I have kind of died off with the daily updates. We are currently in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for the next two nights. Yesterday was a very long drive. We left Navarre Beach, Florida (near where my work is based out of) and traveled here. When I initially booked this, it said about an 8-hour drive. It would make for a long day, but it was doable. Well, we got into the campground last night at about midnight. We plugged in the electricity, extended the slide room, and collapsed in bed.

We’ve learned, first and foremost, that three nights is too short at most places. Unless we are trying to get to a destination, all of our stays will be at least four nights from now on. Granted, there’s not as much setup and tear down as there was when I tent-camped with the kids, or when we had our pop-up, but it’s enough that three days seems like not enough time to really settle in a place and explore the area. I already amended two of our stays for the fall trip. We have a couple of two-night stays in there, but other than that and our actual drive to Florida, the stays will all be for 4 nights. We are going to Florida for a wedding and will be staying 8 nights at Disney’s Fort Wilderness. This works out perfectly since Disney announced they are selling annual passes again. Barring any hurricanes, we will then head to the Keys. We have 2 nights in Key Largo and then 5 in Key West. On the way back, we’re stopping to see a friend in Melbourne, the 4 nights in St. Augustine, followed by 4 nights on the Outer Banks. Again, it all depends on what the weather does. We will be watching it closely.

Sansa loves the travel and going to new places, but it feels like she was just getting to know a park and then we rip her away to someplace new. I think, in general, the 4-night stays will be good for her.

This happened between Texas and Florida. We didn’t even know we had a flat; someone signaled us on the road. Liberty Mutual came through with their roadside assistance. I’d read in the RV forums about problems with the tires on new trailers that are made in China. I have to say that I don’t think we did bad with getting well over 5,000 miles on these before an incident occurred. We will be putting 4 new tires on the trailer before our trip in the fall. Our tow vehicle also needs new tires.

We’ll be investing in a remote temperature monitor for the camper as well, so when we have to leave the pup inside for the day we will know if there’s a problem and can return. We’ve had some issues with watching television on the parks’ wifi. I was looking at Dish because you can switch that off each month you’re not using it. However, I need connectivity for work, so investing in Starlink is going to be the better option. I hate the thought of giving Elon Musk money, but this is something I can write off at least, and we can use all of the streaming apps we have at home.

So there’s a lot of money going out between now and the end of September (when we leave on our next trip). However, nothing beats sitting outside in the evening watching a baseball game. I do like my creature comforts that I didn’t have when we used to camp. Having a travel trailer is great. I think if we survive the next ten years or so we’ll likely move up to a Class-C to make it even easier, and tow a vehicle behind it.