This is a brief history of Eben and Melinda’s travels since meeting in Cape Canaveral, FL in the Spring of 2019.
Before 2020
Since retirement, Eben spent a couple of years in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia while working on two projects – The Great Virginia Waterfall Trail and his Guide to the Blue Ridge Parkway. Eben also hiked most of the Appalachian Trail between Georgia and Virginia!
Once back in Florida, Eben started work on his Cruise Port projects, focusing on Port Canaveral, Port Miami, Port Everglades, and Port Tampa Bay. He also published the first version of his Florida Camping Guide!
Early 2020 – Being a Couple and Becoming Minimalists
By early 2020, we were a couple with similar interests and aspirations. It was time to pack up and go see America!
Like most who choose this journey, we went through several cycles of organizational challenges! We rented a large storage unit and stuffed it with things we did not need. Then we downsized and sold or donated most of our belongings. We moved the rest into a small storage unit. Then we got rid of everything we owned except our vehicles and favorite clothes. Suddenly, we were true minimalists!
The Spring of 2020 was memorable because we traveled around Florida to try our new lifestyle! Friends and family thought we were crazy. They still do.
We outfitted Melinda’s Subaru to be our sleeping vehicle and Eben’s Jeep Cherokee was the pack mule. At first, we camped for 3 nights followed by a night or two at hotels for long hot showers! There were many challenges to overcome – the newer Subaru had electronic advances that drained the battery overnight and it baffled us for a long time! The older Jeep was very dependable but needed plenty of mechanical repairs.
Getting the vehicles ready for life on the road was important, but mostly we needed to learn about ourselves. Were we compatible travel souls?
YES, we were a team! We reached this conclusion after camping for a week in a humid Florida swamp while under attack by swarms of mosquitos at night and stinging yellow flies during the day!
In early August 2020, we said our goodbyes and headed west along the Gulf Coast.
Summer of 2020 – Our First Coast-to-Coast Road Trip
Traveling the backroads of America, we convoyed through the Florida Panhandle, Alabama, Mississippi, Northern Texas, Oklahoma, and Colorado.
We baked in the Utah summer while visiting Moab and Arches NP. To escape the heat, we continued to Twin Falls in Idaho and stunning Crater Lake in Oregon. By then, Eben replaced most movable parts on his 1997 Jeep but on the way south to California, the Jeep lost its Powertrain Control Module! It took several days but once that was replaced, the Jeep ran fine until late 2022 (more about that later).
Mount Shasta in California became our home in early September 2020, but wildfires forced us to move south sooner than planned. We followed the coast down to San Francisco to meet up with family!
The second half of September found us traveling through Nevada from Lake Tahoe to Utah along Highway 50 the Loneliest Road in America!
In October 2020 we explored the great National Parks of Southern Utah (Bryce, Natural Bridges, and Zion). We even took a quick trip up to the Grand Tetons to experience the first snow of the winter season!
Very windy conditions forced us into Nevada and we enjoyed a calm stay on the shores of Lake Mead before driving to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. We spent the rest of November exploring the Grand Canyon, Willams, Flagstaff, and Sedona.
By the 2nd week of December 2020, we were back in Florida briefly before driving up to Michigan to spend Christmas with family. We welcomed 2021 somewhere on the road in Kentucky!
2020 Slide Show
2021 – Hiking the AT, Michigan’s UP, and Circling the West
During the winter of 2020/2021, we did a lot of free and affordable camping in Florida while completing our series “How to Camp FREE or CHEAP in Florida”. Our travels took us from Pensacola Beach in the western Panhandle to Fernandina Beach in the northeast and all the way south to the Everglades.
We also took some time to redesign our sleeping arrangements. The Jeep turned out to be more comfortable for sleeping because it was simpler. For example, we could open and close the windows without a key in the ignition!
In mid-April 2021 we headed north towards Atlanta, GA, and the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail! We planned to hike as much of the AT in Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia as the weather permitted (we are good-weather hikers)!
So we started walking. At night we slept in our cars at the trailheads, in hotels, or nearby campgrounds. And we walked some more. Several hundred miles later we walked out of Shenandoah National Park in Virginia and began to drive north to Michigan via West Virginia and Ohio.
Early August 2021 found us on the shores of Lake Superior in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan! We left the Subaru at a family member’s house and took the Jeep through Wisconsin and Minnesota to South Dakota where we explored the Badlands and the Black Hills.
After a short stay at Devils Tower in WY and exploring Southern Montana, we entered Yellowstone National Park in late September 2021. We stocked up on bear spray and car-camped for several weeks in the home of the grizzly bear! It was both scary and exciting.
Following another visit to the Grand Tetons, we were back in Utah in early October for a longer stay in Zion NP. After a brief visit to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and a week at the South Rim, we drove west via Rte 66 past Oatman to Las Vegas.
Valley of Fire SP was a very welcome stay after the bright lights and crowds of Las Vegas, but by then we were eager to go rock hunting in Southeast Arizona. We heard about Saffordites while in the Black Hills, and mid-November we arrived in the town of Safford – northeast of Tucson.
We had great fun hunting for Saffordites while camping on BLM land near Safford but had to leave (reluctantly) for Michigan to retrieve the Subaru.
After spending Thanksgiving with family in Michigan, we drove the Jeep and Subaru back to the Florida Panhandle in early December 2021. It was again time to update our Florida Camping and Cruise Port articles!
2021 Slide Show
2022 – Deserts of the Southwest. Sedona. Jeep Gone.
In December and January, we once again convoyed through Florida from top to bottom and back to the Panhandle!
On February 1, 2022, we headed west via Louisiana and New Orleans! But unbeknownst to us, Eben’s beloved Jeep would not see Florida again!
After a week in Texas at lovely Magnolia Beach, we headed straight to Arizona, and by mid-February, we had arrived in Yuma to wait out the winter. We traveled around southern Arizona as weather permitted and explored Ajo, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, and historic towns such as Bisbee and Tombstone.
In mid-March 2022, we spent a few weeks rock-hunting for Saffordites near Safford, AZ. It was here where Eben almost stepped on a very angry rattlesnake!
We then moved to Sedona AZ, and settled in for 3 months while Melinda worked at a popular winery.
In July 2022, we left for the Grand Canyon and then continued to Utah for visits to Bryce NP and Capitol Reef NP. Then it was on to Colorado for an extended stay in Steamboat Springs where we celebrated Eben’s birthday in early August.
After a quick trip to Holland, MI to visit with family, we drove south to Florida for another quick family visit and to update several of our older camping articles.
September 1, 2022, found us in Roswell, NM! We were eager to learn more about an alleged 1947 UFO crash nearby! Was it just an Air Force balloon?
We then explored White Sands NP in NM and nearby mountain towns before arriving in scenic Pine in AZ.
From there to drove to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and south to Sedona in late September where Melinda worked at the same winery for another 2 months.
During our time in Sedona, we visited many areas in Arizona. One highlight was Lake Havasu City in late October but on our way back to Sedona we suffered a major setback!
Driving through the mountains near Prescott at night, Eben’s Jeep started to shake violently. Then at the top of the mountain, there was a loud noise and the transmission practically blew apart! Pieces of metal flew out from underneath the car and something even pierced a radiator hose! Eben managed to steer the car down the steep mountain to a narrow pullout but the Jeep was done for!
To make matters worse, a thunderstorm was moving in and for the next hour, we pulled our belongings out of the Jeep and into the Subaru! The towing company was delayed because of the weather so we left the empty Jeep with the hazard lights on and drove off in the Subaru! It was just too dangerous with two cars parked on a sharp turn in the dark in the pouring rain.
We never saw the Jeep again. During the night the towing company dropped it at a salvage company which called the next morning with a quote to part out the very broken Jeep. We made a few phone calls and quickly realized the cost of repairs would greatly exceed its value. So we got a check from the salvage company and that was it! We were down to one car and staying in hotels while we reorganized the Subaru for future travels.
We were very comfortable in two vehicles on the road because it was safe with extra storage! The Subaru felt a bit cramped and during November we were looking at small travel trailers as an upgrade.
Melinda completed her work contract at the end of November 2022 and we headed back to Florida with a lot on our minds. A change was coming, but that was all we knew!
Along the way, we explored Texas Hill Country, San Antonio, and South Padre Island.
In Biloxi, MS, we checked into a lovely oceanfront hotel around December 10 and began to debate thoughts and ideas about future life on the road. By then we had toured many camping trailers and other types of RVs and we knew what we were looking for.
Things happened fast after that, and on December 15, 2022, Melinda became the happy owner of an E-Pro 20FBS travel trailer
By Christmas 2022, we were back in Florida, knowing that we needed some time to research tow vehicles and prepare the E-Pro for life on the road.
2022 – Slide Show
2023 – Work, E-Pro shakedown, The Blue Ridge Parkway and the Outer Banks
After 3 years and many cross-country trips, we decided to slow down in early 2023!
Back home in Florida, Melinda took a temporary job to help with finances and we began the search for a suitable tow vehicle. We were sad to let the Subaru go but it could not tow the E-Pro and that was it.
In July and August, we did several shakedown camping trips to Western and Central Florida to test our new setup. Early September saw us along the north-east coast of Florida where we camped near the ocean mostly in State Parks. The air-conditioner in the E-Pro ran almost non-stop and performed great!
We left Lake City in mid-September and took very scenic backroads through Georgia to the Hiawassee area. Our goal for the next month was to explore the Blue Ridge Parkway during leaf season and to create several exciting itineraries to share with our readers!
We traveled the Blue Ridge Parkway in its entirety – several times! The Blue Ridge Mountains did not disappoint and by mid-October, we had captured the most amazing images of Virginia and North Carolina covered in a tapestry of vibrant colors.
It was getting colder, however, and we left the mountains for the ocean around October 15. We were on Ocracoke Island – a part of the Outer Banks of North Carolina!
In a busy two weeks, we published another travel itinerary (A Perfect Week on the Outer Banks) and Melinda got hooked on roaming the beaches looking for seaglass!
But it was getting colder again, and in early November we drove south to Savannah, GA where we spent a delightful few days before returning to Florida.
We drove to the Florida Panhandle and continued to Biloxi, MS for some more ocean time before heading back east to The Villages area of Florida.
We wintered down in South Florida near the coast.
