2019 SouthWest: drive, eat, sleep,...repeat

This is our first retirement extended road trip with our camper, to explore the South West,..a longtime dream of ours. We spent months researching sites to see and things to do, and in the last couple of weeks, we poured over weather radar forecasts to try to predict the best driving weather window, hoping to avoid driving through snow storms or freezing rain.

WELL,..we hit the jackpot! With no snow, and only some freezing drizzle to deal with, we took the plunge on Feb. 4th, leaving behind the chilly -11C/12F temperatures. After crossing the border at the Thousand Island bridge into NY state, south on the I-81, the temperature had already risen to 13C/55F.  Further down into Pennsylvannia, it rose to 18C/64F, with full sun all the way. What a bonus, within hours of leaving, it was like an Ottawa April spring day. We immediately shucked off our winter layers and were pumping gas in rolled up T-shirts!

jackpot day!

Our goal is to make it from point A to B, taking multiple interstates to reach Texas, where we will start using our camper. Our first night was in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the city now made famous due to ‘The Office’ TV series, and we were thrilled to discover an all-night marathon of the show on our hotel TV...so apropos.

Based on our research on the average temperatures for the states we were planning on driving through, we did not expect to be able to start camping until Texas, but with the crazy unseasonably warm temperatures, we did an about change in plan and booked a few nights in campgrounds.

Starting at a campground outside of Chattanooga TN for one night, then we booked a couple more nights at Roosevelt State Park MS. To be able to get a head start sleeping and living out of our camper, instead of hotels, is such a treat! It sure felt great being back in the Alto that first night.

February???

getting rid of some serious road grime

Roosevelt State Park is a very impressive and beautifully maintained park, but being their shoulder season, there was only a couple of trailers other than ourselves. As we were setting up a lovely couple from Pennsylvannia popped by who were on their way home from Arizona and New Mexico, and they had lots of great tips on what to see there. They also gave rave reviews about Texas state parks.

certainly would have liked to stay here longer

When we arrived at this park it was in the high 21C/70F’s, but a cold front was sweeping low across Arizona and Texas, so the overnight temperature dropped down to 0C/32F, a tad too chilly for camping. We made another about turn and decided not to camp the second night, and instead, drove to Tyler Texas.

Then we headed to New Braunfels, even closer to our destination of San Antonio. After this cold front goes through the temperatures are slowly going to rise back to somewhat seasonal.

All in all, we consider ourselves very lucky to have been able to camp two nights that we had not planned on.