Where will we go this year?
- We returned to Tampa, visited our storage unit and sorted a few things out.
- We spent May, June, July and August visiting our children in Indiana. And decided we were not ready to become Hoosiers again.
- The Navajo and Hopi held gatherings in adjacent cities when we traveled through northern Arizona.
- When and where might your path cross our path? Please contact me to discuss how we might meet face-to-face.
The segments described below show our thoughts as of the date of publication above. The tables accurately reflect our plans. The maps from RV Life are screen shots during our planning. The green ring on each map is at 100 miles (the area we might explore while at a site), the yellow ring at 150 miles, and the red ring is at 220 miles our typical limit for towing to our next campground.
- Eclipse in Texas: March 27 through April 8
- Sorting in Florida: April 9 through at least April 25
- Back Home in Indiana: May 2 through July 31
- Fall 2024: August 15 through November 15
Eclipse in Texas
Having enjoyed seeing the annular eclipse in 2023 we plan to camp near the center line of the total eclipse on April 8th in Texas.
| Arrival | Campground | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 15, 2023 | Rincon Country West RV Resort Tucson, AZ | This community active seniors offers many events on site and a bus to local attractions. Our activities also included personal and equipment maintenance. |
| Mar 27, 2024 | Lifestyle RV Resort Wilcox, AZ | Came here to make a return visit to Chiracahua National Monument. |
| Mar 29 | Hacienda RV Resort Las Cruces, NM | We stayed at this resort again to visit the weekly Las Cruces farmer’s market. We also sampled the wine at Luna Rossa Pizzeria. Their port wine is excellent. |
| Apr 1 | Mountain View RV Park Van Horn, TX | Getting across Texas will take a few stops. This stop got us out of the wind just in time. |
| Apr 2 | Out West RV Resort Monahans, TX | Getting across Texas will take a few stops. The adjacent state park touts its sand dunes. |
| Apr 4 | Whistle Stop RV Resort Abilene, TX | Getting across Texas will take a few stops. |
| Apr 5 | Whitney Resorts Whitney, TX | We look forward to watching the eclipse from the comfort of our campsite. |
Sorting in Florida
After selling our last sticks and bricks house we put several items in a storage facility, including mementos, furniture for when we decide to end our sojourn, and other items we did not take time to sort through. This year we will take a second look at those boxes.
This segment will add Louisiana and Mississippi to the list of states where we have camped.
| Arrival | Campground | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Apr 9 | Loves RV Hookup Winona, TX | A truck stop with RV full hookups for a quick overnight. |
| Apr 10 | Poverty Point Reservoir SP Delhi, LA | Our first time camping in Louisiana. |
| Apr 12 | Dry Creek Water Park Mt Olive, MS | Our first time camping in Mississippi. |
| Apr 13 | Meaher SP Spanish Fort, AL | Two nights on Mobile Bay. |
| Apr 15 | Falling Waters SP Chipley, FL | We previously visited this park with Florida’s tallest waterfall. This time we will camp with our trailer. |
| Apr 17 | Suwannee River SP Live Oak, FL | Florida has several excellent state parks. |
| Apr 18 | Happy Traveler RV Resort Thonotosassa, FL | We hope to spend most of our time visiting our storage unit. |
Back home in Indiana
Sorting in Florida ended with contracting with a mover to ship all of our household goods to Indiana near to where our children live. Thus we picked places to stay so that we could reasonably return to our storage unit in Thonotosassa for the pick up and then quickly dash north to Indianapolis for delivery from the mover.
Thus a leisurely trip north became a dash.
The shortest route passes through Atlanta and Nashville.
| Arrival | Campground | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| May 2 | White Springs RV Park White Springs, FL | The owner/host had taken notes while a full-time RVer about what she wanted in her ideal campground. She demonstrated exceptional hospitality. |
| May 5 | Wannee Lake Golf and RV Park Ashburn, GA | Their on-site eatery is called the Fire Ant Cafe for good reason. We did not physically encounter any fire-ants but saw several other species including the difficult to spot ghost ant. From here we made an overnight trip south to Thonotosassa to meet our mover. |
| May 11 | Cedar Break RV Park & CG Calhoun, GA | This nice quiet campground guided us to our site and gave us cookies! There are no places for us to park our RV either side of Atlanta. Thus we opted to drive past Atlanta on Saturday. |
| May 12 | Nashville I-24 CG | Another one night stay as we dash north. |
| May 13 | Lincoln Lodge & RV Hodgenville, KY | We picked this campground for it proximity to the area distillers. |
| May 15 | Muncie RV Resort by Rjourney Anderson, IN | This campground is conveniently located between our children and our new storage unit. Our mover anticipates delivering our household goods during our stay here. |
| May 24 | Sugarloaf CG, Waterloo Rec. Area, Chelsea, MI | We will be close to my brother and his sons for Memorial Day weekend. |
| May 28 | Shipshewana CG – South Park Shipshewana, IN | Elkhart Indiana is the RV capital of the world. Here we will investigate various potential upgrades. |
| June 1 | Lake Haven Retreat Indianapolis, IN | Ratings for this campground and maps suggested a dubious location. We visited here (without our trailer) and found it to be quiet and clean. |
Fall 2024
A few maintenance items took much longer than we anticipated keeping us in Indianapolis a few extra weeks. We re-sketched our trip to include some northern tier states we have not yet visited while RVing.
| Arrival | Campground | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| August 20 | Moraine View SRA Le Roy, IL | Quiet state park on a lake. Camped under trees and walked in woods. |
| Aug 22 | Fisherman’s Corner CG Hampton, IL | An Army Corps of Engineers park across the river from Davenport, Iowa. Visited German American Museum. |
| Aug 25 | George Wyth SP Waterloo, IA | First time RVing in Iowa! Well run state park in the middle of Cedar River immediately adjacent to a small city. |
| Aug 27 | Myre-Big Island SP Albert Lea, MN | Here we camped among the trees. Nearest neighbor 50 feet left/right/front. Only woods behind us for perhaps 1,000 yards. |
| Aug 30 | Palisades SP Garretson, SD | First Time RVing in South Dakota! Visited Sioux Falls, SD. Enjoyed walking through this canyon. |
| Sept 3 | Left Tailrace CG Fort Thompson, SD | Army Corps of Engineers Park |
| Sept 5 | Badlands Hotel & CG Interior, SD | Elevation: 2380 ft Visited Badlands NP Returned to Wall Drugs |
| Sept 9 | Broken Arrow CG Custer, SD | Elevation: 5580 ft Custer SP, South Dakota |
| Sept 16 | Chimney Rock Pioneer Crossing Bayard, NE | First time RVing in Nebraska! Elev: 3745 ft This campground is across the road from Chimney Rock, a landmark on the Oregon Trail |
| Sept 19 | Laramie RV Resort Laramie, WY | First time RVing in Wyoming! New highest campsite: Elev: 7130 ft Women voted and could hold office in Wyoming before any other state! Highest point on the Lincoln Highway (US 30, now I-80) just east of town (8600 ft). |
| Sept 22 | Craig KOA Journey Craig, CO | I picked this route to visit the west side of Colorado. We will arrive via Baggs, WY to avoid higher and steeper passes. Elev: 6200 ft |
| Sept 25 | James M. Robb Colorado River SP Palisade, CO | Grand Junction, Colorado. Elev: 4763 ft Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP |
| Sept 28 | Red Desert RV Park Moab, UT | First time RVing in Utah! Elev: 4875 ft This stop will bypass steep and high mountain passes near Telluride, CO. Will visit Arches NP, Canyonlands NP |
| Oct 2 | Circle C RV Park Dolores, CO | Mesa Verde NP, Trail of the Ancients Bears Ears NM visitor center. Elev: 6975 ft |
| Oct 9 | Coral Sands RV Park Bluff, UT | Stopped here to reduce our expenses at KOA and had great access to Natural Bridges NM, and Valley of the Gods. |
| Oct 12 | Monument Valley KOA Journey Monument Valley, UT | 2 tours in Monument Valley, Utah. Elev: 5250 ft |
| Oct 16 | Navajo Land Hotel & RV Park, Tuba City, AZ | Western Navajo Fair and parade in Tuba City. Tuuvi Gathering, Moenkopi, AZ. |
| Oct 23 | KOA, Flagstaff, AZ | We camped among tall pine trees at 6,950 ft and visited Sedona and Red Rocks SP. |
| Oct 27 | SLR | Free time |
| Oct 29 | Lost Dutchman SP, Apache Junction, AZ | A popular State Park near Phoenix. |
| Oct 31 | Picacho Peak SP, Picacho, AZ | A Dark Sky Park for some star gazing during a new moon. |
| Nov 3 | Rincon Country West RV Resort Tucson, AZ | We made reservations to return here for the winter. |