Our "Home Away From Home"

For the next 6 weeks, we will call the RV our "home".  Here's what it looks like.

                                             

                      

          

 

 

 

While we are away, a friend of ours, Jonathan Anderson, will be house sitting for us.  He came by the other day for a visit. 

 

Final Preparations - Part 2

   There is only 1 week left until we leave and we still have to finalize a few things.  It's time to get busy doing some serious packing!  Hopefully we will have it all finished and ready to go with a few days to spare so we won't be so stressed out. 
   This week we'll take the RV out to fill it up with Diesel and top off the LP gas tank.  Michael says it's time for me to learn how to drive the RV, so I'll be taking it out for a test drive.  Let's just hope it's still in one piece when I'm done!     

A few things we've accomplished recently:
     - Practiced removing the Jeep's top and doors, and took a fun ride in it while they were off.
     - Cleaned the inside of the RV.
     - Mapped out storage compartments and cabinets in the RV.
     - Started stocking the kitchen with dishes and non-perishable food.
     - Packed all of Jeremiah's clothes and most of Michaela's
    

Final Preparations - Part 1

     We've been quite busy over the last week trying to make final preparations for the trip.  Food has been cooked, the new GPS has been tested, new RV batteries have been purchased, credit card companies have been notified of our travels, and extra RV keys have been made.  We've also arranged for someone to mow our grass at home and at the office while we are away.
    
     While we are away, my mother, Linda Jackson, will celebrate Mother's Day and her 60th birthday.  Since I won't be here to celebrate with her, I planned a fun and relaxing day for her last Friday in honor of these special occasions.  My sister, Lisa Mckinnon, my sister-in-law, Heather Jackson, and my aunt, Barbara Andrews all joined us for our outing.  We spent the day on Main Street in Hendersonville, NC.  We enjoyed breakfast at a coffee shop, got manicures and pedicures, ate a delicious lunch at Mountain Deli, celebrated with red velvet cupcakes, and acted like teenagers riding in the Jeep with the T-tops off.  It was a hilarious sight to see all of us ladies with our hair blowing in the wind and laughing hysterically. 



CHERISHED MOMENTS!

Doesn't she look happy!



Breakfast at Black Bear Coffee
 

    


Ready to go Joy-Riding!





 

3 weeks and counting...

    Just 3 weeks until we leave and we are all getting so excited!  Now that most of the planning is done, we are eager for the trip to begin.  Over the weekend, we made reservations at several campgrounds we plan to stay at.  We also decided on and purchased the RV GPS and portable grill.  Both are necessities for this trip. 
    Now its time to start planning and prepping easy meals for the trip.  We plan to cook and freeze some things like baked pasta, tortilla soup, and chili for quick healthy meals on the go.  We've also made a list of simple meal ideas so that trips to the grocery store can be kept to a minimum.  The last thing we want to do is spend all of our time trying to find a place to buy groceries. 
    We are currently having the RV serviced to make sure it is "road ready" for such a long trip.  The tow package has also been installed on it as well as the Jeep.  Hopefully we will be able to pick up both vehicles early this week.  Our next task is to start deciding on where to store all of our supplies while traveling.  The RV has about 10 exterior locking bins where we can store everything from cleaning supplies to extra clothes and shoes.  We plan to make a map of the bins so that we can easily find what we are looking for. 

 These are some of the campgrounds we will be staying at.


Bar Harbor Maine Oceanside



The Ovens Natural Park, Nova Scotia

 

   

                  Cape Breton KOA, Nova Scotia       

 

                      

       

 Twin Mountain KOA, New Hampshire

 

 

 

The Route

Deciding on exactly which route to take has been the hardest thing to do.  The more we look through the travel guides, the more we find to do.  At one point, we added up all of the stops we were planning to make, along with the travel time, and we were at a total of 55 days!!!  That's almost two months!  Needless to say, we had to be realistic and cut out some stops.  One disappointing cut was the stop in Niagara Falls, but we plan to go there sometime in July.  After lots of cutting and rearranging, we finally got the projected route down to about 43 days.  We're trying to stick to a 6 week time frame. 

So, just where are we going???

Here's our projected route:

Washington DC
Baltimore, MD
Hershey PA
Lancaster PA
New York City, NY
Cape Cod Seashore, MA
Plymouth, MA
Boston, MA
Bar Harbor, ME
Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia
Digby, Nova Scotia
The Ovens, Nova Scotia
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Cape Breton/Sydney, Nova Scotia
Prince Edward Island
Bangor, ME
Twin Mountains, NH
Mt. Washington, NH
Cabot, VT
Barre, VT
Waterbury, VT
Luray, VA

....and finally......HOME!!!

There will be lots of variety on this trip.  We’ll be in bustling cities, sleepy small towns, farm communities, beach towns, and an island where “time seems to stand still”.  We will learn how ice cream and cheese are made in Vermont , how potato chips are made in Cape Cod, and how chocolate is made in Hershey.  There will be rides on city buses, subway trains, Amish buggies, lobster boats, ferries, and even a historic cog railway.  We will explore sea caves, visit a granite quarry, tour Capitol Hill, walk the Brooklyn Bridge, go whale watching, and much, much more.  Most of all, we plan to enjoy this special time that God has allowed for our family.  We are so thankful for His blessings!

 

Planning, Planning, and more Planning!!!

I have planned for many trips over the years but never one as long as this.  It's quite a task!  The trip will last approximately 6 weeks and take us through at least 16 states, the District of Columbia, Nova Scotia, and two other Provinces in Canada.  Whew.....I'm tired already and we haven't even left!  Here is a list of a few things that had to be done to prepare for this trip:
* Obtain passports for travel into Canada
* Make plans for paying monthly bills while on the road (auto bill pay or pay ahead)
* Purchase a Wifi hotspot for Internet access so we can work while traveling
* Obtain special insurance cards showing coverage in Canada for the RV and tow vehicle
* Purchase an AAA Membership
* Have RV serviced and approved for a long trip
* Have a tow bar installed on the Jeep
* Arrange for someone to care for our pets while we are away
* Locate and reserve campgrounds at each destination
* Request tour guides from each state we will be visiting  (and read them cover to cover)
* Purchase a "Tractor Trailer/RV GPS" (it guides us around low bridges and areas not accessible to big rigs)
* Plan the tentative route and stops in each state (including information on cost, hours of operation, parking, directions, etc.)

.........the list goes on and on, but we're getting close to being done!  Yay!

                                                            A little reading material.... 

The "Toad"

We are just one month away from the start of our trip and time is passing so quickly. There is so much to think about and do when you are planning to be on the road for 6 weeks or so. This week we finally decided on our tow vehicle. It would be quite difficult to maneuver a 39 ft motor home through many of the small towns we plan to visit so it was necessary to take along a vehicle. After much research on "4-wheel flat towable vehicle" (otherwise known as a "Toad"), we decided on a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited. Let's just say its quite different from my minivan. Our sons, Isaiah and Jeremiah, were thrilled with the purchase and can't wait for an opportunity to drive it without the top and doors. Yeah...I'm excited about that too, or not?!?