KANSAS CITY TO MONTROSE, SD ...

Even more miles are behinds now! We are 1,609 miles from our house and still have many more miles ahead of us. The plan for now is to land a day early tomorrow, at our first scheduled reservation. At that point we can slow the roll and really begin to enjoy the journey.  Hopefully my cactus and herbs from the house will make the entire journey ...

Along the way we began to see previously flooded areas. Then we realized we were driving through them. Not for a few miles or ten miles but for probably at least a hundred miles. Devastating. This was all along the Missouri River today. Houses, crops, businesses and silos. All either in water or had been and I’m sure this wasn’t even the worst of it. In doing a quick search this began all the way back in March both from rain and snow melt. It all kinda sinks in knowing that where we were driving had recently been under water. 

For tonight we have landed at Pioneer Campground in Montrose, South Dakota. This is north west of Sioux Falls, SD. This is such a sweet little town. The city owned campground is right in town. Tim and I took Jett for a casual little walk into town after we got settled. 

On our return to the Airstream I made some of Tara’s World Famous Egg Roll Bowl for dinner. Tasty! Life is good! 

Today’s quote ... 

“As soon as I saw you, I knew a grand adventure was about to happen.” - Pooh 

Miles Driven Today - 410 miles 

Temperature - 79*

Elevation - 1,500’

KENTUCKY TO KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI ...

The weather in Kentucky last night was perfect for leaving the windows open. It was great even though I didn’t get much sleep. Jett took up half the bed and refused to move. But what made up for it was that I love the sound of the bugs coming to life at darkness, the soothing sounds as they slowly get quieter during the night, the smell of a distant campfire and the start of the song birds chirping right before sunrise to waken me for another day of adventure. 

Once up and about Jett and I took a nice walk down to the boat ramp while Tim got the truck ready for departure. Then we began heading west. 

The day was uneventful. We just focused on putting miles behind us in order to make our first reservation on Saturday. The day ended with us finding a nice place just outside of Kansas City, Missouri at Blue Springs County Park. 

Today’s quote ...

‘The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.’ - Eleanor Roosevelt 

GEORGIA TO KENTUCKY ...

Jett let us sleep in just a little this morning. Either that or I was so exhausted I didn’t hear her whining to be fed. After her breakfast she and I took a nice little walk to the dog run to get some running in! 

With ourselves having put over 40,000 miles on this Airstream this will be our longest trip yet. We have taken many one month and even a two month journey plus uncountable one week trips. This one will be the biggest yet. With about 8,000 miles to cover, out west and four months to do it in, we have a lot to see ahead of us! 

This afternoon we landed at Lake Barkley Resort State Park in Kentucky. This is an absolutely beautiful park and lucky for us it’s quiet and cool enough to open the windows and leave the a/c off. After getting settled in we had a cold adult beverage, cooked some chicken outside and took Jett for another walk. 

Tonight’s light show was amazing! Thinking we would get a beautiful night sky for star gazing Mother Nature instead surprised us at sunset with a few hundred lightning bugs! Now that it’s dark ... it’s really dark ... I can not see anything outside except a random lightning bug. Perfect. 

Follow me on Instagram!

alice_wymer

And at the end of the day, your feet should be dirty, your hair messy and your eyes sparkling ... ‘- Shanti

Miles driven:  360

Temperature: 71*

Elevation:  460’

TODAY IS THE DAY!!!

Today was the day of departure! Tim and I had a pretty uneventful day of traveling until the end of the day. Jett was a little fussy for the first hour but it was her first ride with the back seat in that configuration. 

Overall we drove 400 miles to Plan B which was Atlanta South RV Resort. Plan A was an old familiar stop for us at High Falls State Park south of Atlanta. We had arrived to a locked gate, no flyers for late check in instructions and no one answering the after hour numbers. We had to feed poor Jett in their parking lot because it was already past her feeding and she gets grumpy without food. 

Anyway Plan B got us farther north, full hook-ups and a closer re-entry to the interstate in the morning. We just had our drivers meeting and have decided to depart late in the morning to lessen the hot mess of traffic in Hot-tlanta on our way through. Onward. 

And we found a ‘cousin’ here! 

84° upon arrival

810’ Elevation 

Today’s quote ...

"I am losing precious days. I am degenerating into a machine for making money. I am learning nothing in this trivial world of men. I must break away and get out into the mountains to learn the news!" - John Muir

THE NEXT BIG ADVENTURE BEGINS SOON ...

After two years of planning the time has finally come. Tim and I were supposed to have taken this trip out west last year for our 30th Anniversary. Then my work got in the way so I postponed everything until now.  It allowed another year to plan some more details and to finish figuring out the journey. Our anniversary has since passed. More jobs have come and gone, shorter Airstream trips took place and additional work was able to be accomplished on our 1948 Airstream that we are restoring, so all was not lost. 

This trip will now hopefully be filled with all things adventurous, wild and wonderful. We will soar to new heights, explore many new places, search for the treasure again, take in some spectacular hikes, live the cowboy dream by some cozy campfires, watch as many sunrises and sunsets as possible, eat some amazing food and possibly go to another country but most of all we will be present in each day. There will be surprises both planned and not known along the way. But that’s what is it all about right? The journey and not just the destination.

Jett is ready to go! She knows a trip is in the works and is anxiously waiting for departure. Jett is so excited to be coming with us and already has her new sweater and coat, that she loves, packed and ready to go. Favorite toys and treats have also been set aside for the trip. She even has an invite to a special place in Montana! This trip had originally been planned around two dogs. We dearly miss our sweet Mattie who passed unexpectedly this past Christmas Eve. Mattie was our three year old black lab rescue. In her memory Mattie’s collar will travel with us. We know that a majority of this journey will be planned around Jett as many of our locations will not allow dogs on the trails (for her safety) and we will also need to be mindful of her while we go explore out on our own. 

Tim has tediously prepared as well. With no time for me to help do the final preparations he has had to take on more prep like polishing the Airstream plus doing all of the maintenance needed on both the Airstream and his truck for this long road trip. Bearings have been repacked. New tires and rims have been purchased and even new batteries were in order. Tim then decided last minute to get a new truck. The new truck then had to be rigged for this trip as well.

I have a few goals to accomplish on this journey. Other than spending this time with the best husband EVER and Crazy Jett I want to play my ukulele everyday, get some hammock time, practice yoga, see the Narrows again, have the courage to hike Angels Landing, be lucky enough to hike The Wave, sleep outside under the stars and come back a better person. Our departure is so near!!! 

Leaving you with a quote . . .

‘Our world is beautiful and many lifetimes wouldn't be enough time to see everything worth seeing, spend your time wisely and get a good look at as much as you can before it gets dark.’ — John Muir 

GREY TANKS AND BELLY PAN

Grey tank installation is complete and Tim has begun installing the belly pan. The weather in Florida has been great this past week. Hoping to make some good progress before the summer rains begin. 

FRESH WATER TANK INSTALL ...

Why RMax insulation you ask? Tim has previously used RMax under the floor of our 2004 Airstream International when the last 22” of the floor had to be cut out due to floor rot from the usual leak at the rear bumper. Attached is a picture in the belly of the ‘04 of the only fiberglass insulation left in the belly pan outside of the frame rail.  There was even less between the frame rail area. After seeing how poorly it performed he couldn’t force himself to ever put fiberglass insulation back under the subfloor of any Airstream.

Tim had another productive day today and was able to complete the final install of the fresh water tank.

BACK TO WORK . . .

After taking a break for the TCT 100th Winter Convention and making a trip to California for the Vintage Camper Trailer Boot Camp, Tim has been able to get back to work on the Liner. After much thought on the subject and having a bad experience with fiberglass insulation on our 2004 International, He decided to proceed with using closed cell foam under the subfloor. Over the weekend Tim was able to complete the ends.

CRISSY FIELD

The morning flew! We tried getting coffee at the Shasta in the courtyard of the hotel but they were busy and we needed to get moving. Tim and I had only a very short period of time to make one tourist stop before boarding a plane for our flight home. We decided on  making a visit to a National Park. 

Crissy Field you will recognize for its iconic backdrop The Golden Gate Bridge. Crissy Field was a former U. S. Army airfield. It is now a part of the Golden Gate National Recreation area. The sky was clear now. What a spectacular view we had of the bridge with the fog having just lifted. 

The Warming Hut there gave us a quick place for shelter not only to get warm but to also get a quick coffee, a souvenir and a glance at Alcatraz. With our departure nearing and not being sure of traffic we took what we thought to be our last glance of the Golden Gate Bridge to begin our journey home. 

The check in at SFO was a breeze. Our flight took off slightly early and with a big surprise as the pilot took a slight right bank over the Golden Gate Bridge. 

Tim and I have made it safely home. Now to unpack and get some sleep. Jett will be happy to come home in the morning! 

I HUGGED A TREE!

More on that in a bit. 

The morning came with rain. Tim and I drove back to Hollister for the last session of Boot Camp ... Insurance. Boring as it sounds it was worth the effort to attend. Long story short if you have a vintage coach it needs to be insured for its value and it must be appraised by a certified appraiser to get that value prior to an insurance company being able to insure it. You don’t want to find out when it’s too late that the insurance company will only pay you $500 if your trailer is totaled. Demand verses supply has been one of the factors increasing value. We have just realized we even need to do this with our 2004 Airstream. 

Boot  Camp was so well worth the money we invested into the trip getting out here to the west coast. We are already talking about how and when will we return. Will we fly back out? Do we tow a vintage coach here? 

After we said our goodbyes and had a quick breakfast near downtown Hollister we began our coastal drive north toward San Francisco. Sort of?! 

When more than one person tells you about the same ‘must do’ stop we decided we should go. Not much farther south of Monterey lays Point Lobos State Natural Reserve it wasn’t much farther than our first planned stop and it did not disappoint. We took a short hike to the cliffs. Gorgeous! 

Then Tim really wanted to go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Cannery Row so we be headed that way. As it turns out, it was a big mistake. We should have known better to hit a big tourist attraction on a Sunday. First we figured out that admission was $50 each, parking in their garage was $15 and the garage was full. Next best option we found was public parking for $30 ... we passed and only drove through town. 

As it turned out it was the best thing that could have happened. Instead of hanging there we headed off in search of Plan B ... Big Basin Redwoods State Park. WOW! AMAZING! I checked an item off my bucket list ... hugging a redwood!!! This detour put the disappointment of the aquarium in the rear view mirror. 

Next we continued our drive up the coast. Every turn was breath taking. Half Moon Bay leant for some of the most spectacular coastal views we have ever seen. Not the best pictures but best we could do without stopping. 

Sunset brought us to our hotel in San Francisco. We’ve not seen much here other than a little of Fisherman’s Wharf since we are right here. I think I saw a light over at Alcatraz! We heard some sea lions in the dark. We are exhausted from today’s travels. I feel as though we took a weeks vacation and squeezed it into a day. 

Tomorrow will come early. We will only have a few short hours before needing to arrive at the airport to head home tomorrow.