Season Three – Westward Bound!

Fasten your seatbelts!

You are invited to come along for the ride on a six-week, Westward Bound journey across the United States – from Pennsylvania to California! We will visit the “Fabulous Five” – five national parks in Utah: Capital Reef, Bryce Canyon, Arches, Zion, and Canyonland. We’ll gaze into the depths of the Grand Canyon, see the Beautiful swirls of Navajo sandstone in the slot canyons of Antelope Point, climb down into the homes of ancient cliff-dwellers at Mesa Verde, take a narrow gauge train ride from Silverton to Durango, Colorado, and so much more on this epic journey. Petroglyphs, fossils, a meteor crater, and the London Bridge ( yes, it’s in Arizona) , are all included – and maybe even an alien from outer space as an extra bonus!

Keep hydrated – we are heading to high altitudes!

Away we go!

Every journey starts with the first step, and the first leg of our journey was to drive from Pennsylvania to Nashville to visit family. This was also our “shake down” part of the trip to get back in the swing of things and make sure everything in the RV was in working order for the long haul.

It’s all about the journey, so I would be remiss if I didn’t mention this little gem of a rest stop in Jefferson, Ohio. As travelers know, there are good rest stops and not-so-good rest stops. This one was a five star, and much appreciated. The cutest sunflower garden and a monument in tribute to Wilbur Garmhausen, who was the chief landscape architect who developed the Ohio rest areas.

After having a few wonderful days of family time in Tennessee, it was time to hit the road – we had an ambitious trip ahead of us and lots of miles to cover!

On our first night, we planned to get as far as the KOA in Eureka, Missouri. Once again, the journey became just as spectacular as the destination. While crossing the great Mississippi River into Missouri, we were able to see Busch Stadium, home of the St. Louis Cardinals. And then, in all its glory, was the Gateway Arch! What a treat to see this iconic arch as we traveled over the bridge! Did you know that the Gateway Arch is now a National Park? It will be on our future list of places to explore, but for this trip we were happy to just get a glimpse of its majesty.

By dinner time we had made it to our KOA, which turned out to be right on Historic Rt 66! We were very pleased with our campsite and home for the night. It had been a wonderful first day, and we had already seen and experienced so many new things!

Meet Vern

As I end this first installment of Westward Bound , I would like to introduce our teddy bear travel mascot, Vern.

We adopted him years ago on a trip to Vermont, and he’s been our constant companion ever since. He was camera shy at first, but now enjoys hamming it up to help us document our adventures.

Last but not least….Our View Out The Window photo.

Not bad!

Next up – Kansas here we come!