Kentucky, Tennessee Friends & Family

 21 June        Carlyle, IL - Taylorsville, KY       267 miles     6 hours

We're here in this area mainly to visit family. I have cousins that have moved to the area along with my Uncle and Auntie. We're staying at Taylorsville RV Park. Electric and water sites for 3 nights total $107. 

We drove to Louisville one day and went to Churchill Downs. The guided track tour lasted about 30 minutes and the cost was $36 for both of us. We're not that knowledgeable about horseracing but we really enjoyed this visit. We learned some interesting things on the Kentucky Derby and loved seeing the track where this famous race is run every year. There was a movie in the Great Hall that was really fun to watch on our stools that let us turn to see the film all around us. 

Next we drove over to Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory. The tour and museum was $44 for both of us. We got to walk through the factory where they are actively making baseball bats which was pretty neat. The tour of the actual working factory follows a short video detailing where and how trees are chosen to make bats from. You see the actual crafting of the bats and the difference between those sold in Sporting Goods stores and those the pros purchase. Such a neat process to see. Excellent tour and information of how bats are made. 

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My cousin Darnell and her husband Roger has a beautiful home in Fisherville, Kentucky. We had dinner two nights at Darnell's. On the first night her brother Rudy and his wife Rachel drove over from Buckner to have dinner with us. Was so nice to visit and catch up on everything. 

Uncle Bobby is in a rehab center and we got to visit him. He's doing okay and looks pretty good. Hopefully he will be able to come home soon. Just grateful that we could spend some time with him. 

24 June     Taylorsville, KY - Cave City, KY

Cave Country RV Campground is a pretty nice RV park close to Mammoth Cave National Park. We paid $210 for four nights, that's with a Good Sam Discount. Very well maintained park with a small pool. Lots of kids so we had to time it right when we wanted to jump in.

On our second night here, a big storm blew through the area. Wind gusts up to70mph, pretty scary. We slept with all the  slides in.

Mammoth Cave National Park was pretty awesome. There's other things to do besides the cave. We went for a hike on the Green River Bluffs Trail and a bike ride that went all over the park. 

A ferry crossing the river

At 420 miles, Mammoth Cave is the longest known cave system in the world. There are a lot of different cave tours available. We did the self guided cave tour, $8 per person. These tours are very busy. Need to plan in advance. Most of the tours were sold out when we checked. We enjoyed the tour we chose. 

28 June     Cave City, KY - Dandridge, TN     275 miles    6 hours 30 minutes

 Moochdocking for a week at Mark & Julia's in Dandridge, Tennessee. We were here two years ago when they first moved here. Beautiful home on the lake. On the first night, Mark was feeling sick so he didn't join us for dinner. Next day we found out he tested for covid...bummer! 

He planned to have Joe help him build his gazebo by the pool so this really set the project back. 

We went to Douglas Dam and explored the area. Took a short walk around the bottom, was planning to do a nice hike but it was too hot. Beautiful views from the scenic point on top of a hill. We picked up lunch at the Dam Store. We shared a burger and chicken strips, both were excellent. 

A little hazy from the Canada fires

We spent the week at Mark & Julia's  doing little projects and spent a lot of time at their pool. No kids jumping all over the place. We took a ride on their pontoon and watched the boat parade on the 4th of July. We met some of their friends and just had a good time, very relaxing. We did run into a problem with one of our jacks but got that taken care of. 

Mark & Julia plan to meet us in Maine in a couple of months. We're looking forward to that. 

6 July     Dandridge, TN - Roanoke, VA      235 miles     5 hours

 We spent the night boondocking in the Camping World parking lot. We picked up some things in the store and went out to dinner at Bella Pizza Italian Restaurant. Our dinner was excellent and of course, we over did it. 

7 July     Roanoke, VA - Grantville, PA       298 miles      5 hours 45 minutes

Another night boondocking and this was a good one. Hollywood Casino is located in Grantville, Pennsylvania. A huge casino with almost all table games, they also have a racetrack. 

The parking lot was huge, level, and pretty quiet. There were a few other RV's camping overnight. 

We went to the racetrack, this was a first for us. Besides horse racing, there were camels and ostrich races. We missed the ostrich race but saw the camels....so funny! We had a good time at this casino. Played a little blackjack. Joe won some, I lost some....it evens out in the end.

Summer 2023 Heading East

 We have an awesome trip planned that will go through this summer and fall. We'll be traveling cross country to Maine and then continuing on to Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island in Canada. Taking our time and making a lot of stops along the way. We're thinking this should take us about 4 months but who knows....

We will miss our grandchildren, especially Blake, our youngest at only 14 months old but the RV travel bug has got us hooked. This trip to the New England states and Canada has been on our bucket list for a while. We're so excited to get going...

10 June      Las Vegas, NV - Camp Verde, AZ      297 miles     6 hours

We spent the last few days getting everything ready for our next adventure. We took the RV in for its annual service at Freightliner. They fixed a leak that's been going on for a while so Joe's happy. We finally replaced our original house batteries. We got AGM batteries this time around, should be better. Did a lot of food and supply shopping. We managed to make time to hang out with old friends in Vegas. Lunch with Winky & Leslie at Egg Works which was excellent. Dinner with Vicky & Randy at Maggianos, also very good. Always great to hang out with both these couples when we're in Las Vegas. 

 We're staying at Verde Ranch RV Resort in Camp Verde for 3 nights. We like it here and they honor Passport America, for 3 nights its $91.

Our friends Goody and Donna met us at Verde Ranch RV and we had 3 days of just chillin out. Goody is pretty new to this RV lifestyle so Joe's been giving him some tips and helping him out. The weather was very nice and comfortable so we could hang out outside. 

Joe and I went on a hike in Sedona while we were here. Goody's sister lives in the area and suggested Broken Arrow Trail. The hike was absolutely amazing. About 3 miles total, a little bit of incline and constant beautiful views. We're a little out of shape so had to take some breaks but we really enjoyed it.

13 June     Camp Verde, AZ - Moriarty, NM     417 miles    7 hours 30 minutes

Long drive today to Moriarty, New Mexico. We made a couple of stops along the way. We're spending the night at Sierra Blanca Brewing Company, a Harvest Host location. Nothing fancy, just a dirt lot to park in. After we got settled we went in to have a couple of drinks...yummy! We ended up buying a 6 pack of rootbeer to go. There were six Harvest Host rigs spending the night. We gained an hour so now we're 4 hours difference from Hawaii.

Sunset at Sierra Blanca Brewing camping spot    

14 June    Moriarty, NM - Dorrance, KS     586 miles     11 hours 

Very, very long drive today. We left New Mexico at 6am, drove through a corner of Texas, Oklahoma, then finally Kansas. We're at Minooka Recreation Area on Wilson Lake in Dorrance, Kansas. This is a COE park. Very, very nice spacious sites right on the water. It's $24 a night for water and electric. I can't wait for Joe to turn 62 next month. He will qualify for a senior national park pass and get half off for camping at COE and national parks. 

Sunrise at Minooka Recreation Area

Sunrise

We took out our electric bikes and went for a ride around the area. This park is huge! There are 6 loops for the campgrounds, swimming areas, and at least 3 boat ramps. We went over 8 miles on our bikes. We really enjoyed our 2 nights at Minooka Recreation Area and would love to come back if we're ever in the area. 

16 June     Dorrance, KS - Carlyle, IL      528 miles     9 hours 30 minutes

Another long day of driving  and we gained another  hour. That means 5 hours difference from Hawaii.  We're staying at Dam West Campground in Carlyle, Illinois. Another great COE campground. We'll be here for 5 nights but I couldn't get the same site for all 5 nights. Site #88 has full hook ups, paid $26 per night for 3 nights. Then we move to site #109, only electric here for $18 per night. Sites are very nice at this campground, very clean and spacious, located right on Lake Carlyle. 

Site #88

Dam

   There's a very nice biking/walking trail in this area. We took the ebikes out and rode over 8 miles one day. Very nice ride, over bridges, across the dam, along the lake and harbor.

 The highlight was the Gateway Arch National Park. It was about an hours drive away in St Louis, Missouri. Gateway Arch National Park includes the Arch, underground visitor center and museum, Old Courthouse, Mississippi riverfront, and landscaped green spaces and trails. 

        We watched a very interesting documentary film on how the Arch was designed and built. The Gateway Arch is a world renowned masterpiece of modern architecture built on the banks of the Mississippi River in downtown St. Louis. The structure of the Gateway Arch, built between 1963 and 1965, is a sandwich made of stainless steel on the outside, carbon steel on the inside, and concrete in the middle.

We took the tram to the observation deck at the top of the Arch. The tram takes 4 minutes to reach the observation deck at the top of the Arch and 3 minutes back down. The area has 32 windows and can hold 160 visitors. Each pod can fit 5 people, a very tight squeeze. Joe and I had a pod to ourselves. 

The view we saw at the top to the east was the Mississippi River, boats, barges, and East St Louis, Illinois. 

To the west we saw Downtown St Louis, Missouri, Busch Stadium, and the Old Courthouse. 

Needless to say, we really enjoyed our time at Gateway Arch National Park. 

Back To Vegas

 24 March     Vidalia, LA - Decatur, TX      437 miles     8 hours 30 minutes

We left Vidalia, LA very early this morning. We're very concerned about the weather. As we approach Texas the wind is supposed to kick up. The drive was long but I enjoyed it. Lots of two lanes and very scenic. 

On the drive, there was some rain and it got pretty windy at times but Joe did a good job at driving. It wasn't nearly as bad as we thought it would be. We're just happy to be out of Vidalia. The forecast for this afternoon was thunderstorms, wind, possible hail and possible tornadoes. So scary!

Beautiful site at NRS Ranch

We're staying at another Harvest Host location. NRS Ranch is located in Decatur, Texas. Very big ranch, 400+ acres. There's a big event center, horse stalls, trailer/rv  parts store, and a big store to buy anything western. It's very nice. We're parked in a gravel lot near the event center next to an open field with horses grazing, so beautiful. 

We decided to stay an extra night because it's going to be very windy on the way to Amarillo. It's a good thing we did because this weekend is Vintage Market Days here at the ranch. It's a very big event that happens twice a year. We went to check it out. Lots of vendors and some food trucks and entertainment. We ended up buying something to hang on the wall in our RV. 

26 March     Decatur - Canyon, Texas    329 miles     6 hours 30 mins

Canyon, Texas is near Amarillo. I always hear about Palo Duro Canyon State Park and we're finally able to work it into our trip.

We're staying at Canyon Rim RV Park for 2 nights, $35 per night. Very old campground but full hookups and right next to the entrance of the state park.

We had dinner at Texas Rose Steakhouse in Canyon. Excellent restaurant with reasonable prices. The server comes around with a pan of fresh bread...so good. We didn't feel like a steak so we both had a burger......so good. Then instead of ordering  dessert they bring out fresh cinnamon rolls.....so good. We would definitely eat here again. 

Joe has been monitoring a slow leak in one of our tires for a few days. We ended up driving the rv into Amarillo to Southern Tire Mart to have it looked at. They found a nail in the tire and fixed it. The cost for the fix was $52. Glad we got that done!

Then it was off to Palo Duro Canyon State Park. $8 per person to enter. We drove around the whole park and was surprised to see 3 or 4 campgrounds, nice ones too. 

Sometimes referred to as "The Grand Canyon of Texas," Palo Duro Canyon State Park extends roughly 120 miles and has an average width of 6 miles. Descending more than 800 feet from rim to river, the nearly 16 miles of paved road in the park offer fantastic scenic views around every turn. Established in 1934,  many of the canyon's facilities, cabins, and campgrounds were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps. It's the second largest canyon in North America. 

28 March     Canyon, TX - Moriarty, NM      274 miles  5 hours

We're at another Harvest Host location. Sierra Blanca Brewery is located in Moriarty, New Mexico. Nothing fancy, parked in a dirt lot right next to the brewery. The ladies there are very friendly. After we checked in, went back to the rv to set up for the night. Joe started looking at the weather for the next couple of days and found there's another storm coming in from the west. We decided not to stay the night here and keep driving. I ended up buying a 6 pack of rootbeer that they make at this brewery. 

Parked at Sierra Blanca Brewery

28 March     Moriarty, NM - Flagstaff, AZ     339 miles     6 hours 30 minutes

What a long day! We finally made it to Twin Arrows Casino located right before Flagstaff, Arizona. We've boondocked here before. It's nice because they have separate areas for truckers and rv's. We arrived at 730pm but we gained two hours when we went through New Mexico, and now Arizona. So for us, it's actually 930pm. We'll get up early and try to hit the road by 5am. We can't hang out here, wind, rain, and snow is expected tomorrow afternoon. 

29 March     Flagstaff, AZ - Las Vegas, NV     

   Alarm went off at 430am and we were on the road by 5am. We're still watching the weather, wind gusts will be extreme between Las Vegas and Kingman, AZ around 10am. We should be in Las Vegas around 9am.....   cross our fingers!

We arrived in Las Vegas safely and  checked into Las Vegas RV Resort. We'll be here for 4 nights, about $40 per night. It's pretty packed at this RV park. The winds kicked up today just like predicted, so glad we left one day earlier than planned. We spent the next few days getting the RV ready for storage. 

We took time to meet Winky & Leslie for lunch a couple of times. We went to Osaka Japanese Bistro, the first Japanese restaurant in Las Vegas when it opened in 1967. The food was very good. 

Then a few days later, we went to eat at a restaurant off Sunset Road in Henderson. They served local food so we enjoyed that. 

02 April

We got 2 nights comp at The Luxor Hotel. We still had to pay the resort fee, $35 per night so not totally free. This was our first time here and we really enjoyed our stay. It's a smaller casino and we were pretty lucky with gambling. We'll definitely stay here again.

04 April

While waiting for our flight to Honolulu, we ran into some friends. Had a nice time talking story and made the wait go by quickly. Our flight was delayed about an hour. 

Last thoughts on our Spring trip...... We started out with a very bad storm while skiing in Brian Head, Utah. It was very cold and everyone got sick, don't know if it was altitude sickness or just a bug but everyone wasn't feeling good. We still managed to get a little skiing in and made the best of what we had to work with.

Then after the kids left, and we started our road trip, we both got very sick. It lasted for about a month. We still did a little exploring but nothing like our normal trips. Once we started feeling better, the trip was better. 

On this trip it seems like we had to constantly monitor the weather and make adjustments as we went. All in all, we enjoyed our Spring trip. We just love traveling in our RV and exploring new places. 

On the RV we put on 4,040 miles and on our truck 1,724 miles. 

It's all about the journey...life is good.