Some of you have probably been wondering whether we’re ever going to get back on the road. Now that we have a baby with us, maybe we’ll decide to put down roots and abandon the fulltime RV lifestyle.
Eeeek! Even writing that sentence grates my sensibilities like fingernails on a chalkboard. We have been dying to start traveling again!
Let’s backtrack. We arrived in Central Texas at the end of July 2016. I was at the end of my second trimester and needed to be close to my OBGYN for appointments. After Caspian Theodore was born on Dec. 3, 2016, we had to stick around for his doctor’s appointments and vaccinations.
…We were itching to travel somewhere around August.
Oh, we’ve ping-ponged around a bit. San Marcos, Austin, Fredericksburg, Corpus Christi, back to San Marcos. It’s all been good and necessary, but we haven’t sniffed out any new trails in forever.
So we’re definitely traveling again. That’s settled. But when, and to where? Plans for the rest of 2017 are still tentative, but we have an idea of our general route. And we’re ready to share it!
2017 Travel Plans
Here’s the plan as it stands right now:
- Leave Central Texas on June 2 for Hot Springs, AR. We love Hot Springs and can’t wait to go back! In addition to revisiting Bathhouse Row and enjoying delicious burgers and cocktails at The Ohio Club, Eric can’t wait to go wheeling with our Jeep at Superlift ORV Park.
- Make tracks to the Bowling Green/Mammoth Cave area. If anyone has recommendations for this area, we’re all ears. We need full hookups, and a solid Verizon and/or AT&T connection.
- Head to Somerset, KY, where our friends live. We’ll basically be there for all of July.
Our sons, Darius and Javen, cuddling with our dear friends in Somerset, KY back in 2015- This is where our plans get tenuous. We might go to Asheville, NC at this point. We were originally planning to take the Blueridge Parkway south to Asheville, but that really doesn’t make sense since we’re coming from the west and the parkway runs from the east. I’m thinking we’ll go straight to Asheville and day trip up the parkway with the Jeep.
- From Asheville, we may go back to Savannah. Some of you may remember our 24-hour visit in 2014, when we stayed in the visitor’s center parking lot. Some of you may also remember that we always include Savannah in our Top 3 list of places we’ve visited since we started fulltime RVing.
Enjoying one of historic Savannah’s gorgeous squares back in 2014- At this point, we’ll continue making our way south to Florida. Maybe St. Augustine again, which we always enjoy. Then we’re considering going down to Key West for the first half of October. Let me preempt the “you’re way too late to find a camping spot” comments by reminding everyone that we can stay on the military base.
- If we don’t go to Key West, then we may go back to Myrtle Beach after Asheville and before going south. We stayed there for a month in 2014 and absolutely loved it (off-season = the best time to go).
Myrtle Beach, you sure are tempting- Either way, we need to be in Kissimmee (Orlando area) by Nov. 5 for our timeshare week.
- After that, we’ll make really quick tracks back to Corpus Christi to arrive in time for Christmas. Some of you may laugh at the fact that we consider traveling 1,200 miles in six weeks to be “really quick.” But at our typical rate of travel (250 miles every two weeks), it would normally take us until Jan. 21 to get back…a little late for Christmas.
Why Did We Pick This Route?
There are three overarching reasons for our 2017 itinerary:
- We can only be away from Austin for six months this time. Caspian turns one at the beginning of December and needs to return for his vaccinations. We also want to spend Christmas 2017 with family in Corpus Christi.
- We want our “big kids” to be able to spend their summer vacation near our family friends in Kentucky. These kiddos have grown up together, and we want to continue to give them opportunities to spend time together while they’re still young. They’re building lifelong friendships, which we adults know to be priceless.
- We want to use our timeshare in Orlando this year. We’ve been banking since the last time we were there in 2014, so we’re way overdue. Plus, I’m itching for Disney World!
Face paint and Main Street DisneyShare Your Suggestions
We would love your suggestions! Should we make any detours? What are your favorite camping spots in the locations we’ve mentioned? Which National Park Service places are don’t-miss?
We’re still in the beginning stages of making travel plans, so your thoughts are absolutely welcome. We hope to see many of you in our travels this year, and introduce you to Baby Nomad!
-B
I stay around the Asheville, NC area in the summer months (Black Mountain, Old Fort, etc.) before I head to Florida for the winter months.
I would love to take y’all to dinner and tell you about a lot of waterfalls, and other places to visit in the NC mountains.
@jerryminchey:disqus, thanks for offering to help us get to know the area! Let’s stay in touch as that time gets closer and our plans firm up.
That sounds like a plan. You can always reach me at jminchey at Gmail.com
I bought a time share in Kissimmee a long time ago and traded my week for points and now travel the world for 200$ a week for 5 star resorts. Best decision I ever made.. Cindy
What part of KY do you travel to?
@disqus_DXEXfnVo0x:disqus, it looks like we’ll be doing the Bowling Green/Mammoth Cave area for a couple of weeks. And then we’ll land in Somerset for a month to spend time with our good friends.
If you are coming back to Saint Augustine, Compass RV Park on SR 207 is a great place. Used to be called Indian something. New owners and major changes. Another nice place if you want to be close to the ocean without all of Saint Augustine Beach traffic and people is the South Beach Campground in Vilano. And of course if you want rustic and be at the ocean, there is Anastasia State Park.
Really helpful, @kathy_cordaro:disqus. We paid a pretty penny to stay at Ocean Grove RV Park and we weren’t impressed. That was back in 2014. Definitely would like to try another park this time.
We’re headed to Hot Springs for 2 weeks starting on Sunday (April 1). Would love any advice you can give on things to do/see!
@andreaelkins:disqus, we have a number of blog posts here from our last visit! You can use the search bar to look for “hot springs.” Let us know if you have any questions after reading!
Read all the Hot Springs posts – thanks for the guidance! Now we know what to expect with the bathhouses!
We are glad you are going to hit the road again. Also glad baby nomad is ready to travel. We are still snowed in here got another twelve inches last night. But in time it will melt, so we can hit the road again. Enjoy your trip, we will not head south till fall.
That is amazing, @robertelevesque:disqus! You must be a pro at winterizing. We panic if the thermometer gets anywhere near freezing. 🙂
You have to be if your stick and brick is up here in God’s country. But I miss the open road. May is coming can’t wait. You have a wonderful day. Thank you for the thought.
If you do indeed make it to Asheville, do be sure to take the behind-the-scenes tour at the Biltmore Hotel. It’s worth it, and so cool! (Side note: my great-grandaddy on my father’s side helped build the place, or so I’ve been told.)
And be sure to take a side trip to Sliding Rock – an experience not to be missed, especially if you have the boys with you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mc8luqt19Jc
@andreaelkins:disqus, the Biltmore is definitely on our list! I’ve seen it from a distance, but never done the tour. I hope Caspian is a happy camper that day! I think Eric has been to Sliding Rock, but I haven’t. It looks like a blast!
We will be in Asheville, August 11 – 14 @ Mama Gerties. Perhaps our schedule will overlap.
They do! Our reservation is for August 5-18. How fun! We’ll be at Wilson’s Riverfront.
Awesome!! We will reach out to you when we arrive. We start out trip in Hot Springs like you guys. Will be interested in seeing Eric’s post on Jeepsies as we want to also go to ORV Park. Safe travels for you, Eric and Caspian.
The idea of the Blue Ridge Parkway sounds wonderful…
I’ve driven parts of it twice, once in a ’76 Buick Electra and the other in Dodge Caravan. And in both cases there were times where reaching out and tapping your own rear bumper seemed like an option.
My advice, pick a pretty day, pop the panels on the Jeep, and plan a loop.
If you do take the RV, pick a section with access points close together (actual distance, not ones that just look close on the map) so you can pull off to let the backlog behind you clear and/or reconsider.
Oh. If you didn’t last time, cross the street to The Distillery in Savannah.
Safe Travels!
Really appreciate your insight, @disqus_3I4HaexCp5:disqus. We did decide to go straight to Asheville and do the parkway with the Jeep. I think it’ll be the most enjoyable way to do it–for us and our fellow drivers. Roger that on The Distillery. I just looked up info and the wooden bar is gorgeous.