Heading South

Did you know over 2 million Canadians and over 11 million Americans have RVs? That is a 33% increase over 2020. The pandemic has certainly played a role in people wanting to travel this way - these bubbles on wheels mean you can go places while avoiding crowded airplanes and overseas lockdowns.

I have never thought of myself as the RVing type, but after covid restrictions were lifted this summer and my friend and I began discussing winter travel plans, we both agreed that staying close to home this year might not be a bad idea. So Judith bought herself a shiny new Tiberon 25 foot RV and I agreed to tag along for the ride.

Then the fourth Delta wave hit and the United States decided to keep the land border closed.

So like thousands of snowbirds across Canada, Judith and I have been forced to make the decision to either park the RV until next year and postpone this bucket list adventure, or pay an exorbitant pile of money to ship the RV and my car down to the states, and then fly down.

And of course, like any true adventurers, we said what the hell and chartered ourselves a small plane to fly us from Abbotsford, BC across the border to Bellingham, Washington where we will pick up the vehicles that will be driven across the border for us by a shipping company. (I will avoid the temptation here to launch into a tyrade on how stupid that is and how it has nothing to do with keeping Americans safe.)

Our plan is to go down the west coast of Washington, Oregon and Califormia enjoying the beautiful scenery along the fameous Highway 101 and along the way we will hike in the various state and national parks. I bought myself a handy dandy Pacific Northwest Foraging guidbook to give my hikes some added fun.

By driving in separate vehicles we will not only have a nice 4 hour break from each other every day as we drive (much needed if you knew how much I talk when on road trips), but it will also mean we can park and hook up the rig and still have a small vehicle to scoot around in to go sighseeing, into towns, onto back roads, to get groceries, etc. 

About the time it starts to be too cold to hike we will be in Califormia where we will visit Napa Vally for some wine tasting and then head on to Palm Springs/Palm desert area for some pickleball and desert hikes. New Mexico is on the list to visit too as there are numerous wonderful state parks and monuments there, though there is some debate about when to do that as we both hate the cold more than we love monuments.

By December we will also visit Louisiana to see some old friends of Judith and then by the coldest part of the winter we hope to be somewhere warm like the Florida keys where we will hang out with the aligators for awhile.

Of course all of this depends on how well we adapt to RV life. 25 feet is a small space in which to toss an extrovert (me), an introvert (Judith), and a medium sized dog with a crazy amount of energy. We get along pretty well, but pragmatists such as we are, we decided we would only commit to one month at a time. If after a month we are ready to pull each others' hair out, I will agree to head off on my own - hopefully towards tornado alley! 

Actually, my plan B is to go to either Spain and enroll in Spanish immersion school in Malaga (weather is moderate there in the winter, and using my vacation club, I can stay in a wonderful 2 bedroom 2 bathroom with full kitchen unit at the Marriot on the Mediterranean for $400/week) or go to Mexico, Colombia or Ecuador to learn Spanish. It all depends on the covid numbers in each country.

Hopefully that will not be necessery though. Judith and I are both truly looking forward to exploring the great ourdoors and taking in the beauty that is the United States. I may hate their politics, but with out a doubt, of the 40+ countries I have been to so far, some of the most beautiful things I have seen are in the USA!

I plan on blogging along the way to share our experiences and photos, and hope that you will come along for the ride. We leave October 15th, so stay tuned!