Land cruising north- April 27-May 2, 2020

As we begin this new adventure, I am constantly aware of how very fortunate we are to be able to consider not only traveling and having new adventures, but to even get out of our house. So many people are still under Stay at Home orders or are quarantined. If we did not have the rig, we would not be venturing out as we are. As I said, we wear our masks when going inside stores, wear gloves when getting fuel, and have hand sanitizer at the ready. Looking around us now at our first camp site, we have greater social distancing than we had at home. We’ll be safe and respectful of others during this crazy time.

The new to us rig is a 2017 Winnebago Navion 24V. Don’t worry, we’ll still be cruising on the boat, but we just decided we needed a better way to get from Texas to wherever the boat might be. Tim knew when he married me that he was getting a girl infused with a good dose of wanderlust and after spending a lot of time recently with my dad, he now sees where I got it. I’ve been talking about getting an RV for a while. We just thought it would be after we finished cruising on the trawler. Something happened this winter though and I got real antsy for a change. The RV seemed like a perfect alternative to a beeline multi day drive from Texas to northern Michigan where Subject to Change has been wintering. Instead of hotels and takeout food, we can have state parks and whatever Tim throws on the grill. The RV also will allow us to extend our time traveling. It will also feed my cravings for travel during the winter. I’m already dreaming of cool, starry nights in Big Bend.

So, let me introduce you to the coach. She is a 2017 Winnebago Navion 24v on a Mercedes Sprinter chassis. She has a Diesel engine, diesel generator, and inverter. We chose the V model because we preferred the beds not to be in the slide out and chose the loveseat rather than the dinette that most other models have. We can easily move through the rig with the loveseat slide out pulled in.

Since state parks in Texas are closed to campers, our first night on the road was at Lake Murray State Park, just south of Ardmore, Ok. We had a nice couple of quiet nights before moving on to Great Salt Plains State Park in Jet, OK. Both parks were well maintained and we had lots of space between us and our neighbors. Kansas state parks are currently closed to campers, but that wasn’t a problem for us.

Soon after we bought the RV we joined Harvest Hosts. For something like $75/year you get a list of vineyards, breweries, farms, museums and such that let you park overnight for free. The only expectation is that you will support their business. Hmmmm, we can do that. I was able to find Shiloh Vineyard and Winery along our route north, gave them a call, and was welcomed to come stay the night. What an absolute treat! Five miles down a dirt road we arrived at this oasis, owner Kirk directed us to an area to park the rig and invited us up for a tasting once settled. The usual grapes- Sauvignon, Chardonnay, etc. don’t grow well here, so Kirk introduced us to some we hadn’t heard of. We chose a couple bottles of their Noiret, a dry red. A great pairing with the steaks Tim threw on the grill. I had a wonderful time checking out all the critters on the property. Being 5 miles in the middle of winter wheat fields, with no light pollution, and a crystal, clear sky, I was able to fall asleep with stars shining down upon us. LOVED It.

Our next night was in Nebraska, enjoying another Harvest Host. Mac’s Creek Vineyard and Brewery is just a few hours north of Shiloh in the town of Lexington. For our drinking pleasure, we chose an Irish Ale. While not as remote as Shiloh, we were welcomed to a wonderful area to park overlooking a portion of their vineyard. We were told there are propane fire pits down by the creek for our evening enjoyment. Gotta love it.

I am sending this from South Dakota. It has taken me several attempts to get the blog back on track after being dormant all winter. Bear with me. I think Ive got the kinks out.