Exploring Tomorrows Blog
We arrived back in Pennsylvania early January, just in time for the deep freeze. We haven’t had to deal with cold winter temperatures for a few years, so waking up to -20 degree below zero wind chills was a shock to our bodies. I have to say having the condo to stay in was quite comfortable so it was a good thing that we had purchased it in the fall. Definitely good to have a home base in Pittsburgh.
Read MoreWhen we first discussed living full time in the RV, we thought that we would travel for 5 years and then settle down with a place both north and south. We started working towards that long term plan 2 years ago with the purchase of the motorhome. At that time, our thoughts were to leave the fifth wheel in Pennsylvania to be our summer home and then stay south in the winter with the motorhome and still travel in it spring and fall. The travel part worked well for two years, but leaving the fifth wheel did not.
Read MoreI looked back at my posts this year and see that I have really slowed down on writing these. For that I apologize and I certainly hope to get better at it in the coming year. So what is my excuse? I could say that it has been a very busy summer but that would not really be accurate. We certainly were quite busy early on with working on the fifth wheel, but since we shipped it off for repairs, things definitely slowed down a bit. So if we weren’t busy, why haven’t I posted much?
Read MoreWhat a stormy and rainy Spring we have had this year in Pennsylvania which has made it difficult to get out and do much or to get any work done on the RV. Yes ,we need to get work done on the Fifth Wheel again this Spring. When we arrived back at Shady Acres Campground where we left the Fifth Wheel for the winter, we discovered signs of rodent infestation again.
Read MoreDuring the last couple of months in Florida, we really didn’t play tourist very much. We spent most of our time just enjoying life at the RV park and participating in many of their weekly activities. We enjoyed the daily exercise with the Walk Fit program on most weekday mornings and spent time walking Trent around the park so he got some exercise too. We also joined in on game nights a few times a week and enjoyed many of the potluck meals as well as Taco Tuesdays. Participation was a great way to get to know our neighbors and make friends at our winter home.
Read MoreJanuary ended up being a cool and damp month so we didn’t get out too much to visit places to write about. The best part of the month the week that our daughters, Katie and Kim and granddaughter Rosie came for a visit. We absolutely love that they were able to join us even if the weather didn’t cooperate. Of course, we loved that we got to spend a week with Rosie who is so much fun at 3 years old.
Read MoreI hope this letter finds everyone doing well and enjoying the holiday season. We have certainly found some great places here in Florida to celebrate Christmas. Last weekend, we met Sue and Greg in Winter Garden for the Farmer’s Market. They have this huge market every Saturday and it is always enjoyable walking around and checking out the vendor booths. The main street in town reminds me of a Hallmark Movie - just the perfect street with lots of cute stores and great holiday decorations. In addition, the town has a variety of holiday events happening every weekend. Definitely a great place to get into the holiday spirit.
Read MoreWhen we planned our trip south to Florida, we didn’t want to go south too quickly and risk needing to leave due to a hurricane. Unfortunately, fall seems to be the time of year that some pretty severe ones come through the south. So we decided to spend a few weeks in North Carolina and hopefully enjoy some beautiful fall weather.
Read MoreAfter a little over 8 months of traveling, we settled down at our seasonal site in Pennsylvania for the summer. It stills feels like we are travleing though since we are in and out of Pittsburgh a bit as well as made a trip back to Ohio since we have been here. We headed over to Shady Acres the first day back to hook up the batteries and start to de-winterize it. Well we discovered a bit of a mess. It appeared that mice and either chipmunks or squirrels had gotten in over the winter..
Read MoreUsually we aren’t anywhere close to a National Park during National Park week but this year we really hit the bonanza. I got to visit Zion and Bryce the week before and then as we left Utah, we headed back to Arizona to visit two more parks during National Park Week. After a quick overnight stop in Vegas, we headed south and east to Williams, AZ for a 3 night stay.
Read MoreAfter our time in Nevada, we headed further north to Utah to spend a week visiting our friends, Gerry and Mari. We initially met them during our first year traveling in the RV in Berea, KY. We spent a week as neighbors and have kept in touch over the years even though we were in different parts of the country. They settled in St. George, UT two years ago and we were excited that we could finally visit them since it wasn’t too far from Las Vegas.
Read MoreWhile in Verde Valley, we considered a visit to the Grand Canyon by taking the train from Williams, AZ. I realized that it would be a very long day to do that from where we were staying, so we discussed leaving a couple days early and staying in Williams for the train ride. I kept watching the weather since it had been cold and snowing at times up in that area. As we approached our last week in Verde Valley, the weather forecast looked great. Sunny and low 60s for Williams for a couple days in a row. We quickly booked a park in Williams for 2 nights.
Read MoreWe did it! We have completed a full cross country trip. In the past year, we saw the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico while staying in Florida and now we saw the Pacific Ocean in California. I love that our lifestyle is able to take us to so many beautiful places. When we initially planned our winter travels, we were going to spend the winter in Arizona, with 3 months in Tucson and we didn’t think we would make it to California on this trip.
Read MoreWe headed a bit further west last week to Yuma, AZ and have now been here for a week. Unfortunately, I started getting a head cold the day we got here and after having it for a week, I am feeling better but Tim now has it. I had to share, right? With both of us being sick, we haven’t done very much yet in Yuma, but we did enjoy our last couple of weeks in Tucson and had a nice stop in Why, AZ on our way here.
Read MoreIt is hard to believe that a 2 month visit to Tucson, AZ is not enough to see and do everything that this area has to offer but it is true. We have found many great places to visit in the area and in the city. I suppose that most cities provide many things to do and areas to explore although I feel that often what we find is similar to other cities. So I don’t always feel that we need to do everything that I have read or heard about in the area. This time, my list of what I don’t want to miss keeps growing and I suppose it is because of the abundance of nature and beautiful settings in this area as well as the abundance of history in the area.
Read MoreAfter leaving Santa Fe, we headed south on I25 towards Elephant Butte. It was a spectacular drive, especially leaving the Santa Fe area and descending over the buttes; at least that is what I think these rocky ridges are called. It seemed at one point like the earth was opening up to my right with these rocky drop offs to the valley below and mountains in the distance. I couldn’t get any pictures because I was driving the RV but I can still visualize it.
Read MoreWhen we first arrived in Santa Fe, we noticed a sign for Madrid as we took our exit for the RV Park. I remembered that town from “Wild Hogs”, a movie that we always enjoy and wondered if it was the same place the movie was filmed. Another sign indicated that the route towards Madrid was the Turquoise Trail National Scenic Byway. Of course, both of those sounded good to me.
Read MoreWe have now been in New Mexico for about a month and we can officially say that we arrived in the Desert Southwest. So I decided to start a new series of blog posts instead of continuing the westward journey series. After Tucumcari, we headed a little further west and north to Santa Fe. I have to say that this town has been on my bucket list for quite awhile and it certainly met my expectations.
Read MoreAfter 5 days of traveling, we stopped in Oklahoma City for 3 nights. I am really glad that we stopped here for a few days. Not only did we need a break from driving, we also needed time to relax and enjoy our surroundings. We discovered that there is quite a bit to do in Oklahoma City so we explored different sections of the city each day.
Read MoreOver the past 1.5 weeks, we traveled from Batesville, IN to Tucumcari, NM. That is pretty fast traveling for us. We normally stay in each stop for a few days to a week with sometimes a one night stop in between our longer stops. Since we got a later start that we originally planned, we decided to move quickly through a few states so we could spend the time we had planned for New Mexico. We ended up with 5 days in a row of travel, with 4 one night stops before we had a 3 night stop.
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