Follow our journey by clicking one of the maps below. Each map highlights our exact route and each stop we made from 2015 to 2018. 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.
  • Links to campground/resort websites as well as campground reviews and the blog posts that we wrote about each particular area we visited are provided. Just click on the push pin balls along our route. 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 there and back. 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.
  • After clicking on the map to enlarge it, use the “+” and “” controls on the left hand side (or your mouse wheel) to zoom in/out to see the details of our route.
  • Each leg of our journey is designated as a layer. Click on the layer icon (what looks like a stack of circles) on the left hand side so you can zoom to that segment or show/hide the layer.

 

Master Campground Map

The map below shows all of the campgrounds/resorts we have stayed at from September, 2015 through September, 2018 (2013 and 2014 will be added at a later date). Click on each icon to display the date of our stay and links to the campground website (if there is one), our review and posts about our stay in that area. Hope you find this information helpful!

  • Green – Free Boondocking & Service Locations
  • Rose – Federal, State, County & City Locations
  • Blue – Private RV Parks

Master Travel Map

Wow! I had no idea until I created this map how many places we have been to in the past three years! Sometimes it takes a visual to put things in perspective. What an amazing and remarkable adventure we have been on since we became full time RV’ers! But it’s obvious from the map that there is still a lot more to see and do, always making it hard to decide where to go next!

The map below shows all of our routes and campground/resort stays from September 2015 through September 2018 (2013-2014 and 2014-2015 maps will be added at some time in the future).

  • Crimson Line & Points (2017-2018)
  • Blue Line & Points (2016-2017)
  • Green Line & Points (2015-2016)

Click on the map to enlarge

2017-2018 Map

Click on the map to enlarge

We left East Greenwich, RI on September 15, 2017, not returning until May 13, 2018 for a total of 240 days for this “RV Season”. But we also need to include an 18 day trip to Maine from June 3, 2018 to June 21, 2018. Our total travel time was 258 days.

2017-2018 Highlights

Our first stop after we left East Greenwich, RI in September, 2017 was Middlebury, IN, this time not for service at the Entegra factory but to pick up the recliner couch that we ordered from Lambright Comfort Chairs in May, 2017. So happy with this purchase – it is so much more comfortable than the original couch. Our only complaint – now we both tend to fall asleep while watching TV!

After that, we were off, once again heading west. The month of October was spent in Colorado, a state that quickly moved to the top of our list of favorite states. Here’s why. With five different state parks and one private park as our base during our stay, the highlights included an interesting tour of Celestial Seasonings, a white knuckle drive along the Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park, a trip to the chilly summit on the Pike’s Peak Cog Railway, exploring the gorgeous red rocks of Garden of the Gods, avoiding rattlesnakes while hiking at Devil’s Backbone, exploring the Capitol Building and other sites in Denver, visiting the U.S. Air Force Academy and marveling at the majestic Red Rock Amphitheater. So much to see and do in this beautiful state but alas, a few inches of early snow reminded us that it was time to head further south.

While staying at Homolovi State Park in AZ, we visited the historic La Posada Hotel in Winslow where we learned the fascinating story of one of the first female architects, Mary Coulter, who was responsible for not only La Posada Hotel but also a number of the structures built at the Grand Canyon. And speaking of the Grand Canyon we spent a week at the Grand Canyon Trailer Village right in the park. How totally awesome it was to see this natural wonder at different times of the day!

While at Willow Beach Campground in the Lake Mead Recreation Area in AZ, we visited two awesome man made wonders – Hoover Dam, taking both the Powerplant Tour and the Dam Tour, both of which were excellent and the Pat Tillman-Pat O’Callaghan bridge. To see more of the natural wonders in the area, we rented a small boat and cruised the Colorado River getting within a mile of the base of Hoover Dam! It was so cool seeing Big Horn Sheep perched on the cliffs of the canyon walls bordering the river!

A beautiful scenic drive along historic Route 66 brought us to the small historic, touristy town of Oatman where the resident braying burros provided some comic relief as they begged for food from the tourists.

In southern California, we spent the months of December, January and February having fun with friends at Rancho California Resort in Aguanga. A highlight of our stay there was a fascinating tour of the nearby Temecula Olive Oil company where we were surprised to learn that except in CA, olive oil in the USA is not regulated from either a harvest, pressing or labeling perspective. Many of the imported olive oils that we buy in stores are often not truly extra virgin at all and are considered rancid by the rest of the world. At the end of the tour we sampled both their olive oils and their vinegars. My pantry is now stocked with numerous bottles of their oils and vinegars. Mid-January we made our way once again to Quartzite where we boondocked at a rally with over 50 other Entegra coaches. What fun! During our stay, a bunch of us drove an hour to have lunch at the famous Desert Bar in Parker, AZ.

After CA, we headed east along I-8 stopping for a quick stay in Yuma where we sampled a yummy “date shake” served at a local date farm and toured the Yuma Territorial Prison. We were entertained by all sorts of animals at the Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Farm near beautiful Picacho Peak State Park, another campground that is now on our favorites list. The next attraction on our agenda was Chiricahua National Monument, the wonderland of rocks!

From there, we were on the fast track through New Mexico, Texas and the southern states to Florida where we wanted to check out our Riverbend site – we hadn’t been there since Hurricane Irma hit. Along the way we stopped in the Gulf Shores area and at our usual favorite Florida state parks. Everything looked great at Riverbend although Rob spent a few days replacing some rotted wood (not caused by Hurricane Irma) on our shed.

Heading north, we discovered a new favorite State Park – Shenandoah River in Virginia where we spent a day driving a portion of the beautiful Skyline Drive. While hiking on some of the trails within the park, we were a little spooked when we saw a fresh bear track in the mud!

Although we arrived back in East Greenwich, RI at the end of May, we were barely settled in when we hit the road again. This time heading north to Maine where we had plans to meet up with Entegra friends at Schoodic Woods Campground, on the quiet side of Acadia National Park. During our week long stay here, we toured the area, stopped at several of the local businesses, did some hiking, dined at the local establishments, enjoyed a scenic ferry ride on Frenchman’s Bay to Bar Harbor and stuffed ourselves with lobster! I don’t know exactly how many lobsters we consumed while we were in Maine but it was a lot. On our way home, we stopped at Red’s Eats in Wicasset, ME. Oh, my, my mouth is starting to water just writing about their awesome lobster roll.

Back in RI, we settled in for the summer. Normally we spend the entire summer living on board our boat but this summer, the weather was oppressively hot and humid, breaking all sorts of records. Because of that and the list of projects that Rob wanted to complete on the coach, we didn’t move on board the boat until August.

2016-2017 Map

Click on the map to enlarge

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 Festival!

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.

2015-2016 Map

Click on the map to enlarge

2015-2016 Highlights

2015-16 was our 3rd year as full time RV’ers. After a visit to Entegra Motorcoach in Middlebury, IN for our last warranty service appointment on our 2013 Aspire and a visit to Spartan Chassis for our annual maintenance, we headed south towards our ultimate destination of Florida. Along the way we imbibed a bit as we visited a number of Kentucky’s numerous distilleries and a barrel maker along the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. Similar to a regular passport, at each distillery we would have our Kentucky Bourbon Passport stamped – visiting 9+ distilleries earned both of us a free Bourbon Trail T-shirt. Even if you don’t drink you can still take a tour – well worth it because each distillery has a fascinating history!

We continued south making a number of quick overnight stops along the way finally landing at Riverbend Motorcoach Resort in Labelle, FL where we enjoyed a relaxing, yet somewhat busy seven week stay on our site.

Ready to leave Riverbend, we made our way to Myakka River State Park. Now normally this park is booked solid but somehow luck was with us and we managed to reserve a site there for a return visit (we had stayed here in 2015) of six nights, giving us plenty of time to walk along the Canopy Walkway and hike to the Deep Hole.

Although we had attended the Tampa RV Supershow in the past, we had always stayed at a nearby campground but this year was different – we would be participating in an Entegra rally and staying at the fairgrounds in the coach. The show is huge so it was a busy and exhausting week!

But not to worry, there was lots of time to rest and relax during the next few weeks, first an 11 day stint at another favorite, Rainbow Springs State Park, followed by a quick stop at Stephen Foster Culture Center State Park. Two nights was plenty of time for us to explore Craft Square, listen to the Carillon bells playing many of Stephen Foster’s songs and visiting the museum again. We never seem to tire of all that this park has to offer! That was followed by a stay at Ho Hum RV Park where we had a site right on the water!

Then we were off to another one of our favorite State Parks – Topsail Hill State Park in Santa Rosa Beach in FL. During our stay we spent a lot of time walking along their beautiful white sand beach listening to the “barking” sand and taking advantage of a myriad of delicious dining places in the surrounding area as well. At Gulf State Park in Gulf Shores, AL, we biked (and walked) the miles and miles on the Hugh S. Branyon Backcountry Trail that can be accessed at the far end of the campground. Lots to do and lots of places to eat in the Orange Beach area.

As we continued our way south, we visited a number of our favorite campgrounds. In Bainbridge, GA, we had a relaxing time on a waterfront site on Lake Seminole at East Bank COE Campground.

After several quick stops along the way, we arrived at Riverbend again for another brief stay to make some improvements after our renters left. Then it was time to head north for a service appointment at Entegra in Middlebury, IN and to attend Springfest, another Entegra rally taking place at the Elkhart Campground. What fun!

From there, we decided to caravan with our friends, Betsy and Nancy (RV-A-GoGo) since they were heading east and planned to follow the same route.That turned out to be a lot of fun!  While staying at the Terraport Campground at the Airstream Service Center, we were able to see how the “silver bullets” are made during a 2 hour factory tour. In Wapakoneta, the hometown of Neil Armstrong who was the first man to walk on the moon, the Armstrong Air & Space Museum chronicles Ohio’s contributions to the history of space flight. That was followed by more fascinating stops at the Zippo Case Museum and the totally awesome Corning Glass Museum. Read all the details in this post.

From here we split with RV-A-GoGo and went our separate ways – we continued on to Albany where we stopped to visit with Rob’s Dad and then to RI, our summer “home” where we spent a somewhat busy summer.