My BHAG: To go to all the places!
Current Status: We now have an RV and will take up part time RV Travel. We are starting small and visiting all the Tennessee State Parks. After that? Maybe full time RV Travel. Visit all the National Parks and ton of cities across America. After that? Canada, Mexico, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, Antarctica, Moon, Mars, Etc. Somewhere in there I’ll probably die (I guess). Regardless, there is a great big world out there and I haven’t seen most of it! I intend to do my best to change that.
What Are Our Goals?
See All The City Parks (Nashville)
Nashville is my favorite city in America and it is because of this list. The city has the best park system in the nation! Change my mind!
See All The Tennessee State Parks
There are over 50 it them so it will take a while.
See All The National Parks
This is THE goal. The United States has 61 national parks. I’ve been to only a couple of these so far. It will take many years to accomplish this goal but if fully accomplished I believe it will be very satisfying and quite an accomplishment. There are also many more National Monuments along the way (and National Memorials). While we are traveling the country we’ll hit all the state parks that interest us along the way. We’ll hit those too!
See All The States (and a TON of Cities)
As we explore the US we will surely visit every state at some point (and many, many cities). We’ll keep track of them and force rank our favorite ones along the way!
See Canada
We’ve hit a few spots in Canada already and will likely hit a few others before we get to this goal. But once we see the entire US we’ll go north and see that big old country. It looks like my kind of place!
RV The World
Pick a spot on the globe and do the same thing. We can rent/buy an RV once we get there and do the same thing on other continents. This is obviously a large commitment and an extreme end of the full-time RV endeavor.
Travel Related Posts
T.O. Fuller State Park – Memphis, TN
Our trip back home was cursed from the second we left the prior campground in Hot Springs, AR. The bad luck lasted all the way through our time at T.O. Fuller State Park in Memphis. We stayed at this state park while we explored around Memphis. We wound up cutting our losses to beat the…
Two Days In Hot Springs National Park (Hot Spring, AR)
We spent two days exploring Hot Spring National Park (in Hot Springs, AR). I was excited to go for a soak to heal all my ailments in the 4,000-year-old thermal spring waters. I did my soaking at the Buckstaff Bathhouse which opened in 1912 (and is the only bathhouse to continuously operate since then). It…
Biking Meeman Shelby Forest State Park (Millington, TN)
We started off our Spring Break going west. Our first stop was north of Memphis at Meeman Shelby Forest State Park. We explored the park on our bikes and had so much fun that we changed our entire plan to spend more time in (and around) this park and in Millington. It was the perfect…
Fort Pillow Historic State Park (Henning, TN)
This was our first trip of the 2024 RV season with some winter camping at Fort Pillow Historic State Park in west TN. It is a Civil War encampment that was on the Mississippi River. We learned a little about it and hiked to a restored fortification. Winter camping sometimes works out with the weather…
Sightseeing Fort Worth, TX
I had to work in Fort Worth, TX so I made Emily come with me (and also work…ha). All work and no play makes Deano a dull boy, however. We did some JFK-themed sightseeing at the JFK Memorial and the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza (in Dallas). Of course, I enjoyed the conspiracy theory…
Thanksgiving 2023 at Hogdaddy’s
Hogdaddy hosted the 1st Annual Frisbee Golf Invitational for Thanksgiving this year. It was a challenging course. At some point money started flowing so I quit filming and starting flingin’!
RV Travel Costs (Part 3) – How Much Does RV Travel Cost?
Nerding Out With A Spreadsheet Using 4 Years Of Our Travel. To find out how much RV travel costs I pull data from 28 trips as weekend warriors over 99 nights over 4 years and 10,000 miles of travel! In this video, I look at the cost of the 28 RV trips we took and…
RV Travel Costs (Part 2) – Is RV Travel Worth It?
Is RV Travel Worth It? Has Our RV Been Worth The Costs After 4 Years, 10,000 Miles, and 28 Trips? This video is part 2 of 3 about our experience with the costs of RV Travel. Part 1 is here: https://youtu.be/Xr0faCFqIS0 The full write-up is on my blog here: https://deanorolls.com/2024/02/24/rv-travel-costs-part-1-rv-travel-versus-traditional-travel/ From video one we learned…
RV Travel Costs (Part 1) – RV Travel Versus Traditional Travel
4 years ago, we wrestled with the decision of whether to buy an RV or not. I’m a nerd. I did a bunch of math to figure out if it would be worth it. We ultimately decided to buy the RV and hit the road. We took the plunge. We’ve traveled for 4 years and…
Seven Islands State Birding Park (Kodak, TN)
The early bird gets the bird?!? We didn’t get to the birding park early enough to do any birding (but late breakfast was really good). Regardless, it was still a beautiful fall afternoon to explore around this state park. Emily didn’t like my regenerative agriculture ‘knowledge session’ but she did like Buc-ees (meh)!
Panther Creek State Park (Morristown TN)
We stayed at Panther Creek State Park on our last trip of the 2023 RV season. The lake was pretty against the fall leaves. It was a nice park for a short hike and a visit with Max and Arden. It also allowed Emily to continue her late 2023 rant against the evil TVA dam…
“Tourist-ing” Knoxville (Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary, Museum of Appalachia, & AMSE)
While we were in the Knoxville, TN area for fall break we visited some of the popular touristy spots. If I had to force rank them I’d say 1) Historic Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary, 2) Museum of Appalachia, then 3) American Museum of Science and Energy (AMSE). I’m a sucker for history and all three…
Paddle Boating Indian Mountain State Park (Jellico, TN)
We finished up our fall break at Indian Mountain State Park (in Jellico, TN). We covered a lot of ground on our trip so we relaxed around this state park to end the trip. We did a quick hike, a paddle boat race with Max and Arden, a delicious dinner (pies/cakes), and then back around…
Kayaking and Biking At Cove Lake State Park (Caryville, TN)
We explored Cove Lake State Park on bikes and in kayaks. Both were fun. They have a paved bike path that makes for enjoyable pedaling. We’d have kayaked much longer if the weather had been a little better. It was a great lake for kayaking (a big lake and no big boats).
Exploring Norris Dam State Park (Rocky Top, TN)
We used Norris Dam State Park as our home base to explore the surrounding area. They have two campgrounds (east side vs. west side) and I chose the bad one when I booked it [sad face emoji]. Regardless, we explored the park and got some hiking in. We also got to relax with Preston (and…
Hiking Big South Fork – Twin Arches, Needle Arch and Slave Falls
We loved hiking all around Big South Fork. We spent a day at Twin Arches. They were enormous! I can’t believe these are in Tennessee. I was arch-struck! So many ‘that’s what she said’ jokes! After Emily broke her toes on the first hike, she wanted to persevere and finish the day’s 2nd hike. We…
Awesome Hiking at Honey Creek Loop Trail and Overlook (in Big South Fork Nat’l River and Rec Area)
Best. Hike. Of. The. Year. Honey Creek Loop Trail (in Big South Fork) was only listed as 4.2 miles. Regardless, it took us almost 5 hours because 1) there was so much to see along the way, 2) the hiking was very hard/technical, 3) the trail was very hard to follow, and 4) a lot…
DISASTERS At Big South Fork – Emily Broke Her Toe(s) and I Almost Lost My Drone
Disasters! It was our BEST trip of the year and our WORST trip of the year. A tree root reached up and hooked Emily’s foot and she wound up with some broken toes. My drone decided to go on an unplanned trip and almost wound up in the Big South Fork River. It wasn’t all…
Hanging Out In La Jolla and San Diego, CA – Grinde Family Trip
We spent a week with family in San Diego exploring up and down the coastline (see previous 5 videos). We stayed in a house in La Jolla. It was our home base and where I watched the cousins perform many pool acrobatics. Thanks, Mimi and Pops for shacking up the whole clan for a fun…
Tourist-ing in San Diego, CA (Tourist Stuff)
We did as much ‘tourist-ing’ while in San Diego, CA as we could fit in. We ate at Liberty Public Market several times and everyone enjoyed it. We went from a house in town down a tunnel inside the La Jolla Sea Cave. We watched an exciting ‘bases loaded at the bottom of the ninth’…
San Diego Zoo (San Diego, CA)
My second visit to one of the best zoos in the nation (if not the best). It takes a full day to see it all (and I’m still not sure we did). That darn reptile house will continue to give me food for nightmares for years to come (again). [rattlesnakes are as scared of you…
Exploring La Jolla’s Beaches – San Diego, CA
We explored ALL the beaches in La Jolla while visiting San Diego, CA. We hit the La Jolla Tide Pools, Wipeout Beach, Children’s Pool, Seal Rock, Scripps Park, Shell Beach, Point La Jolla (seals everywhere), La Jolla Cove, and the Sea Cave. On another day we explored La Jolla Shores Beach. We even stopped at…
Great Hikes Around San Diego, CA
We explored some great places around San Diego (mainly the La Jolla area) on foot. We hiked around the Torrey Pines Gliderport area (but didn’t walk off the ledge like some crazy people there did). While there we hiked down to Black’s Beach (a nude optional beach where we did NOT fit in). We hiked…
USS Midway CV 41 (San Diego, CA)
We visited the USS Midway Museum while in San Diego. I’d been here many years ago but it is totally worth a redo. The size and scale of this ship is fascinating. As we toured the entire ship I tried to imagine what it would be like working on this ship when it was in…
Hiking Pickett CCC Memorial State Park
WOW! Pickett was superb! I think this was the best state park we’ve visited this year. Everything we did on this visit was excellent. The 5 trails we hiked were all excellent with very interesting things to see all along the way (natural bridges, caves, streams, plants, mushrooms, waterfalls, ladders, etc.). The food was excellent…
Sgt. Alvin C York State Historic Park (Pall Mall, TN)
We visited the home of a famous WWI hero from Tennessee. We toured a home gifted to him after the war, had a picnic at a gristmill on the river, and then went on a ranger-led auto tour of some important sites around his home. I didn’t know a lot about Alvin prior to visiting…
Cordell Hull Birthplace State Park and Bunkum Cave
Cordell Hull was a famous Tennessee figure who was a lawyer and long-time politician. In this video, we visited his birthplace and I said lots of things (bad?) about lawyers and politicians. Sorry…not sorry! If you identify as either of these please skip this installment of the channel (or don’t and throw shade in the…
Standing Stone State Park (Where’s The Stone!?!)
Our second TN state park where we couldn’t find the thing the park is named for!?! We eventually found the “standing stone”…IN ANOTHER TOWN?!? Tennessee summer heat was on full display while we were at Standing Stone which curtailed some of our plans. We visited another state park up the road (as planned) and took…
Gran’s Family Trip @ Big East Fork Retreat (Williamson County, TN)
Gran got the whole family together for a staycation right down the road at Big East Fork Retreat (in Williamson County, TN). The house we stayed in was on a small-scale farm. We enjoyed the outdoors, games, the animals, good food, and nightly campfires. At some point, however, a 1,500-piece puzzle appeared and sent me…
Kayaking and Hiking at Big Hill Pond State Park – Pocahontas, TN
We commuted into the far reaches of TN for a day of kayaking, hiking, and exploring a very nice Tennessee State Park. We barely saw anyone the entire day as we kayaked on the huge lake, explored the swampy Big Hill Pond, hiked a half-mile boardwalk into a swamp, and then up a tower overlooking…
Shiloh National Military Park – Shiloh, TN and Corinth, MS
We toured Shiloh National Military Park in Shiloh, TN. I’m a decently technical guy but the combination of a Federal government-produced (?!?) map/audio tour app and limited cell phone data access had us scrambling the entire 13-mile/22-stop tour (err 23 if you made the map not match the app…which they did do). Regardless, we learned…
Exploring Around Pickwick Landing State Park – Counce, TN
We stayed at Pickwick Landing State Park (in Counce, TN) as our home base while visiting a few places nearby. We are not really set up as lake people in our travel rig. This is a lake town. Regardless, the massive dam did create the opportunity for a slew of dam jokes. The nice resort…
Hiking and Kayaking Around Mousetail Landing State Park (Linden, TN)
School’s Out Blitz! When Emily’s school let out we hit the road. The first stop was Mousetail Landing State Park (near almost nothing but maybe Linden, TN). We are hikers and the hiking in this part of the state is not the best but we were surprised with Mousetail. The trails were better than expected,…
Hiking to Buggytop Cave & Sewanee Natural Bridge @ South Cumberland SP Lost Cove Area (Sewanee, TN)
While in the Sewanee, TN area I needed to check some final destinations off my South Cumberland State Park list. We had not made it to the Lost Cove Area on other trips. Buggytop Cave was the first destination so we hiked a few miles to get there. It was worth it! Much more impressive…
Tim’s Ford State Park – Winchester TN
We checked the box on Tim’s Ford State Park. We aren’t really lake people but we stayed in Winchester, TN at Tim’s Ford for an extended weekend where we did other activities (Jack Daniel’s, Molly’s Graduation, and some cool hikes). Gran was there and made us a delicious breakfast in one of their cabins. All…
Touring Jack Daniel’s Distillery and Miss Mary Bobo’s Restaurant – Lynchburg, TN
The whole family headed to Molly’s college graduation. On the way, we spent a day together in Lynchburg, TN visiting Jack Daniel’s Distillery. Gran found a great restaurant, Miss Mary Bobo’s, that was in an old boarding house near downtown. We headed to our tour full of delicious food. The tour of the immaculate grounds…
Pinson Mounds State Archaeological Park – Pinson, TN
I took Emily and Max on the equivalent of a school field trip to Pinson Mounds State Archaeological Park (in Pinson, TN). Pinson Mounds is the largest mound complex in Tennessee and is one of the largest Middle Woodland (A.D. 0 to A.D. 500) mound complexes in the United States. It was much more interesting…
Chickasaw State Park – Henderson, TN
We visited Chickasaw State Park. Max joined us for a night of camping. Then I took Emily and Max on the equivalent of a school field trip to nearby Pinson Mounds State Park (which was much more interesting than I anticipated). We enjoyed some delicious food in Henderson, TN (hot fudge cake anyone), and some…
Amelia Island, FL and Fort Clinch State Park
We met up with Emmaline who was working in Amelia Island, FL. This had been on Emily’s list for a while. We stayed in cabins near the beach and explored the beaches, a lighthouse, and a giant fort at a nearby state park. I think Fort Clinch was the biggest (and best) fort we’ve ever…
Visiting Kennedy Space Center – Cape Canaveral, FL
From Vero, we ‘launched’ north to Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, FL for my first visit there. “One small drive from man”…err. The night before we’d caught a Space X launch through the clouds to get us hyped up for it. After a slight delay in our ‘liftoff’ (women) we finally ‘touched down’ for…
Revisiting Apalachicola, FL and St George Island, FL (and the St. George Lighthouse)
It had been 15-ish years since we’d been in the Apalachicola area. The Indian Pass Raw Bar had received a major upgrade. I wasn’t feeling too hot so the girls went shopping in town before we ate at the Owl Cafe. It was just as good as I remembered. We stayed one night on the…
Revisiting Cape San Blas and Port St. Joe Florida (After 15 Years)
We spent a ton of time on Cape San Blas when the kids were little. On our Spring Break road trip this year we looped through there again and spent a day revisiting the area (near Port St. Joe, Florida). It had been 15 years since we’d been there. It had changed, but not too…
Visiting White Oak Pastures (I Met Will Harris!)
It has been a year since I started learning about regenerative farming (and White Oak Pastures). In a stroke of serendipity, our Spring Break road trip this year took us right by their farm in Bluffton, GA. It would be crazy to not stop by for a quick visit?!? As we drove I made the…
Sunrise and Sunset at Natchez Trace State Park
Sometimes things don’t go according to plan when traveling to a new place. We were winter camping but the weather was beautiful and not too cold at all. I planned a big hike, but we punted on that when we got to the campground. We had a great lakeside spot. I decided we needed to…
Winter Camping at David Crockett State Park (Lawrenceburg, TN)
We headed down the Natchez Trace Parkway to Lawrenceburg, TN for some winter camping at David Crockett State Park. There was beautiful ice in the trees on the way down. The weather cooperated all weekend and we got our first trip of 2023 completed. This one had all the staples with hikes, waterfalls, a campfire,…
Christmas Debacle(s) And An Unplanned 1,400 Mile Drive!
Over Christmas, we celebrated Max’s 21st birthday (several times actually). We barely survived rolling blackouts and some single-digit temperatures (Deano marked himself safe). We survived but the pipe inside our wall didn’t and flooded our kitchen. Then we got to take an unplanned 1,400-mile round trip to Orlando to get Emmaline back home because we…
Thanksgiving At Hogdaddy’s
Games, 4-Wheelers, Cows, Guns, and Golf Carts…Oh My! And good food too but I was too busy stuffing it down my gut to capture any of that.
Biking Music City Bikeway + Centennial Park + TN Bicentennial Mall
The Music City Bikeway is my favorite bike ride in the area. It had been a few years since I’d been biking on it and it called me. The last time I rode it I’d ridden my bike 1,500 miles that year. This time I’d ridden my bike 55 miles prior to riding the 33-mile…
What We’ve Learned RV’ing For 3 Years (Weekend Warriors In Our RV Travel Trailer)
So, you want to go camping in an RV. Great, we did too! We’ve been doing it for three years as weekend warriors in our RV travel trailer. We’ve made 19 trips and towed our travel trailer 6,500 miles to 34 TN State Parks, and 2 National Parks. I’ve made 116 videos along the way.…
Epic Hike Fail! Our First Hiking Injury! Which One Makes It Back?
We had our first epic failed hike, so we biked instead. Always have a plan B! Numerous people have commented on Emily always hiking in sandals. I don’t advise it, but each to their own. On this day she came to the hike (at Denny Cove) with a sour attitude about the AllTrails app hike…
Quick Visit To Booker T Washington State Park
We are simply checking the box for some parks on our Tennessee state park list. This was one. I’m sure Booker T Washington State Park is a fine park. It was pretty, but we were staying right next to it on Harrison Bay. This park is a day-use park and we stopped by while in…
Red Clay State Historic Park
We started the morning off this day by stopping by Molly’s work and having her make me a delicious cup of coffee. This was no typical coffee order. I put her to the test! I’d have her job if she messed it up! Emily got a double dose of historic parks in one day. We…
Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park
In our many visits to Chattanooga, we’d previously visited parts of Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park. We’d visited Point Park at the top of Lookout Mountain. I’d never been to the visitors center for The Battle of Chattanooga which is located there so we did that on this trip. There is a ‘high tech’…
Exploring Fort Loudoun State Historic Park (in Vonore, TN) + Raccoon Mountain Caverns
Fort Loudoun State Historic Park (in Vonore, TN) has a reconstructed English fort from the mid-1700s used during the French and Indian War. Emily had us on a tight timeline (due to her dog’s potty schedule). She said we had 10 minutes to explore the whole thing. It took much longer! Ha! Later that afternoon…
Choo Choo Trains of Chattanooga, TN
Choo Choo Trains! While in Chattanooga, TN for fall break we kept things on a similar TRACK. See what I did there!?! I must have been reliving my childhood because I was as excited as a little kid about all these trains! We visited the Tennesse Valley Railroad and Museum. We rode the Missionary Ridge…
Sunsets At Harrison Bay State Park – Harrison, TN
For fall break we headed down to the Chattanooga area. Molly is finishing up nursing school in a few months at UTC. We are trying to finish seeing everything in the area while Molly is down there (bonus…we get to visit with her while we are there). Day one was a travel day that started…
Johnsonville State Historic Park – New Johnsonville, TN
We drove across the lake (from staying at Nathan Bedford Forrest SP) to visit Johnsonville State Historic Park. Nathan Bedford Forrest was who attacked Johnsville during the Civil War. I guess that interconnects these two state parks in some way. We visited the interpretive center (which I highly recommend) for a quick movie. Then we…
Hiking and Kayaking Nathan Bedford Forrest SP – Eva, TN
We headed to the lake to visit two different (but related) Tennessee state parks for some kayaking and hiking. We stayed at Nathan Bedford Forrest SP in Eva, TN. We visit Johnsonville Historic Park across the river while we were there. Both parks have Civil War history galore. We loaded the kayaks on the truck…
Hiking Long Hunter State Park – Hermitage, TN
2 lakes, 3 hikes! With trails around a small lake (Couchville Lake) and a large lake (Percy Preist Lake), Long Hunter State Park has plenty to explore. The TN state park is just outside Nashville, TN (in Hermitage/Mt. Juliet). It doesn’t have any place to RV camp so we made a few day trips there…
Summer In Telluride, Colorado
We ended up our trip out west in Telluride, Colorado for some summer fun. We stayed up the mountain in Mountain Village. The gondola ride from there to town is pretty spectacular. It rained a lot while were there including on our hike up to Bridal Veil Falls (Colorado’s biggest waterfall). It never rained enough…
Driving Rim Rock Drive In Colorado National Monument
Today was a family vacation drive day from Vail, CO to Telluride, CO. I’m always looking for a National Monument in the neighborhood when I’m traveling. Colorado National Monument was about the halfway point of our drive. It had a scenic drive that looked super! Rim Rock Drive is the best way to see the…
Summer In Vail, Colorado
After a ridiculous day of air travel, we made it to Vail Colorado. Getting there I was reminded why I travel in an RV the vast majority of the time. We took the gondola up Vail Mountain. After many selfies by the kids, they rode the mountain coaster. We hiked a little bit over to…
Kayaking (Funyaking) The Hiwassee River 2 0 – Reliance, TN – Hiwassee-Ocoee State Park
We had so much fun kayaking/funyaking on the Hiwassee River (in Reliance, TN part of the Hiwassee-Ocoee State Park) that we went back and did it again two days later. The first time (our first time) was with Molly. The second time was the day after we’d rafted the Ocoee River and was with the…
Rafting The Ocoee River (with Ocoee Rafting in Ducktown TN)
Family rafting trip! Some had been rafting before and some had not. No one except Emily had been on the Ocoee before. Tennessee has a couple of whitewater rafting rivers. One of them, the Ocoee River, has to be the best in the state. We did the Upper and the Middle Ocoee for a full…
Kayaking The Hiwassee River 1.0 (Funyaking Actually) – Reliance, TN – Hiwassee-Ocoee State Park
I got to mark something off my list that has been on it for many years with our visit to Hiwassee-Ocoee State Park near Reliance, TN. I’ve wanted to float the Hiwassee River and wrote down “Webb Brothers” many years ago. Webb Brothers is a float company that has been in business for many, many…
Savage Falls – Savage Gulf SNA
This was our last day in Savage Gulf. Today was a drive day (from Manchester to Reliance TN). On the way, we hiked to Savage Falls in Savage Gulf State Natural Area (part of South Cumberland State Park). This was our 6th waterfall in our four days of hiking in Savage Gulf. We didn’t get…
Suter Falls and Horsepound Falls – Collins West Trailhead – Savage Gulf SNA
We spent 4 days in Savage Gulf State Natural Area and my favorite day was when we hiked up to Suter Falls and Horespound Falls. We entered the trail at the Collins West Trailhead and headed towards Suter Falls. The area that Suter Falls is in is absolutely stunning (and massive). It didn’t feel like…
Greeter Falls at Savage Gulf State Natural Area
We spent a few days exploring Savage Gulf State Natual Area. This is part of South Cumberland State Park which has to be my favorite Tennessee State Park. Today’s hike was short and sweet. We hiked to Blue Hole, and to Greeter Falls (both upper and lower). We’d planned to go to Boardtree Falls and…
Hiking Old Stone Fort State Archaeological Park – Manchester, TN
Old Stone Fort State Archaeological Park, in Manchester, TN. was our home base for about a week as we hiked in the surrounding area of Tennessee. One afternoon when we got rained out of our plan we explored this state park’s 2000-year-old earthworks Native American fort, two rivers (Duck River and Little Duck River), and…
Stone Door + Laurel Falls + Ranger Falls at Savage Gulf State Natural Area in South Cumberland SP
This video is SAVAGE…Savage Gulf State Natural Area that is! We headed up to Beersheba Springs, TN for a few days of hiking in the Savage Gulf part of South Cumberland State Park. This state park is already way up my favorite Tennessee State Park list and this hike just solidified it further. We hiked…
Cloudland Canyon Georgia State Park
Emily and I finished out our Spring Break trip with some walk-in tent camping at Cloudland Canyon State Park in Georgia. We survived our first joint tent camping experience (cold). The next day we explored the park’s trail system and beautiful waterfalls. Many great views, a couple of waterfalls, and many steps made for a…
St Augustine, Florida To See Castillo de San Marcos National Monument
On our return trip of Spring Break, I wanted to mark another National Monument off my list. We visited St. Augustine, Florida to see the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument. This fort was built in America’s oldest city which was settled in 1565. I got more than I bargained for when we hit downtown…
Kayaking Wekiwa Springs State Park – Apopka, Florida
Wekiwa Springs State Park was the second Florida state park we visited on this day. We were in Orlando visiting Emmaline (and Sebastian) on our Spring Break tour with Molly. We stopped in Apopka, Florida for some kayaking. It was a very pretty trip. We should have planned to spend longer here and gone on…
Manatees at Blue Spring State Park – Orange City, Florida
Molly, Emily, and I road-tripped it down to Orlando over Spring Break to visit with Emmaline. We fueled up and headed to Blue Spring State Park (in Orange City, Florida) to see some manatees! We saw many along the Boardwalk Trail. We also saw some of the prettiest water I’ve seen in some time and…
Stone Mountain Park (near Atlanta Georgia)…Climbing Stone Mountain!
We started our Spring Break with snow and freezing temperatures. We were supposed to tent camp at Stone Mountain Park (near Atlanta, Georgia) but we canceled that and opted for indoors (and heat). On the way there we stopped off in Chattanooga and picked up Molly for our week-long road trip. We didn’t let the…
Fort Donelson National Battlefield
I’ve been to Fort Donelson National Battlefield a few times. Usually just passing through or with a bunch of kids in tow. I’ve never taken the time to take in the history of the place. We have a goal of visiting all the national artifacts and this is one (a national battlefield). So, I went…
Paris Landing State Park + Paris (TN?!?)
I don’t know if Emily has always wanted to go to Paris. Regardless, I took her. I’m like that! I make dreams and wishes come true! [record scratch] Paris, TN! We did some more winter camping at Paris Landing State Park on Kentucky Lake. Hitting a state park on a lake in the middle of…
Big Cypress Tree State Park – Greenfield, TN
I feel like I got punked?!? We went to a state park named for a huge, 1,300-year-old, bald cypress tree. Big Cypress Tree State Park…BUT…NO TREE?!? I actually knew the tree had been struck by lightning back in the late 70s. I thought if I drove out to the middle of nowhere I’d at least…
Eagles at Reelfoot Lake State Park – Tiptonville, TN
We took a winter camping trip out to northwest Tennessee to see the eagles at Reelfoot Lake. We saw 55 on our tour. According to the ranger, that is a lot! It felt like it and was pretty awesome. We also hiked on the very pretty boardwalk trail at the park. It was evidently so…
Everglades National Park – Flamingo and Royal Palm Area
This was my favorite day in the Everglades. We were at Flamingo campground, which is the southernmost part of the continental US. I started off earlier than the rest of my crew with some sunrise solitude. Another reason I was up early was to be at the ranger station to get ranger-led kayak tour passes…
YouTube Famous! 100k Views Comments Review!
Seen out in the wild! 100k views! In case you didn’t know…I’m a pretty big deal. YouTube Famous! HA! NOT! Only 68,999,500 subscribers until I catch Justin Bieber! [Joey contemplates taking his shirt off and dancing more in his videos…then, quickly stops thinking of this] I enjoy making videos about our travels (and other things).…
YouTube Famous – Recognized In The Wild!
The day I created my YouTube channel I told Emily “one day we’ll be walking around and people will recognize us”. She looked at me with a very common look I’ve seen many times over the years we’ve been married. Many, many hair-brained schemes later I know the look very well. It is kind of…
Everglades Alligator Farm + Ernest F Coe Visitors Center + Travel Day
Everglades National Park is a big place…1.5 million acres of wetland. We explored the north and west side from Everglade City, FL. For the rest of our trip, we moved to the southernmost point, Flamingo. On this travel day, we packed up the RV and made the 130-mile journey to our new location. Once we…
Shelling and Boat Touring in Naples, Florida and Beaching in Marco Island, Florida
We started off a foggy morning with a boat tour to go shelling on Keewaydin Island off the coast of Naples, Florida. Emily wanted to go shelling while we were in south Florida and this is a great spot. We saw awesome dolphins and a nesting pair of eagles. The boat tour then showed us…
Big Cypress National Preserve – Swamp Buggy Tour and Night Flat Bottom Pole Boat Tour
What a fun day (one of the more unique days I’ve experienced in a while)! We were in the neighborhood on our visit to Everglades National Park so we spent a day exploring Big Cypress National Preserve. We explored by land…by water…by day…by night! It was quite an adventurous day! We started off on a…
Everglades National Park – Shark Valley Area (Airboat Ride and Shark Valley Tram Tour)
On our second day in Everglades National Park, we visited the Shark Valley area. We met up with Emmaline at the Everglades Safari Airboat ride. I saw plenty of airboats while in the Everglades area but these were the best ones for this redneck. Two huge V8 motors on an extremely large airboat was impressive.…
Everglades National Park – Gulf Coast Area (Kayaking and Boat Tour)
Our first day in the Everglades National Park was in Everglade City, Florida. We visited the Gulf Coast Visitors Center of the Everglades National Park. The Gulf Coast Area leads into the 10,000 Islands. We took a boat tour into this area and out to the Gulf of Mexico. Everglades City is the Stone Crab…
Hiking The Fiery Gizzard Trail To Raven’s Point – South Cumberland State Park – Tracy City, TN
The Fiery Gizzard Trail up to Raven’s Point is one of Tennessee’s finest hikes. I also think it is one of the harder ones. The trail is part of the South Cumberland State Park, near Tracy City, TN. I have hiked part of this trail before with my friend back in 2015. I remembered, from…
Hiking Foster Falls (and Climber’s Loop) – South Cumberland State Park – Sequatchie, TN
We got into town for our hike on the Fiery Gizzard Trail (the next day). We drove up to the south end of that trail and visited Foster Falls (since we wouldn’t be making it to that point on our long hike). We hiked to the bottom of the falls (beautiful) and then took another…
Rock Island State Park – Rock Island, TN (REDUX!?!)
We went to Rock Island State Park…again. We got rained out on our first trip there. REDUX! We rebooked and went right back. We started off heading up Eagle Trail to Blue Hole Trail. The Blue Hole Trail was probably my favorite trail in the park. It is a very unique trail and an unexpected…
Aspen, Ouray, Denver and New Mexico – Family Vacation 2015
Throwback 2015! Our family vacation this year involved a summer visit to Aspen, Colorado where we hiked up the ski mountain. Then we headed over to Ouray, Colorado. We visited the hot springs fed swimming pools (Ouray Hot Springs Pool) and a neat waterfall overlooking the city (Box Canyon Falls Park). We headed up the…
Cumberland Trail State Park – Grassy Cove Segment – Black Mountain Section (Crossville, TN)
I had no idea this was a thing. It is kinda like a little mini Appalachian Trail (for front country hikers). Hey…that’s me?!?! The Justin P. Wilson Cumberland Trail State Park manages the Cumberland Trail (a State Scenic Trail). The Cumberland Trail follows a line of high ridges and deep gorges lying along Tennessee’s Cumberland…
2 Year Update – Camping In Our RV Travel Trailer + Our Longest Trip Yet (2000+ Miles)
Collecting Experiences! We’ve been doing travel trailer camping as weekend warriors for the past 2 years. Since our first RV trip in early 2020 we’ve taken 13 RV trips. As we ended 2021 we were about to set off on our longest trip yet to date (2,000+ Miles). RV camping (with a truck and travel…
Gatlinburg, TN – Our Family Vacation (2016)
Throwback 2016! We did several “tourist-ey” things on our family vacation to Gatlinburg, TN. Gran made a picnic for us and then we waded in the river at the Greenbrier Picnic Area (in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park). We went to Dollywood and Ripley’s Aquarium. Kailey made me eat a vomit-flavored jelly bean so…
Ozone Falls State Natural Area (Crab Orchard, TN)
This 110-foot tall waterfall has a pretty quick hike down to the bottom. For the more adventurous there is a 7-mile hike (as a part of Tennessee’s Cumberland Trail State Park) over to Black Mountain (where we hiked the next day). We opted for less adventure this afternoon but the waterfall was spectacular, regardless. If…
Oregon – Family Trip 2016
Throwback 2016! We flew into Portland and headed to Hood River, OR on the Columbia River. We went hiking on the Indian Creek Trail and I ate blackberries from the hillside. The next day we visited Multnomah Falls (we hiked to the top of it), Vista House, and then over the Bridge of The Gods.…
Cumberland Mountain State Park (Crossville TN)
Cumberland Mountain State Park (in Crossville, TN) was our first stop on Emily’s Fall Break. I almost lost her (not really) at the very beginning of our 12th RV trip (when our trailer unexpectedly shifted while unhooking). Molly came up from Chattanooga to join us for an afternoon (in between class/work). We hiked around the…
Spring Break 2016 at The Moorings
Throwback 2016! Spring Break! Paddleboarding, Casey’s eating, Easter egg hunting (with at least one grumpy teenager), very windy bike riding, bike riding with no hands (like a BOSS), beach walking (also very windy), pool swimming, and golf carts with the batteries run down?!?
Cumberland Caverns (and Rained Out Rock Island State Park)
I had a weekend trip all planned out at Rock Island State Park. Nature didn’t agree with my plan and unleashed a monsoon on us. We had to change our plan and Emily suggested we go to Cumberland Caverns. Cumberland Caverns was 1) dry and 2) awesome. It was a very large cave and had…
Seattle, Washington
Throwback 2017! We finished up our tour of northwest Washington in Seattle. We took a ferry on the way from Port Angeles to our hotel in Seattle. We toured the Washington campus (so far no grandchild has opted for that college option). We toured the Boeing factory (no pics or video from that…top secret). The…
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DeanoRolls (@deanoroll5) 