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When RV Life grinds to a halt due to a national emergency, staying close to people you know is a smart move.
We entered Year 4 of the RV Life with great anticipation for another fantastic summer adventure in the mountain west. As noted in the article, RV Life – Year 3 – Texas Winter, Cheri had it all planned out to enjoy Coeur d’Alene, Idaho and several areas across the Pacific Northwest. COVID crazy was about to throw us for a loop.
By the time we left our winter spot in Grand Prairie, Texas it was March of 2020. With reports all over the news of the growing coronavirus threat, we hit the road to Tennessee concerned that our plans for the year would soon crumble.
The route from Grand Prairie to Murfreesboro is a long one, nearly 11 hours, so we took a weekend to cover the distance. We stayed at one of our favorite spots near the halfway point, parking for a night at the Downtown Riverside RV Park in Little Rock, Arkansas. We finished the journey to Tennessee the next day, but this time we would not need a campground reservation.
As a result of the Crusader incident, our wonderful friends, Ralph & Patricia, had created a perfect little spot on their property for us.
Affectionately called Camp Doney, we now had the pleasure of being welcome guests every Spring and Fall with our dear friends right in their own backyard!
The perks for this arrangement were awesome, but can you imagine the advantage it offered as the COVID-19 pandemic became an international crisis? We were in a very safe location, on private property, with people we trusted. We pooled our resources and endured the ordeal together. Our fears were confirmed when the president announced a national emergency.
Shelter in place orders were issued and the city virtually shut down. Cheri made dozens of phone calls to all the campgrounds she had just spent the whole winter booking, canceling our entire year. Coeur d’Alene was off the table. We were officially on stand-by, hoping day-to-day for a turnaround with the COVID crazy.
While we waited in Tennessee through the Spring months, we took the time to visit many of the spots we had come to love when we were residents.
Most places remained closed for the pandemic, so we focused on outdoor activities that were still accessible.
We fished at Lake Normandy and Center Hill Lake, we took a day trip to Chattanooga, we walked through the Stones River Battlefield, and many other favorites all around Middle Tennessee.
We reconsidered our travel plans during this time, uncertain what to do. Surely, we would not have to stay put in Tennessee, would we? As restrictions began to ease, we decided to stay close to the people we knew and chose to spend the summer in Kansas City near friends and family.
We called every KC campground we could think of. If they weren’t still closed due to COVID-19 restrictions, then they were fully-booked with essential workers. We finally found one that was willing to put us on a waitlist. It was June before one finally opened-up.
We moved the rig to the Owl Creek RV Park in Odessa, Missouri, about 40 miles east of Kansas City on Intersate-70.
We parked in an excellent spot under a giant shade tree overlooking a fertile valley and settled-in for the summer.
See related article, Full Circle – An Unknown Future Realized.
Despite the pandemic hassles, we enjoyed the next several months right there in Odessa spending time with friends and family. We enjoyed 4th of July festivities, weekends at the lake, backyard cookouts, Chiefs Sundays, birthdays, anniversaries, a graduation, Labor Day weekend, and more.
We managed to stay healthy through the summer, avoiding COVID. But it finally caught-up with us in October when we were apparently exposed at a birthday party. It hit us both hard, making us incredibly sick for over 3 weeks. Cheri had to go the ER at one point and was admitted for 4 days. I avoided the hospital but it was a struggle finding the strength to push through.
We were finally coming out of it when Mother Nature added insult to injury. It is not uncommon for this part of Missouri, but was certainly unwelcome as we were slammed with an early winter blast of ice and snow, freezing temperatures, and brutal wind chills for several days.
The Cardinal was well-insulated and performed well in the unexpected sub-freezing temperatures.
It was still a challenge to stay warm and keep the water lines from freezing.
We burned through multiple 30-gallon tanks of propane during that time.
It was quite miserable stepping-out into the cold to refill tanks and check water lines when feeling weak and puny from the virus, but we got through it. When the cold weather finally lifted, we promptly packed-up the rig and escaped back to Tennessee and Camp Doney.
We enjoyed the month of November with Ralph and Patricia, including a nice lunch date at one of our favorite spots in the Jasper Highlands called Top of the Rock. After sharing the Thanksgiving holiday together, we continued south to Florida.
Our health returned and we were feeling pretty good when we arrived at the Live Oak Landing RV resort in Freeport, Florida.
We took several beach days around Destin and Fort Walton to bask in the warm sun and gulf breezes, a very welcome change to the icy winds we had endured in Kansas City!
We moved the rig again, heading further south into the Florida Peninsula and parked at the Grand Lake RV & Golf Resort near the town of Citra. Now called Sun Retreats Ocala Orange Lake, this is a large and beautiful resort property accommodating hundreds of full-time and seasonal guests.
The Christmas holiday was just around the corner and the night-time sky was already in decoration. A rare astronomical event referred to as the Christmas Star displayed its brilliance throughout the month of December. Basically, the two planets of Jupiter and Saturn were moving closer into alignment, until achieving conjunction on December 21st.
Cheri was feeling a strong desire to return to Kansas City for the holiday season. Tampa was just 2 hours away, so I drove her to the airport. A few days later I moved the rig to our final winter destination.
Bowling Green, FL is 3 hours south from Citra in the central Florida Peninsula, so it was an easy travel day. Often called the I-4 Corridor, the temperate zone between Orlando and Tampa is a region that typically remains mild during the winter months. After our Year 2 experience in the Miami area, we knew this would be a much better place to spend the winter.
COVID crazy
I arrived on Christmas Eve day at the newly-opened Torrey Trails RV and Golf Resort.
A few days later Cheri returned and we rang-in the New Year together, more than ready to bid 2020 a fond farewell.
Life was getting back to normal as COVID crazy diminished and the Chiefs headed to Super Bowl 55 in nearby Tampa. Despite the disappointing loss to the hometown team, it was an amazing feat for KC to make it to the big game two years in a row.
COVID crazy
Congratulations Bucs!
Winter in Bowling Green was wonderfully mild. We enjoyed several familiar spots around the area and explored many new ones. Here are a few of our faves …
- Joshua Citrus
- Brohard Beach & Paw Park
- Orlando (to visit Blake Shelton’s Ole Red)
- Melbourne Beach
- Lakeland
After a long and frustrating COVID crazy 2020, we turned our attention to the Northeast. Cheri planned-out the year for us to explore the New England area. This was a bucket-list location for us, so we were quite excited for Spring and a 2021 RV adventure back on the road!
Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you;
Isaiah 30:18, NKJV
And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
Blessed are all those who wait for Him.
COVID crazy
COVID crazy
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