Cross Country Trip (Day 56) – Back Home in Orlando

We made it!

Fay’s glad to be back home, and I’m not too sure yet! But all in all, we had a really fantastic trip. Before we started, Fay was a bit apprehensive about being gone for so long, how we’d do with all the driving time, and also, she wasn’t too sure about how we’d do staying in the little trailer all that time.

But we really enjoyed the entire trip. In fact, while spending a night at friends’ house two days before we got home, we both missed staying in the camper. As for the drive, we got to think of the truck cab as just another room...the room with a view! We got to see so many things we’ve never seen before, that the time went quickly.

Fay enjoying the scenery from our "room with a view"!

Fay enjoying the scenery from our "room with a view"!

So here’s a few stats from our trip:

  • 55 days - Spent 48 nights sleeping in our little trailer and 7 nights staying with friends
  • Stayed in 26 different campgrounds (can’t imagine if that had been in and out of 26 different hotels, sleeping in 26 different beds)
  • Made it to 20 states and 2 Canadian provinces
  • Drove 10,428 miles (I’m not sure of the exact number, but estimate that we bought over 700 gallons of gas for probably around $2,000.)
  • Took over 1,000 photos

There were just so many things to see, and everyone we talked with seemed to tell us about somewhere we shouldn’t miss. We quickly realized however, that there was just too much and decided we’d just see whatever we saw and not worry about what me missed. But with all we saw, the best part was really all the old friends and family we got to spend time with, and all the new people we met along the way.

The Photo Fay Shows the Most

Before we left home, Fay was telling everyone that if one of us came back without the other, someone probably got pushed off a mountain. You know, like in the 48 Hour Mysteries on TV. After all, this was our first time to spend so much time in such a little trailer and truck together. If we did manage to average 50 mph (which I don't think we came close to), it would calculate to be over 200 hours sitting in the truck together.

So when we were up in Canada, there was a road sign with lights flashing that said "Bear in Road". Sure enough, we drove a bit further and there he was.

The flashing sign said "Bear in Road"

The flashing sign said "Bear in Road"

To hear Fay tell the story...

"Denny pulled up next to the bear, rolled down the window on MY side and told me to put my head out and get a good picture.
I can't believe I listened to him!"

Thus, Fay's favorite photo from the entire trip, or at least the one she shows the most often.

Our Cross Country Trip

Our Cross Country Trip

Denny Johnson

Denny Johnson

After having spent most of our adult life in Orlando, my wife Fay and I moved to Knoxville, TN in 2020. We are loving the change of seasons and being near the mountains. Plus, this part of the country is loaded with great places to camp. 
 
We camped years ago with a pop-up camper, but got serious about it when we purchased our Casita in 2014. There was a lot to learn as we started traveling with it, and a lot of conflicting opinions on line. That's when I decided that creating a website would be a good retirement project. I started tinyTowable.com to share things we've learned along the way that have worked well for us in hopes that the information would be of help to others.
 
However, since moving to Tennessee, I've gotten involved with new hobbies (you can check some out on my personal website at https://www.softrite.com) and we haven't camped very much. So, at the end of 2023, I made the tough decision to stop updating this website.
 
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