Masters of RVing Adventures

“Every road has its own rhythm—some wind through history, some roar with adrenaline, and some hum quietly through small towns—but together they all lead us closer to the adventures we’ve been dreaming of.”

Day 1 – State 1 (GA) – Thursday, Aug 14

With a few last minute changes, we hit the road beginning our Fall Out West adventure, which, coincidentally, also happened to be our 32nd wedding anniversary (thanks, Aunt Mary & Sharon, for the sweet card!) Because we knew the day was going to be a travel day, we decided to have our celebratory dinner date the night before at a new-ish place in Fort Mill called New York Butcher Shoppe & Wine Bar. They are a chain of legit butcher shop restaurants, selling premium cuts of fresh meats at their counter (you can also choose one for your meal), as well as offering many of their menu items in prepared “to go” sizes. The beer and wine selections are a good variety considering their small store size. The place is casual and friendly. The food was good – not exceptional, but we’ll add it to our list of local places because of its convenient location and food value for meal cost. We left with two prepared meals to stick in the rig freezer for quick meals after our long drive days.

Back to our harried departure, well, more harried for me than for Mark. Originally, we had planned to meet our niece and her husband in Oklahoma City, which is about a two-hour drive from their home in Enid (OK) where she is stationed with the Air Force. However, we learned she was sent on a training assignment to Montgomery, AL and could we make it work to meet them closer to that location. So with some last minute routing adjustments, we decided we could. The impact for me meant my hair appointment could not be adjusted last minute to accommodate our updated travel schedule, so I decided my hair style was more important than leaving at noon and riding with Mark to our first night’s stay. (Ladies, I know you are with me on this!) I was going to keep my Thursday afternoon hair appointment and drive Cheeto to catch up with Mark later that night. Knowing Mark was leaving around noon and I wouldn’t be leaving until 3:30 for my hair appointment, I started a load of laundry and had plans to clean out the fridge in between taking work calls. Around 11am, while I had run to the grocery store for Mark, my hair stylist texted me that she had nausea, intestinal distress and slight fever – maybe food poisoning – and was cancelling my appointment. OK that put me in a total tailspin right there in the dairy aisle – my roots and highlights were not getting touched before going on the road for three+ months??!!

Mark was gleeful, we could leave together at his planned departure time of noon. (Remember my load of wet laundry and leftovers in the fridge that will spoil? Yep- didn’t get all that done. I couldn’t think straight being distraught over post-menopausal stringy hair that really needed a touch up!). But we left on time! ✅

Day 2 – State 2 (AL) – Friday, August, 15

We met up with our niece, Zoey, and her husband, Tyler, in Talladega, Alabama. They drove about two hours north to allow us to stay more on our travel trajectory. She has about another three weeks left with this temporary training position. Tyler is a corporate pilot for private jets and can fly from anywhere for his assignments, so they rented an air B&B in Montgomery to be together during her stint.

We stayed about one mile from the famous NASCAR track in a very plain, grass only, FHU site at Time Away RV Resort. I just love how campgrounds liberally apply that word, “resort,” though this campground was clean, had attentive and friendly staff, and a nice in ground ‘cement pond.’

We enjoyed our evening catching up over drinks and a hot spinach artichoke appetizer, as Mark grilled mixed summer vegetables, chicken thighs and a small cut of pork belly. After Apple pie 🍎 and ice cream for dessert, we sipped on a little B & B and learned from Tyler, who is an avid gun enthusiast, about a nearby shooting range they wanted to try the next day. He also informed Mark of a website to purchase ammo at a good price. They were brave enough to spend the night and be the first to test out our sofa bed!

Day 3 – State 3 (AR) – Saturday, August 16

After an eight-hour drive, we arrived quite road weary and thirsty at our Harvest Host overnight stay. I did give Mark a two-hour drive break, trusting me to drive Jackson on a quiet stretch of US highway 82 West.

The brewery staff was exceptionally friendly, especially with Timber. The heat index was 113, so we opted for indoors instead of outside on their covered patio. We tried several of their beers, some better than others. Mark settled on their most popular dark beer, Black Jack, while I opted for their cider.

The owner made a surprise visit to the establishment. Not knowing they were the owners, I was chatting with his companion, Linda, who had chosen the table near us, when Bill suggested he give us a personal tour of the facility. We saw their complete operation, including their winemaking and distilling operations. Come to find out, last year they were the only craft brewers at the Razorbacks’ home football games 🏈 .

Day 4 – Sunday, August 17

We left the brewery extra early because I wanted time to visit a few shops in Stockyard City, an historic section of Oklahoma City, this afternoon. Most businesses, if they are even open on Sundays, close at either 4 or 5pm CT. Two of the shops I really wanted to visit, Shorty’s Caboy Hattery and Little Joe’s Boots, are closed today. I will have to plan a mid-week stop next time through to visit them.

We had originally invited Zoey & Tyler to eat with us at the iconic Cattlemen’s Steakhouse. We told them, “so sorry you are going to miss it, but we are still going!” So, I wanted to get to the campground (Mustang Run RV Park) in time to set up, feed and walk Timber, and then have at least an hour or two to shop before the stores closed. Mark’s main objective was to enjoy a mouth-watering steak 🥩 dinner!

The Oklahoma National Stockyards operate 24/7 being “the world’s largest feeder and stocker cattle market,” but only hold auctions on Mondays and Tuesdays. Depending on the weather and amount of cattle, the sales begin at either 6:30 or 8:30 am (CT) and are open to the public. Mark agreed to stay for the beginning of the sale before heading out Monday morning.

We’ll let you know if we become cattle owners in the next post!

Our Next Few Stops

During our Alaska trip, we had so many followers want to be able to easily reference where we were in our trip. I thought I would try to do that again at the end of each post.