Florida!

 

Well, we made it to Texas . . . but the journey was anything but easy or relaxing. After spending a week in Louisiana, we headed out and set our sites on the great state of Texas. Albeit, they are quite possibly about to embark on civil war with the Biden Administration, but the way we see it . . . what could possibly go wrong? In any case, let me tell you how we got here.

I have to say, Louisiana was not my favorite state, so leaving it was not disappointing. We were happy to move on. In preparation for future travels I invested in an app that is popular among RVers. Its sole purpose is to plan trips and what stops along the way we will be making (i.e. fuel, overnights, Harvest Host locations, etc.). The app makes trip-planning tolerable. It can be an exhausting task at times. However, the GPS that comes with the app is debatable as to its efficacy in getting us from A to B.

Have you ever seen the movie Vacation with Chevy Chase? It seems like what can go wrong will go wrong. Our experience wasn't that bad, but it left a story to tell. The GPS, unfortunately, took us down roads where we had to turn around. Have you ever driven a 43' trailer and tried turning around with it? If you haven't, it's kind of like trying to cut down a tree with a steak-knife. Difficult to do, and time consuming, but not impossible.

As we were traveling away from our site in Louisiana, the GPS began its magic. We began on a narrow two-lane road (typical in the backwoods for the road to be narrow). The GPS then took us down a rural area of Louisiana, a neighborhood whose houses are far apart and the yards are long. The road is getting smaller! Moving at a clip of 7-10 MPH, we found ourselves in the midst of a dilemma. Not long after turning down this road it turned into a dirt road. For an RVer pulling a 43' trailer, this is not good. It can only lead to questionable decisions by the driver. Me. The narrow dirt road soon took a 90 degree turn to the left. Yup, you guessed it! Not enough room to make the corner. I am left with the only decision there was to make, I had to back up in hopes of finding a place to turn around. The only logical place would be a driveway to back into. So I began backing up for, what turned out to be, half to 3/4 of a mile. Finally, I found a driveway wide enough (because the road is narrow, there needs to be a wide driveway to compensate for the lack of real-estate). We eventually turned around and headed in the right direction. The following video clip succinctly shows a similar experience. Backing the RV

Let's keep in mind that Pam and I didn't exactly see eye-to-eye on the issue. An argument ensued over what to do as she panicked at the situation we now found ourselves in (rightfully so considering she has not been through something like this). She was certain that she had seen a car behind us as I began to back up. I said, "There is no car behind us." Pam questioned my answer, "How do you know that?!" Me: "Because I can see behind me!" As the trailer swings while backing up, the driver is able to see what, if anything, is behind the trailer. We finally came to a suitable driveway and got turned around. 

Disagreements in a marriage can have one of two outcomes. 1) It will eventually bring the couple closer together or 2) it will cause a divide. In reality, it's up to the individual to choose. You can either choose to let the argument fester within while ultimately creating pent-up anger; or you can learn from it in order to see eye-to-eye next time. Hopefully there won't be a next time. However, after driving a truck for twenty years, I can confidently tell you that it is highly likely that we find ourselves in a similar scenario if we to this long enough. Hopefully we have learned along the way.

Well, we eventually landed in the spot we're in now: Lake Livingston State Park in Texas. We have been here for a little more than a week and we're leaving in five days to head further south where we will stay for a week and move from there. We have found that state parks are more suitable to our liking. There is space between trailers! We have been to places where we were mere feet from one another. We love where we are now, and will continue to seek out state parks as we go. God bless you all and thanks for reading.

p.s. I want to do a post answering any questions you may have about this lifestyle. It is both fascinating and fun to do this, but it doesn't come without the occasional hang-up. I would love it if you would make a comment asking something you are unaware of or would like to know. Please feel free to leave a comment/question to this post. I have gotten several great questions on Facebook and I thought it would be fun to answer any questions you may have. Below are a couple of pictures from our current site. Happy trials!