What We Learned On Our First RV Road Trip

If you are going on your first RV road trip, you have found the blog post that you have been looking for.

Reading about what we learned on our first trip will help you feel a little more comfortable about traveling in your RV for the first time.

If you are traveling with your RV, take a look at our list of 10 Items You Should Have On Your RV Camping List before you hit the road.

We've just completed our first road trip in our RV.  Before this road trip we took two practice runs (read about it here) to campgrounds close to our house.  We were very glad that we did because we learned how to set up our camper and got a feel for driving it.  We knew that our trip up the East Coast would be a little more challenging but the practice trips definitely made us feel more comfortable, confident and ready to do a longer trip.  Did we learn everything we needed to know on the shorter trips?  We found out the answer was "No".  We learned a lot more on this trip and one thing we learned, we learned the hard way!

The first thing we did on this road trip that we didn't have to do on our two shorter trips was pull up to a gas pump with the trailer behind the car.

Pilot is our go to gas station for the coffee perks, gas discount and now we are enjoying their new app (read about it here).  Now, that we have the trailer, we have another reason to love Pilot.

Pilot gas stations cater to truckers so there is usually more room to maneuver a truck or trailer up to a gas pump and many of them have a separate RV area that is very easy to pull in and out of.  When pulled into the first Pilot we came to there were two gas pumps that were designated for RV pull thru.  We didn't use them because there was a end pump that looked very easy to pull next to.  We were both very happy that Soko did a great job pulling the car up to the pump without bumping the car or the trailer into anything.  He did ask me to check, as we were pulling away, to see if the camper was going to hit the gas pump.  We were a good 3' away but it was impossible for Soko to see.
Lesson #1 - When possible, go to the gas station the truckers go to for ease of pulling up to a gas pump.

We were filled up with gas and it was time to get on a major road, I4, the always busy interstate that brings you to your favorite Florida theme parks.  Our plan was to stay in the right lane so that Soko wouldn't have to quickly change lanes to get off an exit. 

You can see some of the traffic with the side mirrors but it doesn't give you as big a picture of what is going on behind you as you can get when you are able to use the rear view mirror.  That might be the hardest part of towing the trailer is the fact that the only thing you can see behind you when you look out the rear view mirror is what you are towing.

What we learned almost as soon as we got on the road was that we were going to have to change lanes.  Mostly to get around very slow vehicles.  Soko felt pretty comfortable using only the side mirrors for making sure no one was around him when he was ready to change lanes.  He just had to remember to wait until there was enough room for both the car and trailer to move over.
Lesson #2 - Changing lanes is not as difficult as we thought it might be and the most comfortable lane to be in, when on a 3 lane highway, is the middle lane.

Soko only wanted a stretch of 5 -5 1/2 hours, at the most, between campgrounds.  So that's how we selected the campgrounds that we did and we also wanted them close to I95, the interstate we would be on for the majority of the trip.  We know that when we GPS our ride from our Florida home to our NC home it tells us that it will take us 9 1/2 hours.  Our record time is 10 hours but we stop a lot so the trip for us is more like 10 1/2 hours, so an extra hour.  Knowing we would have to take it slower with the trailer and make more gas stops, we were curious to know what the difference in actual travel time would be compared to the ETA of the GPS.
Lesson #3 - A 5 hour trip when we are pulling our trailer really means a 6 1/2  hour trip, without traffic.

We were very happy that we got to our first stop, Fort McAllister Historic State Park in Richmond Hill, Georgia, safe and sound.  

The outdoor gym in the park was the first one we had ever seen and it was fantastic.  

It was on our way to our second stop, in North Carolina, that we had our eggstraordinary disaster!

Lesson #4 - Always make sure to listen for the extra click of the fridge door handle, telling us the door is locked, before we hit the road!

Medoc Mountain State Park in Hollister, NC, was our second stop, and where we knew we would not have a water hook up to the camper.  We were prepared to learn how to use the trailer's water holding tank.

Lesson #5 - The water tank takes longer to fill than we thought and is full when the water starts to overflow out of the trailer or I noticed the second time we filled up, that the sound of the water going into the trailer changed right before it started leaking out.  I will be listening harder next time and try to stop filling before the leak out.

(I have to admit that we are not completely positive that we have the water tank figured out yet.  On our way back to Florida we noticed we had water leakage.  Not sure if it was us or the trailer.  We will get it checked out in September.  This might turn out to be another blog post on it's own, but hoping it won't be!)

We were successful at filling the water tank but when we tried to turn the water on in the trailer it didn't come out of the faucets.  Soko finally found the switch that says water pump right on it.  We now know how to check the level of water in the black and grey water tanks because it is right on the same panel as the switch that we never paid any attention to!  We had no clue, during our practice runs, of how much water was in the tanks and were nervous about overflowing them.
Lesson #6 - It's probably a good idea to consult the trailer's owner manual when we know we will be using a feature of the trailer that we haven't used before.

We had a choice of a three trails near our campground in Medoc Mountain and decided on the shortest trail because it was late afternoon by the time we got to NC.  We were treated to the beautiful sight of this gorgeous stream at the end of the Stream Trail and were so glad we chose this hike.

Our third stop, Susquehanna River State Park in MD, was where we discovered we lost a piece of our trailer.  Luckily, it could have been worse and we could have lost the plate that the trailer balances on but somehow it stayed on without the bolt that holds it.  We went and found this piece at Home Depot.

Lesson #7 - We will keep a few extra bolts in the camper at all times, and other parts that we discover we might need extra of.

The campsite at Susquehanna State Park was our favorite.  We always expect a grill, fire pit and picnic bench but when there's also somewhere to hang our garbage bags and a place to put our propane stove, well, it doesn't get better than that (when you're camping anyway!)

We took a 7 mile round trip hike, along the Susquehanna River, to see the bald eagles we heard would be at the Conowingo Dam.  There were lots of photographers lined up on the walkway with their cameras with 3' lenses waiting to get a shot of an eagle.  I was there with my phone.  My best shot is on the left.  I'm saying this is an eagle but it could have been a vulture.  We saw a lot more of them than eagles.  On our hike back to the campground, a woman approached us and gave us the photo on the right that her photographer husband took.  I have to admit he got a much better shot than I did!!

After 2 nights at Susquehanna River State Park, we took off for our destination, Strawberry Park in Preston, CT.  We have been here many times and planned this trip with Joe and Nicole so that we could enjoy our grandson's first camping trip with him.  On our way to CT, we thought about taking an alternate route to get there from MD but couldn't find the information we needed to see if we could safely, or legally, take the roads that we wanted to.
Lesson #8 - Research routes along the way of each road trip before getting into the car.

Joe, Nicole and Shea arrived on Thursday.  We showed Shea around our trailer, he showed us the cabin he was staying in for the weekend and then we went to find the campground playground.

On Friday, we went to nearby Mystic Aquarium in the morning before our first fellow campers, Janet and Chris arrived.  We showed up for Bingo at the outdoor rec room but no one else did so it was canceled.  We played Yahtzee instead!

Joe and Nicole invited friends and family to spend the day with us on Saturday.  We voted for our favorite car at the Strawberry Park Annual Car Show and we were entertained by a very good band.   We had a delicious BBQ and enjoyed great company.

We realized we only had a few short days, after our camping vacation with our family and friends in CT, to get back to Florida, park our trailer, clean and secure our Florida home, then return to NC in time to make our doctor's appointments.  So the same trip that we made to get to CT that took us 5 days on the way up, we would have to do in 3, meaning we only had time to stay overnight at each campground.  There is more work involved, for sure, with setting up a trailer to spend the night in versus rolling our suitcases into a hotel room.  I have to say that we were a bit tired when we got back but it wasn't as bad as we thought it might be.
Lesson #9 - Make sure we are giving ourselves plenty of time to complete a round trip vacation so that we don't have too many back to back one nighters.

We had a great time and learned a lot at the same time.  We feel like we now know everything we need to know about using our trailer and we can't wait for the next road trip!

We would love to hear from you if you have any suggestions, helpful hints or if you just want to share any of your road trip stories!!

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14 National Parks In 5 States 2025 Road Trip-Stops 1, 2 And 3

Our latest road trip is named 14 National Parks In Five States. Do you name your road trips?

Read this post, What We Learned On Our First RV Road Trip, if you are thinking about going on your first road trip in your new RV.

Our road trip didn't start as it usually does with hectic last minute packing the night before, getting up early the next morning and then heading to our first stop where we set up and level the trailer, unpack the groceries and get the food from the cooler into the fridge in the RV. After that's done, we finally get to pull out the camping chairs and some cold drinks and relax.

This road trip started with a hectic packing of the car and RV two nights before the start of our trip and then Soko driving me to the airport the day before our road trip.

After dropping me off at the airport where I boarded a plane to NY, Soko went back to the RV to do the last minute grocery packing by himself.

The following day Soko headed out to the first stop of our road trip, a quick one night stopover at Blackwater River State Park in the panhandle of Florida while I spent time with these cuties.

On Sunday, Soko made his way to the second stop of our trip, Horseshoe Lake Charles, a hotel in Louisiana while I joined our older son, Joe, and his friends at Citifield to watch the Mets and to celebrate his 40th birthday. 

On Monday, I flew to Louisiana and finally caught up with Soko at the hotel. I know people that just jump into their RV's with a plan in mind but without reservations and wing it as they go. They can stay somewhere as long as they like or cut the visit short if they want.  We are not a spur of the moment people at all and that kind of a plan would stress us out. But we can now see how not having reservations might be the way to go. Maybe one day...probably not lol!

After spending the night at the hotel, it was finally time to start our road trip. The first stop we were heading to together, South Llano River State Park in Junction, TX, was actually the third stop of our 19 stop road trip. But first we needed to make our first of many Walmart stops.

After unpacking our groceries and settling into our campsite we had a chance to look around the park a bit. We found a steep set of stairs that led to the South Llano River, a popular place to swim, float, fish and paddle.

The following day, we googled things to do in Junction, TX and the #1 attraction was the park we were camping in. #2 was the Deer Horn Tree so we started our one and only full day in Junction with a ride to see the tree.

It only took a few minutes to see the tree and then the whole town. After our short visit we headed back to to the park. The Buck Lake Trail trailhead was across from our campsite and, when we read the description of it, it sounded like the kind of hike we wanted to do that day.

A few feet into the trail we found this bird blind.

We saw a number of birds here including this gorgeous female Northern Cardinal.

We logged our sighting on a chart in the bird blind.

                                              

We spent a good amount of time in the bird blind and then continued on our hike. The trail was an easy, flat hike that we leisurely strolled along. It was appropriately called the Buck Lake Trail as we found out on our walk.

We passed this fishing dock along the way.

And lots of cactus.

At the end of the 3/4 mile in and out trail, we were back across the way from our campsite and it was time for lunch. Lunch was leftover pizza that Soko had for dinner his first night on the road without me.

After lunch we headed to the South Llano River to find tubes to rent. Someone told us it would be at this bridge. 

We never found the tubes and didn't see anyone tubing so we decided to give up on the tubing idea and just explore the park instead. We found this path to the amphitheater.

Nothing was going on here but it was a very nice space with very cool looking but not so comfortable seating.

We passed by the Buck Family ranch. Walter Buck Jr. donated his family's land to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department for the purpose of wildlife conservation and public park use.

Unfortunately, Walter Buck Jr. passed away 9 years before his land became a park and never got to see how really nice this park is. He would have been very happy to see that there was plenty of wildlife roaming around throughout the park.

Our last stop was to check out the camp store. It was a big store in comparison to most state park stores with plenty of supplies and souvenirs. I couldn't believe I walked out of there without buying anything. It was probably due to the fact that neither of us had any money on us :).

We enjoyed our quick stop in Junction, TX but it was time to move on. We were on a schedule. We were heading to Stop 4, El Paso, TX, in the morning.

Read about our Stop 4 here.

Things To Do In And Around El Paso, TX

Read about another great city in Texas here.

Dallas, TX

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The Cottage Market

Visit their Etsy Shop here. Enter the code WELCOME for a $2.00 coupon.

Have you been on a National Park road trip? How many did you get to see?

It's Christmastime In The City

We love this time of year and one thing we love to do is visit a city to see their Christmastime displays. 

Do you?

If you are traveling in your car to your favorite city, read this post Healthier Food And Snack Choices For Our Road Trips for snack ideas to take along on your drive.

In 1986, I was running errands in my neighborhood at that time, Nanuet, NY, and saw a huge tree being carted away on a flatbed truck.  I didn't know until the annually televised tree lighting that the tree I saw was the one.  I couldn't believe how awesome it felt when I realized how close I was to the tree that was going to make history!  People come from all over the world to ice skate at Rockefeller Center and to see the lighting of the magnificent (and soon to be historic) tree.  I don't know if there is another city in America that can rival the holiday displays and festivities of New York City.

New York City

 

I live in North Carolina now and just recently went to our city's tree lighting.  Although Leland's wasn't as grand as the one in Manhattan, they did have guest singers singing Christmas carols and Santa Claus made an appearance.  We were offered free coffee, hot chocolate and cookies which was really nice.  No, it didn't come close to NYC but we did have a fun night!  

Leland, NC

I haven't been to too many cities, though, at Christmastime and I'm sure that most towns across the United States have their tree lighting evenings, festivities and holiday displays.  So since our Christmas tree and decorations were up and most of the presents were bought, I decided to plan a road trip or two to check out some holiday decor.  I was on a quest to find and enjoy the best holiday displays in as many cities as I could get to in the two weeks before Christmas.

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(Update to Leland NC)

Christmas 2025

Our town of Leland went from having a simple tree lighting to having a full blown light show extravaganza in the park right across the street from Town Hall where this tree is.

Our son-in-law works for The Town of Leland Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources and was a big part of the success of this year's holiday display.

He set up one of our favorite displays of the night.

Next year the park will be completed and the light show will be double the size of what it was this year. We are looking forward to going.

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I hadn't been to too many cities, though, at Christmastime and was sure that most towns across the United States have tree lighting evenings, festivities and holiday displays.  So since our Christmas tree and decorations were up and most of the presents were bought, I decided to plan a road trip or two to check out some holiday decor.  I was on a quest to find and enjoy the best holiday displays in as many cities as I could get to in the two weeks before Christmas.

Week 1

The first stop of this adventure, would be the nearest city to us, Wilmington, NC.  Me and Soko headed downtown to see the huge tree that I knew was there somewhere.  I was hoping, and was pretty sure, that there would other things to see.  And, yes, there was lots of festive decor all over the city to enjoy.

Wilmington, NC

Lots of the restaurants and shops downtown had holiday displays and this one even used the tree in front of their business to put Wilmington in a festive mood.

On our stroll down the Wilmington Riverwalk, was where we found the tree in front of the court house.

And the menorah...

And where we found the horse drawn carriage, lampposts and many other things shouting "It's Christmastime In The City!"

  

Our final stop here in downtown Wilmington was Front St. to see if the historic homes on this block were decorated for the holidays.  There were and they were gorgeous.  

We will definitely try to get downtown at another time to check out the other historic homes in the area but it was time to get ready for my next stop to find Christmastime in the city.

Charleston, SC

Early the next morning, me and my daughter, Lisa, hopped into the car and settled in for our four hour drive to meet some friends in Charleston, SC.  I was very excited for this road trip as I had been to Charleston and it was such a charming old town and I was sure it would be even more delightful at Christmastime.

Charleston, on a gorgeous winter day with my best friends and favorite daughter.  I can't think of a better way to enjoy the holiday displays of a beautiful city!

The first place we wanted to check out was the Charleston City Market...  

 which was right where the city put their tree.

Then a stroll around the town where we admired the creativity of this building...

and where we enjoyed the many other decked out buildings, and homes that filled their window flower boxes with festive plants and decor.  We noticed that almost every building had a wreath hanging on it, either on a door or window, one prettier than the next.

A visit to Charleston wouldn't be complete without a walk down Rainbow Row.  

Me and Lisa had a great time in Charleston, especially because we got to spend the day with good friends.  The city was as we imagined and more.  Now it was time to head back home but not before stopping for something to eat at one of Lisa's favorite places, Broadway at the Beach in Myrtle Beach, SC.

Charleston, SC Part 2

My second trip to Charleston at Christmastime, again with Lisa, happened 4 years after our first trip. Lisa had some work to do for her blog, Drugstore Divas, here and asked if I wanted to come along. Of course I did!

The first time we visited we only had a day to enjoy the holiday festivities, this trip we had a whole weekend. Lucky for us, we were in town for the city's annual Christmas parade.

Christmas classics blasted out of speakers put in some of the floats and added to the fun of the parade. In the distance, we could hear one of our favorites, the classic piano solo Schroeder played in A Charlie Brown Christmas. We were very impressed to find out, when the group finally got to us, that the music was actually being played live on the piano the local Baptist church managed to somehow get on their float.

The first time we came to Charleston at Christmas, we met our friends and just enjoyed a day of walking around the city admiring and enjoying the holiday decor. We especially enjoyed the decorations that adorned the many grand estates here. Me and Lisa had a chance to take a couple of walks this weekend and stopped to take pictures of some more of the beautifully decorated homes.

We voted this home "most fun".

Lisa had to meet someone at the visitor's center when we first got into town. We were very excited to find out that there was a Christmas tree display here. Each tree was unique and decorated and donated in honor of a loved one who had a battle with cancer. You could bid on a tree and the money received for the purchase of the tree would be donated to Dragon Boat Charleston, a non-profit organization. We could feel the love these trees were decorated with.

This tree was donated by a sister who lost her beach loving brother to cancer. The tree was filled with bought and handmade decorations, as most of the trees were. We couldn't get over the starfish tree topper created for this amazing tree. I think the brother would be (and is) very happy with his tree.

Once again, we enjoyed all Charleston had to offer for the holidays! 

Myrtle Beach, SC

Not only did we enjoy dinner here, but we were treated to some really beautiful and festive decorations!  Christmas lights are really special at night and this stop had one of the prettiest displays I had seen so far.

And, just when we thought this day could not get any better, we saw the tree, spectacular and glowing with hundreds of colorful lights!

Find more cities to visit here:

It's Christmastime In the City - Week 2

We also love going to botanical gardens at this time of year. They always have beautiful displays to enjoy.

                It's Christmastime At The Gardens                

                    

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Esme Salon

Visit Esme's blog to find amazing South African recipes.

My Wee Abode

Visit Julie's blog to find big inspiration for small home living.

A Pinch of Joy

Visit Charlene’s blog to find helpful hints, recipes, DIYs and more.

Have you gone to a city or garden to check out their Christmas displays? Please tell us where. We would love to add it to our bucket list of cities to visit at Christmastime!