I guess you could say we’ve been offline for six months, but that doesn’t mean we’ve been idle. In February and March we took various trips with family to Ft. Wilderness at Disney World with our youngest family, to Wrightsville Beach with our daughter and son-in-law, and to Orlando to cheer on our oldest grandson at a Florida State Championship swim meet. Also in March we went to Tallahassee for a Winnebago Navion/View rally and to catch up with dear friends from high school/college days, as well as to Savannah and Skidaway Island State Park to visit some favorites sites and explore some new ones. Then in April we spent a week in Jupiter at Jonathan Dickinson State Park and from there met family at Periwinkle RV Park on Sanibel Island. In May, it was Gainesville to celebrate our oldest granddaughter’s 21st birthday. Yet it’s only now, the first of August, that we feel like we are truly on the road again.
We began what I’ll call our Grand Teton to Grand Canyon trip two weeks ago. It has certainly been eventful already. RVer’s know to expect the unexpected and we’ve had our share of surprises. First, in Louisiana a wheel sensor on the RV went out giving Larry a dashboard full of warning lights, one of which insisted we get service immediately. That’s always concerning when you know Mercedes Sprinter service centers are far and wide between, and you know from a friend in the same situation that the RV can go into “limp mode” restricting travel to 20 miles per hour. Fortunately, we were only 125 miles from a dealer, and didn’t have the limp mode thing happen to us. The Shreveport Mercedes Benz dealer was fantastic and had us back on the road in 1/2 a day. Then in Dallas our air conditioner died, and we knew getting it repaired or replaced was a long shot. Sure enough the supply issue impacting so many businesses right now is also a problem when it comes to obtaining replacement parts for RV AC units. Of course this happened during a record setting heat wave across the west. Nonetheless, we’ve already had some wonderful experiences and seen some beautiful
In Florida we stayed our first night at the Falling Waters State Park and visited a unique Florida waterfall that drops 80+ feet into a deep sinkhole. It was quite the beautiful little spot.
Further down the road, we specifically went through Dallas (we normally avoid large cities) to go to the American Railroad Museum in Frisco. The model railroad which takes up approximately 2500 square feet was enchanting and had beautiful detailing. We thoroughly enjoyed it and were glad we made the effort to stop there. Plus it gave us the opportunity to stay at the Hickory Creek Corps of Engineers campground on Lewisville Lake, now one of our favorite campgrounds.
Then we were on to Palo Duro Texas State Park, and that’s where the heat and no AC was treacherous. The park is a gorgeous canyon, and had it not been so ridiculously hot the hiking would have been fabulous. Inside the RV the temperature got to 103 degrees and never got below 90 degrees even at night. It was pretty miserable, and we nearly left early, but are thankful we didn’t, because we stayed for the Texas Musical, a fabulous play presented against the backdrop of the Canyon. It wildly exceeded our expectations and we highly recommend it.
Lastly, we headed to higher elevations and at least somewhat cooler weather in the Colorado Springs area. There we experienced the climb (I should make clear it was the drive - no way we hiked it) up Pike’s Peak to an elevation over 14,000 feet. The views are spectacular and the elevation does take a sea level Floridian’s breath away. We also had the privilege of visiting the Garden of the Gods Park, a must do if you are in Colorado Springs.
Now we are heading our way west to the Ouray area of Colorado, and we are happy to be sitting in a state park along the Arkansas River with a temperature inside the RV, mid-afternoon, of 74 degrees, and an outside temperature of 64.
We’ve got much to see on this trip. Additional new sights in Colorado, a return to our beloved Yellowstone and Grand Teton parks, and then new, exciting national park adventures in Utah.
We’ll try to keep up with timely videos, so you can enjoy what we’ve been fortunate enough to experience, but remember you can always follow us on Instagram at LarryandBarbi, and if you subscribe to us on YouTube you’ll get notification as videos post.
We hope all is well with everyone. Stay safe and healthy, and remember:
“Make the best of everyday!”.
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