see more of the ROCK and meet more great people!
https://www.newfoundlandlabrador.com/
Jim,
Welcome to Easin’ Along and thanks for stopping by! I have been north of the border twice for very brief trips and can’t wait to go back. I agree that it is beautiful up there. We visited Victoria, B.C. a few years back and I could have stayed much longer. I don’t know much about Newfoundland, but I will check it out. Thanks for the heads up!