Contessa and Toad – Along with The Captain and The Admiral – Are Headed West!

The long awaited and ultimately shortened adventure to the Pacific Northwest is finally underway! In 2019 and early winter of 2020, we eagerly anticipated that “trip of a lifetime” with a precious friends Tom and Peggie Perrotto as we charted our rendezvous in Bellingham WA and adventure to Alaska. Alas, COVID changed everything – and here we are, two years later, aching from the loss of our dear Peggie and determined to “do this” both for ourselves and also because she would absolutely say “go for it!”

We did take Contessa and the Toad to The Keys for a month during Winter 2022 – and after the first few days when Contessa explained to us how much she did NOT like the cold and snow of Western North Carolina – we had a delightful month reacquainting with friends and gorgeous waters of the Florida Keys. We eagerly anticipate returning for the month of March, 2023! But, the real adventure began last Thursday, June 9, when we headed down the mountain and pointed Contessa west in pursuit of family reunions and National Parks.

In our normal mode, our first day was a short day of 99 miles to Newport TN, which allows us to easily make the final transition and then “settle in” that first afternoon/evening. On Friday, we enjoyed a lovely 250 mile trip along I-40 west to Nashville TN to spend a couple of evenings with Niece Christy and Chris. It was a delight to spend an evening at their home after a day of hiking about J. Percy Priest Lake and our Campground.

Unfortunately, we also identified an on-going issue with the air leveling system on the bus. When we returned from Florida this spring, we had work done which we had hoped/thought had addressed “the issue”, but as is usually the case, there is often more than one issue.

So, we departed Nashville early Sunday, June 12 (before 7:00a) and broke our standard 3-3-3 rule of motorhoming (300 miles, in by 3p, stay 3 days) and drove 435 miles to just east of Columbia MO. There was a section of the day that was a drive along memory lane, as we crossed many of the waterways we traversed on the Great American Loop in 2015 – Cumberland River, Barkley Lake, Tennessee River, Ohio River and Mississippi River. What a joy to relive those precious times! Just after we crossed the Ohio River into Illinois, we stopped at a rest area in Metropolis IL – and simply had to have a photo of Captain Superman!

We reached Columbia and our destination about 4p, which has us poised to arrive in Kansas City mid-morning. We have contacted a couple of service centers recommended by a dear friend, John Brown, who lives in Kansas City and will be ready to follow-up with them first thing tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed that we can get the issue addressed and keep with our plan to head to Dodge City on Wednesday for the Ratts Reunion!