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Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Day Eighteen - And, Re-Retired

It's been awhile since I have blogged. We have been fulltiming for eighteen days, and not much has been going on other than work, rain, and more work and rain. But, today the sun was out, the sky was clear and it was my last day of work! The project that I jumped back in to help out Mr. Phil, is wrapping up. And, the best news of all is that Mr. Phil announced his retirement, effective May 31st. So, we will be FREE, AT LAST!

More time to spend walking the dog....


We are beginning to make our plans for the upcoming summer, fall and winter. I am finding that it takes a lot of research to plan a cross-country trip that will last nine months. Our trip as planned, totals 2986 miles - one way! I think our first stop will be Land Between the Lakes, KY for a couple of weeks, then on to South Dakota to get our drivers licenses and become official residents! We will take the time to explore Custer, SD, then down to Denver. I would love to go to a concert at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Then, it's on to Sante Fe, and it looks like it will be in time for the Harvest Festival in early October. Next will be Painted Desert and Petrified Forest near Albuquerque, then Prescott, Jerome and Sedona, AZ. Then, we will probably settle down in the Desert Hot Springs area for the winter. I have always wanted to see the desert in the spring. That's as far out as we are planning for now, we will have the winter to make plans for next year. If anyone has suggestions of "must see", "must do" and "don't miss" please let me know.

Photo of Tennessee River, Market Street Bridge and Walnut Street Bridge in Chattanooga


I am sure there is an art to planning these trips. I am finding that we know that we want to go from point A (Chattanooga) to B (South Dakota) and end up at C (Desert Hot Springs), so my method is to just see what is going on about the time we hit the other points, and try to time it accordingly. I think that if we make reservations for the places that we want to visit for an extended period, we will be able to find stop-over campgrounds on the fly. I sure hope so! How do other RV'ers plan trips?

Me and My Cute Dog checking out the Delta Queen docked in Chattanooga


10 comments:

Sue and Doug said...

welcome back to blogville!..18 days!..where has the time gone!..happy planning!

Merikay said...

I guess the art is to leave a lot of unplanned time! Don't go to fast and seek out the unusual.

Jessica Riker said...

I have no experience in this personally (YET) :) but from what I've read, it seems like there are as many ways to plan as there are people! It seems like a number of fulltimers just have a general idea of direction and time and let the details develop as they travel. You will get a lot of different ideas next week for sure!! :)

Travels with Emma said...

Some people plan a lot, some people plan very little. It all depends on what you are comfortable with. Me, I'm a planner. :)

Kevin Read said...

I agree with all the last 3 comments as to planning. Everyone is entirely different so the planning is different. We always have an idea and a timeline on where we want to be and when but everything else in between is a mystery. We found that we plan on one night stopover somewhere and then it turns out to be a week. We just never know. If you are planning on going to areas that are going to be busy at the time you are there and you are going to stay in a campground than it is probably best to make reservations and also on busy long weekends, just a thought.

Kevin and Ruth
www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

Barb said...

My future plan is to have an itinerary, but keep it flexible. I also plan to stay for 2 or 3 or 4 weeks in the same place and enjoy the area, rather than do a lot of driving and sightseeing. I just want to live in different areas. It seems that many full-timers move from place to place more than I want. It will be fun to follow along with you as you begin this new life!

Teri said...

I was thinking off taking the long route home, staying along the coast and stopping at some beaches. I may visit Judy in Mississippi and go to the National Seashore Park, and then head north. It will add more miles to the trip, but I want to spend some time 'sitting by the sea'. Water is very soothing. Thanks for the invite, and I'm sure we will meet up somewhere on the road.

Luci & Loree said...

Desert Hot Springs! Just got home from a month there at the Sands Rv & Golf Resort. (and 7 months on the road) Be sure to go to Joshua Tree NP. It is wonderful!

Rorik said...

Deborah & Phil,

It was a pleasure hanging with you and Phil at the rally. I hope our paths cross again.

Clark Rambling said...

I read your blog and saw that you are planning on being in the Santa Fe, NM around the first of October. May I suggest you try and attend the Albuquerque Balloon Festival the first Saturday through the 2nd Sunday in October. It is a sight to see and extremely popular. They have 700-850 hot air balloons there and activities every day for 8 days and many night also.

Google the Fiesta/Festival and you will be surprised how popular and great it is.

Enjoy fulltiming.