Traveling Across the United States: Open Road Chronicles

We had some amazing experiences while traveling the country in 2015! It was the year we bought our RV, bought our truck and then hit the road! We got stuck for a period in North Carolina (because it was so gorgeous and fun) and once we hit the road we took off fast! Here’s a glimpse of how our year was!

North Carolina
Raleigh Oaks RV Resort & Bear Creek RV Park

Being the first location for our RV full-timing lives, Raleigh was definitely our best starting point for our adventurous road trip to California. Leaving Raleigh was a bit of a challenge. The week we wanted to leave was the week there was a category 4 hurricane, we didn’t have the hurricane come to us but we had enough reason not to be on the road. Not only that, our next stop for our road trip was flooded because of the storm.

That brings me to our next location *Drum Roll Please!* Asheville, NC. I never would have thought that one state could have such a huge difference in landscape. Justin and I both enjoyed ourselves staying at Bear Creek RV Park. Nothing was to special about the Campgrounds, but the location was perfect and the staff was great. I honestly recommend Asheville to anyone with a yearn for mountain surrounding.

Tennessee
Anchor Down RV Resort & Ford Dealership

It was an amazing experience for both Justin and I to have traveled into a state neither of us had been in. We were both looking for our next destination and we knew we wanted to go to Tennessee but we had no idea where to start. Luckily someone on one of the Facebook pages for full-timing mentioned Anchor Down RV Resort. The location is in Dandridge, TN and is near Sevierville. The location was beautiful with mountains surrounding us. Every morning we had the pleasure of seeing the sunrise and every evening we saw the sunset.

We went to Anchor Down in October so the weather was a bit chilly… okay cold and the pool for the resort was closed and we definitely couldn’t swim in the lake at that time of year. For that we both recommend that if you want to experience Anchor Down in Tennessee you should go in the summer for the best experience. Once we packed up and were on the road again we ran into so truck problems in Dickson TN. Thankfully we noticed the problems before we traveled out of helps reach. Justin found a Ford dealership to fix both of our turbos and an exhaust leak that had caused the truck to lose power and burn more diesel than normal. The Ford dealership was kind enough to let us stay there with our RV for four days while they fixed the truck.

Just so you all know the cost for the truck to be fixed was $7,000… OUCH! Even though it was a bit much to fix the truck we were happy to be back on track to our next stop.

Texas
Amarillo RV Park

We made it to big Texas! Justin and I had been waiting to finally be in Texas since so many people were telling us about the restaurant Big Texan Steak House. It was a huge coincidence that the Amarillo RV park we stayed at is also owned by the restaurant, so when we told there staff we were heading out to dinner they said there is a complementary cab ride there and back! How cool is that. We only stayed one day and relaxed the whole time. Justin and i enjoyed there heated indoor pool and showers. and Teddy our dog enjoyed there dog park. After that relaxing day we took up the offer to have a limo drive us to dinner! I have never seen such a big restaurant in my life and they told us they are making a bigger one in the next two years! We loved the restaurant and we had the band play some Johnny Cash for us while we ate. What a treat.

One thing I wanted to add that we learned from a couple working at the RV park (RV Ranch). They told us about how they travel to RV parks they find jobs at through a sit called Workamper.com. Check it out if you love to work camp!

 Mora, New Mexico
Thanksgiving with Family

We stayed with Justin’s family in Mora, New Mexico for Thanksgiving. Now we did not live in the RV while we stayed there but we were thankful to have a break from our trip to California. I can say for the both of us this was by far one of our favorite places to stay at, not only did we have the best company for Thanksgiving but we experienced snow the day we left and it was breath taking.

Staying on a Mountain for a few days is definitely something everyone should have on there bucket list.

Flagstaff, Arizona
KOA

After traveling for hours we decided to stop at a KOA in Flagstaff, AR. We arrived at 12:00 in the morning but we still got to see this amazing entrance with Christmas lights. Now the only problem we had was getting into our lot since it was dark. We can’t complain though since we only were there for about six hours

Once we were half awake we stared to hit the road again… but our truck wouldn’t start! “uh oh” Thankfully one of the Employees offered to give our truck a jump. This was our fault since we did not prep the truck for cold weather and it was 29% outside! Lesson learned and we had a chance to learn the the RV park is located right under a volcano, how cool is that. And finally we were on our way to California!

Vacaville, California
Christmas with Family

I myself have to say that this last part of the trip was the longest in suspense! Once we passed the state line it felt like we were being pranked. No joke all Semis and trucks Hauling had to be in the right lane and top speed 55 mph. Now some of you probably only go that speed so no judgement please on our opinion on how we thought that was silly, but yeah that was fun on a straight road for five hours! Next was Highway 58 to Highway 99, silly me this was also the one time i wanted t drive with the RV. I have never Drove with the RV… So I picked the Windy road to drive on for the first time. Can’t say it wasn’t fun! Once all that was over with we stopped to get some coffee and five hour energy’s to get us to my parents house. On the the big surprise! We made a plan since we arrived a day early to knock on there door at twelve in the morning. I guess you can say there shocked. We both are so blessed to have that holidays with them.

We had a blast with our trip across that states and everyone we had the pleasure to meet along the way. Neither of us want to stop experiencing life through traveling and we hope everyone enjoys our experiences as much as we do!