From June to November 2018 and July to September 2019, my husband, Reid, and I traveled the country with our collie, Lincoln, in a 1999 Winnebago Brave (Class A) RV. The below table is a travel log listing where we adventured and what we explored!
This is just a quick list to give an idea for what we did, but my intent is to write up posts for each location and link to more stories and pictures from each place, so check back for that soon.
We have a short-lived Instagram account for some of our travel photos called @tumbleweedsinthewind, if you’d like to check it out. We picked that name because it’s one of my favorite lines of Jack’s from Titanic, which I was re-watching for about the 60th time in spring 2018, and thought, “Hey, that’s actually kinda how Reid and I live our lives.”
We’re both extremely go-with-the-flow and fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants type of planners, all sorts of travel included. I mean, the way the whole RV idea came to fruition was basically just us allowing ourselves to get fully caught up in our own wind of inspiration and taking immediate action to make it happen, and it all happened so fast. And for the duration of living full-time in the RV, our travel style was pretty much the same, as in, we’d be in a city and say to each other, “We should probably figure out where we’re heading tomorrow…”
| Date | Where | What |
| 2018 | – | – |
| Friday, June 1 | Redondo Beach, CA | D’s last day of work, cleaning house for the new roommate replacing us, driving truckloads of our mattress and other stuff over to where the RV was parked in front of our friends’ house. Slept on the couch to wake up early and hold a yard sale. |
| Sat – Thu, June 2 -7 | Lomita, CA | Held a yard sale! Saturday was the first night we slept in the RV parked in our friends’ neighborhood that allowed street parking. Spent the days doing more downsizing to fit in RV, donating what we were getting rid of and what was left of the yard sale remains to Goodwill, and cleaning. Had people over to the RV for Little Caesar’s Wednesday night, then more travel prep Thursday including taking boxes of stuff we were keeping (sentimental wall hangings and wedding gifts) to Greyhound for shipping back to Texas. |
| Fri – Sun, June 8 – 10 | On Western in LA | A cop told us we had to relocate where we were parking the RV, so moved to a street in unincorporated LA County. Saturday attended a bday party for our friends’ daughter turning one, then Sunday I got my nails done with a friend and hung out for the last time before we would drive off. |
| Monday, June 11 | Eastern CA | Dumped the RV tanks for the first time, then stayed in a Casino parking lot |
| Tuesday, June 12 | Phoenix, AZ | Stayed overnight in an Autozone parking lot because the check engine light was on and Reid was working with the employees there to troubleshoot it |
| Wed – Thu, June 13 – 14 | Tucson, AZ | More RV repair work Wed, then dinner with Emalie & Charles. Thursday we took Lincoln to their dog park, and parked overnight there. |
| Fri – Sun, June 15 | Santa Fe, NM | Dinner and drinks Fri with friends from CA who met us there! Saturday – Meow Wolf and breweries. Sunday – Lavender Festival. |
| Mon – Thu, June 18 – 21 | Albuquerque, NM | Drove Monday to stay in the Walmart parking lot. Tue – had dinner and ice cream with Tyler. Wed – hiked petroglyphs with Lincoln. Thu – Indian Pueblo Cultural Museum then drove to RV park in Roswell. |
| Friday, June 22 | Roswell + Carlsbad Caverns | UFO Museum in Roswell then drove to explore Carlsbad Caverns, then drove to just outside of Lubbock for an overnight free parking spot |
| Saturday, June 23 | Lubbock, TX | Prairie Dog Town then Ranching Museum and Bahama Bucks before driving to McKinney for French Dip dinner with my parents! |
| Sun – Thu, June 24 – 28 | McKinney, TX | Sun – Pool day and pizza with friends. Mon – Mom & I organized our RV pantry, then Reid & I made “New Mexico hot chicken” for dinner. Tue – More organizing of the fridge and cabinets with Mom, queso and margs happy hour(s) with Caitlin. Wed – RV Cleaning day, Whataburger lunch, dinner with Tretchen and saw their house in the country. Thu – Did inventory of Greyhound shipped boxes then headed east. |
| Thursday, June 28 | Lafayette, LA | Overnight at Atchafalaya Welcome Center |
| Friday, June 29 | Ft. Walton, FL | Left RV in Hammond, LA then brought Lincoln to and spent night with Jenna |
| Sat – Sun, June 30 – July 8 | Orange Beach, AL | Garcia Beach Trip, then with Maggi & Lee on Ono Island |
| Monday, July 9 | Ono to Ft. Walton to NOLA | Left the beach, lunch with and got Lincoln from Jenna, drove back to get RV in Hammond, then drove to RV park in NOLA |
| Tue – Sat, July 10 – 14 | New Orleans, LA | Tue – Picked up AM + UE from New Orleans airport, dinner at Chophouse Wed – Sat: Gulf Games board gaming convention |
| Sun – Mon, July 15 – 16 | Hammond, LA | Dropped AM & UE back at the airport, went to Franklin Ave Baptist Church, then drove to Camping World in Hammond, LA where they had the nicest free overnight spots for customers. Mon – Made Disney’s Brown Derby Chopped Cobb Salad for lunch, and also had it for dinner while parked for free at Camping World |
| Tue – Fri, July 17 – 20 | Baton Rouge | Tue – Pizza and beer with the Chesteens. Wed – Used BR as home base to drive west in LA. Got Bayou Teche Brewery flight then Boudin from two places and saw live music at the Wurst Biergarten. Thu – Day trip to Tabasco Avery Island Tour, made Grits & Grillades for dinner. Fri – Laundry day, left RV in BR and drove car back to NOLA. |
| Fri – Sun, July 20 – 29 | NOLA | Fri – Dropped Lincoln off at Rover sitter, dinner with the Corbin fam then Bourbon Street with Jenna & Tyler. Sat – Thu: Corbin Cruise out of NOLA! Fri – Sun: Garcia cousin trip |
| Monday, July 30 | Baton Rouge | Local Italian Restaurant lunch, then drove to Alexandria |
| Tuesday, July 31 | Alexandria, LA | Yoga with Mark & Anita, dinner at their house |
| Wednesday, August 1 | Texarkana | Overnight at church after mirror fell off on highway |
| Thursday, August 2 | Hot Springs, AR | Drove into AR once it was clear insurance wasn’t getting back to us anytime soon, hiked in Gulpha Gorge Campgrounds |
| Friday, August 3 | Little Rock, AR | Cheese dip lunch then Clinton Presidential Library, then drove to Springdale (just outside of Fayetteville), stayed at Walmart and went out on Dickson street |
| Saturday, August 4 | Fayetteville, AR | Hiked Whitaker Point then drove to Mexico, MO |
| Sun – Wed, August 5 – 8 | Mexico, MO | Sun – Queso lunch and family visits with the Dickherbers. Mon – Day trip to Columbia to see Mizzou and get pizza and ice cream concretes w/ the Dickherbers. Tue – Day of nothing, where we actually accomplished cleaning the RV and brushing Lincoln. Wed – Laundromat and attempt to fix AC. |
| Thu – Sun, August 9 – 12 | Kansas City | Thu – Drove to KC then Jack Stack BBQ dinner. Fri – WWI Museum, Big Rip Brewery flight. Sat – Q39 BBQ then more WWI Museum. Sun – Toys & Miniatures Museum, pizza and Boulevard 12-pack. |
| Mon – Fri, August 13 – 17 | St. Louis, MO | Mon – Drove to SL, hiked at Graham Cave and tried to use this mean man’s dump station along the way. Tue – Coffee shop to get computer work done, then Gooey Butter Cake and coffee at Russell’s. Wed – Reid worked on the AC most of the day, then took me on a date night to get St. Louis-style pizza and saw some live music at a whiskey bar for #WhiskeyWednesday. Thu – Budweiser Brewery Tour Fri – Holocaust Museum before driving |
| Saturday, August 18 | Rend Lake, IL | Explored Shawnee National Forest by doing the Little Grand Canyon Hike |
| Sun – Mon, August 19 – 20 | Lincoln Lake State Park, IN | Sun – Drove then took Lincoln on a walk around the lake and our drone out for a spin. Mon – Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial in the morning before driving, and got Bojangles for dinner after parking at Walmart. |
| Tue – Thu, August 21 – 23 | Louisville, KY | Tue – Laundry day, dealing with re-routing our deliveries that got returned after General Delivery to USPS didn’t work thru Amazon. Wed – Kentucky Derby Museum and Churchill Downs tour, KY Hot Brown for lunch, Bulleit Bourbon distillery tour to kick off our own Bourbon trail! Thu – Finished KY Derby Museum exhibits I didn’t get to the previous day while Reid took our car to get the tire patched and oil changed, then Jim Beam distillery tour & tasting, and Outback for a dinner date with gift cards. |
| Friday, August 24 | Lexington, KY | Toured Wild Turkey and Woodford Reserve to complete our Bourbon Trail |
| Sat – Sun, August 25 – 26 | Newtown, OH | Spent 2 nights at the FMCA campground, catching up on RV chores and relaxing (resting) by streaming/gaming on wifi |
| Monday, August 27 | Cincinnati, OH | National Underground Railroad Freedom Center & Skyline Chili |
| Tue – Wed, August 28 – 29 | Dayton, OH | National Museum of the United States Air Force, Carillon Historical Park |
| Thu – Sat, August 30 – Sept 1 | Massillon & Canton, OH | Parked in Michael’s driveway, games & art |
| Sun – Tue, September 2 – 4 | Cleveland, OH | Parked in Berg’s driveway Sun – West Side Market Mon – Labor Day game gathering Tue – Rock & Roll Hall of Fame |
| Wednesday, September 5 | Pittsburgh, PA | Mattress Factory art museum, Czech food |
| Thursday, September 6 | Middle of PA | Day trip in car to Flight 93 National Memorial – so emotional |
| Fri – Mon, September 7 – 10 | N. Pennsylvania | Stayed a night in Red Bridge Campground in Allegheny National Forest, then to the prettiest Walmart parking lot we’d seen, cut into the side of a forested mountain. Walked to buy beer in the rain, and watched the season 1 finale of 13 Reasons Why, sharing headphones, from the same side of a Taco Bell booth |
| Tue, September 11 | Buffalo, NY | Anchor Bar – the original Buffalo wings. Teddy Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site. Cut my own hair on a whim. |
| Wed – Sat, September 12 – 15 | Niagara Falls, NY | Maid of the Mist. Niagara Power Plant museum. Ellicott Creek Island Dog Park. |
| Sun – Tue, September 16 – 18 | Toronto, ON | Crossed into Canada! Kensington Market, Etienne Brule Park, Distillery District. |
| Wed – Fri, September 19 – 21 | Algonquin Provincial Park | Saw a moose! Actually camped with a firepit and s’mores at an RV site just east of the park. |
| Sat – Sun, September 22 – 23 | Gatineau & Ottawa | Canadian Museum of History, Byward Market, Jacques-Cartier Park for Mosaiculture, Parliament Hill |
| Monday, September 24 | Montreal | Orange Juleps, fresh sesame & poppyseed bagels, Schwartz’s sandwich, Notre Dame, poutine fries |
| Tuesday, September 25 | Quebec City | Day trip via car, saw Parc de l’Esplanade & Saint-Roch |
| Wed – Fri, September 26 – 28 | Cambridge, VT | Crossed back into the states! Went to Ben & Jerry’s in Waterbury, hiked Sterling Pond, made In-N-Out burgers in the RV |
| Saturday, September 29 | Shelburne, VT | Shelburne Farms dairy farm, bought cheese and bread |
| Sunday, September 30 | Berlin, VT | Parked at Walmart, then day-tripped to hike at Dog Mountain in St. Johnsbury and visit + buy Cabot cheese on the way back |
| Monday, October 1 | Waterbury, VT | Cold Hollow Cider Mill tour, plus Boyden Valley Winery tasting right next door |
| Tue – Wed, Oct 2 – 10 | Epping, NH | Reid drove me to Boston airport to fly to DFW for the Taylor Swift Reputation tour concert that weekend! He stayed in NH, worked on the RV, I returned the 10th |
| Thu – Sun, Oct 11 – 14 | Portland, ME | Explored with the Garcias! Lobstah rolls, happy hour bar-hopping food tour, dancing |
| Monday, October 15 | Nobleboro, ME | Drove to then stayed at an RV campground |
| Tuesday, October 16 | Acadia National Park | Day-tripped and had unintentional perfect timing to see the sunset from the most amazing viewpoint |
| Wednesday, October 17 | Boston then Portsmouth, NH | Picked up friends at the Boston airport, saw Lexington Battle Green, Minute Man National Historical Park, Concord River, & Walden Pond, then made homemade Taco Bell cheesy gordita crunches and crunchwrap supremes for dinner in the Walmart parking lot in Portsmouth 🙂 |
| Thu – Fri, Oct 18 – 19 | Thornton, NH | Stayed just south of White Mountain National Forest, hiked in the forest |
| Sat – Wed, Oct 20 – 24 | Boston, MA | Prudential Center & Eataly, Boston Public Garden, Boston National Historical Park & USS Constitution Museum, JFK Presidential Library, Quincy Center |
| Thursday, October 25 | Rhode Island | Brown University in Providence and The Breakers in Newport then drove into CT and stayed at RV park near Woodstock |
| Friday, October 26 | Hartford, CT | The Mark Twain House & Museum |
| Saturday, October 27 | New Haven, CT | Saw Brittany & watched her debate team at Yale |
| Sunday, October 28 | “Upstate” NY 🙂 | Newburgh and West Point US Military Academy |
| Monday, October 29 | NYC | Liberty State Park, Ellis Island, Chinatown soup dumplings, The High Line train track art walk |
| Tue – Wed, Oct 30-31 | New Jersey | BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir (Hindu temple), Seaside Heights of Jersey Shore (ghost town), Atlantic City |
| Thu – Fri, Nov 1 – 2 | Philadelphia, PA | The Original Tony Luke’s Philly cheesesteaks “wiz wit”, Washington Square, National Mint, Independence Hall, and Liberty Bell |
| Sat – Tue, Nov 3 – 6 | Baltimore, MD | With Callen – Fort McKenry National Monument, Locust Point Steamers, Oregon Ridge Park |
| Wednesday, November 7 | Delaware | Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge, Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Royal Farms world-famous fried chicken |
| Thursday, November 8 | Assateague Island | Saw wild horses! Then Reid drove us down through Virginia Beach late night |
| Friday, November 9 | Outer Banks of NC | Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, Wright Brothers National Memorial & Kitty Hawk |
| Sat – Wed, Nov 10 – 14 | Cary, NC | With AM & UE – SideBar, Bojangles, Guasaca, Death & Taxes, Soca, Boxcar Bar + Arcade, The Pit BBQ, Chuy’s, Cinebistro. On the 14th, Reid drove the car to SC for the Garcia guys’ trip, then I drove the RV for the first time by myself the next day! |
| Thu – Tue, Nov 15 – 20 | Charlotte, NC | With Grammie & Norb and Grandpa & Pat |
| Wed – Sun, Nov 21 – 25 | Nashville & Memphis, TN | Car trip to Nashville Garcias for Thanksgiving – Hattie B’s Hot chicken, Broadway. Day trip to Memphis Fri – Central BBQ, National Civil Rights Museum |
| Sunday, November 25 | Lynchburg & Chattanooga, TN | Jack Daniels distillery, stayed overnight in Chattanooga |
| Mon – Thu, Nov 26 – 29 | Asheville & Charlotte, NC | Mon – Toured the Biltmore House with Grammie & Norb, then got German food at Berliner Kindl on the way back to Charlotte Tue – Thu: with grandparents |
| Fri – Sun, Nov 30 – Dec 2 | Murrells Inlet, SC | Car trip to see Nikki – bar hopped on the Marshwalk, Huntington Beach State Park |
| Mon – Wed, Dec 3 – 5 | Charlotte, NC | Back with grandparents, then winterized & left the RV in Grandpa’s driveway to travel home for the holidays by car |
| Thursday, December 6 | Lake Sidney Lanier, GA | Slept on the lake in a houseboat with Scott & Kendall |
| Fri – Thu, Dec 7 – 13 | Fort Walton Beach, FL | With Jenna & Tyler |
| Friday, December 14 | NOLA & Alexandria, LA | The National WWII Museum then spent the night with Mark & Anita |
| Sat – Mon, Dec 15 – 17 | Lewisville, TX | Spent the weekend with Kenny & Casey before heading back to McKinney! |
| Dec 2018 – June 2019 | McKinney, TX | Lived with Reid’s parents, worked together on his online course |
| 2019 | — | — |
| Wed – Sat, July 10 – 13 | Charlotte, NC | Drove back to the RV after the Garcia beach trip 2019. De-winterized the RV at Grandpa’s then Reid worked on other maintenance and repair projects with Norb to get us up and running again to head Northwest! |
| Sunday, July 14 | Fayetteville, Lansing, & Charleston, WV | Canyon Rim Visitor Center, New River Bridge, Sheetz pepperoni rolls |
| Monday, July 15 | Indianapolis, IN | Indianapolis Motor Speedway & Museum |
| Tue – Wed, July 16 – 17 | Milwaukee, WI | Wisconsin Cheese Shop, Miller, Lakefront Brewery tour & cheese curds, Culver’s |
| Thu – Sun, July 18 – 21 | Minneapolis / St. Paul | Stayed just east of the border in River Falls, WI technically, since there was a cheap RV site at a city/county park with a baseball field and disc golf course, then drove into the city to brewery/bar hop with a friend. Juicy Lucy at Matt’s Bar, Mall of America. |
| Monday, July 22 | Des Moines, IA | Pappajohn Sculpture Park |
| Tuesday, July 23 | Omaha, NE | Runza lunch then Jerico’s for dinner |
| Wednesday, July 24 | Ashland, NE | Cornfield photoshoot, Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum |
| Thu – Tue, July 25 – 30 | Denver, CO | Thu – Got RV set up at a site in Standley Lake Park, then Stanton’s apartment. Fri – Mon: Reid flew to San Diego for an in-person conference for online businesses, and I explored Denver with Stanton & friends Tue: Reid did some maintenance on RV, replaced air filter |
| Wednesday, July 31 | Grand Junction, CO | Overnight stop at Walmart, heading to Utah |
| Thu – Sat, Aug 1 – 3 | Moab, UT | Thu: Arrived, set up, and cleaned the RV at ACT Campground. Fri: Arches National Park Sat: Island in the Sky, Canyonlands National Park, then back to Arches for The Windows hike and Delicate Arch |
| Sun – Mon, August 4 – 5 | Southeast Utah | Natural Bridges National Monument, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area |
| Tuesday, August 6 | Boulder, UT | Tue: Capitol Reef National Park, Dixie National Forest |
| Wed – Thu, August 7 – 8 | Escalante, UT | Wed: Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, trail rode the slot canyons by mule-back, Escalante Visitor Center Thu: Reid hiked slot canyons near Peek-a-boo Canyon all by himself |
| Friday, August 9 | Bryce Canyon, UT | Bryce Canyon National Park Visitor Center, Bryce Natural Bridge, Yovimpa Point, Agua Canyon, Inspiration Point, Sunrise Point |
| Fri – Mon, August 9 – 12 | Springdale, UT | Tent camping for Zion National Park adventure with the Dickherbers! Fri: Left RV on BLM land, dropped Lincoln at Rover sitter in La Verkin, rented our gear to hike the Narrows, then arrived and set up camp at Zion Canyon Campground. Sat: Woke up before 6 am to shuttle to the Narrows trailhead, and hiked with three small children, through water, for over 5 hours. Then we collapsed at camp. Sun: Hiked Canyon Overlook Panorama Mon: Packed up camp, got Lincoln and RV, then drove to SLC |
| Mon – Tue, Aug 12 – 13 | Salt Lake City, UT | Mon: Got Arctic Circle for dinner, with delish fry sauce Tue: Temple Square, Assembly Hall, Church History Museum, then Litzas Pizza for dinner |
| Wed – Thu, August 14 – 15 | Moose, WY | Wed: Shadow Mountain Area Camping in Bridger-Teton National Forest Thu: Craig Thomas Discovery & Visitor Center, Grand Teton National Park, Jenny Lake Trail, Hidden Falls Trail, Cascade Canyon Trail, Moose Ponds Trail, Jackson Lake Dam |
| Friday, August 16 | Alta, WY | Drove RV up through Yellowstone National Park! Grant Visitor Center, Old Faithful, Sapphire Pool. |
| Saturday, August 17 | BLM Land by Henry’s Lake | Hung out at the RV on free camp land we’d parked on Friday night |
| Sunday, August 18 | Yellowstone National Park | Day-tripped to everywhere we missed Friday. Mammoth Hot Springs. Hiked with Lincoln. Inspiration Point. Yellowstone Lake. Saw wildlife. |
| Mon – Tue, Aug 19 – 20 | Ennis, MT | Mon: Set up site at Ennis RV Village, then tasting at Willie’s Distillery Tue: Yesterday’s Soda Fountain & Ennis Pharmacy, Deemo’s Meats for jerky, drove to Bozeman |
| Wednesday, August 21 | Bozeman, MT | Reid went to the Museum of the Rockies (Danielle was museum-ed out by then). |
| Thursday, August 22 | Denver, CO | Pizza Hut buffet lunch in Buffalo, WY on the drive, because cheap =D Parked RV in the same Standley Lake area, then headed to Stanton’s apartment! |
| Fri – Sun, Aug 23 – 25 | Dillon, CO | Garcia Cousin Trip 2019! Fri: Lunch at Woody’s Wood Fired Pizza in Golden on way to Dillon. Arrived to and shopped for our Airbnb. Sat: Played on a playground, hiked in Arapaho National Forest Sun: Arapahoe Cafe for brunch |
| Aug 26 – Sep 9 | Longmont, CO | Camped at Boulder County Fairgrounds RV park for their max limit of two weeks, because cheap! |
| Tue – Wed, Sep 10 – 11 | Drove thru KS and OK | Walmart parking lot overnights |
| Thursday, Sep 12 | Fort Worth, TX | Parked the RV on the Tretchen’s land to continue road-tripping in the car |
| Friday, Sep 13 | Lewisville, TX | Celebrating Kenny’s birthday, left at 7pm then stopped to rest overnight in MS |
| Sat – Sat, Sep 14 – 21 | Navarre, FL | Corbin Family Trip @ Jenna & Tyler’s, with a private chef, beach days, and games! |
| Sep – Nov 2019 | GA, NC, TN, AL, & MS | Road-tripped in the car some more to family visits for our last hurrah as nomads until we moved into our McKinney apartment in November. 🙂 |