Southwest Trip Begins - the First Days

 First Days of the Trip

The first two nights of the trip were in Foley, AL. It was horrendously hot with temps over 100 degrees. Both AC units were running constantly to cool the camper, and the refrigerator was struggling to cool the food. Not an ideal way to begin our trip, but many people in RVs are experiencing these same issues in this heat wave.

We then traveled to Vicksburg, Mississippi, for one night. The Ameristar Casino has a small campground right off I-20 which is very convenient and a decent place to stay.

I-20 is in horrible shape in many places but ridiculously bad around Jackson, Mississippi. We thought we would pop a tire. It’s a shame what bad shape our interstates are in these days.

The fourth night we were in Minden, Louisiana, just east of Shreveport right off I-20, at Cinnamon Creek RV Park. Next door was a fantastic Mexican restaurant named Los Campos. We highly recommend it if you are in the area.

We did not want to travel I-20 so we took a couple of smaller highways through Louisiana, went through part of Arkansas and to Texarkana, then turned west across Texas.

We arrived in Thackerville, Oklahoma for two nights at the Fun Town RV Park which is part of the Winstar Casino. It’s a beautiful RV Park with wide grass areas between sites, quite a few small shade trees, beautiful pool with a hot tub and great laundry and bath house facilities. We got one night free and paid only $30 for the second night (with a Player’s Card). Those are great prices these days!

So far it’s been a good trip except for the Refrigerator and AC struggling to cool. Thankfully we brought a couple of coolers and used ice to keep foods such as meat, mayo, and our meds cooled to a proper temperature.

We have a few more days of these 98-100+ temps but when we get into Colorado it will be much more pleasant and the RV should be fine. Just part of this camping (or as I call it Glamping) life.

The Planning of our Southwest Trip

 

Planning the Trip Out West

We began planning this trip in December 2022. First, we chose our initial and most important destination – Zion National Park in Utah. From that point we chose the immediate destinations ‘before and after’ Zion because these National Park destinations and RV Parks fill up early.

The Route was then decided. The summer heat of the South dictated we head North to Oklahoma and take I-40. This also allowed us to see the sights along old Route 66. Little did we know when planning this trip that the 'Heat Wave of the Century' would arrive. We’ve battled the 100+ temps for days.

We used RV Life Trip Wizard software ($49/annually) to plan our Route and Stops at RV Parks along the way.

At this posting we have 21 overnight stops and travel through eleven states. (Note: some points on the map look like stops but they are waypoints for our route.)

Happy Travels !

Welcome to Kelly Travels Blog

 

Welcome !    

            We are thrilled you want to follow our Blog and see the places we are visiting on our South West Trip. 

While we will post photos and short verbiage on Facebook and Instagram, we wanted to create a Blog for our family and friends who want more detail or are not on social media.

Also, we have traveling and/or camping friends interested in the routes, roads, RV Parks, sights, experiences and pitfalls because they are planning a similar trip.

            We have twenty-one overnight Stops on this trip through eleven states.

            At this time the Blog is about going out west - South West to be exact - in our camper. We will post about the planning of the Trip and will tell you our honest opinion on food, stops, cities/towns, and whether we thought it was worth visiting, or NOT.

            Let’s be honest, if you have unlimited time you can stop just about anywhere and find something interesting. But not many of us have unlimited time OR unlimited money, so we have to prioritize.

For example, the Petrified Forest in NE Arizona was a must for us, but in order to cut through the SW corner of Colorado and see Mesa Verda National Park, we had to forfeit the Forest. I wanted to see Roswell, NM and Area 51 – I am so interested in all the alien stuff. But we had to forfeit in order to drive I10 to the Hill Country of Texas for a Grand Design RV Rally.

            So, we give and take and prioritize and I’m sure you will on your journeys as well!