While renting an RV from Great Alaskan Holidays (GAH) in 2014, I noticed a brochure about the Spring Adventure Package.  It explained an opportunity to pick up a new RV from the manufacturer facility and transport it to the GAH headquarters in Anchorage, Alaska for a reduced rental price.  As long as you delivered the RV before the busy summer season, customers could drive any route to get to Anchorage.  Knowing it would take about 3 weeks for the trip, I put the idea on the bucket list for the future.  Fast forward to January 2016 when we discovered some friends that loved this trip idea and we decided to both submit our names for the 2017 Spring Adventure Package.  In April 2016, we found out we were both selected to participate and we chose our RV preference.  After submitting our $500 deposit, we began to plan and anticipate the road trip a year in advance!

Scouring the internet, I searched for trip blogs and forums to see what routes prior customers had taken while on the spring trip and to learn from their experiences.   In early summer we were notified that GAH had changed our rental to a Thor RV and the pickup location would be in Wakarusa, Indiana with an earlier pick up date.   With more miles to drive and in an earlier shoulder season, some of our initial itinerary plans had to be adjusted.  Flexibility became a necessity, since some roads could be closed and colder temperatures would prevent some activities. Keeping this in mind, we decided not to reserve any of the campgrounds in advance except for Denali National Park, which was at the end of our trip.  We booked a one-way flight from Houston to Chicago where a motor coach bus would meet us and transport us to the manufacturing facility.  Using airlines miles, we decided to splurge for first class tickets for the return flight home from Anchorage hoping we might actually sleep on the overnight flight back to Houston.  The remainder of our trip planning included choosing campgrounds and sightseeing destinations, estimating daily driving times, creating meal plans and grocery shopping lists, developing packing lists, and purchasing national park passes and travel insurance.

As the trip date approached, I began the assessing what could actually fit in the suitcases to stay under the weight limits and what would best be purchased once we were on the road.  Clothing requirements would range from shorts to heavy coats!  We minimized how much to pack for the three-week journey by relying on layers that could be removed or added and by staying at campgrounds with laundry facilities. Some of the best extra things we brought included travel books and the Milepost (with mile by mile highway logs) since limited cell phone coverage, a noisemaker for better sleep at noisy locations, waterproof hiking shoes and hiking poles for snow, flip flops for campground showers and hot springs, waterproof rain gear, thermal under layers, pocket knife and multi-tool, duct tape (because it fixes almost anything), thermos for coffee on cold mornings, black trash bags to block out daylight in Alaska that lasted almost all night, French press to make coffee before generator hours began, laundry bag, over the door organizer, clothespins, binoculars, walkie talkies, movie DVDs, first aid kit and stamps.

May 5-We arranged for a friend to transport us and our luggage to the airport for our Chicago flight.  We landed with plenty of time before the first of three motor coach busses would arrive. It wasn’t long before we spotted others who were also waiting for the bus.  We met several couples who had already done this trip multiple times! After getting distracted and almost missing the bus, we boarded just in time.  It was a slow ride in rush hour traffic to the Thor facility.  We arrived near dusk in much cooler weather.  After a brief introduction, we located our “home sweet home” (2018 Four Winds 28Z) for the next 3 weeks and began to unpack.  The RVs were ready for our arrival with the bed made up and basic necessities stocked. With full water tanks and a generator, dry camping at the facility the first night was easy. We made a few notations of some items that needed to be addressed on the new RV prior to leaving the next day and then ordered pizza for dinner.

May 6-We tried to sleep late since our RV orientation was scheduled for 11am. The GAH crew was quick to come around and begin working on the few minor issues that needed to be fixed.  Donuts and coffee were provided during the 45-minute orientation film for the drivers.  After a quick dump and water refill we were on the road!  Just a short drive to South Bend provided a lunch stop and a huge Walmart shopping trip.   We filled two shopping carts, made a phone call to Chase to confirm the $500 charges were legitimate, and then unloaded the groceries into every nook and cranny of the RV.   We drove 370 miles across Indiana, Illinois to arrive at Tomah, Wisconsin by the end of the day.  We knew that most Walmart stores allowed free overnight parking.  When we pulled into the Tomah Walmart and saw other campers already parked for the night, we knew we were good to stay.  The beauty of the RV is that in just a few minutes we could be parked, leveled, have the slide out extended and ready for bed! We were anxious to turn in since the next would involve a long day of driving to reach our first U. S. National Park.

May 7-The morning drive began with lovely rolling green hills dotted with red barns.  As we passed Amish country in Wisconsin and Minnesota, we were hoping to stop at one of their stores to admire their handmade goods.  But we realized that none of them would be open on a Sunday morning since it was the Lord’s day.  Good for them but bummer for us!  The drive was mostly uneventful with just a few stops for gas and making sandwiches on the road (easy to do in an RV!) We drove into South Dakota and approached the Badlands National Park around dinner time after 620 miles.  I called ahead to reserve some sites at the Cedar Pass Campground that had outstanding scenic views.  By the time we finished grilling up dinner, I was ready to visit the pay showers and put on some shorts for the warmer weather.  Fortunately, the temperature dropped with a nice breeze by the time we were ready for bed since we had no electricity for air conditioning.  This was the only time on the trip that I wanted to wear shorts or have air conditioning, but cooler temperatures were around the corner! I woke up in the middle of the night to my husband banging on the outside of my RV window as the winds were gusting in excess of 50 mph!  Apparently, he was locked out. He woke and found the door blown open by the winds.  When he went outside, he shut the door not realizing it was in a locked position.  It took a few stressful moments for me to figure out how to unlock the door and let him in! We pulled in our slide out and hunkered down for the night! Oh, what a night and so the adventure begins….