Join me as I take a stroll down memory lane on a trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina in early June 2019. North Carolina’s Outer Banks is a string of barrier islands that begin at the border of Virginia and stretch for 120 miles south to Ocracoke Island. 

I had visited the islands as a child with my family, and remember staying at a beachfront cottage that my parents had rented for a couple of weeks. Over the years the landmarks have changed and everything looks very different than it did 50 years ago. But one thing is certain, Nags Head and the Outer Banks are just as beautiful as I remember.

Over fifty years since I was here with my family.

To get to the Outer Banks in North Carolina, we had to drive over a very long bridge and pass through the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. We looked for alligators, but sadly none were seen as we continued on. However, the beautiful scenery along the way made up for the lack of alligator sightings.

We then drove through the town of Nags Head and went straight to Cape Hatteras National Seashore where we would camp. We didn’t have reservations, which is the way we prefer to travel in our Leisure Travel Van. No reservations mean we aren’t locked into a time schedule. The cost of our campsite was $35 per night, which included electric and water hookups. There were no trees in sight at this campsite, but just over the sand dune behind us was the Atlantic Ocean.

The first thing we did after settling in at our campsite was take a hike to the ocean. Our pups had never seen the ocean before, so wanted to watch their reactions. After the ocean, we decided to visit three of the lighthouses located here on the Outer Banks. The area looked a little more crowded than I remembered as a child but nonetheless, it was still a beautiful area and we were excited about the adventures that lay ahead of us.

Bodie Island Light Station

On our second day, we began our exploration of the local lighthouses. Our first stop was the Bodie Island Light Station.

Our Leisure Travel Van (LTV) Unity FX at the Bodie Island Light Station.

The next lighthouse on the list was the Cape Hatteras Light Station. It is 210 feet tall and is the tallest brick structure in the United States and also the second tallest in the world. 

MaryAnn and me. Behind us is Cape Hatteras Light Station.

To see the third lighthouse, we had to board a ferry on Ocracoke Island. We had never put our LTV on a ferry before which made us a little nervous, but it was very easy to do.

On our third day, we visited Fort Raleigh and the Lost Colony on Roanoke Island. Before making our last stop at the Wright Brothers Memorial. We carry a national parks passport around with us and get it stamped at every national park and monument we visit on the road. Needless to say, we have an endless task ahead of us to get a stamp from every national park and monument, but we are doing our best to get the job done.

Inside of the Wright Brothers Museum

Nags Head, Cape Hatteras National Seashore, and the Outer Banks of North Carolina are all beautiful and definitely worth a visit. Just make sure to allow enough time to see it all.

Editor’s Note: Terry and MaryAnn Barber are members of LTV’s sponsored content team, The Leisure Explorers. Do you own a Leisure Travel Van and enjoy writing? Learn more about joining the team.

We traveled on Interstate 10 from Santa Monica, California, in the west to Jacksonville, Florida, in the east, a total of 2,431 miles. The road brought us through California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida – eight states in all. We saw oceans, deserts, mountains, valleys, rivers, lakes, and swamps. We also viewed amazing wildlife and unique plant life like the Joshua trees in California, the majestic saguaro in Arizona, the yucca in New Mexico, the prong horn and roadrunners in Texas, the alligators of the Louisiana Bayou, the alligator turtle of Mississippi, the USS Alabama battleship in Mobile, Alabama, and the beautiful beaches of the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean in Florida. On this trip we traveled to Pismo Beach, California, to attend a Southwest Roadrunners Leisure Travel Vans Travelers Club Rally in October 2018.

Come along as we travel to the Pacific Ocean on Interstate 10 west from Phoenix, Arizona.

Mountain views on Interstate 10, west of Phoenix.

Views from I-10 west of Phoenix.

Joshua Trees along Interstate 10 west.

Located just north of Interstate 10 in eastern California is Joshua Tree National Park. Known for its Joshua trees, the Park is actually visited by millions for its rocks. Huge boulders, soaring into the sky as much as several hundred feet up, look more like mountains than just rocks.

Entrance to Joshua Tree National Park

Rock climbing and hiking are the big attraction here, and the Joshua Tree is just a side note. MaryAnn and I are NOT rock climbers, we will never try something like this, but we don’t mind watching others risk their lives. We stopped in Joshua Tree on a weekend, so finding a campsite was impossible. We rarely get reservations while we are traveling; we prefer the freedom of not being locked into a schedule.

Rock climbers in Joshua Tree National Park.

Like most popular national parks, the best time to get a campsite on a first come, first served basis is Sunday – Wednesday – the weekends are ridiculous! Even getting reservations at all may require as much as 6 months to a year in advance in some places, like Zion National Park in Utah. Since the campgrounds inside the Park were full, we drove outside the park boundary and camped for free on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land. We actually prefer BLM land anyway – wide open spaces and no crowds. Oh, and did I mention it’s FREE! Completely unplugged and unconnected, it is always the way to go for us since we have 400 watts of solar on the roof and a diesel generator underneath.

MaryAnn and the Traveling Pups enjoying the shade of our Leisure Travel Vans Unity FX out on BLM land just outside of Joshua Tree National Park.

At our campsite just outside Joshua Tree we had all the space and privacy we could want. Is it desert? Yes. Do we have any neighbors? No, and the surrounding mountain views are outstanding!

Our closest neighbor just outside of Joshua Tree on BLM land. This sure beats being plugged in at an RV parking lot!

More views of the mountains on I-10 in California.

Going west on I-10 in California.

We boondocked with our friend and fellow LTV owner, Laurie Lee, at Bass Pro Shop just outside of Los Angeles. The next day, more of our friends and fellow owners of an LTV, Greg and Marsha Locke, joined us, and together we traveled in a mini caravan to the Pismo Beach LTV Southwest Roadrunners Rally.

We met up with some of our Leisure Travel Vans owners and good friends at Bass Pro Shop in Rancho Cucamonga, California, just east of Los Angeles.

Our mini caravan to Pismo Beach. Greg and Marsha (in front) have the Unity FX and Laurie (second) has the Unity Twin Bed.

Mountain views from the road.

The entrance at Pismo Beach.

Our pups loved the ocean and could’ve stayed there all day. Laurie Lee brought along her pups (Salukis) to the beach as well. They all had a great time chasing the waves.

MaryAnn and the Traveling Pups enjoying the waves at Pismo Beach, California.

From left: The Traveling Pups, MaryAnn, Saluki pups, and Laurie Lee at Pismo Beach.

From left: Laurie Lee and MaryAnn at Pismo Beach.

Southwest Roadrunners LTV rally at Pismo Beach October 2018.

Our campsite at the Southwest Roadrunners Pismo Beach Rally 2018.

We love going to LTV Travelers Club rallies. Not only do we get to see old friends, we always make new friends, too. The Travelers Club always has “tech talks” every day where we discuss the technology of our rigs and help each other with any issues or problems we are having as well.

There’s only one thing we love more than traveling in our LTV, and that’s traveling with other LTV owners on the open road. Until next time, safe travels, my friends.

Editor’s Note: Terry and MaryAnn Barber are members of LTV’s sponsored content team, The Leisure Explorers. Do you own a Leisure Travel Van and enjoy writing? Learn more about joining the team.

We had returned home from our trip of a lifetime – Alaska Caravan 2018 – in August, and decided we wanted to keep going. I logged onto the Leisure Travel Vans website to see if there was any possibility of going to the Owners Rally in September.

Our name had been on the waiting list for months with no word about any openings. Something told me I should renew my name on the list, so I did. About an hour later, I received an email from Leisure Travel Vans congratulating me on being selected to come to the 2018 Owners Rally in Winkler, Manitoba!

We only had a couple of weeks to prepare for our trip to Manitoba and we couldn’t have been happier! We had our Unity serviced, cleaned out, and repacked and ready to go on our next adventure in plenty of time. Unlike the Alaska adventure, on this trip we would be taking our two Shitzu pups, Luna and Peeta. We call them the “the traveling pups.”

Luna (blonde ears) and Peeta, the traveling pups.

We left our home in southern Arizona on August 25th to visit family in Goodyear, Arizona. Then, we decided to take our time on this trip and meander a little bit through New Mexico’s Gila National Forest. Our first stop was at the Burro Mountain Homestead Campground just south of Silver City, New Mexico. It was a long dirt road (7 miles) back to this campground and it was full of ATV campers.

The road to Burro Mountain Homestead Campground.

We took the scenic route from Silver City on Highway 152 through Aldo Leopold Wilderness Area to Interstate 25, stopping in Bosque, New Mexico. We first thought we would camp on Bureau of Land Management land, but we couldn’t find a suitable place to stop so we parked for the night at the Kiva RV Park & Horse Motel for $29.53 per night with hookups. It’s a great place if you have a horse; we just needed a place to sleep for the night.

Our Unity FX in Gila National Forest, New Mexico.

The next day we continued on from Bosque on Route 25 to Raton, New Mexico. We stopped for the night at Sugarite Canyon State Park – the Park was full so we camped in the overflow area at Lake Alice Campground, a nice place at $10 per night (no hookups). We did some exploring there before settling in for the night. We also stopped along the way to visit Fort Union National Monument, and we highly recommend this historic site.

MaryAnn exploring Fort Union National Monument, New Mexico.

From Raton, New Mexico, we drove on the next day 317 miles to Orchard, Colorado, and stopped for the night at Jackson Lake. It was over the Labor Day weekend and since there were 2 nights available, we decided to stay through the weekend for $50 with hookups. Jackson Lake is a beautiful place and it was here that we discovered our traveling pups, Luna and Peeta, loved the water.

Sunset at Jackson Lake, Colorado.

From Orchard, Colorado, we continued on to Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota. We stayed in the Park at Elk Mountain Campground for one night, and with the national park pass the cost was only $9.

From Wind Cave we drove 137 miles to Rocky Point Recreation Area, a very scenic route. We visited Crazy Horse Memorial and Mount Rushmore along the way. We realized at this point that we needed to step up our pace if we were going to make it to Winkler for the Owners Rally on time.

Prairie Dog at Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota.

We continued on the next day 398 miles to Jamestown, North Dakota, stopping at Jamestown Campground for the night. The next day we drove another 247 miles, arriving at Winkler Bible Camp on opening day for the Rally.

The Owners Rally was very exciting, meeting up with fellow owners from the Alaska Caravan that had just ended and also making new friends with other Leisure Travel Vans owners.

We got to see Dean, our favorite celebrity, again and meet others from the Leisure Travel Vans family as well. There were plenty of seminars by the experts on our Unity and its many components. We did a factory tour and visited Pembina Threshermen’s Museum, a living museum demonstrating an early 20th century farming community, complete with stores, schoolhouse, churches, train station, and a collection of agricultural machinery.

Some of the Leisure Travel Vans at the Winkler Owners Rally.

The food at the Rally was delicious and abundant morning, noon, and night. The evening entertainment was also top notch! I went to a photography class while MaryAnn attended a seminar on the Truma water heaters.

The second night, there was a gathering around five fire pits next to the lake. Each fire pit had “Leisure” on the side. We ate s’mores and visited with our new and old friends. The next day, LTV drew from a hat and randomly gave away the portable fire pits used the night before. I actually won one of them, and we carry it with us in our Unity.

The Rally ended too soon. No one was ready to leave, but all good things must eventually come to an end. So, we packed up and headed back across the border into North Dakota.

Some of the highlights on our return trip to Arizona included Theodore Roosevelt National Park (South Unit), in North Dakota, Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming, Golden, Colorado, where we stopped to visit a couple we had traveled with in the Alaska Caravan, the head waters of the Rio Grande River in Sangre De Cristo Mountains, New Mexico, and White Sands National Park, also in New Mexico.

Every LTV owner should attend one of these rallies in Winkler at least once. It is definitely worth the trip! For us, our next adventure was to Pismo Beach, California, to attend a Southwest Roadrunners LTV rally in October 2018.

Until next time, safe travels, everyone!

In Part I, we left our home near the US-Mexico border in southern Arizona to begin our Alaska adventure, setting off in mid-May, 2018. Now it’s June 26, already a month into the Alaska Caravan adventure and over one-and-a-half months since we left our home. We are now in Anchorage, Alaska, and our group of 22 Leisure Travel Vans and 43 owners are preparing for the next leg of our journey – Denali National Park!

Unfortunately, our wagon master won’t be able to travel with us to the Park, since his rig has been disabled by an electrical short below the steering column. It will take mechanics in Anchorage several days to find the problem and repair it before he is able to rejoin the group in Whitehorse, Yukon, so for now other leaders have stepped up to take the helm on the eve of our journey to Denali.

Our travel pod of four LTVs left Anchorage at 8:30 in the morning and drove 146 miles to Talkeetna, Alaska, where we stopped for lunch. Talkeetna is located where three rivers meet: the Susitna, the Chulitna, and the Talkeetna. The town of Talkeetna began in 1916, when the area was chosen as a district headquarters for the Alaska Railroad. A post office was opened, along with a sawmill, trading post, cigar and donkey store, and other businesses, as well as many cabins. In 1917, the residents encouraged the government to survey the lots on which their homes stood. In 1919, the railroad surveyed and auctioned 80 lots, 41 of which already had permanent structures on them. The average price at the sale was $14.25. ^[1]

Welcome sign when entering Talkeetna.

After our visit in Talkeetna, we continued our journey to Denali State Park (located just outside Denali National Park), where we got our first look at Mount Denali, the tallest peak in North America. We didn’t see much since the mountains were shrouded in clouds, but even with the clouds the views were mesmerizing.

We continued on to Denali National Park and set up camp at Riley Creek Campground, with dry camping at $24 per night. A free shuttle bus stops at all of the campgrounds in the Park, taking campers to and from the visitors center, the main hub of activity within the Park.

We paid $40 per person for an all-day bus tour through the Park that featured wildlife sightings and, of course, views of Denali. The tour guide informed us that seeing the mountain with very few clouds blocking the views was a rare occurrence. Only 5% of park visitors get to see the entire mountain, and we were part of that 5%!

Denali National Park lived up to its reputation not only for the natural beauty, but for the wildlife encounters. While on a short hike through the forest, MaryAnn and I came face-to-face with a female moose! We also saw elk, caribou, and a grizzly bear (the grizzly was seen from a very far distance with a zoom lens).

Mount Denali.

Grizzly bear about 1-2 miles away on the side of a mountain in Denali National Park. Photo by Rebecca Rourk Polnaszek, a fellow Alaska Caravan member.

For our last night in Denali, we all went to the Alaska Cabin Nite Dinner Theater. It was a great way to end our visit to Denali – all-you-can-eat and excellent entertainment. As we were leaving Denali, a moose and her calf walked out of the forest and crossed the road right in front of us, as if to say, “Thanks for visiting Denali!” This was truly an epic adventure!

Alaska Cabin Nite Dinner Theater.

Denali National Park.

From Denali we continued on 119 miles to Fairbanks, Alaska, and stayed at River’s Edge Resort for three nights. While there, we took a riverboat tour on Riverboat Discovery. One member of our group also caught a small plane to the Arctic Circle. We were right on the banks of the river and within walking distance of restaurants and grocery stores. Eielson Air Force Base was also nearby so, of course, we had to stop there as well.

The Discovery Riverboat Tour in Fairbanks, Alaska.

From Fairbanks we traveled back to Tok, Alaska, and stayed at Sourdough Campground, which offers potable water and a dump station but only 15-amp electric service. On July 4, we crossed the Canadian border back into Yukon, but we didn’t say goodbye to Alaska just yet.

We stopped at Destruction Bay RV Lodge to celebrate the Fourth of July, with our group’s dinner covered by the Southwest LTV Roadrunners Travelers Club. We took a drone picture of our rigs spelling out the letters “LTV” in the parking lot.

Drone picture by Kirk Kearl, a fellow Alaska Caravan member.

At selected rally points along our trip, the Club had planned to have a group barbecue or a group dinner at a restaurant in the area we were camped at, with the Club covering costs for everything except drinks. They were able to do this because, when making reservations and paying for the RV parks, the difference between the Canadian and American dollar was overlooked – the Club used the leftover money to pay for these dinners, and we still received a hefty refund when we returned home.

After our Fourth of July celebration, we continued on to Cottonwood RV Park, about 16 miles away on the banks of Kluane Lake. This park has 15-amp electric service and problems with surges. Electrical service issues like reverse polarity and power surges was a challenge at many of the RV parks along the way, but since there’s only one way to drive to and from Alaska, we couldn’t help but stop at some of these parks. If you go on this trip, make sure to bring a 15-amp adapter and an extra in-line surge protector.

Kluane Lake, Yukon, near Destruction Bay.

From Destruction Bay we traveled 197 miles back into Alaska, where we camped for two nights at Oceanside RV Park in Haines. The park was aptly named; we were right on the edge of the ocean. While we there, the park owner hosted a lobster dinner for the group.

We took a ferry to Juneau, Alaska, on a day trip – the only way to get to Juneau is by plane or boat. While there, we took a tram to the top of a nearby mountain overlooking the city, and the views were breathtaking!

Oceanside RV Park, Haines, Alaska.

After Haines, we were scheduled to put our rigs on a ferry to go to Skagway, but the ferry wasn’t operating due to mechanical failure, so that part of the trip was canceled. However, some of the group decided to drive to Skagway on their own. Fortunately, we had already been to Skagway via a train when we stopped at Whitehorse, Yukon, on the way up.

Those who drove to Skagway for a one-night stay caught up with the rest of us the next day in Whitehorse, and we continued our journey back, driving 108 miles through Yukon to Teslin, where we stayed once again at Yukon Motel and Lakeshore RV Park for one night.

The next day we continued down the Alaska Highway, traveling 146 miles to Watson Lake. We went back to the Signpost Forest to check on our daughter’s Texas license plate, which we had placed there in her memory (see Part I).

Skagway, Alaska. Picture by Gordon Dupries, a fellow Alaska Caravan member.

Teslin, Yukon.

MaryAnn Barber at the Signpost Forest in Watson Lake, Yukon.

We continued down the Stewart-Cassiar Highway, a beautiful drive with cascading waterfalls and mountain ranges, magnificent glaciers that could be easily seen from the road, and, of course, endless forests as well. Of all the beautiful roads we had driven on, the Cassiar Highway was by far my favorite. We stopped for two nights in Stewart, BC, on the border with Hyder, Alaska, at Bear River RV Park.

It was pouring down rain when we arrived in Stewart, but that didn’t keep us from checking out the local restaurants and driving across the border into Hyder, Alaska, in hopes of seeing a grizzly bear catching salmon in one of the streams. Unfortunately for us, the salmon were late this year and no salmon meant no bears. One person in our group did manage to see a grizzly looking for salmon in the stream, but, finding none, he quickly left the area.

Grizzly bear along the road somewhere in Yukon.

After this stop, we continued down the Stewart-Cassiar Highway to Telkwa, where we stayed at Fort Telkwa RV Park for two nights. Leaving Telkwa, we stopped to visit Fort St. James National Historic Site (worth the detour) before continuing on to Prince George and back to RV parks we had already stayed at on the way up through BC.

Bear Glacier along Stewart-Cassiar Highway, BC.

Our next stop was Williams Lake. It was here that one of our LTVs developed a transmission problem and had to be towed to Kamloops to the nearest Mercedes-Benz dealership that could work on the Sprinter chassis. Unfortunately, when the tow truck driver arrived to tow the LTV, he didn’t have the tools to detach the driveshaft so the van could be safely towed. Fortunately, one of our fellow owners traveling with us in the group did have the right tools, and the driveshaft was safely removed.

For this owner, the Alaskan Caravan adventure was over. Now he started a new adventure; getting a replacement transmission took weeks, and in the meantime he was camping behind the dealership in Kamloops.

Mountain views in Juneau, Alaska.

From Williams Lake, we drove back to Cache Creek and camped at Brookside Campsite for two nights. It was here at Cache Creek that the Alaska Caravan officially ended. Some owners continued on to what was supposed to be the end of the journey at Bothell, Washington, but most, including us, decided to part ways at Cache Creek.

We enjoyed a last barbecue with the group on our last night together. It was bitter-sweet but a great way to end our epic adventure! We had started this journey as 43 strangers, but we ended the journey as very good friends that still keep in touch, even though many of us live thousands of miles apart.

The members of the Alaska Caravan at Mile Zero, Dawson Creek, BC. Drone picture by Kirk Kearl, a fellow Alaska Caravan member.

A takeaway from this trip is the value of traveling with fellow LTVers. Not only is there safety in numbers, but people are there to lend a hand whenever the unexpected happens and, of course, the camaraderie and friendship that develops from traveling together is a powerful, life-changing experience.

See you on our next adventure – our trip to Winkler, Manitoba, and the annual Owners Rally! Or perhaps we will see you on the road…

Somewhere on the road in Yukon.

When we joined the Southwest LTV Roadrunners Travelers Club, we hadn’t even taken delivery of our 2018 Unity FX yet. We joined in August, 2017, and took delivery of our Unity on September 2, 2017.

The leader of the Travelers Club sent us an Alaska travel guide he had developed for a Leisure Travel Van Alaska Caravan he was organizing for May-August, 2018. We took one look at the travel guide, noticed all the attention to detail, and said, “We’re in!”

The travel guide had everything you could think of – not only maps with designated stops, but helpful services and points of interest at each location, from medical facilities, gas stations, grocery stores, veterinarians, and RV repair facilities, to restaurants and things to do and see. All the work was done for us; all we had to do was pay an up-front fee to the Travelers Club for the reservations at the RV parks we would be staying at, and they would take care of securing all the reservations for the trip. How could we say no to that!

Our Unity FX is our first RV, and most of our experience with RVing came from watching YouTube and Dean on the Leisure Travel Vans website. But this was September 2017 and the Alaska Caravan wasn’t until May 2018, so we had plenty of time to learn about RVing in order to prepare ourselves for the trip.

By the time May came around, we had driven our Unity about 14,000 miles in eight months! The trips we had taken included the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and a month-long trip through the midwestern and southeastern United States.

Dry camping at Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge for our shakedown/maiden voyage.

We had been emailing back and forth with the LTV Travelers Club for several months about many of the details of the Alaska Caravan. There would be 22 Leisure Travel Vans on the journey across western Canada to Alaska and back – 43 owners (one owner would be traveling solo). We signed up with four of the owners to meet up in Las Vegas. There would be five rigs – three from Arizona and two from Las Vegas – in our mini caravan from Las Vegas to Bothell, Washington, where we would meet up with the other 33 owners before heading north to Canada. In our mini caravan to Bothell there was one Unity Twin Bed, two Unity Murphy Beds, one Unity Island Bed, and our Unity FX.

Our mini caravan from Las Vegas to Bothell, Washington. Front row, from left: Alan and Dolly Girdlestone, MaryAnn Barber, Diana Brannon. Back row, from left: Linda and Joe Maneen, Terry Barber, Kirk and Kim Kearl.

The plan was for all participants in the Alaska Caravan to meet in Bothell, Washington, for a three-day organization rally before starting the 22-rig caravan to Alaska. We had only met two of the couples prior to this trip; the other 39 people would be complete strangers. We did have some things in common though – we all loved our Leisure Travel Vans and we all loved a new adventure!

We were so excited to begin this new adventure that we left a few days early for Las Vegas and did a little exploring along the way and in the area around Las Vegas prior to our meet-up with the other four LTV owners.

Along the way to Las Vegas we stopped in Oakman, Arizona, where wild donkeys roam the streets. The donkeys are the descendants of the donkeys used in the 1800s when Oakman was a mining town; after the gold ran out, the miners left and just released their donkeys into the wild to fend for themselves.

We stopped on the west side of Vegas at Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area and spent the night for $5 (no hookups). It’s a beautiful area and we recommend it for a visit. The next day we drove across Vegas to the east side and spent a couple of nights at Nellis Air Force Base for $30 per night with full hookups. We met up with the other LTV owners at a rest stop a few miles east of Las Vegas and began our journey to Bothell, Washington, to meet the rest of our caravan.

MaryAnn and me at our first stop on the mini caravan in Ely, Nevada.

Meeting the other people in our group was exciting and scary at the same time, but everyone else was just as excited as we were, and with our rigs as common ground – along with the common interest of a new adventure – we hit it off quite nicely! Our mini caravan took us through Nevada, Idaho, and Oregon before arriving in Bothell, Washington, at the end of May.

On the road in eastern Nevada.

Some of the highlights of this first leg of our journey included places like Ely, Nevada, Twin Falls, Idaho, the Snake River, and Baker City, Oregon. These are places we had never heard of before, and they are now places we won’t soon forget. Just driving past the majestic, snowcapped mountains and the Great Basin of eastern Nevada left a breathtaking impact on our lives and made us realize that this was going to truly be an epic adventure, an adventure we would never forget.

Twin Falls, Idaho.

When we arrived in Bothell, Washington, the process of meeting new people started all over again and the leaders of the caravan decided to divide the group up into “pods” of four and five rigs that would travel together and leave at staggered times. This was instead of traveling in one large group of 22 RVs, in order to keep from overwhelming the road.

Our pod of four rigs included one of the couples that had traveled with us from Las Vegas, who were also from Arizona, another couple from North Carolina, who became the leaders of our pack, and the fourth rig was piloted by a couple from California. There were people from all over the country that had joined us for this caravan, people from Michigan, Maryland, Nevada, Colorado, California, South Carolina, North Carolina, Washington state, and Arizona.

Our travel pod to Alaska, from left: Dick and Shirley Johnson, Kim and Kirk Kearl, Gary and Laura Cooper, Terry and MaryAnn Barber.

We left Bothell with our pod of four LTVs at 8:00 am on May, 30th; everyone was excited and full of expectation. Leading the pack was the couple from North Carolina and we took up the rear, a position that soon became known as the tail gunner position. In our pod of four, there was one Unity Murphy Bed, one Unity Island Bed, one Unity Twin Bed, and we were in our Unity FX. Of the 22 rigs, there were only two that were Unity FX and only one Serenity. There weren’t any Wonder RVs represented; most were Unity Murphy Beds.

Our first stop was at the US border. We had heard a lot of stories of the difficulty RVs had crossing the border into Canada and we were prepared for being boarded and having our belongings searched. But in fact, our border crossing was completely uneventful – we answered a few questions about alcohol and hand guns and then went right through.

Crossing the Canadian border.

Our first two stops in Canada were supposed to be in Hope, BC, and Cache Creek, BC, but halfway there we found out both of those RV parks were flooded, so we had to reroute to Sunshine Valley and then Willow Springs in Clinton, BC. Hats off to our leaders who had to jump through hoops while on the road trying to find space available for 22 RVs with just one day notice!

Places we visited while we were in this area and recommend as places to see were the Othello Tunnels and Hells Gate over the Fraser River. Both are worth a stop! There were many waterfalls along the way as well.

Fraser River, BC.

The road through BC was outstanding! The wild rivers, breathtaking, snowcapped Canadian Rocky Mountains, beautiful waterfalls, and endless forests were exactly what we hoped for and truly unforgettable!

After Willow Springs, we stopped in Williams Lake for the night and visited the Scout Island Nature Centre nearby. The next day, our group drove on to Prince George, BC. Along the way, we stopped at the 108 mile rest stop to see a museum that provided insight into the history of the area.

Canadian Rocky Mountains.

Each smaller pod of four or five RVs would meet the night before departing from an area to decide what to visit and make detours to see while driving to the next stop. Even though some pods would make many stops along the way and some only a few, we would all end the day at the same RV park. Sometimes certain pods wouldn’t arrive at the next stop until late in the day.

From Prince George, we drove to Dawson Creek, BC, and the beginning of the Al-Can Highway called Mile Zero. We took a group picture at Mile Zero of all 43 caravanners and celebrated a milestone (pun intended) in our journey!

MaryAnn and me at Mile Zero on the Al-Can Highway.

From Dawson Creek, we continued on to Fort Nelson, BC. While there, six of us hitched a ride with another couple in the other Unity FX to visit a nearby wooden trestle bridge. There was an interesting museum in Fort Nelson as well that’s worth a visit.

MaryAnn and Pat Newman (right; Unity CB owner from Michigan).

After Fort Nelson, our next stop was Toad River, BC. It’s not the end of the world, but you can see it from there! No electricity, no phone service, no internet – you get the picture. The campground had a generator that had to be restarted from time to time due to lack of fuel and occasional mechanical issues. It was here that we were given a demonstration of a lumber saw by the campground owner that was quite interesting. The mountain views that surrounded the campground were amazing!

Al-Can Highway.

On June 11, ten days after leaving Bothell, Washington, we crossed the border of BC into Yukon. Some pods visited the Liard River Hot Springs along the way; we had visited them the day before with several others from the group. It’s a good place to visit and take a dip in the mineral hot springs – cost is $10 CAD. It was also on this leg of the journey that people temporarily mixed up the travel pods, since some had already been to the hot springs and didn’t need to go back again the next day.

Our first stop in Yukon was at Watson Lake. The famous Watson Lake Signpost Forest is located there, and it was there that we hung the Texas license plate of our late daughter in her memory, something we had planned to do since we heard about Watson Lake months earlier.

We hung our late daughter’s Texas license plate at the Signpost Forest in Watson Lake.

The Signpost Forest, where literally hundreds of thousands of various kinds of makeshift signs, license plates, etc. have been hung up on trees, posts, and poles by people traveling to and from Alaska and Yukon, was started by the military who built the Al-Can Highway during WWII. The story goes that one of the soldiers put up the first sign in remembrance of loved ones he was missing from back home in the lower 48. One sign led to another, and before you know it there were the hundreds of thousands of signs that we see today.

Canadian Rockies.

From Watson Lake, we continued on to Teslin, Yukon. In Teslin, we drove on a metal bridge (said to be the longest all-metal bridge in North America) over a lake to the Yukon Motel and RV Park. At the RV park, there’s an interesting taxidermy museum of various Yukon wildlife called Northern Wildlife Museum. From Teslin, we drove 175 miles to Whitehorse, Yukon.

Canadian Rockies.

In Whitehorse, we walked along the Yukon River and took a drive to look for the shores of Lake Laberge, the famous lake mentioned in the ballad, The Cremation of Sam Magee. We found the lake, but couldn’t actually drive to the shoreline. We also took a day trip by train through the mountains to Skagway, Alaska. Turns out it was a good thing we did, since we found out later our planned ferry trip to Skagway with the rest of the caravan had been canceled due to a maintenance issue with the ferry.

Our traveling pod taking a pitstop somewhere in the middle of Yukon.

After Whitehorse, our next stop was at Cottonwood RV Park in Destruction Bay. We camped along the banks of Kluane Lake, a pristine mountain lake that one moment could be so calm the water looked like a sheet of glass, and the next minute a violent rage of high winds and crashing waves. The place got its name when a violent storm destroyed the camp of soldiers working on the Al-Can highway here during WWII. Some in our group tried their hand at fishing on the lake, but came up empty.

From Destruction Bay, we drove 243 miles to Tok, Alaska. We saw our first grizzly bear next to the road as we left Kluane Lake. We made many stops to take pictures of the mountains in Kluane National Park and Reserve as well. Along the way, we also stopped at the border for a photo-op and a border checkpoint. The excitement of finally entering Alaska was high – we were starting to think we would never make it to Alaska. We camped at Sourdough Campground in Tok, where they held nightly pancake-tossing contests. The winner received a free pancake breakfast the next morning. We didn’t participate in the contest, but some of the others in our group did. I should mention that both my and MaryAnn’s cell phones hadn’t worked since we crossed the border into Canada, but just a few miles into Alaska our phones came back to life and we started receiving text messages, email notices, and voice messages weeks old. If you plan to travel in Canada, make sure your service carrier is one that works in Canada.

Our traveling pod. Front row, from left: Kirk, Kim, MaryAnn, me, Laura, and Shirley. Back row, from left: Gary and Dick.

Our next stop was Glennallen, Alaska, 140 miles from Tok. In Glennallen, we camped at Northern Nights Campground and RV Park for one night, then drove on the next day to Palmer. Along the way we stopped to take a closer look at Matanuska Glacier. Some of the group piled into our rig and we drove right up to and actually walked on the glacier!

We walked on the Matanuska Glacier.

From Palmer, our caravan continued on 254 miles to Homer. In Homer, five of us chartered a boat and went fishing for halibut. The boat traveled over 30 miles out into the open ocean to fish off the bottom for halibut. I had never done anything like this before, and it was something I’ll never forget! Surprisingly, I didn’t get sea sick! The limit for each fisherman was only two halibut, and each fisherman caught his limit. The charter company made arrangements for the fish to be fileted, frozen, and shipped to our homes (for an extra fee, of course). My catch was waiting for us when we arrived home in August.

Our deep sea fishing adventure. From left: Bob Beck, Terry Barber, Kerry Johnson, Chuck Haraway, and Walt Newman.

While we were fishing, others in our group flew in a plane to a wildlife preserve to watch grizzly bears in their natural habitat. This was not a zoo. There was nothing between the people and the bears!

After Homer, we drove to Anchorage and camped at Golden Nugget RV Park. In Anchorage, we visited the Alaska Aviation Museum with a couple from Michigan. Afterwards, we sat along the water and watched the sea planes landing on the water.

The next leg of our journey was one of the many highlights of the trip, Denali National Park. This was a place we had been waiting for with great anticipation, and it didn’t disappoint! Stay tuned for Part II to hear more about this, and the rest of our Alaska adventure.

The epic Alaska adventure awaits!

For this trip, we traveled from Arizona to the midwestern United States and back home. The only advanced reservation we made was at a RV park in downtown St. Louis, Missouri. The rest of our trip would be space-available stopping only.

A very helpful tool that we use every day when we are traveling is the “AllStays” app. For a one-time fee of $5 to download it onto your phone, you have all the information you need to find any and all kinds of camping available in North America: RV parks, state parks, and national parks, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land for free or almost free camping, and even locations for boondocking at Walmart. If you don’t have the app, I highly recommend getting it!

We left our home in southern Arizona on March 1, stopping for the first night at Caballo Lake State Park, New Mexico. We quickly learned the difference between state parks and privately owned RV parks: space between campsites, the size of the campsites, and the price. Privately owned RV parks are usually a parking lot where you’re packed in like sardines, while most state park campgrounds are very spacious and cost significantly less.

Caballo Lake State Park, New Mexico

Caballo Lake State Park has beautiful, quiet, spacious campsites with water and electric hookups. There’s a dump station and plenty of hiking trails. The price is right too – $14 per night.

We continued northeast through New Mexico and stopped that night at Ute Lake State Park near Logan, New Mexico. This state park has a pristine lake – visited annually during the month of March by hundreds of pelicans – with the same amenities and price as Caballo Lake.

One of the benefits of traveling during the winter or off season is vacancy in the RV parks. Caballo Lake and Ute Lake were almost completely vacant! With temperatures in the 60s and 70s (Fahrenheit) during the day and dropping into the mid 30s at night, we kept our propane furnace set on 62 at night with a warm blanket on our bed to snuggle up in. It was perfect traveling and sleeping weather.

Ute Lake State Park, New Mexico

Our next stop for the night was in Pratt, Kansas at Evergreen Inn – Motel & RV Park, a motel with RV parking in the back. The wind in Kansas was relentless, making it difficult to drive and even more difficult to walk. When I walked into the office to check in, the attendant asked if this was our first time in Pratt. When I replied with, “Yes,” he said, “Welcome to the wind.”

We were the only RVers in the Park. The wind blew all night, shaking our Unity back and forth throughout the night. We had water and electric hookups for $30 per night.

From Pratt, we continued north to Marshall, Missouri, where we visited family for a week. From Marshall, we headed to St. Louis, Missouri, and stopped at the only RV park where we needed an advance reservation, St. Louis RV Park. This Park is quite interesting, being situated right near downtown St. Louis and across the street from a police station. Okay, it’s true, we were in a fenced-in parking lot, but we did have full hookups at $45 per night. The Park was completely full due to its close proximity to the arena where March Madness college basketball games were being played. We stayed at the Park for a few days in order to visit with some friends that live in a nearby high-rise, on the fifteenth floor overlooking the city.

It snowed on us in St. Louis, and it was here that we had to replace our first windshield, while it was snowing. We are now on our third windshield in a year and the one we have now has a chip in it. We’ve put clear tape over it to keep dirt out and to help keep it from developing a crack, and so far it has not gotten any worse.

After St. Louis we continued east over the Mississippi River into Illinois, then turned south, crossing over the Ohio River through the western end of Kentucky and Tennessee. We stopped for a couple of nights at the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area and Wildlife Preserve on the border of Kentucky and Tennessee, a very beautiful area with a rich history that we highly recommend seeing.

Land Between the Lakes used to be called ‘Land Between the Rivers’ until the government dammed the Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee Rivers, creating large lakes. People who had lived here for generations were forced to give up their homes to create this national preserve. It’s a very interesting place with bison, elk, and many other wildlife to see, and we want to go back in the future.

From Land Between the Lakes, we continued south for warmer temperatures. Our next stop was in Jasper, Tennessee, at a beautiful lake called Nickajack Lake, where we stayed at Marion County Park with water and electric hookups for $18 per night.

Land Between the Lakes, Kentucky/Tennessee

Nickajack Lake, Tennessee

We crossed the Georgia border in mid-March, and by the time we reached Atlanta, temperatures had started to warm up a bit. However, Atlanta traffic is terrible. Somehow we made a wrong turn on the freeway and ended up stuck in a traffic jam that inched along for hours. We finally managed to get away from Atlanta, which by the way is always a traffic jam no matter what time of day, and continued south to Shiloh, Georgia.

Just outside Shiloh is a place called Roosevelt’s Little White House State Historic Site and Warm Springs. It’s a place where Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), the 32nd President of the United States, loved to go. He spent a lot of time there because there were hot springs nearby that he believed helped his crippling polio disease. It’s also where he passed away near the end of WWII. We took note of this historic site, and plan to return on our next trip through the area. At the moment, we were on our way to visit more family, this time in Shiloh, Georgia, and couldn’t take the time for the Little White House this trip.

We driveway-camped again in Shiloh with family for a couple of days before getting back on the road to continue south through western Georgia. Our next stop was at Cecil Bay RV Park in Cecil, Georgia. We tried to go to one Georgia’s state parks, but for the first time we were turned away because the campground was full. We learned very quickly to time our stops so that we weren’t looking for a campsite at a state park on Fridays or Saturdays. Cecil Bay, a privately owned park, was a typical RV park with everyone squeezed in tight and $40 per night for water and electric hookups. However, we were grateful for a place to park and sleep for the night.

Cecil Bay RV Park, Georgia

From Cecil we continued south to Orlando, Florida, to visit more family before heading west through the Florida Panhandle. Near Trenton, Florida, we stopped for the night at Otter Springs Park & Campground, run by veterans who give fellow veterans a significant discount on camping. Full hookups were $24 per night.

In the Panhandle, we stopped at Blue Angel Naval Recreation Area, a RV campground for active duty and retired military on the Gulf of Mexico, just southwest of Pensacola, Florida. Full hookups were $30 per night.

The next day we continued our journey through Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. We stopped for a quick visit at the USS Alabama, a retired WWII-era battleship in Mobile, Alabama, before continuing on to stop for the night in Springfield, Louisiana, at Tickfaw State Park in the Bayou. It rained all night and there were signs warning people to not feed the alligators.

Otter Springs Campground, Trenton, Florida

Tickfaw State Park in the Louisiana Bayou

After Louisiana, we crossed the border into Texas. It took us three days to drive across Texas, and on the last day, we drove 14 hours to get home in time for Easter. We didn’t like driving in Texas because the towns were long distances apart, and worst of all, we had difficulty finding diesel that wasn’t 10-20 percent bio-diesel. We found that a good place to buy straight highway diesel in Texas is at any Sunoco station – stay away from the large chains like Luv’s and Pilot with bio-diesel as high as 20 percent.

Our month-long journey took us through 14 states and over 7,000 miles. We were ready to take on Alaska next!

The USS Alabama in Mobile, Alabama

After our shake-down trip to the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Preserve, and with less than a thousand miles on our 2018 Unity FX Leisure Travel Van, we were finally ready for our first long-distance adventure.

About a month before we took delivery of our Unity, we signed up for the Southwest Roadrunners, one of the LTV Travelers Clubs. An hour or so after we signed up on MyLTV, the leader of Southwest Roadrunners called us to introduce himself and pass on information about the Club and its schedule of travel events.

In the list of events was the 2018 Alaska Caravan (we immediately signed up for that!), and another event that interested us was the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in October of 2017. We were disappointed to learn that it was likely too late for us to get a space in the Fiesta that year, since it was already August and the Fiesta was in October. It was certainly all booked up by now, but we were given the name and number of the Balloon Fiesta coordinator to call if we really wanted to try. We called and there were two cancellations, so we got in! Our Unity FX arrived September 2, 2017, and we were headed to Albuquerque a month later. It would be our first major trip.

We were so excited to be on the road headed to the Balloon Fiesta. Not only were we traveling in our first RV, but we were going to be meeting fellow owners of Leisure Travel Vans like ours. We had no idea what it would be like meeting up with these complete strangers and spending the week with them.

Our Unity FX at the Dragoon, Arizona rest stop on our way to Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Driving about 250 – 300 miles a day, we arrived in Albuquerque in two days. When we pulled into the parking area of the balloon fiesta there were RVs everywhere – everything from little Class Bs to humungous Class As. We felt like a little grasshopper next to those big 45-foot rigs! We had never been here before and it was confusing as to where we were supposed to go. We called the leader of the Roadrunners group to try to get directions. His wife answered the phone and she talked us into the area where the Club was parked. What really helped the most was seeing another LTV and then following that couple into the VIP parking area.

As we pulled into the Southwest Roadrunners parking area, we both became very nervous. We didn’t have much of a clue as to what we were doing in this RV and we were about to meet people that clearly had a whole lot more experience RVing than we did. What made us nervous most of all was that we didn’t know any of them.

One of the many potluck dinners at an LTV rally.

This would turn out to be the first of many LTV rallies we would attend. Owners of Leisure Travel Vans are friendly, helpful people. We were accepted into the LTV family the moment we pulled into our parking slot. Fellow owners who were complete strangers quickly became our friends and a quality source of information about all things RV!

A few of our new LTV friends. From left to right: MaryAnn Barber, Dennis Thorig, Terry Barber, Walt Newman, and Pat Newman.

Now we love going to the LTV rallies to meet up with our friends and make new ones. The best part about these rallies is the amount of knowledge and experience fellow owners provide. We also enjoy the camaraderie we feel with fellow LTV owners. If you’re not a member of one of the many LTV Travelers Clubs, do it now!

Massive launch of hundreds of balloons at the same time.

The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta was everything it advertises and definitely a bucket list item for everyone. The oh-dark-hundred early morning freezing temperatures are worth crawling out of bed for as well.

The first morning, we were laying in our warm bed, looking up through the skylight of our Unity FX, when we heard this strange noise outside. It sounded like gas being released. Then suddenly, just feet above our Unity, a very large balloon in the shape of a chicken flew over! We immediately got out of bed and ran outside – after getting fully dressed, of course.

The next day we made sure we were up and out the door before sunrise to see the first balloons go into the air. Being parked in the VIP area is the ideal location. We were very close to all the action. Every day we walked down to the launch field to watch the amazing hot air balloons as they prepared to launch, literally hundreds at a time. What was amazing is how we could walk down on the launch field right into the balloon launch area and talk to the people flying the balloons.

Also, next to our parking area was a very interesting museum of the history of hot air balloons. Definitely worth a visit while at the Balloon Fiesta.

We met a lot of interesting people and made a lot of friends whom we now travel with and meet up with on our own outside of the LTV rallies. The LTV family is not only a tremendous resource of information about RV living, it’s also a community of owners who become your friends the moment you meet them. They’re people we can count on for help while on the road and spend time with, and people we feel blessed to know.

MaryAnn and Terry Barber at the 2017 Balloon Fiesta.

Feature image by Ann and Andy Dudler. See more photos and stories from the 2019 Balloon Fiesta here. 

After two years of researching, hoping, and waiting, we accepted delivery of our 2018 Unity FX on September 2, 2017. To celebrate its arrival, we “dramped” (driveway camped) for a couple of nights in front of our home in Rio Rico, Arizona. As we lay there in our brand new Unity we had to pinch ourselves – was this just a dream? We couldn’t believe we were sleeping in our own Leisure Travel Van!

Driveway camping at our home in Rio Rico, Arizona.

Getting set up, with a little help from friends

When we did the walk-through upon delivery of our Unity, it was over 100 degrees Fahrenheit outside. The technician tested the water coming out of the kitchen faucet and noted that the Truma water heater was working fine, checking it off his list. However, we quickly noticed that we weren’t actually getting hot water to the kitchen sink. During the walk-through, the water must have been pre-heated by the outside temperature!

Instead of leaving our Unity with the dealership while they sorted out the issue with Truma, we asked for help on the Leisure Travel Vans Enthusiasts Facebook Group and received immediate responses. One group member even sent a picture of what the valves under the sink were supposed to look like when the water heater was working correctly. Thanks to the picture, we discovered that one of the valves that should be open was closed. We opened the valve, and our water heater began working perfectly. Problem solved!

MaryAnn started reading all of the manuals in our Unity FX as soon as we got it home.

Out on the road for the first time

We were officially ready for our first road trip, and we set out in our new RV to the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge to do some free boondocking on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land. Even though we had watched numerous YouTube videos and rented three RVs before we made our purchase, this was still our first RV and we knew we had a lot to learn about our rig.

The road to Buenos Aires Wildlife Refuge winds around through rolling hills, but the Mercedes engine took the curves and hills in stride. During this drive, we discovered that the engine seems to have a sweet spot – at around 45 miles per hour, the miles per gallon (mpg) went up! We were getting 16-18 mpg. Of course, the engine wasn’t broken in yet; it had just 38 miles on the odometer when we took delivery of our Unity. But with the gas engine rigs that we rented before purchasing our Unity, millage was 5-8 mpg no matter how slow or fast we drove.

Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge.

Mountain views at Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge. (Photo credit: BANWR Facebook page)

Our peaceful destination

Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge is located in southern Arizona around the town of Arivaca. Arivaca is an unincorporated town 11 miles north of the Mexican border and 35 miles northwest of the port of entry at Nogales. European-American history of the area dates back to at least 1695, although the town was not founded until 1878.

To get to Arivaca and the Refuge, take Interstate 19 south from Tucson toward Amado, turning off on West Arivaca Road. Just before arriving in Arivaca, you’ll spot signs for the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge. This first area of the Refuge east of Arivaca is a great place to picnic and walk the boardwalk through wetlands, woods, and grasslands. There is plenty of wildlife to see, such as deer and a variety of birds. After eating lunch, we drove through the small town of Arivaca and into the main area of the Refuge.

We stopped for a picnic in the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge east of Arivaca, Arizona.

In the area west of Arivaca, the Refuge opens up into a valley surrounded by the Las Guijas Mountains to the northwest and the foothills of the San Luis Mountains to the south. Because the area is so close to the border of Mexico – within 10 miles – the Department of Homeland Security Border Patrol watches the area closely, passing through routinely every 3-4 hours. The visitor center offers a very interesting movie about the history of the area and how it became a National Wildlife Refuge.

Boondocking for the night

Camping on the Refuge is free, however, it is wilderness camping with no facilities at all. Dirt roads lead into the designated camping areas for dry camping, where peace and quiet abound – we were the only people there for miles – and there is plenty of wildlife to behold. The scenery is breathtaking!

Upon arrival, we weren’t sure where we were allowed to camp, so we drove to an area that looked fine to us and just set up our site. A couple of hours later a Border Patrol Agent drove by us and about an hour after that, a Park Ranger came by and politely said, “You guys look out of place here.” He pulled out a map of the Refuge and showed us where we could camp. So, we packed up our stuff and moved to the designated camping area that he had shown us… only to have to turn around and drive back to pick up the welcome mat that we forgot to take when we packed up!

Cacti at Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge. (Photo credit: BANW Facebook page)

We stayed at the Refuge for one night, testing out all the systems in our Unity. We tested the generator, air conditioner, and all of the appliances, and all systems worked as advertised with no problems at all. Since the elevation on the Refuge is 3,643 feet above sea level and we were there in late September, the temperature dropped at night into the mid-to-upper 40s (Fahrenheit). This gave us a chance to test the furnace as well!

The sun rising over the mountains in the morning was outstanding. We were in about 180 square feet of space, but the great outdoors was our front yard! As far as things to do in the Refuge, it’s about wildlife viewing and enjoying the beautiful scenery, seclusion, and peace and quiet – just you and nature.

Pronghorn photographed at Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge. (Photo credit: Kevin Wixted)

Black-Necked Stilts photographed at Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge. (Photo credit: Renee Tressler)

When we left the Refuge we were so excited about our new Unity FX and ready for our next adventure, the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, New Mexico! We would be meeting up with the Leisure Travel Van Southwest Roadrunners Travel Club in Albuquerque. We had become members of the club even before we took delivery of our Unity, and after our first road trip, we were ready to go out on the open road to meet new people and see new things.

Following our first road trip, we did discover that we needed to develop a checklist to review before we drove away from a campsite – we left behind our welcome mat a second time when we left the Refuge!

MaryAnn and Terry in our 2018 Unity FX.

Cover photo credit: Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge Facebook page

We started researching the many different types of RVs in 2015. We first began learning the lingo, Class A, Class B, Class C and what the difference was between them. It took a while to understand the difference between a Class B and Class C. Class A was easy – it’s a great big honkin’ bus! Of course, the B and C came down to how they are made. The Class B is basically a converted van and Class C is a separate house built onto a bare chassis.

After one year of tedious research on YouTube, we had narrowed our search down to Road Trek and Pleasure-Way. It was time to start going to RV shows to finally do some touching and viewing up close and personal. Our first RV show was in Tucson, Arizona at the Pima County Fairgrounds. We told the eager salesman we wanted to see the Class B motorhomes, so he led us through a minefield of Class A and C RVs to a huge warehouse, but just before we walked through the double doors a very beautiful RV to our left caught our eye. We looked over at it and started to ask the salesman about this amazing motorhome when he quickly whisked us through the doors and into a maze of Road Trek and Pleasure-Way vehicles.

We went through each one slowly and methodically, but nothing really appealed to us. They were either too short, too skinny, too cramped or not planned out very well. The one thing I disliked the most was the wet bath! I had no desire to take a shower while sitting on the toilet.

After about an hour of perusing these Class B motorhomes, we decided to go back outside. The moment we went through those big double doors again there it was! This beautiful motorhome that we couldn’t take our eyes off. Our first thought was why didn’t the salesman show us this motorhome? Surely its a Class B, it’s too small to be a Class A and it doesn’t have the big-honkin’ thing hanging over the top of the cab so it can’t be a class C either. We thought, “Is there another category of motorhome we have never heard of?”

On the side of the RV was one word, “Unity” that was it, just “Unity.” There weren’t any spotty dogs, no fancy names like Tornado or Four Winds, or Switch Blade, no swirly do-dads on the side, just “Unity.” Who makes this beauty? We had never heard of Unity, on the door of the cab was another word, “Leisure.” We lost track of the salesman at that point, we just wanted to walk inside this beautiful home on wheels and see what it had to offer.

The moment we walked into the coach we were wowed! The quality workmanship and attention to detail were amazing! And no wet bath – a full separate shower! I was sold on the Unity! However, MaryAnn was still very cautious about spending all that money on something we had never done before. This particular model was called an Island Bed. At that point, every salesman within fifty yards of us tried to get us to buy it, but we weren’t ready for that, we needed to do our homework first. We had never even camped in an RV let alone drove one so we weren’t about to buy one either, but we went home with “Unity” on our minds. It would be another year of research before we were ready to go to another RV show.

In January 2017 we flew to San Francisco to another big RV show in Pleasanton, CA. There we met our hero, Dean! We must have watched hundreds of YouTube videos with Dean walking us through each motorhome, showing us the storage, climbing up on the roof, etc. – even climbing inside some of the storage bins! At the RV show, Dean showed us all the various models of the Unity, Serenity, and Wonder. We almost bought a Unity MB but weren’t completely sure about it just yet. We left that show more convinced than ever that Leisure Travel Vans were the best quality made motorhome on the market!

After the RV show in Pleasanton, California we visited San Francisco. January 2017.

When we got home we had decided what we wanted was the Unity FX. We needed an extra living space since we didn’t go to bed at the same time. That way the person still up or getting up earlier than the other had a place to hang out while the other was still sleeping.

Our next step before buying a motorhome of our own was to rent one and take it camping. Since it was next to impossible to find a Leisure Travel Van for rent, our first rental was a 2007 31 foot Class C (the brand I won’t mention) from an online rental company. It was 110 degrees Fahrenheit outside when the air conditioner stop working. We took it back to the owner and got our money back.

We then rented another Class C by another large brand from a popular RV rental company. We arrived at our campsite late, around 9 pm. I hooked up the electric and water lines and went back into the RV. About twenty minutes later there was a knock on our door. It was the camp host. He said there was a lot of water leaking under the RV. Come to find out not only had the fresh water tank been leaking outside, but it had also leaked into the black water tank and filled it to overflowing from the toilet all over the floor of the bathroom! On top of that the next day it was now 118 degrees Fahrenheit, the generator wouldn’t work, the refrigerator stopped working, the air conditioner kept blowing a fuse, and the rental company kept giving us the run-around and even tried to say it was all our fault. When our rental contract ended, we took the RV back and demanded a refund. The rental company gave us half our money back.

Next, we rented a third Class C motorhome, only 6 months old. MaryAnn tried to open one of the windows and it fell off in her hand. The shower door was missing, the microwave shimmied itself back inside the cabinet while we were driving so that we could barely reach it. This was a 32 foot RV that was so poorly planned out that we couldn’t use the kitchen unless the slide was out. It didn’t have house batteries, an inverter, or a generator, so the only way the appliances could be used is when it was plugged into AC electric power.

We also discovered we didn’t like the gas engines in these RVs. The engines are so huge and loud that we couldn’t have a conversation inside the cab while driving, and of course getting 4-8 miles to the gallon was a real downer!

All of these wild and challenging experiences didn’t discourage us from buying an RV. It only convinced us that a Leisure Travel Van was the right choice for us. After we dropped off the last rental, we drove to an RV dealer in Phoenix that had a brand new Serenity on the lot, that we could test drive. We knew it had the same Mercedes-Benz Sprinter chassis as the Unity so it would help us in our quest to one day buy our own RV.

After climbing out of the huge gas engine Class C’s we had been renting and easily getting into the Leisure Travel Van, the difference was like night and day! This was a superior vehicle. The ease in handling and the powerful engine were amazing!

We decided to call a dealership in Tucson about the possibility of ordering the Unity Island Bed. In the course of our phone call, we found out that they had a Unity FX on order, which was due to be shipped in about six weeks! We made the deal and took delivery of our first RV, a 2018 Unity FX! We couldn’t be happier with our choice!

Our first trip in our brand new Unity FX was to the Buenos Aires National Preserve in southern Arizona. We dry camped for three days. September 2017.

In our first ten months of ownership, we drove over 21,832 miles, visited 19 states including Alaska, and even made it to British Columbia and the Yukon Territory. But by the end of our first year of ownership we had driven our Unity FX over 26,700 miles, visiting 26 states including Alaska, also British Columbia,  the Yukon Territory, and Manitoba, Canada and back! We love our Unity!

The only issue we have had since taking delivery in September 2017 was the replacement of one of our solar panels.

We aren’t golfers, we aren’t bikers, we aren’t fishermen or hikers–we’re explorers. We just want to see as much as we can for as long as we can until our time on this earth is over.

Ely, Nevada on our way to Alaska. May 2018.