My American Sightseeing Blog
Having a Plan?
May 2022
Yes, we have a plan. Or, we had a plan. Plans change.
Living in an RV full time means changing plans regularly. The main plan stayed the same, but the daily plans have been interesting to say the least. I had a lot of places earmarked to stay – for free. We signed up for Harvest Hosts and were hoping to stay most nights at homes and farms of host families in different areas for free. An issue that we personally ran into was that the generator stopped working somewhere in Wyoming and I have discovered I just can’t sleep without my CPAP machine. So most of the host families were removed from the list and we decided to stay in campgrounds where we could at least get electricity.
The trip went something like this…
The original plan was to drive across country to the state of Washington. We left Missouri and headed west on I-70 through Kansas. It was recommended to us that we stay south of I-90 due to snow in the mountains still in April and May. First of all there is a toll on I-70 in Kansas. It’s only $7.00 for an RV towing a car, but still – it is an expense to keep in mind. From Warrensburg, Missouri to Junction City, Kansas is only 180 miles. We definitely didn’t plan for one of the fenders on the tow dolly to break off and take the whole tail light with it, but when we discovered it at one of our stops, Rich decided it had to be fixed before we went on. It was only a three hour driving day, but we were mentally exhausted so I called a campground and got a spot. No plan.
We stayed at Smoky Hill RV Park in Junction City, Kansas. We wanted to take a break, cook a good supper, do a load of laundry, sleep, have a nice breakfast, and start with a fresh energy. It was a good night in a nice campground that provided much needed rest. We hit Colorado about 3pm the next day. Denver, Colorado is called the Mile High City for a reason. Elevation is 5,280 feet.
Note – I-70 in Colorado is terrible. It is full of potholes.
We drove I-70 to exit 289 and got on Highway E470N to I-25N. Stayed at a rest area just off I-25N above Denver. No CPAP = no sleep.
The next day we headed on up I-25N to I-80. We made it to Wyoming. Rich drove as far as he could considering the winds were blowing 40-60 mph plus. I gasped more than once. He finally just had to quit and we stayed at a KOA in Rawlins, Wyoming. Gas was only $4.04 (insert sarcasm), the temperature was 31 degrees, and it snowed and sleeted.
Nope, it doesn’t always work out to have a plan. I had to cancel places I thought we would make it to and couldn’t. You can’t control things breaking and needing to be fixed, and you can’t control the weather. Rich and I have always been good at winging it. In fact, we winged it all the way and finally made it to our destination in Washington. We parked the RV at a friends house and stayed with family for a while. It was good to take a break, but we missed our new home. It was time to find some campgrounds and start living in the RV. Let the real sightseeing begin.
States we drove through include – Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Oregon, Washington.
The next post is The Olympic Peninsula & Olympic National Park.
AMERICAN SIGHTSEEING BLOG – Living Fulltime in an RV
America is Beautiful
The RV
Just the Basics
Day One and Two – Ohio to Missouri
Having a Plan?
The Olympic Peninsula & Olympic National Park – State of Washington
Olympic National Park – Day 2
Port of Allyn – Allyn Waterfront Park
Rich and I have done a lot of traveling in our lives. I wish I would have always written about each adventure, but sometimes life just gets too busy. We began full time RVing in April 2022, but I didn’t start writing about it regularly until December 2022. That’s when I started blogging regularly on Medium. Following is a list of the travel articles I have written on Medium.
You are allowed to read three articles per month for free. Or for $4.99 per month you can become a member of Medium through my referral link and read unlimited articles by all the writers on Medium. Membership also gives you the right to like an article by clapping and leaving comments.
December 26, 2022 – Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins
December 26, 2022 – The Chassahowitzka Salt Marsh Trails in Florida
December 29, 2022 – Visiting Manatee Springs State Park in Florida
December 29, 2022 – Must See Fort Fanning Historical Park
December 29, 2022 – Visiting Fanning Springs State Park in Florida
January 4, 2023 – Visiting the USS Lexington WWII Aircraft Carrier
January 4, 2023 – Collecting Shells at Indian Point Park and Pier
January 6, 2023 – Visiting Padre Island National Seashore
January 6, 2023 – Visiting Mustang Island State Park
January 6, 2023 – Port Aransas Nature Preserve at Charlie’s Pasture
January 7, 2023 – Visiting the Don Pedrito Jaramillo Shrine
January 8, 2023 – South to Palo Alto Battlefield
January 8, 2023 – Drifts on South Padre Island
January 8, 2023 – Visiting Port Isabel Lighthouse
January 9, 2023 – We Went Parking Today!
January 11, 2023 – The Last Land Battle of the Civil War
January 11, 2023 – What is STARBASE?
January 11, 2023 – I Think We Drove Too Far South
January 13, 2023 – Exploring the Not So Famous Beaches of Central Florida
January 13, 2023 – Another Tragic End to a Beautiful Life
January 14, 2023 – The Hans & Pat Suter Wildlife Refuge
January 15, 2023 – The Killer Bee Capital of the World
January 16, 2023 – Visiting the Old Hidalgo Pumphouse Nature Park
January 18, 2023 – A Trek to La Sal del Rey
January 18, 2023 – The Wildlife of Kings
January 18, 2023 – A Memorial Garden
January 19, 2023 – The Chachalaca Trail
January 19, 2023 – Visiting Port Mansfield, Texas
January 20, 2023 – Living on Baffin Bay
January 22, 2023 – The Largest Rattlesnake in the World
January 22, 2023 – The Ruins of Casa Blanca
January 27, 2023 – Abandoned and Left to Rot
January 27, 2023 – Estero Llano Grande State Park
January 28, 2023 – Crossing the Border
January 31, 2023 – A Testy Traveling Day
February 1, 2023 – We Found Judge Roy Bean’s Grave
February 2, 2023 – Traveling Day #2
February 3, 2023 – Amistad National Recreation Area in Del Rio, Texas
February 3, 2023 – Seminole Canyon Texas State Historic Park
February 3, 2023- Black Gap Wildlife Management Area
February 3, 2023 – The Pink Brinkley Mansion
February 4, 2023 – Who Was Nina Seawell Hannold
February 4, 2023 – The Fossil Discovery Exhibit at Big Bend National Park
February 4, 2023 – Panther Junction Visitor Center
February 4, 2023 – A Big Dark Sky at Big Bend
February 6, 2023 – Hiking the Trail to the Famous Healing Hot Springs of Big Bend
February 7, 2023 – The Ghost Towns of Big Bend
February 7, 2023 – Fort Leaton State Historic Site
February 7, 2023 – Visiting the Contrabando Movie Set Site
February 8, 2023 – The Many Terrains of Big Bend National Park
February 8, 2023 – Driving the Texas Mountain Trail
February 11, 2023 – Exploring Five Types of Mountains
February 12, 2023 – Visiting Niagara Falls State Park
February 13, 2023 – Visiting Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty
February 14, 2023 – New River Gorge National Park & Preserve
February 15, 2023 – Welcome to Alpine, Texas
February 15, 2023 – Visiting the Historic Town of Fort Stockton, Texas
February 16, 2023 – Hiking 3 Short Trails
February 16, 2023 – Abandoned Automobiles at Big Bend
February 17, 2023 – Visiting Fort Pulaski National Monument and Cockspur Island Lighthouse
February 17, 2023 – Visiting the Gateway Arch National Park
February 19, 2023 – Living on the Lake of the Ozarks
February 21, 2023 – Trekking Up the Stairs of Watkins Glen State Park
February 23, 2023 – A Day at Fort Davis and Davis Mountain State Park
February 28, 2023 – Seeing Some of the World’s Largest Things
March 1, 2023 – What a Dirty, Ugly, Trashy Road
March 4, 2023 – Touring the Living Desert Zoo & Gardens State Park
March 5, 2023 – Sitting Bull Falls Recreation Area
March 5, 2023 – Carlsbad Caverns National Park
March 7, 2023 – Exploring the Caverns of Carlsbad
March 8, 2023 – Abandoned Apache Canyon Trading Post
March 8, 2023 – Rattlesnake Springs
March 10, 2023 – Guadalupe Mountains National Park
March 10, 2023 – Visiting the Bataan Recreation Area & Veterans Memorial Park
March 11, 2023 – Getting Lost in the Backcountry Desert of the Guadalupe Mountains
March 14, 2023 – The Largest Piistachio in the World
March 14, 2023 – Visiting White Sands National Park
March 17, 2023 – Top 10 Places to See When Visiting Carlsbad, New Mexico
March 21, 2023 – Driving the Pacific Coast Scenic Byway
March 21, 2023 – Washington to Ohio – Travel Diary Day 1
March 22, 2023 – Washington to Ohio – Travel Diary Day 2
March 25, 2023 – Washington to Ohio – Travel Diary Day 3
March 27, 2023 – Washington to Ohio – Travel Diary Day 4
March 27, 2023 – The Tallest Waterfall in Oklahoma
March 27, 2023 – A Cement Igloo & a Magnetic Hill
March 28, 2023 – Washington to Ohio – Travel Diary Day 5
March 29, 2023 – Washington to Ohio – Travel Diary Day 6 and 7 and Home
March 29, 2023 – Chickasaw National Recreation Area Day 1
March 29, 2023 – Chickasaw National Recreation Area Day 2
April 1, 2023 – Home Sweet Home
April 7, 2023 – Exploring Van Wert, Ohio
This blog is a work in progress as we travel across the United States in our RV, so stay tuned and come back often. I may not have the time to write about every single place we visit, but I will try. Be sure to refresh the page regularly so the new updates come through.