If you’ve ever pulled a big trailer of any kind, I’m sure you can relate. Driving with a trailer is tiring. Like exhausting. Something about needing tons of clearance to change lanes. Feeling semi trucks come alongside and pass. Even being close to semi trucks can be noticed. Throw in a few young kids that don’t have the ability to talk to each other much and need tons of exercise…well, that’s a recipe for long days.
We left home on Sunday around 11:30am. The plan was to take off at 9:00am, but that’s life. I had a goal/need of getting far enough south to avoid a hard freeze overnight. I wanted water in the rig for morning coffee and flushing the toilet. Getting fuel is hard enough with a trailer in tow, throw in two young kids and there’s no way in he** that I can go inside for a cup of coffee. In any event, we targeted an RV park in Calvert City, Kentucky, for the first night. It was $29/night, had pull-through sites, and great Google reviews. It was 6 hours away by GPS, but that’s more like 8 hours when pulling and accounting for pit stops. The kids were ready to be done an hour before we arrived, but were good sports and enjoyed playing in the RV for the night. It was cold (RVs don’t have great insulation), but we made it.
For the remaining days, the original plan was to drive about 4 hours a day and arrive on Thursday (after leaving on Sunday). But the reality of solo-traveling with two young kids and a huge rig made me re-think that plan. Plus, weather was supposed to get rough Wednesday night into Thursday. So pushing it a little bit made sense. That said, we took off from Calvert City, KY, around 9:30am and drove until just before 4:00pm with a stop or two along the way. The plan when we took off that morning was to spend the night in Chattanooga, Tennnessee. Once we were on the road (and the kids were doing great), I decided to go another hour or so to Calhoun, Georgia. We stayed at a place that used to be a KOA. They had a great playground for my little kids. It was 60 degrees and sunny when we got there, so the kids had a ball on the playground until dark. Again, the price for the night was under $30!
Another cold-ish night, but not as bad. We got on the road a bit later, maybe 10:00am, and had plans to get to Tifton, Georgia. That would have been about halfway from where were to Tampa, Florida. But once again, the kids were great. The place I’d targeted in Tifton didn’t have a playground, so during one of our pit stops, I found a place that was cheaper and 45 minutes further down the road. It was loud. Like right off of the interstate loud. But pretty empty with big, pull-through sites, and under $30/night again! The kids ran around throwing rocks and sticks in the 65 degree evening before we settled in to watch cable TV and fall asleep.
We woke up to a warm morning, maybe 45 degrees, and knew today was the day we’d arrive at Lazydays. If you recall, we spent over a week there in late January/early February. We left to go to another RV park but returned to Lazydays for another two weeks. It is one of those special places in our minds. We spent 8 hours a day at the pool and just loved the vibe of the place. Unlike nearly every other RV park, Lazydays has no full-time residents. It’s just travelers and vacationers. We think that is part of the great atmosphere – everyone is on vacation and happy.
Anyhow, it is also a convenient location to get to Tampa’s airport. Karissa had to work this week while we travelled and is flying down to meet us for her Winter Break. We’ll be returning at the end of Karissa’s time down here to send her off on an airplane.
The drive south from Georgia was mostly uneventful. Until 6 miles before my exit…when there was a major accident that added almost an hour of traffic jam. Without the RV, I would have gotten off of the interstate and taken surface roads, but one can never be sure of clearances and tight corners with a big rig. We made it the last few miles while it began to rain, but we saw this beacon at long last!
They had plenty of room to accomodate us a day early and we got settled into our spot. Every space here is a back-in space. Karissa was instrumental in guiding me into spots on our big trip, but with nobody around and a few deep breaths, I took my time and got backed in and unhooked without any issue. Adelaide wanted to go to the playground, but rain nixed that idea. We were sick of eating granola bars, chips, and cheetos, so we went to the nearby McDonald’s. We knew from last year that they have a PlayPlace. Adelaide had a ball and Emerson ate like he hadn’t been fed in a week.
So now we have two more nights before we pick up Karissa. Adelaide can’t wait. And the rain in the forecast means we need to get creative in how to pass the time. Despite that, we’ll make the most of being able to relax and enjoy the warmth…even if there’s rain for a few days.