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. 

 

Louisiana

 9 March     Castroville, TX - Broussard, LA     453 miles      9 hours

Today was a very long day  of driving. We left right after 7am. Caught the San Antonio morning traffic and it just went downhill from there. Lots of road work along the way, slow moving traffic, and idiot drivers. The I-10 is just very busy and the roads are awful. 

We finally made it to a Buc-ee's. We passed two others along the I-10 but it was very busy and we couldn't find parking. This one was located in Baytown and parking was a breeze. This store is something else! We had a brisket sandwich and I just looked around. We spent about an hour there.

Finally made it to Parkside RV Park in Broussard, LA. This is right outside Lafayette. This park looks pretty new and its very nice. They honor Good Sam. Total for 3 nights $135. There's a huge sports complex next door, looks pretty new too. 

10 March   Avery Island

We did the Tabasco Factory tour on Avery Island. It was $15 per person, that includes a self guided tour of the factory that takes you through the history and process of making Tabasco sauce. Tabasco brand products are made by McIlhenny Company, founded by Edmund McIlhenny in 1868 on Avery Island, Louisiana. It was here that he developed the recipe for Tabasco original red pepper sauce that's been passed down from generation to generation. To this day, the company is still family owned and operated. The mashed peppers are barreled for 3 years before they are pressed and processed. This tour was excellent, we really enjoyed ourselves. 

We had lunch at the restaurant there. We're in Louisiana so I tried a sampler which included gumbo, jambalaya, crawfish etouffee and red beans and rice. I also tried their version of a spicy bloody mary. Everything was very good. They took extra long to bring out my plate, Joe was already finished eating his. When they finally brought mine out, they included a pecan pie and apologized for the mix up. This was our first time trying a pecan pie. We both didn't care for it but everything else was excellent.

Afterwards, we drove through Jungle Gardens which was included with the Tabasco tour. Beautiful gardens created by Edward McIlhenny. In 1895, he founded a private bird sanctuary known as Bird City to protect endangered snowy egrets. 

Alligator

Bird City    

In the 1920's McIlhenny found time to convert his private Avery Island estate into Jungle Gardens - decorating it with exotic botanical specimens from around the world. Its present size is over 170 acres. Jungle Gardens was opened to the public in 1935.

The grounds has numerous live oaks that are absolutely beautiful. Covered in spanish moss, these oaks are hundreds of years old. 

Jungle Gardens has remained a favorite south Louisiana tourist destination, wildlife refuge, and botanical marvel. Today, Bird City is home to thousands of egrets, other birds, and wildlife.

12 March     Broussard - New Orleans, LA       154 miles    3 hours 30 minutes

Pretty nice drive today. We decided to travel on Hwy 90 instead of I-10 to New Orleans. We think that was a good decision. We're staying at a Harvest Host location. Faubourg Brewing Company is located about 20 minutes from the city. The first night is free, additional nights are $20 to dry camp in their parking lot. We're staying here 4 nights. The surrounding area is industrial and looks kind of ghetto but there is a gate that is locked at night. This brewery is very nice with a large area for RV's.

Boondock in the parking lot

13 March   New Orleans

 We were here on our very first RV adventure back in 2010 but it was a quick trip and we didn't see much. Today, we took a Lyft to the city and went on the Hop On Hop Off tour of New Orleans. We bought a 2 day ticket for $51 per person. The tour was pretty good. We got off at Jackson Square to get beignets at Cafe Du Monde. We waited in line over an hour but it was worth it. We've tried beignets here and there in our travels but nothing compares to a beignet at Cafe Du Monde. 

Beignets so good

  

Then we went on a walking tour that was included with the Hop On Hop Off ticket. This was a French Quarter guided walking tour. Our guide was pretty good, it lasted about 45 minutes. 

We tried a muffuletta at Verdi Marte, a hole in the wall store. This was a first for us. A muffuletta is a famous italian sandwich with ham, salami, provolone cheese, olive dressing, and bread. The olive dressing is the secret. Chopped green and black olives with onions, spices, and olive oil. The bread is a round sesame seed roll big enough for sharing. These sandwiches are huge! We paid $16 and really enjoyed it. 

14 March    Back to New Orleans

 

Back to tour more of New Orleans today. We got off at the Garden District and did another walking tour. Beautiful, old homes with their wrought iron and cast iron fences. We passed Sandra Bullocks house and also the childhood home of Peyton and Eli Manning. 

   We went back to Jackson Square and walked to Oceana Restaurant. This is a very popular restaurant. In fact we ate here back in 2010 with my parents. The food was excellent. Joe had a creamy chicken alfredo. He said the chicken was  cooked perfect, so soft and very tasty. I had a jambalaya pasta...so good! We also had boudin sausage and a rajin cajun bloody mary. We enjoyed our meal.

Our stay here at Faubourg Brewing Company has been good. Lots of RV's stay here. Can't beat the location, about 20 minutes from the city. Lyft cost us between $15-20 one way. 

16 March     New Orleans - Vidalia, LA     176 miles     5 hours  45 minutes

The drive from New Orleans to Vidalia was very nice. Two lane road most of the way. Very scenic with rolling hills, farm lands, and big plantation homes. We took a 2 hour break in Gonzalez. Had a meal at Cracker Barrel and a Tanger Outlet was right next door so had to do some shopping. 

We're at River View RV Park. It's pretty here with big sites right on the Mississippi River. This is the main reason for coming to Louisiana. We are members of the Freightliner Chassis Owners Club. Joe will be attending Camp Freightliner for 2 days and a Freightliner RV rally follows. We'll be here for 8 days. Our friends from Tennessee, Mark & Julia will also attend. 

Joe & Mark

Joe & Mark completed Camp Freightliner and thought it was pretty good. The rally was pretty good too. There were some seminars, we participated in a couple of them. This rally was a little different from other rallies that we've gone to. There were a lot of socializing. Breakfast and dinner was provided everyday. The dinners were pretty good. They had a lot of local foods from the south. After dinner, we had some kind of activity so it was fun. 

Julia, Rachel, Dawn    

 We had a lot of fun this past week hanging out with Mark & Julia. We also made some new friends. Jim & Jane is from Florida and Leon & Rachel is from Alabama. We were all parked together so after dinner, we would gather by our RV and hang out. Rachel taught us a new card game, Swoop. Lots of fun, I hope I remember enough to teach my family when I go home.

Hope we can all get together again soon.