Allens Adventure of a Lifetime

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Allens Adventure of a Lifetime Ride with us as a family of 6 with no RV experience spends a year on the road in a Class A.

COVID-19 took away so much from so many, we are turning that around and using it as an opportunity to do school and work from the road while exploring the US.

We have had an awesome 5 weeks with family here in Michigan. Now we begin the true final leg of our journey back to wher...
16/07/2021

We have had an awesome 5 weeks with family here in Michigan. Now we begin the true final leg of our journey back to where it started. Almost exactly 1 year ago we made the decision to put our kids in virtual school, sell our house and go on the road. Feeling all the feels today.

End of a season. And what a season it was. Merv is on to his next adventure and it won’t be long before we are too.
28/06/2021

End of a season. And what a season it was. Merv is on to his next adventure and it won’t be long before we are too.

26/06/2021

This is Merv aka “My RV”, hijacking this page via Mr Allen’s Bluetooth connection, before I am no longer in range. I get the sense that I’ve had my last drive with Mr Allen, as I’ve overheard talk of cleaning me out and someone from California showing up in a few days to drive me back there. It wasn’t too long ago that I was there with “My Fam”, carting them around on their grand adventure. Sadly it seems as though that has come to an end. Ten months went much too fast! I can only hope my new family enjoys me as much as the Allens did, and I get to go see some of the amazing places we saw together. And I hope the Allens Adventure of a Lifetime continues with many more adventures in the future!

What a way to end the trip. Cousin Camp 2021!
21/06/2021

What a way to end the trip. Cousin Camp 2021!

This little man has been waiting MONTHS to get to play some mini golf. Finally got to a campground where we could play. ...
17/06/2021

This little man has been waiting MONTHS to get to play some mini golf. Finally got to a campground where we could play. Had a few almost hole-in-ones.

One last trip with the old friend. Heading to Lake Michigan!
15/06/2021

One last trip with the old friend. Heading to Lake Michigan!

It’s good to be with family!
14/06/2021

It’s good to be with family!

11/06/2021

Drive days - usually 150 miles on a school/work day is a good distance. 250 miles on a weekend is about the most we like to do. 300 if we have a really long distance to go - but only did a few of those since we kept our campgrounds pretty close to each other. In the past 3 days (school&work), we drove over 1,000 miles almost exclusively on I-80 (Cheyenne WY to Michigan City IN). We are on a mission and will see our parents tomorrow!

It’s been a long year with some difficulties, but these kids are DONE! Well the older one has one more day. Let’s be hon...
10/06/2021

It’s been a long year with some difficulties, but these kids are DONE! Well the older one has one more day. Let’s be honest they have really been “done” for a few weeks (especially the little one). Thankful for all the hard work the teachers put in to make this strange school year happen. Looking forward to “normal” school next year.

08/06/2021

I-80 East for days....

A lasting memory from our 2019 Black Hills / Yellowstone trip was stopping at Vedauwoo just west of Cheyenne and climbin...
06/06/2021

A lasting memory from our 2019 Black Hills / Yellowstone trip was stopping at Vedauwoo just west of Cheyenne and climbing on the boulders. We didn’t have water and got too hot and the kids just weren’t quite big enough to get to the top. This time was different - bigger, stronger, more experienced and better prepared we got to the top of the West Turtle head trail. Some pretty technical moves done, all free climbing, some ninja warrior spider climbing. We crushed it! Also saw a Buffalo herd and probably 100 antelope on the drive there.

The state with the most (and biggest) mountains, these mountain lovers spent less than 36 hours there - and most of that...
06/06/2021

The state with the most (and biggest) mountains, these mountain lovers spent less than 36 hours there - and most of that was sleeping or driving. I would never have believed that, but just goes to show that there is never enough time for everything. We did get to spend a few hours climbing rocks at Garden of the Gods before it got too hot and the littlest buddy bashed his knee open. Then drove through 160 miles of construction to Cheyenne WY for 3 nights.

Hello Rockies! This should be a beautiful but stressful drive.
04/06/2021

Hello Rockies! This should be a beautiful but stressful drive.

Today marks 9 months on the road. This trip has been everything we expected and more - amazing, difficult, life changing...
03/06/2021

Today marks 9 months on the road. This trip has been everything we expected and more - amazing, difficult, life changing, stressful, unforgettable. Hard to believe a month from now we will be back in North Carolina with a trip through Michigan on the way. We are tired and the road will be hard, but we can’t wait to see all of our family for a few weeks and then see our friends again. (Sunset at Arches NP)

02/06/2021

We had to laugh today at the fact that we checked into our 5th camp site (all within 5 miles) in the last 8 days. Why? Well, when you drastically change your travel schedule only about two months in advance, and plan to go to a huge tourist destination like Moab during a holiday weekend, you take what you can get. Next time we will book 6 months ahead and stay all in one site.

Canyonlands National Park today - Island in the Sky section (the park is divided into several areas). Our day started at...
31/05/2021

Canyonlands National Park today - Island in the Sky section (the park is divided into several areas). Our day started at the visitor center, doing our usual - picking up our magnet souvenir and jr ranger book/badges. Then we spent 30+ minutes helping a stranger jump her car. Did just a few short hikes today (Mesa Arch and Upheaval Dome) and stopped at several overlooks (Green River, Orange Cliffs, Grand View Point). I think the long week in 90ish degrees every day has worn everyone down. All 5 had a nice 45 minute nap on the drive back to camp.

Arches NP again today. Had to adjust plans but we found this beautiful place - Delicate Arch, the iconic spot of the par...
30/05/2021

Arches NP again today. Had to adjust plans but we found this beautiful place - Delicate Arch, the iconic spot of the park that is so cool it’s on the Utah license plate.

Arches National Park. We hit maybe 1/4 of the park today. Can’t wait to see the rest.
26/05/2021

Arches National Park. We hit maybe 1/4 of the park today. Can’t wait to see the rest.

Capitol Reef National Park. No words. I’d never heard of this place and it definitely wasn’t in our plans to visit, but ...
25/05/2021

Capitol Reef National Park. No words. I’d never heard of this place and it definitely wasn’t in our plans to visit, but with our travel plans rearranged we were able to go, and so thankful it worked out.

Not too shabby when you can see Arches National Park from your campground.
24/05/2021

Not too shabby when you can see Arches National Park from your campground.

Original plan was to get to Salt Lake City tomorrow, then drive 230+ miles/4+ hours to Moab after work/school on Monday....
23/05/2021

Original plan was to get to Salt Lake City tomorrow, then drive 230+ miles/4+ hours to Moab after work/school on Monday. Thanks to the winter storm hitting Lake Tahoe this weekend, we left early and crushed 750 miles of driving in two days. Now we get to go to another national park tomorrow (Capital Reef) then have a short two hour drive to Moab on Monday.

What a cool drive today was though! We crossed into Utah and drove by the Bonneville Salt Flats, that was otherworldly - the ground was completely white and the mountains had some weird reflective phenomenon happening, but there wasn’t any water there so I don’t know how it looked like that. After that we were reminded of driving through Montana aka Big Sky Country on our 2019 trip. Wide open skies in the middle of nowhere, and you can see for miles and miles, the only obstructions to your view were huge snow-capped mountains. We stopped at the Great Salt Lake, where the water level was so low we were able to walk around on crunchy salty ground. Suddenly we were looking at a beautiful downtown Salt Lake City tucked into the massive beautiful Wasatch mountains. An hour of time disappeared as we drove down an 8 lane road and tried not to get too stressed. Then we saw some of the red sandstones mountains that reminded us of Zion, and then for some reason topped out over 8,300 feet, a climb the RV really wasn’t sure if it could make it not. We finally settled for the night in a tiny mountain town where I think we make up more than 1% of the total population. What a day!

The one who loves snow was super excited this morning. The rest of us.... meh. Leaving today for warmer places.
21/05/2021

The one who loves snow was super excited this morning. The rest of us.... meh. Leaving today for warmer places.

20/05/2021

Thought this would be fun. Apparently this thing isn’t safe for anyone over the age of like 12. In a span of a few minutes, I smashed my leg as I tumbled out, then Katie took a headbutt to the lip saving Willow from falling out.

Send help! What is this nonsense?
20/05/2021

Send help! What is this nonsense?

Spent some time on the beautiful alpine trails the past few days. I could look at views like this forever.
13/05/2021

Spent some time on the beautiful alpine trails the past few days. I could look at views like this forever.

Yeah I think we will enjoy our two weeks here!
10/05/2021

Yeah I think we will enjoy our two weeks here!

Stopped in Susanville, CA on our way from Bend to Lake Tahoe. Found out they have a track at the fairgrounds here, so da...
09/05/2021

Stopped in Susanville, CA on our way from Bend to Lake Tahoe. Found out they have a track at the fairgrounds here, so dad daughter date to the races!

Bittersweet day for us today. Yesterday marked 8 months on the road, filled with so many amazing adventures. But today i...
04/05/2021

Bittersweet day for us today. Yesterday marked 8 months on the road, filled with so many amazing adventures. But today is Turnaround Day. We now head back south and east, towards the end of our trip. We still have a few months on the road and a lot more fun to have. We are also looking forward to our new house and new beginning back where this all started in North Carolina. See you soon NC friends!

RAINIER DID NOT DISAPPOINT! It’s been warming up the past few days and the sky clearing, but from camp we can only see j...
30/04/2021

RAINIER DID NOT DISAPPOINT! It’s been warming up the past few days and the sky clearing, but from camp we can only see just the smallest bit of the peak. We went back to the park today and the mountain was out in all its glory. What a blessing for our little guy to get to see his mountain like this.

Mt St Helens! This view is from our campground. This volcano exploded back in 1980, blowing off the top of the mountain,...
28/04/2021

Mt St Helens! This view is from our campground. This volcano exploded back in 1980, blowing off the top of the mountain, hence the flat top. We could also see just the peak of Rainier, but much of the view here is obscured by other mountains. However the clouds have cleared up so much, looking forward to our trip back to the park in two days.

What do you do when you travel 3,000 miles so your son can see the mountain he is named after and has wanted to see sinc...
27/04/2021

What do you do when you travel 3,000 miles so your son can see the mountain he is named after and has wanted to see since he knew Rainier was a mountain, and then that mountain is completely covered by clouds? You make the most of it, and have a blast of a snowball fight, climb a snowbank that’s 15 feet high, and stop for some cool pictures on a bridge. We will get one more chance to see it, hopefully Mount Rainier will be nice to boy Rainier and say hello.

Today we went down the coast a bit to Ecola State Park, another Goonies filming location. Haystack Rock is the big point...
25/04/2021

Today we went down the coast a bit to Ecola State Park, another Goonies filming location. Haystack Rock is the big pointed one but there are several others that make a really cool landscape. There is also a lighthouse way out in the water. Did a short hike through the rainforest and found a banana slug. We were hoping to maybe see a whale as they are migrating from Alaska to California right now, but instead saw a bald eagle flying high over the beach!

Just a few miles from our Goonies nostalgia tour today, we also stopped at the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park ...
25/04/2021

Just a few miles from our Goonies nostalgia tour today, we also stopped at the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park and saw the place where they ended their Journey of Discovery in 1806 and built Fort Clatsop (its since been rebuilt but with the same layout as the original). Cool piece of history and seeing the PNW rainforest.

Never say die! This is our time!!
25/04/2021

Never say die! This is our time!!

We are being treated to a real Pacific Northwest weather experience - cold and cloudy with high chance of rain. Thankful...
23/04/2021

We are being treated to a real Pacific Northwest weather experience - cold and cloudy with high chance of rain. Thankful we have an indoor pool even though the water felt about 50°.

Found the Pacific Ocean and the end of the trail for Lewis and Clark! Can’t wait to go play at the beach and eat some fr...
22/04/2021

Found the Pacific Ocean and the end of the trail for Lewis and Clark! Can’t wait to go play at the beach and eat some fresh seafood. Side note: we didn’t stop in Boring, Oregon - didn’t think we would find much there.

Short drive today, ended near Mt. Hood, a volcano that last erupted in 1865. It is one of the most prominent mountains i...
22/04/2021

Short drive today, ended near Mt. Hood, a volcano that last erupted in 1865. It is one of the most prominent mountains in the US (how much taller it is compared to the surrounding area) and the highest point in Oregon. Tons of ski lifts here, as this is the only place in North America with year round lift-served skiing. Too bad we don’t have any snow gear! We also found the Oregon Trail - and thankfully didn’t die of dysentery! And of course visited the local brewery and Dairy Queen.

The only one left in the world! Just stopped in today, didn’t rent anything so we don’t get late fees! They still have a...
21/04/2021

The only one left in the world! Just stopped in today, didn’t rent anything so we don’t get late fees! They still have a selection of thousands of movies - even VHS - and popcorn and candy. Great nostalgic visit!

Grill out dinner in the middle of the forest. Just outside of Bend, Oregon. Such a nice relaxing campground.
18/04/2021

Grill out dinner in the middle of the forest. Just outside of Bend, Oregon. Such a nice relaxing campground.

Travel day today, after school and work we drove over 300 miles to make it to Oregon - our 18th state! We were treated w...
17/04/2021

Travel day today, after school and work we drove over 300 miles to make it to Oregon - our 18th state! We were treated with an awesome view of Mt Shasta, one of only 96 mountains in the US taller than 14,000 feet. Beautiful mountain - sorry for the dead bugs on the windshield!

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Thought this would be fun. Apparently this thing isn’t safe for anyone over the age of like 12. In a span of a few minutes, I smashed my leg as I tumbled out, then Katie took a headbutt to the lip saving Willow from falling out.

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