Planning Our First Real Road Trip

We began our full-time RV adventure back in April by picking up our RV at the dealership and staying three nights at the Sycamore Lodge Resort in Jackson Springs, NC in order to settle in and get used to living in our new home,  But when it came to traveling up north to Marblehead, Ohio, we simply drove straight there, stopping overnight along the way just to break up the driving into two days.  But in anticipating our journey back down to NC for our next workamping job at the Lake Norman Motorcoach Resort, we wanted to actually stop and see some sights along the way.  Our love of travel is what prompted our workamping adventure in the first place.  It was time to start planning our first real road trip.

Our travels between NC and OH had traditionally taken us down I-77, so instead of using this familiar route, we decided to traverse I-75 instead.  Having grown up in Cleveland, I had never even been to Cincinnati, and since my niece, Karla is in school there, that seemed like the perfect place to start.

We'll actually make our first stop en route to Cincy in Wapakoneta, OH, to visit the childhood home of Neil Armstrong and the Armstrong Air and Space Center there.  We had passed it on the way to my cousin's wedding in Dayton, but didn't have the time to stop then.  But this is our new life.  We have time to stop.  The center opens at 10AM, and it will take roughly 2 hours to get there from Marblehead, so we'll plan to be on the road before 8.

And following the visit there, we'll drive down to Cincinnati, and the East Fork State Park, slightly SE of the city.  It looks like a nice campground.  We had planned to make reservations for a site with full hook-ups, but found out that this advance reservation would cost us an additional $8.25.  Since we'll be arriving mid-week during a non-peak travel season, we decided to take our chances and just show up.  If all they have are electric-only sites, we'll get along just fine.

Thursday, we plan to spend the day with my niece, Karla, who is a nursing student at the University of Cincinnati.  She doesn't have classes that day, and expects to be able to spend the whole day with us.  We don't want to spend a lot of money, so we've been doing research on the internet to find out cheap and free things to do, like spend time at the Findlay Market, and just walk along the river.  Karla said she'll give us a tour of the campus as well.  And, of course, we'll have to try some famous Cincinnati chili.  Skyline.  Or Blue Ash.  Maybe both!

We plan to leave Cincy on Friday morning and drive toward Lexington, KY.  We thought maybe we'd tour the Toyota factory there, with its test track.  And perhaps tour a bourbon distillery and visit a horse farm.  Then we're planning on dry-camping bivouac style at exit 77 off of I-75 in Kentucky.  This stop was recommended by my cousin.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Next, we're planning to see some sights in and around Knoxville, TN.  There's an Appalachian museum just north of Knoxville that we're hoping to visit.  And then we're planning to camp in or near Gatlinburg, just inside the Great Smokey Mountains National Park.  We expect the beauty of this area to be well worth a stay of a couple of days.

Finally, we plan to drive through Asheville on our final leg to Sherrills Ford, North Carolina, on the West side of Lake Norman.  We might stop in Asheville for lunch, but since we'll be living a mere hour and a half away, we didn't think we needed to spend much time there for now.  There will be plenty of opportunities to visit over the next couple of years.

So on this, our first real road trip pulling our RV, we thought it best to plan, but not over-plan the journey.  We've been doing our research regarding travel routes and things to see and do, but didn't want to try to schedule every minute of every day, leaving much to play by ear.  Our experience has taught us that, even in this information age in which we live, you often don't find out about the coolest places or choicest gems till you happen upon them, or hear of such from locals or fellow-travelers.  We're looking very much forward to this little vacation and journey to our next locale.  Stay tuned for the details....