Road Trips
Chronological road trip stories and travel journals from our journeys across the country. These posts follow our routes day by day, sharing the experiences, stops, and memories that define each trip.
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The Trip That Started It All: Car Camping to Margaritaville (October 2023)
Before Margaritaville became something more to us… before the return trips, the music, and everything that followed… there was just one visit. At the time, it felt simple. A road trip to visit friends. It Started at Indy 500 Weekend In May of 2022, during our annual Indy 500 weekend camp at our home in Speedway, Indiana, our good friends Alan and Carie shared some big news. They had sold their home in Ohio. They were living in their Airstream. And they were building a new home in Latitude Margaritaville in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. At the time, it sounded exciting… but also a little hard to picture. Margaritaville?…
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Finding Our Own Margaritaville: A Road Trip Story That Changed Us
There are some trips you take… …and then there are the ones that stay with you long after you’ve unpacked the car. The kind you don’t fully understand while you’re in them. The kind that, over time, quietly become part of who you are. This is one of those stories. It didn’t happen all at once. There wasn’t a single moment where everything changed. Instead, it unfolded slowly—over a few years, a few visits, and a whole lot of time spent with good friends in a place we didn’t quite understand at first. But somewhere along the way… we found our own Margaritaville. It Started with Friends This journey really…
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June 13-21, 2020: South Dakota
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A Trip to Tulip Trestle
Indiana is full of many hidden treasure from the shores of Lake Michigan to the banks of the Ohio River. One of them is a little known train trestle in southern Indiana, southwest of Bloomington in Greene County. But “little” is the last word that should describe the Greene County Viaduct, affectionately known as “Tulip Trestle”. I first heard about Tulip Trestle some 15 years ago when a car club I was in made a trip to view the 2295 foot long structure. Tulip Trestle was completed in 1906 at a cost of $246,000, or over $6 million in today’s dollars. It was built by the New York Bridge Company using mainly…
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2015 Route 66 RV Trip Overview | September 12–20 Road Trip Adventure
By September 2015, we were starting to feel comfortable traveling Route 66 with our RV, but we were still learning something new on every trip. Traveling the Mother Road in an RV is a very different experience than traveling by car and staying in motels. The pace is different, the planning is different, and the experience of the towns and the road itself feels different when you’re bringing your home along with you. This trip would take us west on Route 66 through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas, before turning around and heading back east toward home. We planned the trip around RV parks along or near Route 66, which…
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Final Days on Route 66 – St. Louis KOA and Heading Home (September 19–20, 2015)
September 19–20, 2015 – Final Stop on Route 66 After feeding the fish one last time, we left the Joplin KOA and made a stop at the Candy House Gourmet shop in Joplin, Missouri. It was a fun little stop and a good way to start our final travel day before heading east. From there, we made our way to our third KOA of the trip — the St. Louis KOA West in Eureka, Missouri. This would be our final stop of the trip. We had actually stayed here back in 2013, and it left a good enough impression on us that we decided to stay here again. Unlike the…
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Route 66 with Our Grandson – Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to Joplin, Missouri: September 18, 2015
On the morning of September 18, it was time to leave Twin Fountains RV Resort in Oklahoma City. I really can’t say enough good things about this place. The grounds were beautiful, the facilities were excellent, and the staff were wonderful. It’s definitely the kind of campground you remember and want to return to. We look forward to heading back there sooner rather than later. After packing up, we continued east along Route 66. Visiting Jerry McClanahan in Chandler Our first stop was in Chandler, Oklahoma at the gallery of Jerry McClanahan. Jerry is a well-known Route 66 author, artist, and historian who has spent years documenting the many alignments…
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Route 66 with Our Grandson – Amarillo, Texas to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: September 17, 2015
We left the Oasis RV Park in Amarillo this morning to begin the return leg of our journey home. As we were packing up, Jameson wanted to spend a little more time enjoying the playground at the campground. While he played, the truck doors had been left open while we loaded gear. Unfortunately, that turned out to be an invitation for a swarm of Texas flies to move into the cab. When Jameson climbed back into the truck, he was immediately surrounded by buzzing intruders and quickly became very upset, loudly declaring: “I hate Texas flies!” We opened the windows and spent a few minutes shooing them out until the…
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Route 66 with Our Grandson – Amarillo to Tucumcari: September 16, 2015
After finishing our visit at the Jack Sisemore RV Museum, we headed west from Amarillo along historic Route 66 toward Tucumcari, New Mexico. Our first stop was the Midpoint Café in Adrian, Texas, where we enjoyed a simple Route 66 lunch of burgers and fries. Adrian is home to the Midpoint of Route 66, marking the exact halfway point between Chicago and Los Angeles. Of course, we had to stop for photos at the famous Midpoint of Route 66 sign. Next door we visited the Sunflower Station, owned by Fran Houser, who previously owned the Midpoint Café for many years. It was a nice stop to browse souvenirs and chat…
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Route 66 with Our Grandson – Jack Sisemore RV Museum (Amarillo, Texas): September 16, 2015
We started our day in Amarillo with a visit to the Jack Sisemore RV Museum, and it turned out to be a fantastic stop. One of the highlights was seeing the famous Gornicke bus from the Robin Williams and Jeff Daniels movie RV. Anyone who has seen the film will instantly recognize it. The bus itself is a 1948 Flxible, and it was fun sitting behind the steering wheel just like Jeff Daniels did while driving it in the movie. The museum has an impressive collection of vintage RVs and camping memorabilia. Among the trailers on display were a 1941 Westcraft, 1936 Alma, 1955 Airstream, 1953 Fleetwood, 1975 Itasca, 1976…