Charming Adventures

Northern MS: Tupelo & The Tanglefoot Trail

We took a quick spin through Mississippi and saw some fun stuff — some cool, some pretty, and some just plain pretty funny. First up was Elvis Presley’s Birthplace in Tupelo, where he lived from birth in 1935 to age 13. It’s an expansive campus surrounding a tiny two-room shack, for little Elvis was as poor as the day was long. He (and his twin, who...

Shreveport, LA: Return to Caddo Lake

“Return to Caddo Lake” sounds like a slasher horror film, and this strange, mystical, lake-slash-bayou is possibly haunted and the setting of many a Hollywood film. In 12 years of RV’ing, there are only a handful of places to which we’ve returned (last time: 2020), but Caddo Lake is one of them! “Government Ditch” is the well-known...

San Antonio, TX:  It’s ¡Viva Fiesta! Time

¡ Viva Fiesta ! The rallying cry of San Antonio’s Fiesta Festival tells you all you need to know about this 134-year-old tradition …. Viva = Long Live, Fiesta = Party! Long live the party life, throughout the city, for 11 days of events. With over 100 happenings (including three major parades), Fiesta San Antonio commemorates the Battle of the Alamo and...

NM & TX: Rockhounds & Sandboxes

Our Summer 2025 road trip is off to a “rocky” start, but in a good way! Our first two stops were at a rock-filled New Mexico state park, and a Texas sand dune. Deming, NM – Rockhound State Park Look! It’s a hound at Rockhound! The campground is set at the base of the “Little Florida Mountains,” which why they are not instead called...

Channel Islands National Park, California

Channel Islands National Park: We had heard this string of 5 protected islands referred to as the “Galapagos of North America,” which sounded pretty darn enticing. Only 20+ miles off the California coast, it is certainly worlds apart from the hustle and bustle of the mainland … no vehicles, no pets, no drones, no In’N’Out Burger …...

Kanab, UT: Love at First Flight

Valentines Day, 2025: Kanab, Utah. We braved the wintry weather for its annual hot air balloon festival, Balloons and Tunes. We had a travel buddy in Connor, our 3-year-old grandson, who had never seen balloons before. For Connor, and therefore also for us, it truly was “Love at First Flight.” Being from Phoenix, it was also “Love at First...

Phoenix, AZ: Cave Creek Regional Park

It’s been a while since we’ve blogged, because it has been a while since we’ve RV’ed — last summer’s trip to the Northeast, to be exact. We did take a (rare, non-RV) European river cruise in October, however … spending time in Prague, Czech Republic, then cruising seven days on the Danube River, then a few days in Budapest...

Mid-South Kansas: Salt of the Earth

The last charming stops of our 2024 trip were in Kansas. Kansas gets a bad rap as being flat (always true) and boring (not always true), and besides being the geographical center of the country, it’s a state of farmlands and salt-of-the-earth Midwesterners. We’re always surprised to find little hidden treasures in Kansas! Strataca Salt Mine (Hutchinson...

Independence, MO: Hail to the Chief(s)

It’s gettin’ hot. Summertime is here, and the living is definitely NOT easy, as the song goes. That’s the case nationwide, including in Independence, Missouri, just outside Kansas City, where we paid some sweaty homage to a wide variety of chiefs. President Harry S Truman The main CHIEF around Independence is their hometown boy, Harry S Truman, the...

St. Louis, MO: An OverARCHing Good Time

Destination: St. Louis. This Mississippi River locale has something for everyone: music lovers, sports fans, history buffs, people who like Budweiser beer, and an urban park that is wayyy bigger than even Central Park. The Arch St. Louis is perhaps best known as the location of the massive national monument best known to most as simply “The Arch” —...