On Monday, November 9, 2020, Ryan and I left for our road trip. We enjoyed the past 2 months in New York spending time with Grandma and Grandpa. It was a precious time that we will always remember and cherish. But we are excited to finally leave for our trip. 

We had originally planned to start traveling in July, but our plans kept getting delayed because of COVID and my grandma’s illness. All in all, it was actually a blessing that we were delayed because it gave us time to sort out living in the RV prior to the long road trip and we got to spend quality time with my grandparents that we would not have traded for anything.

The weekend before we left, my parents, and Ashley and Luis came to grandma and grandpa’s house to visit. We enjoyed our last weekend with them, but it was difficult saying good-bye to everyone, especially since we didn’t know when we would see them next. Ashley and Luis left Sunday afternoon, but Mom and Dad stayed until Monday to see us off. 

Monday morning was busy for us. We had the last minute travel preparations to finalize that couldn’t be completed until the moment we left, but I also went on an expedition with Grandpa that morning, which caused us to leave later than we anticipated. Grandpa took me to the post office to hunt down a package that said it would arrive later that day, however, I would be long gone by then so I wanted to try to track it down before we left town. We were hoping we could catch the mailman before he left the post office and luckily, we did. They were very helpful, which I so greatly appreciated! My grandpa, yet again, saved the day!

By the time we finished breakfast, preparing for travel and hunting down the mailman, it was 10:15. We had wanted to be on the road by 9:30 at the latest because we planned the first day of driving to be the longest. We weren’t sure what the weather would be like the first week of November and everyone kept saying that New York often gets a small snowstorm around that time so we wanted to try to move south quickly.

We planned to drive directly from Oneonta, NY to Front Royal, VA on the first day of the trip. We stuck to major highways, taking I-88 to I-81. Along interstate 81, we saw 24 dead deer on the side of the road! It was crazy to see that many. It started becoming a morbid game we were playing throughout the trip. When we would see one, we would say “there’s another one!” and add it to our count. I think the interstate needs to try to clean up the roads a bit more…

The route was planned to be about a 6 and a half hour long drive, but we anticipated it would take 8 hours with stopping for lunch, gas, and rest breaks. We stopped 4 times throughout this trip so that we could get a break from sitting in the car. 

I made a stack of flashcards with various exercises on them so at each rest stop, we would pick 5 exercises (1 leg exercise, 1 arm exercise, 1 cardio exercise and 2 stretches) to do. Then we discarded those cards and picked new ones at the next stop. Sitting for long periods of time while driving long distances is not good for our bodies so it is important to take rest stops along the way. Most people want to just keep driving so they can get to their destination sooner, and trust me I feel the same way, but it is important to take the time to stretch and move around. That is why we tried to add the extra time into our plan.

We figured it would take us about 8 hours to get to our destination in VA, but it actually took us 9 hours. Stopping for gas took longer than expected. Because the RV was hitched to the truck, we had to plan stops at specific gas stations that had enough clearance for us to turn around. Since this is our first big road trip with the camper, we mapped out the stops using the RV Trip Wizard app. It shows the locations of gas stations that truckers use to fill up semi-trucks so we knew we would definitely have plenty of space to turn around. Prior to this day, we had never gotten gas while hitched so we didn’t know what to expect. We felt more comfortable stopping where all the big trucks stop, even if the gas was more expensive, just so we wouldn’t get stuck in a small area that would be difficult to get out of.

It was a comfort to know where these gas stations were located, but it took more time because occasionally we had to go out of our way to get to one. Also, we made sure to fill up at every stop even if we only used a quarter of a tank just in case we ran into an issue where we couldn’t find a gas station. 

The trucker’s gas station is quite annoying. We often had to wait in line to pull up to a pump because there were so many trucks there. They also made us go inside to pay, which took longer because we would have to wait in line there as well. We plan on getting a Pilot/Flying J card to make the stops a little easier because the loyalty card will allow us to pay at the pump, saving a little time.

We also will try to fill up at the auto section of the gas station in the future. When we first arrived at the gas stations, we were under the impression that we would have to go to the truck section. We assumed the area where the cars went would be too small for us, so the first couple stops took longer because we waited with all the truckers to get gas. After the third stop, we actually realized that there was plenty of space to turn around in the auto section so at our fourth stop, that’s what we did, and it was much quicker! This is all part of the learning process!

After 9 hours of driving, we finally made it to our destination: Cracker Barrel in Front Royal, VA! We only needed a place to stay for the night so we thought Cracker Barrel would be the best place to stop since it is free to stay overnight. We also thought it would be good to eat dinner there as appreciation for letting us stay on their property. Plus, with driving 9 hours, we didn’t want to cook or figure something out for food. We don’t want to eat out much while traveling because we want to eat healthier and save money, but we figured since the first day was the longest, it would be okay. Also, Ryan had never eaten at Cracker Barrel before so that had to change!

Despite sticking to the highways and the long day of travel, this was actually a very enjoyable day. We thought we would be bored driving on the highway for an entire day, but our excitement of starting this adventure carried us through. We got to our destination between 7 and 7:30 that night, had dinner and fell asleep by 8:45. By the end of the day, we were exhausted, but we were excited to continue our trip early the next morning!