2022 Fall Road Trip: On the Road Again

"On the road again, just can't wait to get on the road again " 

Credits to Wille Nelson.

Yep, it's that time!!   Time to get on the road again.  September and October have traditionally been great travel months for us.  School is back in session and the campgrounds are less crowded, although that is changing.  Judy and I were among the first of the boomer generation to retire, and as more and more boomers retire, they are buying RV's and traveling.  We are finding the campgrounds fuller and we need to make reservations much further ahead than we used to.  Still, the Fall is a great time to travel.  The temperatures are cooler and the changing foliage colors are a sight to behold as we travel.

After visiting Lake Itasca at Lake Itasca State Park in Minnesota several years ago, and actually getting to wade across the Mississippi River at the headwaters, I have had this urge to follow the river all the way to New Orleans. 

The Mississippi River as it starts it's journey from Lake Itasca.

I remember the very first time I drove across the Mississippi River in 1978, I was blown away.  Growing up in rural Northern New York, the image of Mississippi was only a fantasy created by Mark Twain for his fictional characters Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn.  

Recently I started reading the Rinker Buck book "Life on the Mississippi."  Several years ago as we were visiting points of interest along the Oregon Trail, I read his book "The Oregon Trail" where he recreates traveling the Oregon Trail in an authentic covered wagon.  In this latest book, he recreates what it would be like taking an early 1800's flatboat from Pittsburg to New Orleans.  Flatboats during the period of 1800 to 1840 were a primary means of commerce in the early frontier.  Judy and I are going to follow that adventure on this trip. We are going to explore the path of the Mississippi River, albeit from the vantage of "glamping" in an RV.

The general route will be to start with a visit to family and friends in Wisconsin.  Our "official" Mississippi River start will be in Wabasha, MN. Then we'll take a leisurely route south following the river, with numerous stops along the way, including extended stays in the St. Louis and Memphis areas.  We will end the river trip with several days in New Orleans.  We even hope to drive to Venice, Louisiana which is the very last town and drivable road along the Mississippi before it empties into the Gulf of Mexico.

Unlike a raft, canoe, flatboat, steamboat or barge, this is our Mississippi travel rig.

From New Orleans we will venture to Houston, Texas for several days to visit family, and then back east to Gulf Shores, Alabama for a week. Finally it is on to the Outer Banks and Cape Hatteras, North Carolina for several days and a last stop to visit family in West Virginia. 

We really enjoy staying in touch with friends, family and fellow adventurers. So, stay tuned and follow along with us.  Be well.  

I'll end with some more of Willie Nelson's "On the Road Again.":

And I can't wait to get on the road again

On the road again

Goin' places that I've never been

Seein' things that I may never see again

And I can't wait to get on the road again