Travel | A Very Active Life | Adventures and Healthy Living

Hot Water and a Night in Oklahoma 10.09.2015

I don’t usually react to mosquito bites, but the many bites I got last night in the few minutes I was outside made an itchy mess of my ankles. Those Arkansas mosquitoes are virulent!

After breakfast we headed back to I40 and continued west with the trucks. There were many Dollar General trucks on the highway sadly reminding us that many rural residents have no other place to shop.

Remembering that Hot Springs National Park has delicious free spring water we approached Hot Springs up Gulpha Gorge on US 708. The National Park campground in the Gorge has small tightly spaced sites along the creek. It’s the closest campground to Hot Springs and does not take reservations. Continue reading Hot Water and a Night in Oklahoma 10.09.2015

We Attempt to Stealth Camp in Arkansas 10.08.2015

Yesterday we had difficulty finding the Piney Grove campground coming from the north. There were no signs and we took some wrong turns before finally arriving. This morning it became obvious that we left the Trace too soon because the main entrance is from the south. Continue reading We Attempt to Stealth Camp in Arkansas 10.08.2015

Through Alabama into Mississippi 10.07.2015

After a relatively quiet night we went to the Meriwether Lewis National Monument. It is located at Grinder’s Stand where Lewis apparently shot himself on his way to Washington DC. Behind the Visitor Center we walked a section of the original trail. Continue reading Through Alabama into Mississippi 10.07.2015

Natchez Trace & Meriwether Lewis 10.06.2015

After a pretty sunrise and hearty breakfast we headed back towards Knoxville and then west on I40. We ate our lunch at the Tennessee Welcome Center on I40 and decided we were tired of freeways and trucks.

At Nashville we exited onto the Natchez Trace. Now a national parkway, it follows the trail used by riverboat men to walk back north after drifting south on the Cumberland, Tennessee and Mississippi rivers. With no trucks or towns the narrow two lane road is popular with bicyclists. The Tennessee Welcome Center has a good brochure about the Trace and interesting local side trips. Continue reading Natchez Trace & Meriwether Lewis 10.06.2015

We Try an RV Park 10.05.2015

After a sleepless night due to acorns pelting our camper roof, we got off to a slow start. The large burner on our Dometic stove wouldn’t stay lit and it slowed us down even further. Although we tested several theories we didn’t find the cause.

The wind and rain from Hurricane Joaquin did some damage here. We got to admire fields of ripe pumpkins when crossing the Blue Ridge while sitting in one way traffic due to washouts on the road. When we finally got to I77, downed power lines had stopped traffic there as well. There was heavy truck traffic on I81 but no apparent storm damage. Continue reading We Try an RV Park 10.05.2015

La Tortuga Gets A Mascot 10.04.2015

Our truck is named La Tortuga because it’s brown and carries it’s own house, but we did not have a turtle mascot until our friend Vera insisted we have one. She wanted to photograph a turtle with a large mushroom on the bank of Robinson Creek, so I made one from crumpled aluminum foil and painted it’s legs and tail. Off we went to the creek and the little La Tortuga had it’s first photo shoot. Continue reading La Tortuga Gets A Mascot 10.04.2015

Joaquin Changes Our Plans 10.03.2015

We planned to start this trip as we did last year by first going east to attend the Mid-Atlantic Small Craft Festival (MASCF) in St. Michaels, Maryland. We have participated in this event every year since 1986 so by now it feels like a big family reunion. Continue reading Joaquin Changes Our Plans 10.03.2015

2015 Fall Migration

Like the birds flying south in the fall, we tend to head west. Often flying to California to visit family or flying to Las Vegas with our camping gear for camping and hiking. In 2014 we drove our Toyota RAV4 to California and back staying with friends, family, camping, and many nights in motels. Continue reading 2015 Fall Migration

Four Wheel Campers Make Great House Guests

It’s really easy to be a great house guest when you bring your own house! We

Going driveway camping for Christmas on the Eastern Shore of Maryland

started our big fall road trip with an overnight in close friends’ driveway and continued the tradition with friends and relatives throughout our trip. We planned to camp on Assateague National Seashore after Christmas but enjoyed visiting our Eastern Shore family too much to leave their driveway.

Continue reading Four Wheel Campers Make Great House Guests

La Tortuga Gets Press at the Mid-Atlantic Overland Festival

Having owned a series of unusual boats, we are used to attracting attention at the boat ramp, when sailing, and have exhibited our small boats at festivals. At the Mid-Atlantic Overland Festival we just automatically considered our camper an exhibit and were glad to show it off.

Our rig also attracted the attention of reporters with a photo appearing in Scott Brady’s article on Expedition Portal and in Exploring Elements‘ photo essay on the event.

Driving Home with a Rainbow

We used to trailer our boats to Canada for a summer cruise up US 15 through Pennsylvania. It was a hilly, narrow two lane road but also the most direct route to where we were going.

We needed to be home tonight so we drove US 15 back to Maryland. Much of it is now divided highway and controlled access but there is still a little of the narrow hilly road remaining.

We took a detour through Woolrich to visit the Woolrich factory store and museum. We enjoyed the stop and were delighted to find that they still weave wool fabric in Woolrich.

We ran out of vegetables so we stopped at an Amish market that had great prices on fruit, vegetables and handcrafts.

As we approached Maryland we were greeted by both rain and a rainbow over the highway. The first time we went out on our Shearwater sailboat, a rainbow ended on the hood of our car as we towed it over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. We enjoyed many great years of sailing in that boat so we considered it a good sign to have a rainbow over us on the last day of our maiden voyage in La Tortuga!

The house felt both huge and stuffy when we returned. We left everything in the camper to unpack another day.