Back On the Road Again

   Campbell Christmas Letter 2019 Seasons Greetings from The Escapee’s Saguaro Co-op RV Park in Benson, Arizona. During our five weeks of meandering from Maine, Wally and I parked, dropped the levelers and extended the slide-outs on our 2018 32-foot Tiffin Allegro Open Road Motorhome in 19 different places, each with special attractions. It’s an entirely different procedure than landing our trawler, but we seem to be getting into the rythmn of this new life. Yes, Wally and I have swapped seasons. We will be cruising on Summertime in Maine waters in warm weather and cruising the highways of warm places in the cold weather in our RV.  As you might expect, some aspects of our home park here in Benson have changed over the six years that we have been away on a boat. The friendships we formed from 2003 to 2013, however, remain firm. We returned trailering our 3-wheel motorcycle. The Can-Am Spyder Roadster has already proven to be delightful to ride in the wide-open...

Our “must have” list for choosing a newer factory-built motorhome included a length requirement… under 35 feet. This would provide us with a tight turning radius and allow us to go most anywhere. In our previous 16 years “on the road” (1998- 2014), we had been attracted to State Parks and National Parks. Built in the 1930’s by Pres. Roosevelt’s CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps), the sites tend to be minimal. Camping in those days involved tents, small tow-behind trailers and truck campers. Early in our RVing life, we bought a Florida State Park Pass. It fit our “price-sensitive” nature and the variety of campers that shared the parks with us broadened our horizons. That winter, in our 35-foot bus conversion, we enjoyed close-up experiences of some of Florida’s most unique features. Some years later, traveling in our 24-foot Class C Motorhome, we followed the National Parks up the West Coast. A Senior Pass offers U.S. citizens, age 62 and over, free admission to federal lands. What s...

For the record, Wally and I have a bit of history with the City of New Orleans. It was one of the  “high profile” destinations that we made a point of visiting back in 1998 when we first went “on the road”. Traveling in our 1958 bus conversion, we camped in Bayou Segnette State Park in Westwego, LA. Each day we’d drive to the ferry landing in Algiers and, as pedestrians, we’d cross the Mississippi River into The French Quarter. While sitting on a bench watching the tugs swing their tows around one of the tightest turns in the mighty river, a passing jogger in his retirement years stopped to ask, ”What can I tell you about my city?” We were not sure how to respond, so Wally asked about good places to eat. With great enthusiasm he recommended Cafe du Monde for beignets and cafe au lait… Central Grocery for Muffuletta sandwiches… Cafe Du Monde You cannot leave Cafe Du Monde without being covered in powdered sugar! Central Grocery The olive salad makes the...