Since we have been able to post due to horrible internet access. We are trying to keep up with posting and I need to grab my co-pilots phone to get more pictures as I haven’t been able to take many.

We arrived to Orangeland RV Resort in Irvine. We were quite close to the Honda center so I am very happy that events weren’t scheduled.

After picking up my nieces and nephew we headed toward Nevada. I glad we left as they were expecting a record breaking heatwave. We only stayed one night and we were all wishing to jump in the pool. Sadly there were too many people so we coupled off in the trailer while watching movies.

After leaving Vegas we headed to the Grand Canyon. While at the canyon it was very hot, we had a slight breeze at the campground. Since we didn’t have internet service we pulled out a board game and a few card games. The kids didn’t seem to miss their phones until the next morning

When leaving the campgeound I tried to go out a different way so they would still see the view only to discover that the road was closed. We ended up adding 2 hours to the drive so we skipped driving through Zion (my favorite park) and settled for viewing the Grand Staircase -Escalante National Monument as we headed to Cedar City. It’s a stark and stunningly beautiful drive. We chatted with the kids about the Cars movie and how you can see some of the inspiration on our drive.

Once I snag some pictures I will update this post.

Take care y’all

We have had a busy few days. We are on the west coast near Pismo Beach.

We had a few uneventful days crossing into Arizona and then stopping in Barstow Cali where the temp was 106. Even better it was laundry day with no ac or fan in the campgeound laundry room.

I figured out a temporary way to filter campground water. Next year I hope just to put a filtered

dispenser in at the sink. I had purchased an inline filter but it keeps leaking and I don’t like to waste water. In the meantime I have to put the filter in the sink and stuff things around it to protect it.

Today we head to Irvine to pick up my 2 nieces and my nephew. It’s not many miles but there is a huge increase in traffic so it will be a bit stressful as I expect to be cut off quite a bit. Most stressful time will be trying to get into a gas station with the trailer attached. While traveling we can easily use travel stops which are much larger gas stations. Quite a bit different from a 4 pump gas station in a city with a large dip entering and exiting the station. What fun!

Take care y’all and here are a few random pictures from today.

You guessed it we are in Oklahoma. We had a shorter drive today and arrived in Lake Eufaula which is a huge beautiful lake. We set up just in time.

We had a severe thunderstorm watch happening and we are keeping an eye on the weather. I hope we are out of the storms for the night.

Max definitely enjoyed the shorter drive today and the extra cuddles he got on the drive. Good thing he isn’t afraid of storms as we had a lot of thunder.

Tomorrow we go to Amarillo and I’m hoping we figured out our refrigerator issue.

Take care y’all

Nope.. I have been here before. Today we journeyed across the rest of Tennessee and crossed the Mississippi River to land in Marion, Arkansas. While this campground isn’t highly rated by some, this is actually my second stay here.

Everyone has a different view as to how a campground should be. Some feel it should be closer to area attractions. Others want to feel secluded. I just want to feel safe, secure and not have to travel an hour from the main road to get there. Is this campground a bit older? Yep, but it isn’t anything some paint and stain wouldn’t fix.

I actually stayed here with my boys back in 2014 on our first adventure with our first travel trailer. There have been a few changes since then. The pool is closed since covid and most likely won’t reopen until next year. They also improved the dog park (another area where they need a bit of paint).

After unhitching and hooking up the trailer we headed into Memphis to do a drive by of Graceland. The grounds looked green and shady but neither of us was up to walking much after Dollywood yesterday. We had a great dinner at Marlowe’s Ribs and checked out their in restaurant gift store and Elvis paraphernalia scattered around.

Tomorrow we head to Oklahoma

Take care y’all

Today we spent the day in Dollywood. For those that live in Virginia it has a similar feel to Busch Gardens with trees and hills.

The staff here are very welcoming and all wore masks and gloves. Our temperature was checked upon entrance. While 90% of the tourists wore masks about 10% left their noses out. We still felt very safe as we stayed away from all the rides and just enjoyed our walk around the park.

We did enjoy a very southern lunch which we ate early to avoid as many people as possible. The only area we went to that was a bit crowded was when Margie went to get her cinnamon bread from the Grist Mill.

Max has a good time at Doggywood which was difficult at first to locate as I paid for preferred parking which has a different entrance into the park. We did finally find it off to the aide of the main entrance and Max settled in for a 6 hour stay. There were a variety of different prices for boarding your pet there and if you have a second dog it’s $5 extra.

Tomorrow we head to Memphis.

Take care y’all

Another year and another trip underway. This year I am driving my travel trailer to California to pick up my nieces and my nephew. Since we have a travel trailer we can be self contained. I can order groceries and pick them up at the store with no contact. I also brought a bunch of games and crafts to keep the kids busy and away from others.

While we won’t be visiting a ton of places, we will be driving within easy sight distance so the kids will be able to view the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone and Mt Rushmore. It will take us 2 weeks to return to Virginia and while I do have to hop out and pump gas we can semi quarantine while we travel.

My great friend, Margie, is along for the ride and she has brought her dog Max (Dave’s youngest is going to be so excited to meet him). Max has his own Instagram page Max_Mad_Adventure so there will be quite a few pictures posted there.

Today was a long drive to Sevierville/Pigeon Forge TN. I was happy to see they still have the wooden go cart multi level track that I took the boys to back in 2014. This trip we stayed at a KOA which is quite packed and I needed several blocks to be level. It was really nice that they had express check in and came out to my vehicle and had someone in a golf cart take us to our spot. Since we are self contained I most likely won’t use the showers or laundry so I can’t let anyone know about those.

Take care y’all.

We will soon be traveling to the land down under. Pat has a conference in Sydney, Australia. We won’t be there long as Sean has school and Brian has a job interview (fingers crossed).

The flight is very long so we decided to stop and visit my best friend in Abu Dhabi for one day before arriving in Sydney. Her daughter, Bella, has her birthday on the 24th and mine is the 26th so we will have a small celebration. Pat has never visited AD before and Sean hasn’t visited since he was 3. Brian visited last year over spring break and we had time to see quite a bit. This visit is going to be just to a local mall and then dinner with friends as we only have Saturday to visit. Sunday we head out for out last leg to Australia.

We will arrive Monday very early to Sydney and will head to our AirBNB which is located North Bondi with beautiful beach views. Our fall is their spring so we are lucky and won’t have to switch seasonal clothes. I do think I am the only one bringing a swimsuit. We will only have Monday – Wednesday to sight see. Pat’s conference is Thursday morning. Thursday early evening we head to New Zealand.

Friday we have a tour guide to see some sites around Auckland. Saturday is the day we are really excited about. We get to go see Hobbiton where LOTR (Lord of the Ring) and the Hobbit movies were filmed. We are all excited to see it. Well maybe not Brian.

We are sad we will only have time to get a small taste of each country, but we have to get back for Sean’s school.

I am very excited that I will once again be on the road. We have changed things up a bit. Brian, my oldest, is working at Jax Performance learning how to repair cars. He would love to focus on the performance end, but he knows he needs to learn general repairs first so he is out of going on trips. Sean, now almost 17, will be home during summer taking computer programming courses to help him obtain a job when he graduates June 2020 so he is also out. Pat needs to have consistent computer internet access, so he is out as well. Occasionally the boys might come along on my jaunts, but it won’t be often. This leaves me with dragging my friends kids along on trips.

The plan is to take my best friend’s two kids on a quick trip this summer and drop them off at their Grandparents in Boerne, Tx. Before I do that, I will be on a Spring Break trip to DE. I am going to help another best friends son install kitchen cabinets (provided there aren’t unknown issues). Sean and Pat will both be coming with me! Our campsite is a short walk to the beach. We hope to visit the beach in the morning then work on his kitchen after lunch.

What I am truly excited about is our new rig! Pat and I debated over a travel trailer or a fifth wheel. I was attempting to stick to a low budget, but caved when we entered one that was twice what I wanted to spend but it was love at first sight. Unlike our last 2 rigs, the plan is to keep this one.

Today we drove to Argentia to the Marine Atlantic ferry terminal. It’s a bit more restrictive than the Sydney terminal. If you enter the building you need your ID and password ticket to get back to your car. 

We entered this ferry in a completely different manner and the kids were happy to see we had another 4 berth cabin. Especially when they learned we would be on this ferry overnight. 

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Today we arrived in St. John’s on the east coast of Newfoundland.  Before we drove to our hotel we headed to Ferryland.

While we weren’t able to get a picnic (from Lighthouse Picnics) we did walk out to the lighthouse.  Although reluctant at first, both boys enjoyed the walk. Brian was even nice to Sean and gave a ride at one point. 

We stayed at the luxurious Jag hotel. We were upgraded to a suite with a giant sectional sofa and an extremely comfortable bed. 

Our second day I walked around St. John’s looking in all the boutiques for gifts and souvenirs.  This locale has bars all over the place. I’m sure all the cruise ship passengers spend a lot of time in the bars since there are so many. 
Tomorrow we head out again to catch another ferry. 

Take care y’all