2017 USA Adventure

[CarolynandBob]

Yesterday we left San Diego on our full timing RV road trip. It has been a rough start, but we are excited. Not going to let a rough start get us down.

It started a couple of days ago with me coming down with a pretty bad chest cold. I rarely get sick and this was not a good time to get sick. Anyway, then next day my wife came down with it too. Ugh. no time to rest as we have renters moving in on Saturday, so we suck it up and get it done.

Although we left later than planned yesterday we still would make are destination in Tuscon before dark.

Well, that didn't happen. We stopped for lunch and to make a long story short. One of my dogs got into a fight with another dog. As I was breaking them up I got bitten twice. 1 on my left ring finger and one on my left pinky. Get in motor home to clean them. Right hand should probably get a few stitches and the right may need them. We butterfly stitch both. Verify all rabies vaccinations are up to date. Decide to move on down the road.

As we were driving I was just getting really tired and stopped just east of Yuma. We found some BLM land and stopped for the night. Had some good food, walked the dogs, had a few beers and went to bed.

Up a little early this morning but feel better and looking forward to getting to Tucson and see are friend for dinner.

After Tuscon on Monday we head to City of Rock, NM for a couple of days.

[HB Vic]

Now Thad a rough vacay start, ouch. How did you verify the other dog had its shots??

Hope the rest of your trip goes a little smoother.


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[ChumpChange]

Not a great start but have an awesome time. Can't wait to get my next road trip started. I enjoy sleeping in rest stops with nowhere to go. Let's me enjoy the road.

[HB Vic]

I need a road trip too. Soon. Somewhere. Anywhere.


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[cdnoutlaw]

I thought you and the wife were only going on your trip. I didn't think you were taking kids(dogs) with you as well. lol
Got any pics yet. At least your rig all loaded up and ready to travel?


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[CarolynandBob]

I will take pics later this morning. Seams my cold is coming back and wife has lost her voice :action-smiley-035:

Yes we have our 3 dogs with us. 1- puggle, 1- pug / jack russell terrier, 1- boxer/grey hound. The other dog was a full timing dog too and a lot of camp grounds require proof of vaccination,so they had it with them as we have proof of all of ours.

We will head to City of Rock NM today. Tuscon was more of a rest stop and to see a friend. We are really looking forward to city of rock. May not do as much hiking as planned. We need to rest and get over the colds before we do any real hiking.

We were bummed about getting sick but that is life. This part of the trip, unfortunately we are on more of a schedule than we would like as we need to be at some other friends house just outside Fort Worth on a specific day. After that we can be more flexible and just stay until an illness passes. Until then, it will Day Quil and NyQuil. Oh and Jack Daniels Honey in tea.

[CarolynandBob]

It has been a couple of day since I posted. Sometimes internet isn't so good. We are using our verizon data for internet. Depends on the signal.

today we are at Riverbend Hot Springs in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. They have these hot springs right on the Rio Grande river. Will get pics of the springs later today.

The last couple of days we were at City of Rock, NM. Really liked it there. Nice well maintained State park.

I will add pics in a minute. Have to resize files.

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[2manymustangs]

:action-smiley-035:

TY for sharing here, this will be interesting...

Sorry to hear about the dog incident, i thought that i was the only one that dogs loved to chew on... :D

ALso, Im starting with that wicked chest cold that is going around, hope you and your wife recovere quickly!

Please keep the photos coming, us folk in the frozen tundra are living vicariously through you...

[CarolynandBob]

I am finally over the cold. Wife is still not completely over it.

It is chilly here. Frost on the window of the jeep this morning. After here we go to Carlsbad Caverns and then start heading south for warmer weather. Supposed to be a pretty good storm coming in here Saturday. We are supposed to travel to the Caverns Saturday. We may leave here a day earlier or stay an extra day. No reason to travel is shitty weather.

I forgot to add a picture of our set up, so here it is.

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[HB Vic]

That place in NM looks really nice.

I kind of like NM. Its weird, but in a kinda cool way. I'll definitely go back there again.

Thanks for posting and giving me some good ideas :)

[CarolynandBob]

You are welcome.

This town is a little weird. My wife and I were talking about how the town is poor, but it feel like it could take off if the right investors started some type of job creating business here.

So we were out walking the dogs and said fuck it. Turned off of the main street into a neighborhood. Pretty crappy houses, cars etc... As we are walking I see a nice house, which was strange for the area. Anyway, this guy was in the yard and says hello to us. We stop and talk to him.

He says the problem here is drugs. Which he says the city is working on and it is getting better. He also said the Wal Mart had to stop drug testing it's employees / applicants in order to have enough employees. This guy was pretty funny to talk to. Very animated and throws out one liners. Come to find out he grew up and worked 2 cities away from where I grew up.

We had to get going but he invited me over for coffee today. My wife is feel worse today so I may head over there.

[ChumpChange]

Loadin up our MoHo now. No road trip, desert.

[2manymustangs]

You are welcome.

This town is a little weird. My wife and I were talking about how the town is poor, but it feel like it could take off if the right investors started some type of job creating business here.

So we were out walking the dogs and said fuck it. Turned off of the main street into a neighborhood. Pretty crappy houses, cars etc... As we are walking I see a nice house, which was strange for the area. Anyway, this guy was in the yard and says hello to us. We stop and talk to him.

He says the problem here is drugs. Which he says the city is working on and it is getting better. He also said the Wal Mart had to stop drug testing it's employees / applicants in order to have enough employees. This guy was pretty funny to talk to. Very animated and throws out one liners. Come to find out he grew up and worked 2 cities away from where I grew up.

We had to get going but he invited me over for coffee today. My wife is feel worse today so I may head over there.

Does the town remind you of Radiator Springs?

https://youtu.be/fbHbRipzRgE

[CarolynandBob]

No.

We ended up leaving yesterday. With the storm coming we decided it wood be better to get settle before the storm. They are predicting 50+ mph winds in some areas. We did not want to drive a big box through that. If it was just rain we wouldn't worry about it, although setting up camp in the cold rain would suck.

Got here and set up about 3:30. Made some BBQ chicken and steamed some lobster tails and settled in. Raining this morning already, so we probably made a good decision.

[rioracr]

Remember Easy Rider as you cruise thru the south.....lol have fun and be safe

[foxfam312]

Very cool, If you don't mind keep those updates coming, pretty cool to see

[CarolynandBob]

Today we head to Monahans Sandhill State Park in Texas for a couple of days. They are sand dunes that you can sled down.

Lake Trammell is our next stop just for one night. Sandhill and Lake Trammel are pretty much just places to go to eat up a few days before Friday.

On Friday we go to just outside Fort Worth. Our good friends moved there a few years ago. We use to go to Havasu with them every 2 weeks in the summer back in the day. We wanted to get there on Friday and leave Monday so they are off work when we are there. My liver is already getting nervous. LOL

Thank you Vic for the name change.

[Mrs.K034]

Today we head to Monahans Sandhill State Park in Texas for a couple of days. They are sand dunes that you can sled down.

Lake Trammell is our next stop just for one night. Sandhill and Lake Trammel are pretty much just places to go to eat up a few days before Friday.

On Friday we go to just outside Fort Worth. Our good friends moved there a few years ago. We use to go to Havasu with them every 2 weeks in the summer back in the day. We wanted to get there on Friday and leave Monday so they are off work when we are there. My liver is already getting nervous. LOL

Thank you Vic for the name change.


Sounds great! Especially seeing old friends. Remember, they aged with you so I'm sure their livers are just as worried. lol! [emoji482] enjoy!


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[CarolynandBob]

LOL Yes I am sure theirs are Mrs.K034

[CarolynandBob]

Not much has been happening.

We were at our friends house near Fort Worth for a few days. Was a great visit and yes the check liver light came on a few times.

We are now in Livingston,TX. We are at an Escapees RV park. Escapees is a full timers group. They handle all of our mail forwarding. We are just relaxing here. Went for a walk yesterday by Lake Livingston. Nice lake. Weather was great at 80 degrees.

Tomorrow we will head down to the coast on the Gulf of Mexico. Hopefully, I won't slack on the pics like I have the last week.

[cdnoutlaw]

Pics of the gulf , hope u get good weather


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[CarolynandBob]

We are in Port Bolivar on the Bolivar Peninsula of Texas. Weather is ok. 60 ish. Would like it to be warmer. Dogs love running on the beach. Our boxer/greyhound just has to go in the water. Our fat puggle who never ran at home, loves to run in the sand. He has probably lost a few pounds since we left. It is great to see. Our pug/terrier does seam to like it much. She would rather just go out to do her business and then go back into the motor home.

Going to go check out Fort Travis today.

Our camp for the next 2 days.

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[HB Vic]

Now that's pretty cool. Are you going to dry camp on the beach or is there an RV park nearby??


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[Ziggy]

Cool thread:thumbup::thumbup:....just was talking to my wife about doing a road trip with no scheduled POI visits, just as we see fit as we cruise along the highways and bi-ways.

[CarolynandBob]

Now that's pretty cool. Are you going to dry camp on the beach or is there an RV park nearby??


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Dry camping on the beach. We would stay here longer, but there just isn't much to do here. The wind kinda sucks. If it wasn't windy we would stay and just hang out at the beach.

We will head to Louisiana today. Stop at a campground for tonight and tomorrow. Then we head to New Orleans. :drinkin::partyguy::eat::eat:

[CarolynandBob]

In New Orleans. Here with some friends my wife use to work with. They live in Lafayette.

This is one poor, dirty shit hole of a town. Had a good time going to dinner and Bourbon street. Listen to some pretty good bands. Was surprised they had bands playing on a Monday night.

[rschap1]

Nobody ever listens or believes me when I tell them of my Mardi Gras trip and stay in Naw Lens

No plans to return

[CarolynandBob]

:drinkin::drinkin::drinkin::party2::party2::champa gne::champagne::sleeping::sleeping::coffee-n-news::coffee-n-news:

[ChumpChange]

I want to be in my MoHo.

[CarolynandBob]

At Coe landing county park in Tallahassee, Fl. We just left Gulf Shores area in Alabama.

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[2manymustangs]

<<<< Green with envy.... :biggrin:

[CarolynandBob]

Wow it has been a long time since i posted. We went to Sarasota and stayed for a month at a rv resort that is kind of like a cruise ship. There are activities galore. Every type of sport. I played pickle ball and vollyball every day. They had poker every day. Bingo just about every day. Just a ton of stuff to do. We were so busy having fun that I barely had time to read. i read on average of a book a week. I haven't finished a book in over a month. The place is called Sun-n-Fun. We already booked a month for next year.

While we were in Sarasota we decided that our Class C just wasn't going to work for us. They layout and storage space just did not work for us as full timers. It was a great unit for weekends and an occasional week or 2 trip.

So of we went RV shopping. Now before we left San Diego we thought about getting a large class A, but decided to give the class C a shot. The worst we figured is that we would find out what we wanted in a class A. Well we looked at 5th wheels and just could not believe the difference in floor plans. We really liked having my wife being able to move around a Class A while I was driving, but the 5th wheel won out in the end. We wanted a better floor plan because we would be sitting in it more than driving.

So we found the model and floor plan we wanted. We really liked the Vilano with the front living. One BIG selling point was the almost no carpet. The only place it has carpet is under the dinette. We ended up making a deal with La Mesa RV out of Fort Myers. The problem is we were going to my brothers house in Naples and the 5th wheel is too long to fit in his driveway. So we delayed getting it for a week. Here is a link to the one we chose. https://vanleighrv.com/products/the-vilano/375-fl/

So then we needed to find a truck. Had to be a dually as the 5th wheel is 16000 lb with a pin weight of about 3300. We decided on a 2017 F350 4x4 dually long bed Lariat . It is expensive but a very nice truck. We pulled the 5th wheel yesterday and it did great.

So, while at my brothers I sold the class C. Thought I was going to trade it in, but threw up some adds just in case and got a guy out of Tampa that bought it. I wanted him to take it from us just after we moved all of out stuff into the new 5th wheel. Well he was going out of town and had to get it on Tuesday. We couldn't get the 5th wheel until Thursday because we decided to have them put a generator in. We ended up getting a uhaul van and moved everything in Tuesday morning. turned over the class c to him and went to a hotel for Tuesday night and Wednesday night. Picked up the new 5th wheel yesterday and moved our stuff in. It is all still in boxes but we are back sun-n-fun for about 4 days to get use to the new unit. Then we start making our way to Atlanta.

In Atlanta we are meet my mother in-law. She is flying in from Eugene, Oregon. We are staying at my wife's cousin just north of Atlanta for a couple of days.

My wife's parent use to take my wife camping all the time when she was a kid. We bought our first 5th wheel from them when they got to old to drive it. Anyway, my wife asked her mom if there was anywhere she had wanted to see, but never got the chance. She said Savanna, Georgia and Charleston, SC.

When we leave my wife's cousins we are taking her to Savanna and then Charleston. After that we will head back to her cousins so my mother in-law can fly back to Oregon.

That is about it. I didn't proof read this, so if there are errors oh well.

Pic of the new set up.

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[HB Vic]

Thats pretty cool. Totally change your setup whilst on vacation. Doesn't get any better than that. Hella nice trailer there for sure.

[cdnoutlaw]

Yup your setup keeps on getting bigger,and better. And when your driving keep your honey safe, keep her beside you and don't let her wander around while your driving. Upgrading to a bigger rig is one way .


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[2manymustangs]

Thats pretty cool. Totally change your setup whilst on vacation. Doesn't get any better than that. Hella nice trailer there for sure.

Amen... wow.......

[El Toro]

Great thread, hope you continue it. I'm retired & thought about the RV life style, but I have 2 grandchildren that I watch 3 days a week. I have two 80 pound dogs that travel well, but don't stay well (guard dogs) & my GF will not board them. things change, hope I'm still young (or healthy) enough to hit the open road while I still can.

[CarolynandBob]

I will update when we get a better internet connection.

We are in Sun Valley Idaho now but leaving for Jackson Hole, Wy. today. Should have a better signal there.

[2FORCEFULL]

I will update when we get a better internet connection.

We are in Sun Valley Idaho now but leaving for Jackson Hole, Wy. today. Should have a better signal there.

enjoy...sounds like a ton of fun...