Roaming Free In An RV

We are on the road again. Yea! Though we enjoyed being near family and the beach, it was time to move on from Savannah. We planned our trip so we would drive a few days in a row and then stay at a campground for a few days, arriving in Phoenix, Arizona by the end of the month. Our plans are to check out Pensacola, New Orleans, Houston, the Alamo in San Antonio, and White Sands National Monument in New Mexico.

 

We were nervous about how the 5th wheel would do. It hasn’t been moved since December. Our neighbor helped us check the brakes and we did some brake safety checks. The tires were all full of spider webs and rocks, but all looked good so it was just a matter of hitching it up and driving. We also did some other maintenance and reorganizing since we didn’t want anything to break or fall while driving. Getting the 5th wheel ready for driving came back to us easily, just like if we hadn’t ridden a bike in a while. We went through the motions slowly. Brad and I have seen pictures and heard horror stories of a 5th wheel not being properly in the hitch causing damage to the truck and 5th wheel so we wanted to go slow. One person said it resulted in $20,000 in damages. Wow! We had no issues hooking up and were soon on our way. The brakes were tested early on as we had to quickly brake when we came up to an accident in Florida.

Pulling up to a new campground can be kind of nerve-racking. One, we never really know what a campground is like until we pull in and see it. Pictures can be deceiving. Two, we worry about how wide the roads are, and three, we worry about what it’s going to be like pulling into a campsite. Some spots have so much room and others are so small it’s like being in a sardine can.

Day one the driving was good and we unhooked for the night just to get used to it. Day two of driving, we were not going to unhitch, but we got to the campground earlier than planned and got an hour back thanks to the time change. We unhooked and went to the beach.

We headed down to the Pensacola area to a beach on Okaloose Island. The sand was so white and soft and we found out that new sand was brought in after Hurricane Katarina. The water was amazing! Neither of us knew that the Gulf water could look so clear and have so many shades of blue and green! It was beautiful. The beach was crowed as it was Saturday and hot, but we just planned on taking a walk.

 

After driving for three days in a row, our next stop was Mississippi. Driving down the highway, both Mississippi and Louisiana are swampy with lots of bridges. If you have a fear of bridges, just drive on I-10 and you will be cured. Only forty minutes from New Orleans, we stayed for three nights. Brad had been to the famous city years ago during his college days, but it was my first visit. I don’t drink so we didn’t go for the bar scene but more to check out the architecture and learn the history of the city. It was nice to see small, local shops and restaurants in the town versus big-name stores that one sees everywhere.

 

We saw many fortune tellers and musicians playing in the street and had amazing beignets at Café Beignet. The roads were so narrow it was a good thing we parked at the visitor’s center. It would have been tight with our big truck.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We left last Friday and are already in Texas. That’s 1,026 miles in a week. In that week, I have been to four new states (Brad zero), explored a new beach (new for Brad too), and been to a new city (not for Brad). We have some Texas exploring to do so that will be next week’s post.

Till then!