Our Favorite Gorge - Taughannock Falls State Park
Ithaca, NY; August 2024
{Posted April 22, 2025}
This gorge became our favorite, and most visited, so I decided it deserved its own blog entry! Although our campground didn't have any major trails onsite, I was excited to learn that Taughannock Falls State Park was only 5 minutes away. Our first visit to the falls was an early morning trip before work. We ambitiously decided to take the rim trail from the top of the gorge all the way to Lake Cayuga! We experienced amazing views of the falls, gorge, and lake. However, we were cutting it close to work time, and had to run the entire way despite the approximate 500 feet of elevation loss/gain. Worth it, but ow!
Our first stop when Sharon visited was, of course, Taughannock Falls! Since we were starting our hike around sunset, we decided to park at Lake Cayuga and hike the gorge trail for a new experience!
On our last night camping at Spruce Row in Ithaca we couldn't resist squeezing in one more visit to Taughannock Falls and Lake Cayuga - even though we really should have been packing up. Next time, we'd love to stay right at Taughannock Falls State Park campground, which would give us even better access to this stunning spot!
The Finger Lakes Region
Spruce Row Campground - Ithaca, NY; July - August 2024
{Posted April 17, 2025}
I was excited to get some highway driving practice in from PA to NY, and it went well despite frequent construction sections with jersey walls. We had been really looking forward to traveling to NY since we bought the trailer, and now 16 months later we finally made it! We were welcomed by a gorgeous sunset.
Naturally, we spent our first full day in the Fingerlakes hiking a gorge-ous waterfall, and visiting a winery! The only bummer was that the gorge did not allow swimming except for a small crowded swimming area at the bottom of the falls.
The main reason we wanted to spend the summer in New York was to be close to Dylan's family! So when Dylan got invited to join them for a golfing tournament he said yes please! Luna and I went along to find an adventure while they golfed, and Green Lakes State Park did not disappoint! We also hosted a family BBQ at the RV the next day which was so much fun!
Sharon came to visit and we took some much needed time off of work to explore and relax!
One big objective for Sharon's visit was to hike the gorge that goes through Cornell University - Cascadilla Gorge!
After a few days of fun in Ithaca, Sharon was headed to Syracuse to see family and attend a high school reunion. We decided to follow suit to squeeze in some extra family time. I was excited to see Oneida Lake, which is the lake that Dylan's cousin Jes lives on!
We scheduled ourselves a full month in Ithaca to soak up all of the fun on weekends rather than traveling. Some of the last few items on our list were to go to the NY State Fair, and drive through Ithaca College (which my mom attended for the first 2 years of college).
Tire Troubles - Quakerwoods Campground
Quakertown, PA; July 2024
{Posted April 14, 2025}
I'm sure you have been wondering... and the answer is yes, sometimes we run into roadblocks! When I got out of the truck to help Dylan back into our campsite I heard a loud whooshing noise and realized we had a nail in one of our trailer tires. We had acquired the necessary supplies for tire changes before hitting the road, but had not gone to the effort of changing a trailer tire just for practice. Since we were at our destination we took a break to research and refuel, then we drove the trailer up onto blocks and got to work. We realized too late that we should have used our breaker bar on the lug nuts prior to lifting the tire, but Dylan's strength and determination got the job done! We hit another snafu while trying to inflate our spare tire as the tire pump we had started smoking...apparently it was only rated to 40 PSI (despite some misleading labeling) and our tires go to 80 PSI. Luckily a generous neighbor offered us a heavy duty pump that got the job done! Don't worry, we went out and bought an actual air compressor after that.
After the tire mishap we were working and relaxing on this stop of the East Coast family tour! We did have some major storms which were very scary for poor Luna, and ended up knocking out campground power for almost 24 hours. Due to our lithium batteries and solar setup we were not totally in the dark, but we had not planned ahead for the water to cut off so another lesson was learned there!
We spent our weekend visiting family. On Saturday we went to Dylan's Aunt and Uncle's house for a BBQ and ate the most delicious ribs! I was excited to tour Aunt Barb's garden and was spoiled with some fresh rhubarb to go. On Sunday we went to my Great Aunt's house to celebrate her birthday. I decided to make dessert with the fresh rhubarb from Aunt Barb's garden!
Homestead Campground
Georgetown, DE; June and July 2024
{Posted March 27, 2025}
While our new spot felt less nature-y than the previous state park site, we couldn't complain because it had the proximity to the beach! We coordinated our stop in the Delaware beach area for Jessie's family beach trip. We arrived a week early and took advantage of some down time to finally decorate the rv and do some organizing.
We were having internet issues at this site, which was problematic for my job. The real bummer was the wide open sky above the campground would have been great for starlink. We decided to bite the bullet and order starlink to give us a backup option for locations like this where cell based internet was poor.
We enjoyed the local Brimming Horn meadery with its viking themed interior and plethora of mead flavors. We were also only a short drive from the Dogfish head brewery and were excited to try the delicious Seaquench slushie!! Before the family vacation began we cranked out a triple batch of sourdough D’z its (regular and old bay!)
The family beach fun started with a boat rental on a gorgeous day! The rest of the week was spent eating delicious meals at my Aunt Jen and Uncle George’s new house, playing games, and hitting the state park beaches in the afternoons.
We also made some early morning beach trips so Luna and I could run... or watch Dylan and my brother, Sean, do some paddle board surfing!
Couldn't leave the beach without one last beach walk!
Trap Pond State Park
Laurel, DE; June 2024
{Posted March 22, 2025}
Another water view site...if you squint
Our reward for getting set up in our new spot was homemade crab cakes by the fire, with meat we picked from our catch of course! The state park made us feel back in touch with nature with water views (sort of) from our windows, and trees in abundance. At night we were in awe of the lightning bugs that made the trees glitter. There were some great walking and running trails, except for the flies that tried to eat Dylan…
In preparation for an upcoming family beach trip we wanted to introduce Luna to my Aunt Jen and Uncle George's dog Dewey! This was also a lovely occasion to see their new beach house, and celebrate the news of their first grandchild!
It was a super muggy week at Trap Pond which wasn't a big deal while we were in the shady campsite, but I had an itch to get out on the water since it was so close. Getting the paddle board into the pond was a little green and slimy, but it was well worth it for the awesome Cypress Tree views in the middle of the pond!
Three Weddings and a Crab Feast: Camp Ninsula
Edgewater, MD; May - June 2024
{Posted March 16, 2025}
Pro tip: become friends with your siblings in adulthood because they might let you park in their driveway on a gorgeous peninsula! Bonus points if they find an amazing fiance that supports long term RV Parking! Thank you for everything Sean and Michelle!! (& Gertie)
Since the drive from Delaware to Edgewater was short we decided to squeeze some parking lot towing practice in. I had previously been overwhelmed by backing and decided to focus on driving forwards, making turns, and feeling more confident towing in general. Dylan of course wanted to practice backing to warm up for the challenge ahead at Sean and Michelle's. We made the short trek to our new home base and Dylan parked like a champ!
We had an amazing first night eating Thai food outside on the deck, followed by a gorgeous sunset cruise on Sean's boat. What a welcome home!
We settled into a routine of work, doctors appointments, sibling bonding, splitting our love between two dogs, and cooking in a "real" kitchen. We were excited to be able to coordinate this time home to attend three of our friends' weddings! Shoutout to Sharon for hosting us (and Luna) during the wedding marathon!
We rounded out the wedding marathon with my Maid of Honor Duties for Elisa! It was another beautiful wedding (with amazing weather to boot). After packing up our wedding guest attire we realized we were EXHAUSTED. We were scheduled to head to Delaware the following weekend but then we thought…what if we didn't? Luckily Sean and Michelle were not ready to kick us out yet, and we were able to change our reservation. The flexibility of RV life was really starting to pay off!
Staying at the 'Ninsula a week longer than planned gave us some time to slow down, relax with family, and enjoy the water. We took advantage of our amazing water access for paddle boarding and crabbing with Sean. We ended up with a good haul and had a crab feast overlooking the beach with Sean and Michelle's friends - it felt quintessentially Maryland! Luna even went for her first motor boat ride and actually seemed to like it!
We were also home to celebrate Father's Day and my dad's birthday. We made homemade sourdough D'z-its and key lime cookies to share with the Dads.
Mysteries of the Inlet at Delaware Seashore State Park
Bethany Beach, DE; April - May 2024
{Posted March 16, 2025}
Morning walks with a view!
We were stoked to be back at the beach after a long 2 weeks away (lol). Unfortunately Dylan's jury duty required him to make a trip back to Annapolis, but luckily he was able to make a quick turnaround back to Delaware!
We unlocked a major life hack by parking our house 15 minutes from my weekend plans in Bethany Beach for Elisa's bachelorette! It was an awesome weekend of Maragaritas, chilly beach games and walks, and a party bus ride to see a 90s cover band at Seacret's! Staying so close to the bachelorette meant I could stick around for extra beach time and hanging with Elisa, who even ran over to the campground to walk our pups together!
The other major perk was the campground's close proximity to the Big Chill restaurant, which was just across the street, under the bridge.
The next weekend, Sharon came to visit us! We all went to Big Chill for dinner and enjoyed a hilarious game night in the RV afterwards.
The next day we hopped in the truck to go to Bethany beach, walk the boardwalk, and explore shops. Surprisingly we ended up at the outlets, and the infamous Crocs were purchased...(iykyk)
Later that evening we heard that it might be possible to see the Northern Lights, so we bundled up and went out to the darkest point. We were uncertain if we saw the Northern Lights or just the light pollution from a nearby city...but hey, it was fun to try. On our walk home we were fascinated by something swimming in the inlet. The mystery of what creature it was remains to this day (horseshoe crab, rays, or maybe Chessie?!) The next morning was a big travel day - back to Maryland.
Three Day Travel Marathon
North Carolina to Delaware; April 2024
{Posted March 15, 2025}
Mountain views en route to Virginia
We left North Carolina with an ambitious timeline. We planned to visit my grandma, Maw Maw, in Virginia on our way back to Annapolis for one night. Then we needed to get the RV to the Delaware campground we booked in time for me to host a bachelorette weekend in Bethany Beach. And last, but certainly not least, Dylan had a jury duty summons in Annapolis the day after check-in.
Three travel days in a row turned out to be a lot for us. On day one we had a long drive and were doing well until we missed a turn. This resulted in the need to turn the RV around on a small side street that luckily Dylan's practice had prepared him to navigate. We took the trailer to a campground near Maw Maw's and then spent the night hanging at her place.
Day two was pretty uneventful and familiar as we were just driving from VA back to MD, until the truck alerted us that we were getting low on Deisel Exhaust Fluid and our speeds would be throttled soon. We were pretty close to home but with traffic we decided to play it safe and find a place to stop and top off on DEF. We learned our lesson to keep an extra jug of DEF on hand to avoid this situation. We enjoyed a quick night visiting Dylan's family in Annapolis and picking up bachelorette supplies.
Day three we were headed to the beach when we unfortunately ended up on a two lane road right after an accident occurred, which shut down the road. We were initially hoping to wait it out (heck we had our bathroom and fridge with us so we could be patient!) but they started turning everyone around. There was a driveway that Dylan could pull into, but this meant he had to back the RV up onto the main road, and unfortunately there were still other cars maneuvering around the accident to deal with too. After a tiny bit of stress and white knuckling, we made it!
We were exhausted by the time we got to our campsite, which made the parking and set up process more difficult than it needed to be. I think we learned our lesson about pushing ourselves too hard! Once we were finally set up, we were able to take a deep breath of ocean air once again! And the views of the Indian River Inlet and bridge weren't so bad either!
Sycamore Lodge, North Carolina
April 2024
{Posted March 14, 2025}
Giant campground fire ring
For our first stop after Myrtle Beach we headed to Jackson Springs, NC which still felt like a Southern stop, while also working our way back towards Maryland. The drive wasn't too long but we were exhausted by the time we got the camper set up and ventured out for food. We spotted a table at the pizza shop and ended up having an impromptu picnic. By the time we got back to our site I was ready for bed, at approximately 8pm, which is crazy for this night owl. When we woke up refreshed the next day we were able to explore the campground a bit and found the “Jurassic Bark” dog park which might be the best dog park name we've seen!
Some friendly neighbors showed us around the park, lake, and the trails - which we were excited to test out for a new morning run route. After work Dylan played a lot of basketball while Luna and I hunted for the biggest pine cones we could find. I also got to catch up with one of my old college roommates which was an awesome treat!
This campground gave us a lot of time to hang outside with the mild weather, fire ring, and food trucks that came to the campground. We loved being able to "eat out" on the weekend without having to drive anywhere.
Myrtle Beach Wrap-up...for now
Early April 2024
{Posted March 15, 2025}
With the end of our beach time looming, I was motivated to squeeze in as much beach as possible! One evening after work we discovered a ton of cannonball, AKA cabbage head, jellyfish washed up on shore. Luna was very interested!
We also tried to take advantage of our site's perfect hammock trees. Dylan even figured out how to work from the hammock, which got the Luna stamp of approval!
I took a little side trip home to Maryland for Elisa's bridal shower. While I was home I was also able to see family, meet my Aunt and Uncle's new pup Dewey, and meet Emily's new puppy, Willow. My dad also hosted a little family brunch to get everyone together before he drove me to the airport, thanks Dad!
When I got back to Myrtle we only had one week before our next big move. We decided to plan ahead this time and worked on packing up all of our outdoor gear, and organizing things in the truck cap a few days early. We figured packing would keep everything dry if it rained close to moving day. We took a nice break from work to enjoy the Solar Eclipse with homemade pinhole projectors.
Our last morning in Myrtle was bittersweet, we woke up early to watch the sunrise on the lake and beach one last time. To our delight, the RV park coffee shop camper was open, so we enjoyed some coffees for our goodbye walk on the beach. Packing up after being stationary for 5 weeks was a lot of work, but we somehow managed to pull out of our site pretty close to check out time.
Peepin' into Spring
Myrtle Beach, SC; The End of March 2024
{Posted February 21, 2025}
By the end of March we were finally getting the South Carolina sun and warmth! We got in a nice run on the beach with Luna, and were excited to see that the outdoor pool and lazy river (which I had been itching to test out) were finally open! We hustled to the pool and lazy river while the sun was still shining. The water temps were chilly but it was cool to finally swim in the pool and lazy river that we had looked at all winter! Another reason to celebrate was that my brother and his fiancé got engaged this weekend!
Our friendly nextdoor neighbors mentioned they had friends parked next to them. We started chatting one day, and got invited to join them all for a bonfire. We were pumped, because this campground has no fire pits and we love a good bonfire! It was cool to see the collapsible fire pit they travel with, spoiler alert we now have one - thanks Elisa!!! Even better, we got to hear their travel stories and learn some tips from some RV veterans! It also turned out that there was another software developer in the mix who Dylan got to connect with!
Our first visitor, Sharon, arrived to Myrtle Beach when we finished work on the Friday of Easter weekend. We were excited to show her around and took a lovely sunset stroll on the beach. This may have resulted in a very delayed dinner of sub-par pizza around 10pm but hey the beach was glorious! We had the best Saturday morning: coffee and couch snuggles! Luna was not too upset about another human to give her loves!
After some chores, grocery shopping, and meal prep we made our way to the beach and were surprised to meet the Easter Bunny on our journey! It was a bit of a windy day on the beach so we didn't last long, which was alright because we had coordinated a BBQ/bonfire with our neighbors, complete with roasted peeps s'mores.
Chef Dylan whipped us up a delicious Sunday brunch (his specialty) before we attempted round 2 of Easter weekend beach trips. It was a gorgeous and sunny day, and Dylan even swam in the Ocean! We also chatted with some fellow travelers from Canada. Our Easter dinner ended up being a picnic of charcuterie and other leftovers while hanging outside at the campsite! We enjoyed a sunrise walk and coffee before Gram-B departed, and our usual work week resumed.
Cycle, Sip, Swing, and File: A St. Paddy's Celebration
Myrtle Beach, SC; March 17, 2024
{Posted February 21, 2025}
Our first week in the new campsite was exciting! After the truck cap was installed, we found out there was a classic car show happening in Myrtle Beach. Our site along the main entrance road to the RV mega-park gave us a front row seat as all of the classic cars and trucks come into the park. We didn't even feel the need to go to the show after seeing everyone drive into the campground. We did take a morning walk around the park to look at some more of the classic vehicles before they checked out.
The sun was shining so we decided it was a great day to knock a few more things off our Myrtle Beach bucket list; a bike ride on the beach AND a stop at Ocean Annie's for a drink. Then we took turns snuggling Luna in the hammock, which made for some super cute photos! It turns out hanging outside on a nice day is also a great way to meet neighbors.
After all of our fun it was time to do the real "work" of the weekend and take care of the dreaded taxes....but at least we had a great dinner to look forward to! We always love the excuse to make a special meal for a holiday, so we decided to continue testing out our instant pot to make corned beef and cabbage. It was delicious!
RV Kitchen Chronicles: The Never-Ending Dish Dilemma
Myrtle Beach, SC; February and March 2024
{Posted January 10, 2025}
Sourdough Focaccia
We love cooking, but it definitely took some time to figure out how cooking while living full time in an RV would work for us.
I was impressed at how much food we could tetris into our tiny refrigerator! (Honorable mention to our tiny outdoor fridge that is great for overflow storage!) It became obvious that our real problem would be the dishes. At first I didn't change much about how I grocery shopped for the RV from how I grocery shopped in a house.
We became very comfortable cooking on our propane stove, and occasionally tested the oven. However, while we don't mind washing dishes by hand, it got to be a little exhausting to wash every dish you used each day on top of all of the dishes you created by cooking meals. Our kitchen island frequently turns into the dish drying station, and thank goodness for our rechargeable fan that has been a game changer for dish drying! This got us thinking about how to reduce dishes, which is a work in progress still...
We were the lucky inheritors of multiple appliances from Dylan's Aunt and Uncle that have helped. They gave us an instant pot, propane grill, electric water kettle, and toaster oven! Of course living in a tiny space we were concerned about taking in so many new things, but we decided to bring them home, test them out and see what we liked, and prayed we could find some storage space for them!
Although our RV is equipped with an outdoor stove, it is kind of weak. Not to mention that you can't grill on an outdoor stove, so we were excited to get back to grilling, which of course usually results in fewer dishes too! The electric kettle works well for morning coffee, although we can always boil water on the stove too. It felt great to incorporate a toaster back into our lives! We had been trying to toast bread etc. on the stove but it's a bit quicker to toast your bread in the toaster while you cook eggs on the stove.
In our "sticks and bricks" house we used our CrockPot all the time, but determined it was too large to bring with us. We had done some research about instant pots but decided to wait and see. But hey, when I heard about a hand-me-down instant pot, I jumped at the chance to try it out! There is definitely a learning curve to instant pot cooking but we have had a lot of fun trying out recipes and all of its functionalities! The instant pot became key for us in our quest to reduce dishes! We ended up working towards a cook once, eat all week strategy. This meant fewer dishes, and less prep time in the kitchen if we didn't feel like cooking after work.
Needless to say, I became highly motivated to figure out storage for all of our new appliances so that we could bring them on our travels!
Clifford's New Hat
Goodbyes and Gear Upgrades: March 2024
{Posted January 7, 2025}
Staying in Myrtle Beach was exciting because we got some extra time with Dylan's Aunt and Uncle, but it also meant we had to say goodbye and send them off on their European Adventure. Uncle Vic spoiled Luna with some steak and love for their final visit. We also enjoyed a long sunset walk on the beach.
This week also marked a milestone in Luna's recovery - 10 weeks post surgery! We took some videos of her walking to send to the surgeon for review. Later in the week we had a call with the surgeon who was pleased with Luna's recovery. The leg hair however was choosing quite an interesting re-growth pattern with her spot being the last to grow back.
Once we knew we were staying in Myrtle, we decided to bite the bullet and find a truck cap for Clifford (The Big Red Truck). We did some research and went to a local shop one weekend to learn more about the options and pricing. I'm not sure if the cap was really nice, or we were just so ready for extra storage, but we placed an order that day! We ordered a mid-rise cap that would be color matched, and picked out features we hoped to use for camping and maybe a solar panel installation in the future. It was a little bit of a gamble as they said it could take some time for the cap to come in and we knew we were planning to leave early April. Luckily, the cap came faster than we expected and install was quick. It was a little bittersweet to lose the truck bed by adding a cap, but the cap immediately proved useful as our new garage!
Approaching Checkout Date... and Still Wingin' It
Myrtle Beach, SC; March 2024
{Posted January 7, 2025}
We were having fun in Myrtle Beach and enjoying easy access to the beach in the off-season even though it was cold. We knew our checkout date was looming, but had no idea where to go. We had to head North again for some weddings in the spring/early summer so we decided against moving further South. We debated trying to find another beach or another campground in the Carolinas to continue enjoying off-season beach time.
In the end, our adjustment to full time living and working on the road was exhausting enough that we decided it might be nice to stay in Myrtle Beach to continue settling. Staying in Myrtle also meant we could squeeze in some more time with Bug and Vic before their big EuroTrip. After checking out a campground down the road we decided to stay at our current campground. We were able to get another site in a different section of the campground, by the lake, just a little further from the ocean. We took a walk to scope out our future digs, and I was immediately enamored by the extra space and trees (hammock time!!!)!.
On moving day, we realized we had not prepared enough ahead of time to move because it was just up the road in the SAME campground. Moving day came with a huge rainstorm, which Dylan embraced by wearing his bathing suit to take care of all outside tasks while I packed inside. (It was not bathing suit weather in case you were wondering...) Somehow we still managed to get everything packed and hitched up within minutes of checkout time!
Our new site was along the main campground road and we ended up backing up traffic just a tad while Dylan backed into the new spot (like a champ, nailing it on the first try).
The storm broke in time for us to finish getting set up with minimal rain. We treated ourselves to a feast at Cook-Out after we got everything set up in the new site. A few "Carolina Squat" vehicles were also at Cook Out, so we enjoyed the entertainment with our meal. After being in Myrtle for approximately 5 weeks we did our first tourist-y activity and took a leisurely drive down Ocean Boulevard on our way home!
A Season by the Sea
Adjusting to full-time RV life at Myrtle Beach; February 2024
{Posted December 2024}
It turns out being at the beach in the winter means having the beach to yourself most of the time and we were a-okay with that! It was fun to watch the tides even if they sometimes flooded into the RV park, luckily we were far enough from the dunes that our site stayed dry.
Although we had traveled 8 hours South, it was still a chilly winter. When Luna wasn't snuggled up in front of the fire, she spent her days working on building her muscle, and growing her leg hair post ACL surgery.
We spent the month of February squeezing in lots of facetimes and family time after work! I also took advantage of access to a "real" oven to do some baking while visiting Aunt Bug and Uncle Vic.
We did not do a ton of exploring outside of the campground during our first month as "full-time RVers". We were working on figuring out our new lifestyle, including the mundane task of maximizing our storage space. This involved lots of measuring and shopping for the perfect sized bins to help us use our storage compartments more effectively. We also FINALLY bought a trash can for the RV after owning it for almost a year...goodbye trash bag hanging from the end of our kitchen island! Baby steps, right?
Moving into the RV and the Journey South
February 3-4, 2024
{Posted December 2024}
Roommate picture (minus Luna who was already in the truck)
As it turns out, moving into an RV is not much easier than moving to a new house. Big thanks to our family members that made donation runs, carried boxes, cooked for us, or graciously allowed us to store boxes in their homes! Thank you also to our awesome neighbors who showed us so much generosity and support as we learned to drive and park our giant home on wheels...often blocking the whole street trying to do so!
After weeks of packing, sorting, storing, and donating, we finally got all of the "essentials" packed up to hit the road. We were aiming to leave Annapolis around noon, and I think we left closer to 3:30pm but we were happy to at least be hitting the road that day! Dylan wanted to get some experience driving in the dark for the first drive day en route to Myrtle Beach, so we caught sunset at a rest stop and began perusing our options for where to sleep for the night.
Luckily we found a Cracker Barrel close to our route that allowed overnight parking and had RV spots open. Pulling in to find a roaring fire inside, and a hot meal to go (plus some beer) made our first night sleeping "on the road" that much better! However, I was a little confused when I woke up in my bed and remembered that I was in a parking lot...
After a quick trip to the Dunkin Donuts across the street, we were ready to hit the road again! We made great time to the Myrtle Beach Travel Park and had plenty of daylight to get setup. We were excited to explore our home for the next 5 weeks! Luna was still recovering from her ACL surgery in December, but we figured beach walks might be the key to work on building back her strength!
I was grateful we had dinner plans with Dylan's Aunt and Uncle (the RV veterans who recommended the Myrtle Beach RV park)! I can't think of a better way to kick off our RV adventure than delicious food with family! They spoiled us by bringing a home cooked meal along with table settings and dishes. They even took all of the dirty dishes home to wash! Thanks Bug and Vic <3 We were glad we took the next day off of work to rest and finish getting settled.
