Hot & Cold
We own a 25' RV and named her Lilly Pad ~ our pad (home) is with us wherever we go. When we received our license plate it was... LUIE52 so we travel around as Lilly & Louie ~ LOL
Our first big trip took us from Alva Florida to Boulder Colorado in December. Not the best traveling time with Lilly but it was a trip we needed to make and RV, State and National Parks had openings ~ 😊 Packed long sleeve shirts, hats, gloves, jackets all to keep us warm, so many things to think of that we don't use or wear every day. Who would have thought... we would need a heated hose, so our water doesn't freeze, and mini heaters to keep us and Lilly warm. Of course, in December there is snow and it can be cold. Watching the snowfall up in the mountains was beautiful but a dry cold is still a bone chilling cold, I don't care what they say. In the cold you can get dehydrated, so drinking water is important, especially when you're out hiking. When entering a new county, city, state or national park there was a sign stating the elevation... 2,356' - 4,658' so you could follow the climb or descent of elevation as your ears popped. Also, there were signs noting bridges may ice over plus our map narrator, we call her Lilly ~ gave us 'ice and cold temperature alerts'. Let's just say it was an adventure like no other.
Our next big trip was traveling in Florida during the summertime. Again, not the best traveling time with Lilly but this is when RV, State and National Parks had openings. Packed long sleeve shirts, hats to protect us from the sun along with jackets for cool or sea breeze evenings, sunscreen, bug spray, so many things that we use every day and just don't think about until we need them. Of course, we didn't need a heated hose, no chance of our water freezing, and we exchanged the mini heaters for fans to help keep us cool. The Keys give a whole new meaning to dry hot ~ moisture hits your body it dries up instantly due to the heat, all I know is it was hot, dry or not. As we entered Everglades National Park, we noticed each hiking/camping site had a name and elevation... 3' - 5'. I don't know if this is a national park thing or not, but we found it amusing especially after our trip to Colorado and their elevation signs. News stations reporting heat alerts, stay hydrated - stay cool. We rode our bikes, canoed and kayaked around the Florida Keys and Everglades National Park. Yet another adventure like no other.
Next, we decided to travel out of our backyard ~ how scary could that be? So, we loaded up our RV ~ Lilly with clothes, food, and whatnots for a 2-ish’ month trip. And what a trip it was. We traveled from Florida to Washington State. Spent 66 days on the road, traveled about 10,000 miles crossing 17 states and we made our home in 36 different parks along the way 😊
Most of our trip was spent traveling back roads, seeing the beautiful landscapes of the U.S. Of course, this meant a good part of our trip we didn't have cell/internet coverage and it wasn't just us, for a lot of folks it's just a way of life. This led to a few of the many discoveries we made along our travels. Most of the towns are either built near cell/internet coverage, they may have a dish of some sort or live on a mountain. Which is exactly where we found ourselves heading when we wanted cell/internet coverage. In fact, in some areas along the roadways you would see a sign stating that you were coming up to a designated cell area. But don't travel too far to either side of it or you lose your cell coverage. Which made online reservations for a campsite almost impossible, and some campsite operated by the honor system ~ find a site and pay.
Each state seemed to have its own niche, which made for quite the learning experience. but when we left Florida, we assumed each state would be like Florida and we were wrong. I packed clothes but I didn't pack clothes with the thought of experiencing all four seasons in one day, every day. That's right, we'd wake up and the temperature would be in the 40's by noon mid 70's and late afternoon 85 plus. We would have the air on in the afternoon then when we went to bed, we turned on the heat. One thing I heard all the time was... yeah it may be hot but it's dry heat. I'm sorry, to me 95 is 95 ~ it's still hot! 😊
All the crazy temperature changes got me thinking about Katy Perry’s song, Hot N Cold ~ with my creative spin…
You're cold then you're hot
You're north then you're south
You're in then you're out
You're snow then you're sand
You hike then you bike
You're cold then you're hot...
Peace and Love