Follow our journey by clicking on the map below which opens a map browser that highlights our exact route and each stop we made during that year. But before you get started, here are a few general notes about the maps:

  • Our travel years are not based on the calendar year. Since we started full timing in September 2013, we decided our travel years would run from September 1st to August 31st.
  • Hovering the mouse over the route line, or clicking on it, displays the start and end points of that route segment which is generally a full travel day.
  • Hovering the mouse over the pushpins displays the name of the campground and date of our stay, clicking on the pins additionally displays links to the campground website (if there is one), our review (if there is one) and any blog posts we’ve written detailing what we did during our stay there. Note: we are a bit behind in our campground reviews so some locations may not have links yet.
  • The bright red push pins designate our favorite campgrounds/rv parks for that particular year. They are definitely ones we would visit again.
  • In some cases, we had to travel the same route more than once. Unfortunately the route only shows as one line on the map – there is no way to differentiate between the overlapping routes, but by clicking on the push pins you can deduce our next stop.

 

How to use the map browser:

  • Click on the map below to launch the map browser.
  • To zoom, use the zoom tool (+/-) in the upper left hand corner, or the mouse wheel.
  • To move around the map, click the mouse button and drag.
  • If you want to filter by any available map layers click the layer tool on the left (icon that looks like a stack of coins).

 

Our Journey 2016 – 2017

Note: The burgundy push pins and route from RI to GA depicts the portion of our trip that we traveled in our prior coach (a 2013 Entegra Aspire 42RBQ). The blue routes were taken in our new 2017 Aspire 44B. The bright red pins designate our favorite resorts/campgrounds.

2016-2017 Highlights

The 2016-17 season was a very exciting one for us! It began once we left Rhode Island in September and made our way to National Indoor RV Center (NIRVC) in Atlanta where we privately sold our 2013 Entegra Aspire 42RBQ and picked up our newly purchased 2017 Aspire 44B. Everything went very smoothly with the sale of the old (facilitated by NIRVC) and purchase of the new. The entire process however was pretty exhausting, first purging unused and unnecessary items prior to our departure, then unloading all of our “stuff” from the old coach into a U-Haul then eventually reloading it onto the new coach in the midst of hot, steamy temperatures. Read the gory details in this post. Once the sale and purchase was completed we did get a few days of rest and relaxation at Stone Mountain thanks to a complimentary shake down stay provided by NIRVC .

Once some minor repairs had been made, some safety equipment had been installed and we were sure everything was working properly, off we went on a new adventure, heading out west for the first time in our new RV! Leaving Atlanta, our route took us to West Memphis where we stayed right on the Mississippi River. Not only were we able to watch the barges navigate their way at all hours of the day and night, we also had time to stroll along famous Beale Street, tour Gibson Guitars, and drive by Graceland.

Never having been to Arkansas before, we thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Hot Springs. During a free tour at the Visitor Center, we learned all about the fascinating history of the Victorian bath houses. A drive along the Hot Springs Mountain Drive brought us to the Hot Springs Tower where we had awesome views of the surrounding area. And the Garvan Woodland Gardens was definitely worth a visit!

Texas was our next destination where our itinerary included a 10 day stay in San Antonio giving us an opportunity to explore the Riverwalk, the Alamo and all of the Missions. Since we arrived in late November, every place was all decked out for the holidays, making it especially festive and pretty. From there we headed further south to explore the coastline of Texas during a brief stay in Port Aransas. Further south in the Rio Grande Valley where we stayed in Mission, there were lots of bird, butterfly and wildlife watching opportunities at Bentsen-Valley State Park. A day trip across the border to Nuevo Progresso in Mexico proved to be quite interesting.

Leaving Texas behind, we made our way to New Mexico, where we enjoyed a four day stay at the Hacienda RV Resort in Las Cruces, New Mexico gave us an opportunity to visit White Sands National Monument, the White Sands Missile Range, do some serious hiking and enjoy the local cuisine at several nearby restaurants.

Crossing into AZ, we stayed at Kartchner Caverns State Park where we made an awesome subterranean trek into the caverns on a guided tour. In Tucson, we admired the stateliness of the towering cacti in both the east and west sections of Saguaro National Park.

At Quartzsite, AZ at an Entegra rally during the famous RV show, we survived our first week long boondocking experience with flying colors. Thankfully, the chilly temps were offset by the huge bonfire where everyone gathered each evening. What a blast! At the recommendation of some new Entegra friends, we made our way to Rancho California Resort in Aguanga where we stayed for the month of February. One of the highlights (but scary for me) was a ride in an 80 person rotating tram up to the 8500 foot summit of Mt. San Jacinto in Palm Springs.

Ready to hit the road again after our month long stay, our next destination was another Entegra get together at the FMCA Rally In The Valley in Chandler, AZ  Although we enjoyed it, it didn’t seem to be as well organized as other rallies we have been to so we probably won’t do another FMCA Rally anytime in the near future.

After the rally we headed north to Williams, AZ where we took day trips to the Grand Canyon and Sedona. Little did we know that it was Spring Break so it was mobbed everywhere making it not so enjoyable. In Winslow, we were “standing on the corner” made famous in the song “Take It Easy” by the Eagles, toured the rim of Meteor Crater, walked trails at Sunset Crater and explored Walnut Canyon. Route 66 brought us to the spectacular Petrified Forest and vividly colored Painted Desert!

Crossing into New Mexico, we spent a week in Albuquerque where we explored the Balloon Museum, visited Old Albuquerque and drove by several locations from the TV hit series,  Breaking Bad. We hope to return someday to catch the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta!

Several more stops brought us to Lewisville, TX where we enjoyed a very spacious, quiet waterfront site at Hickory Creek State Park. From there we trekked our way to the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfeesboro, AR where we met up with our RV-A-GoGo friends. Although we crawled around in the dirt digging for diamonds for several hours, it was all for naught – none of us hit pay dirt!

From there, we made our way to Middlebury, IN stopping at another lovely campground, Prophetstown State Park in Lafayette, IN. Our last stop before heading back to RI was in Middlebury, IN where we attended Entegra’s Springfest at the Elkhart Campground. Entegra sure knows how to put on a great party to show their appreciation to their customers!

Our summer once back in RI, was filled with all sorts of projects on the boat and on the coach but we did manage a week long stay in August on a mooring in Newport before it was time to head out once again in September.