Part 3 of 3 of A (Very) Late Post: This post was written long after this trip was completed as I just didn’t have the energy to do it at the time we were travelling and after we returned home, I just frankly forgot to write it. So, while I was scrolling through my photos recently, I decided to make a quick post with the pictures from this awesome trip so Tony and I have something to look back on in the future. We saw so many amazing places, but more importantly visited so many friends and family that are very special to us on this road trip. Miss y’all.

September 12 – October 9, 2022

Washington, DC:  After returning from 10 days of R&R back in Arizona, we flew back to Rhode Island and found Tofu safely parked in long-term parking at the airport just where we left her. We are always a bit uncertain if it is wise to leave our van in these types of parking facilities, but we have done this quite a few times now and never had a problem (knock on wood!).

We try to avoid big cities as driving Tofu in congested areas is not too fun. Due to a traffic accident in NYC, Google Maps had us get off on the Henry Hudson Parkway instead of maintaining our route on the interstate. It quickly became apparent that this might not be a good idea. Each bridge had a maximum clearance listed and with each bridge the clearance was shorter and shorter starting out at 11’ but then dropping to 9’. Tofu is just under 9’ and it is a bit scary to trust the measurement knowing there are only a few inches above the van and a stone bridge. Luckily, the 9’ clearance was the last bridge we needed to go under before we were re-routed back to the interstate. It was a bit nerve-wracking and not something we would like to repeat in the future.

We stayed in the driveway of our friends, Fred and Denise, who we met through our previous ownership of a Tiger RV. They live outside of DC in a lovely area with good access to public transport. It was delightful to catch up and hear about their plans for European RV travel which we were also considering at the time. They always inspire us to push our wanderlust a bit further.

Tony and I had both been to DC before, but separately so we decided to hit all the popular attractions including the National Mall, Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, US Capitol, Thomas Jefferson Memorial, MLK Jr. Memorial, Korean War Veterans Memorial, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial and the Supreme Court. All in all, we walked almost 25,000 steps (10.5 miles) that day. At the end of our DC Memorial tour visit, we were so tired that we rented old fashioned pedal bikes (there weren’t any e-bikes available) to get us to our final location on the other side of DC for a tasty meal at a lovely vegan Israeli restaurant.

Fred recommended we visit the National Air and Space Museum at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center and it was frankly, one of our all-time favorite museums. The Space Shuttle Discovery, B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay, Concorde, Lockheed Martin SR-71 Blackbird and a Boeing Stratoliner were all on display. I spent so much time at the Space Shuttle Discovery that we had to hustle through the rest of the museum. I mean it was an actual space shuttle that was in space. My mind was blown and I spent quite a bit of time talking to the docent before I spotted an actual Discovery astronaut giving a private VIP tour. Heaven!! Tony and I did squeeze in a ride on one of the flight simulators. We were securely harnessed into the seats and Tony served as the navigator and I was the pilot and the simulator could literally do a 360-degree roll, although I was too afraid to actually do that. It was a fun challenge.

Shenandoah National Park and Richmond, VA: We took a wee bit of a detour after leaving Washington DC to drive along the Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park. Neither of us have ever been to this national park before. We listened to a driving audio tour and learned so much about this lovely park. We were only able to drive about half of the 105 miles of this parkway, but we will certainly be back!

I have been to Richmond, VA many times for work, but this was a new city for Tony. One of my co-workers (and subsequent friend) Martha lives outside of Richmond and allowed us to park at her house. She and her husband were leaving the day after our arrival, but she still found time to host us for a lovely vegan dinner that night. We had a quick girl-only catch-up walk in the morning before she left on her vacation. Tony and I further explored Richmond including doing several hikes with our favorite being the one where we walked under the Belle Isle Suspension Bridge.  We rented e-bikes from a community bike program but failed to read the fine print as to where we could ride the bikes. We decided to take the bikes outside of Richmond city limits to the countryside. However, after leaving the city the bikes began buzzing and flashing and eventually the power assist portion failed to work. We got on our phones and only then did we see there was a radius the bikes needed to stay within and outside of that range the power assist was deactivated and the police are notified. Luckily, we weren’t too far outside the city, so we pushed hard of the heavy non-electric assisted bikes and got them back inside the radius. Once inside the radius, the bikes became e-bikes again and no police were waiting for us. 😊We had one final catch-up and dinner with another former co-worker of mine, Robyn, to round out our enjoyable visit to Richmond.

Kingsport, TN: I spent A LOT of time in the Tri-Cities area when I was working on the Forest Labs Celexa clinical trials, but I had not been back to this area in almost 15 years. Again, this was another new area for Tony. My dearest friend and former Rebelle Rally partner, Thuy, had just moved from CA to Kingsport days before our arrival. We met all her family and extended family who were helping her move in and unpack but we were also able to have some time to just catch up with her and her husband, Jim. Her Jeep, Princess, who we used for the Rebelle Rally, was parked in the driveway for a bit more nostalgia. While in the area, we did a hike and took an 18-mile Brompton ride along the Kingsport Greenway which runs adjacent to Reddy Creek. We slept in downtown Johnson City at a Harvest Host location of Tennessee Brewstillery.

Asheville, NC: Asheville is always one of our favorite places in North Carolina with its laid back and outdoorsy vibe so we always try to make a point of stopping off for a few days. We secured a Boondockers Welcome spot for a few days on the north side of town. We were able to get in several hikes and bike rides, but our big activity was visiting the Biltmore Estate. I had been on the house tour several times previously and Tony was not interested in seeing the inside of the house as it was very crowded so we elected to just do a grounds tour instead. We spent the entire day walking around the estate and discovering all the vast gardens and hiking trails. The Biltmore has excellent RV parking and since we arrived early we spent the entire day there from opening to closing and Tony even squeezed in a bike ride on the estate. A truly magnificent property.

Blue Ridge Parkway and Brevard, NC: We listened to another audio driving tour as we drove along the Blue Ridge Parkway. Tony had been longing to bike this route, so he biked about 30 miles while I drove ahead. This is a regular activity for us with Tony biking a route and me driving ahead in the van, finding a parking place and getting lunch ready. This time though there was a bit of a snag as cell reception was less than ideal and the text, I sent to Tony with my pin drop did not make it to his phone so he wasn’t sure where I was parked and actually turned around at one point thinking he missed me. Eventually, we found each other but he put many more miles on his bike than he expected to.

Our next stop was Pisgah National Forest and Brevard, NC. We almost purchased a house in Brevard, NC (sight unseen) during the pandemic, but we were outbid. Neither of us had ever actually been to Brevard previously so we spent a few days parked up at a HipCamp and explored the area on both foot and bikes. A cute downtown, lots and lots of mountain biking trails and a laidback vibe would be my description of Brevard. After visiting, it was a good thing we were outbid on the house as the town was a bit too small for us and not as walkable as we would really desire.

Chattanooga, TN: On our way to Chattanooga, TN was stopped off at Bear Lake Reserve Golf Club in Tuckasegee, North Carolina. This is a lovely, but difficult, Nicklaus Design® golf course. We have stayed on the property and played golf here previously when we lived in Charlotte and having fond memories of this time we booked another round. We pulled up to the gate only to be told that this was a private club for only owners or guests staying on the property. We explained that we had a tee time and that we were clear that we were not owners or property guests when making the reservation and we were told it was fine and they would accommodate us. The security guard was not hearing any of this and just kept telling us “No”. With a line of cars queuing behind us, she eventually acquiesced and let us through the gate but only to park and wait for further instructions. At this point we started calling the club house but kept getting voice mail. What seemed like an eternity later, the security guard approached with a pass in hand and told us to proceed to the club house but this was an exception and we cannot come back without staying on property. When we arrived at the club house, the ranger was waiting for us. There was nobody on the golf course and the ranger told us we were the only tee time scheduled for the next several hours. He apologized for the security guard and said that in theory she was correct, but on days when there are no reservations, they do open the tee times up to the public. We had a lovely round although no scores were kept as it is a hard course and seeing how many shots we took would have been demoralizing. A lovely course and resort and we certainly will return…even if we aren’t staying “on property”. 😉

We spent 4 days in Chattanooga parked up at another Boondockers Welcome location in the city. We lived near to Chattanooga for 5 years, so we consider this to be our old stomping grounds. We hiked and biked and took leisurely strolls along the Tennessee River and the Walnut Street Pedestrian Bridge, one of the world’s longest pedestrian bridges. We were also able to squeeze in a visit with Helen, one of Tony’s former co-workers. Helen joined us on the North Shore for a beverage and walk. She had us laughing our butts off with her stories and antics. Have you ever met somebody with “good energy”, well that would describe Helen.

Memphis, TN: We continue to push west enroute back to Arizona. We made a stop in Memphis, TN with a stop on the Mississippi River at the Tom Sawyer Campground where we have stayed previously when we were traveling in Homer. I love to watch all the barges going up and down the river so we booked a river view campsite. Unfortunately, the weather was scorching hot and the water in the river was scarily low. There was just a small center channel where the raging Mississippi River had been when we were last here and so the river traffic was much reduced. We took the opportunity to do laundry, get showers and relax before our final push to the West.

Little Rock, AR: We really like Little Rock and we have been here several times before and spent several weeks in total exploring this area. We stayed on the banks of the Arkansas River at the downtown RV park and 1 night at a Harvest Host location at the St. Joseph Farmstead in North Little Rock which was a very lovely 60 acre property that was an orphanage built in 1910 but is now a thriving non-profit focused on agricultural education and supporting local farmers through sustainable farming practices. As is our routine, Tony got in several bike rides and I visited the Clinton Presidential Library. I had been there previously, but this time really spent time reading and learning. I have been to several Presidential Libraries and this one is my favorite, not only for the educational aspect, but for the architecture and beautiful location directly on the river.

Plano, TX: Our final stop was in the Dallas, TX area to visit our friends Ted and Sheri. Ted and Sheri were our neighbors when we all lived in Kenosha, WI in the late 1990s. We have visited their lovely home numerous times in the past and although we do a lot of driveway camping when we travel, we stayed in their guest bedroom for this visit. A few lovely days with a bike ride for the boys, a hike for the girls, lots of laughter along with a few soaks in the hot tub. Overall, a lovely visit and the perfect way to end our trip. They even sent us home with a jar of mango preserves Sheri had made on her last trip to Maui from trees grown on her friend’s property. It was seriously the most delicious preserves I have ever eaten. Friends are the family we choose for ourselves and this certainly describes how we feel about Ted and Sheri.

Home: It was a long and hot 1000 final miles home, but we made it in 1 day. We had planned to stop off in El Paso, TX for the night, but the draw of our real bed at home and the thought of central A/C was too strong so we pushed on well past the normal amount of time we drive per day. We were treated to an amazing sunset and arrived home well after dark. We spent the last few hours of driving reminiscing about all the places we had visited on this trip mixed with what Tony calls “80s Dance Party” music. For me, Billy Idol can always pep me up and get me to my final destination.

Summary: This was a big road trip for us. It started on May 29^th and ended on October 9^th. We traveled in the van for a total of 106 days (not including the time we spent when we flew home to Arizona twice during this trip). We slept in the van every night except for 8 nights. We visited 23 different states + Washington DC along with 3 Canadian Provinces. We traveled in excess of 12,000 miles. Tofu performed like a champ without any mechanical issues. On this trip we visited family and friends we have not seen, sometimes in decades. Although we saw some beautiful places, hiked along epic trails and visited new locations, this trip was really more about the friends and family we saw along the way. Thank you all for taking time out of your lives to spend time with us on this trip. We love you!