Southwestern Trip

Walt Grayson took a trip out west in 2012 that I found very interesting.

Our own Southwestern trip covered some of the same area in 2005, and we were very aware there was much more to see that we just could not cram into a month. For instance, we bypassed Monument Valley because we were in such a hurry to get to the Grand Canyon.

Since our trip included parts of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas Hill Country, and Utah, there is really no way to share those photos because they are so numerous.

The main result of that month-long trip RVing in our Dutchman Travel Trailer is it caused us to decide we could live that way fulltime if we just had a bigger RV. So, we traded in our TT for a vintage Airstream motor home and hit the road in 2007.

We'd still like to be on the road from time to time RVing, but we're very happy living in Sweet Home Alabama.

Here's Walt's trip of Arches, Bryce, Zion and the Grand Canyon as well as some other points of interest in 10 days:
Arches,Bryce, Zion and the Grand Canyon

Be sure to watch the video to the end to see the head-in-the-hole photo op!

Missed it in 2005

As time has gone by, we've realized we should have seen Monument Valley. The photo we use for this blog is one of our favorites, but it was taken on a trip before we got into blogging. The trip we took out west was so good, we decided we'd love to RV fulltime if we just had something bigger than our Dutchmen travel trailer.

We'd planned to go into fulltiming in 2006, but it had to be postponed for health reasons. Ever since we left in our Airstream Land Yacht in the spring of 2007, we've felt like we were on a perpetual vacation. Now, we're settled in Lower Alabama, but we still love getting out and seeing the sights.

This video tells you what we missed on the day we bypassed Monument Valley on October 5, 2005, because we were in such a hurry to get to the Grand Canyon.

Monument Valley Sunrise to Moonrise 4.5 min.

Stop in Ocean Springs

WHEN? Thursday · April 8

WHERE? Ocean Springs, Mississippi · (On Biloxi Bay)


On our return trip from Jackson to Lower Alabama, we were treated to a unique lunch along the way. Not only did we discover an interesting place to eat, but it's at a location that has many nearby attractions.

If you'll look at our Flickr photo album on this stop in detail, you can begin to realize what a vacation stop this is, whether you're an RVer or a regular traveler. We are always talking up how much better it is to be in a restful setting while on vacation rather than being in an urban motel, and this one can fill the bill for a more restful spot where one can relax while enjoying some typical attractions that will entertain all ages.

Check it out on flickr:
The Shed - Camp Journey's End in Ocean Springs, Mississippi

Wales West Bluegrass Festival

WHEN? Saturday and Sunday · March 7 and 8

WHERE? Silverhill, Alabama · find us on the map

This is the 4th year that Wales West RV Resort has held their THANK YOU SNOWBIRDS BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL. The show takes place on both days of the weekend with eight musical groups participating. It's pretty much non-stop music from 10:30 AM to 5:00 PM each day with a half-hour break for lunch, during which sweet rolls, popcorn, chips, candy bars, cookies, ice cream, soft drinks, water, coffee, brats and hot dogs are available for sale at very reasonable prices. Also during the festival, train rides on the railroad were half price at $3.00.

It could not have been more convenient to attend this unless we were staying in the park itself because it is located just a few miles from where we live. The weather cooperated completely, beautiful, spring-like and sunshiny.

We tried to capture for you what the RV resort looks like where this festival took place. The owners, Ken Sr., Ken Jr., and Ann Zadnichek, have a really nice piece of property and seem to be continually improving on it.

Having been fulltime RVers, it was somewhat of a joke for us to realize that this park, along with most others in Lower Alabama, don't have the usual problem of having train tracks nearby to serenade the RVers all the time, night and day. So what did they do? They built the only authentic Welsh Victorian two-foot narrow gauge railway in the Americas right in their park. The good part is, this railroad only runs when they schedule it themselves.

Check out our Flickr photos at:

Wales West Bluegrass Festival

Wearable souvenirs

Carrying brochures and other travel mementos around in an RV can become cumbersome, particularly for full-timers. Wendell has adopted a convenient souvenir badge that even keeps his head warm:

Most of his hat pins were collected on our travels, although a few were gifts from friends and fellow tourists. So far, there's 20 pins on it.

For pin closeups and the stories behind them,
see Wendell's Travel Hat on flickr

The grommets on this hat make it look like maybe I've begun a souvenir hat like Wendell's. I don't have plans for one though, since I have my own wearable souvenir collection of t-shirts.

Move-in day

WHEN? Tuesday · March 11

WHERE? Foley, Alabama · find us on the map

Busy day! The U-Haul trailer's been emptied and returned, and there's only a few items remaining in the carport to be moved indoors ... tomorrow! For now, though, we're tired and calling it a day.

In spite of calling Foley home now, we've spent so many vacations here that it kinda seems like we're still visiting for fun-and-sun. With the motorhome parked nearby, the easy access will help us organize it for upcoming roadtrips. So we certainly do consider ourselves perpetual vacationers.

Read more about today's move-in at:

Moving in
LIVING ... MAEDEANS STYLE

Our easiest move ever

WHEN? Monday · March 10

WHERE? South Baldwin County, Alabama · find us on the map

Spending the night at: Rainbow Plantation

After moving our household at least eight times since we married, neither of us was looking forward to doing so again, and we're both pleasantly surprised that this one's been easier than expected. We managed to retrieve our belongings in Jackson and haul everything to Summerdale in a single day. After a good night's sleep, we expect tomorrow's move-in to go smoothly, too.

I heartily recommend getting rid of the bulk of one's belongings prior to moving. It makes all the difference!

As I followed the motorhome down the highway, I couldn't help but think it looked as though these two monsters were vying for first place:

New Home Base

WHEN? Friday · March 7

WHERE? Currently in Jackson, Mississippi

After toying with the idea of retiring on the Alabama Gulf Coast for twenty years or so ... And after hanging out on the Alabama Gulf Coast for a month or so ...

We're moving there next week!

Surprised? We are too! An unexpected opportunity landed in our laps that was so attractive we'd have felt like fools to say no. It's a perfect fit!

The new place has a screened-in porch like I've always wanted:

And ...

The kitchen has a built-in spice rack like Wendell's always needed:


More goodies:

• Just the right size for two
• Rural scenery in a retiree community
• Furnished, including appliances
• Attractive landscaping and covered parking

Click on the trailer door to see how much extra elbow room we'll have in our fancy new place! And before I forget... we prefer the term affordable prefabricated manufactured housing.

Staying South

WHEN? Wednesday · February 20 (today's second post)

WHERE? Just south of Hattiesburg, Mississippi · find us on the map

Motorhome parked at: Paul B. Johnson State Park

Stopped in Forrest County for a few days, with plans to do some sightseeing in the area.

Mae Dean and Wendell on the park office's porch swing

Special treat: Area waterfowl paid early-morning visits to our campsite, including a number of rare Mississippi swans.

When we'd had enough of the great outdoors, we discovered PBJ State Park's state-of-the-art game room, complete with music and pay-to-play recreation. Click on the Park Office doors for a do-it-yourself virtual tour:

Geocaching 101

WHEN? Tuesday · January 29

WHERE? South Baldwin County, Alabama · find us on the map

Motorhome parked at: Rainbow Plantation in Summerdale

• A new toy: We're the proud new owners of a handheld GPS unit
• A new hobby: Ever been geocaching? It's all the rage, and an excellent way to explore as we travel.
• Wendell even purchased a how-to book, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Geocaching – and might eventually read it.

But for now ...
The full-time RVing community's premiere geocaching experts have moved next door! Barb and Dave O'Keeffe have shown us the ropes with excellent hands-on training, so we've decided to not bother sticking our heads in a book for the time being. They operate as a team (Barb's the Navigator / Recorder, Dave's the Looker / Finder) and have been downright fun to learn from.

Dave helps Wendell celebrate his first geocaching find

---

Barb recorded three successful cache finds today:

• We began along the Fish River, where Dave found the day's first cache attached to the underside of a Mobile Bay Civil War Trail marker.
• Wendell's first ever Mardi-Gras-licious geocaching find was located in a local Baldwin County park
• A cleverly-concealed cache at Foley's L&N Depot Museum was inside a tiny Altoids box that had been painted black to match the locomotive

After abandoning our final search at a Foley Park gazebo, the four of us luppered in Gulf Shores at Original Oyster House.

We couldn't have asked for better geocaching mentors than Dave and Barb and expect to brave it on our own one day soon.

See more on flickr:
Geocaching photo collection

Investing in a good night's sleep

WHEN? Wednesday · January 9

WHERE? Robertsdale, Alabama · find us on the map

Motorhome parked at: Escapees Rainbow Plantation in Summerdale, Alabama

Full-time RVing comes with a price tag, but not necessarily a pricey one. After realizing that the Airstream's parking spot was un-comfortably un-level, we promptly drove to Camping World in search of a solution. (We'd been trying to dream up a reason to go anyway.)

After comparing the various RV leveling options available, we splurged for a 10-piece Leveler Block set. Ten bucks was a small price to pay for a creature comfort that stay-at-homers and hotel guests take for granted.

Home on the Leveler Blocks

South Alabama's RVer toy store

A year older and wiser

WHEN? Thursday · December 20

WHERE? Arlington, Texas · find us on the map

Has it really been only a year?
In spite of hitting the road as full-time RVers only last Spring, this lifestyle's busy-ness encourages quick "veteran-ship". Like last December, we met with several full-time RVers at Treetops RV Village in Arlington, where we swapped the past year's road-trip stories and shared upcoming travel plans. Before going separate ways, we made arrangements to get together again. When another Full-Timer tells us, "I know just what you mean" ... they really do!

Today's visit allowed us to catch up with several of our fellow 2006 Escapees graduates:

• Jeff and Suzanne · AKA The Canned Hams
• Dave and Barb · AKA Geocachers Extraordinaire
• Jim and Sherri · AKA The Datastormers
• And attending for his first year, Steve · AKA the guy whose website address I need to get

To view our party photos on flickr, visit
Escapees in the Treetops

On-the-go Internetting

WHEN? Thursday · November 29

WHERE? Jackson, Mississippi · find us on the map

Airstream parked at: Timberlake Campground

After several months of frustration, we hope we've found the Internet connection that will best serve our needs as fulltime RVers. We are getting wonderful connectivity in the Jackson area now with the Verizon Wireless PC5750 PC Card. We look forward to seeing how it works for us as we travel.

The addition to our PC Card line–up operates on our Rev. A broadband network with typical download speeds of 600–1400 kbps and uploads speeds of 500–800 kbps*. With the Verizon Wireless PC5750 PC Card and VZAccess Manager you can connect to corporate applications, email, instant messaging and the Internet. This PC Card also comes with a high performance hinged antenna and an external antenna connector to boost signal strength and improve network connectivity in fringe areas.

* Speed claim based on our network tests with 5 MB FTP data files without compression. Actual speeds and coverage may vary. If usage exceeds 5 GB/line/month, we reserve the right to reduce throughput speeds to a maximum of approximately 200 Kbps.

We're calling this purchase our HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY & HAPPY NEW YEAR gift to ourselves.

TCOB

WHEN? Tuesday · November 27

WHERE? Ross Barnett Reservoir just outside of Jackson, Mississippi · find us on the map

After spending 10 days with family at Thanksgiving in Olive Branch, Mississippi, we are now here TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS.

Jackson is the closest thing to home for us since we lived here last before going into fulltime RVing, and we lived here over 25+ years, which is longer than we have lived anywhere else.

This is our third day at Timberlake Campground. We're not sure how long we’ll be here, but the good news is they have full hookups and WiFi.

Hot off the presses

WHEN? Tuesday · September 25

WHAT? This edition's celebrity RVer

The Gypsy Journal September-October issue includes a photo of this Devils Tower celebrity after editor Nick Russell's summer visit to Wyoming:

Wendell's photo accompanied a well-written article about Devils Tower.

RVing from different angle

WHEN? Thursday · September 13

WHERE? Jamestown, Kentucky · find us on the map

Wendell and Mae Dean's newest assignment means fewer work hours and a variety of duties at Wolf Creek National Fish Hatchery. For the most part, they work out of the hatchery's fancy new Visitor / Environmental Education Center.

Mae Dean particularly recommends the hatchery's short-but-sweet virtual tour.

See more Wolf Creek Fish Hatchery photos on flickr

Like kids in a candy store

WHEN? Friday · September 7 · (today's second post)

WHERE? Mitchell, South Dakota · find us on the map

Lots of RVing goodies are available at Cabela's impressive 80,000 square-foot showroom, where Wendell and Mae Dean purchased a new Coleman stove.

See more Cabela's photos on flickr

No more paper clutter!

WHEN? Thursday · August 30

WHERE? Devils Tower National Monument

During her summer at Devils Tower, Mae Dean was introduced to newfangled self-adhesive bulletin boards. Since a place to post loose notes was needed in the RV, two of her generous coworkers presented her with her very own 3M Post-it® Self-Stick Bulletin Board as a going-away gift.

Thanks — it's perfect!

Never say never

WHEN? Wednesday · July 11

WHERE? Devils Tower campground

An unexpected crimp in Wendell's cooking plans:
Charcoal has been included in a temporary burn ban at Devils Tower. For perhaps the first time in his culinary career, he's considering purchasing (gasp!) a gas grill.*

This 2004 photo suggests that it's more
about the apparel than the grilling method

*IMPORTANT UPDATE!

Wendell did indeed purchase a tabletop Char-Broil™ gas grill at an area WalMart while running an official park errand. Mae Dean's been pleased with the meals cooked on it. You reckon he's converted?

World Travelers

WHEN? Tuesday · July 10

WHERE? Devils Tower Visitor Center

Bienvenidos Devils Tower!

Wendell's park assignment has given him the opportunity to meet travelers from all over the world, including England, Germany, Switzerland and Japan. He offers brochures in their native language to Japanese visitors, who arrive each Tuesday by the busload, and who thank him with lots of bowing. Several have even asked their gracious Devils Tower host to pose for photos with them.

Brochures are available in
Japanese / French / German / Spanish