For our time on Mount Desert Island (MDI) we opted to stay on the “Quietside.” Meaning that we were on the opposite side of the island from the ultra-touristy town of Bar Harbor. Our RV park was tucked in the hills above the small fishing village of Southwest Harbor. When I say hills I am [...]
We entered Maine with a sigh of relief. The difference was tangible: we could see and feel the wide open space, the road widened and straightened. The hills covered in pine trees rolled along with us. After the past couple months in the more crowded states of New England it was a welcome relief to [...]
Time flies—we had been in Rhode Island for over a month! Speaking of flying, we took a quick trip back to Tucson at the end of June. Our trip served multiple purposes, we visited with friends and family, we helped Joel and Adria unload their moving truck, and we met with clients (besides, we [...]
Some of you may already realize this, especially those patient souls out there who have been following along on our blog since last July—it has been one full year since we set off on our RV adventure. It was late evening on the 9th of July that we said goodbye to loved ones in Tucson [...]
Life is full of surprises. A few weeks ago we left Rhode Island and drove off in our RV, headed for Orange, Massachusetts. We left a day early so that we wouldn’t be too rushed. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon, with just a touch of humidity in the air. As soon as we entered [...]
Little Rhody is, like many things with size issues, spunky and fiercely independent. The state is small (only 48 miles long and 37 miles wide), you can drive all the way through the state in 45 minutes (if traffic isn’t bad). Oddly enough our country’s smallest state has the longest official name, “State of Rhode [...]
As some of you might have known, we planned on spending two weeks in the Washington D.C. area. Lance had scheduled a week’s vacation (the first since last May) around a conference and the rest of the time we were going to delve in and explore our nation’s capital. As they say the best laid [...]
We are moving pretty quickly these days because Lance has a conference in Arlington, Virginia that we are trying to make. While we enjoyed what little we saw of South Carolina it did seem a shame to have to leave it so soon. As for our time in North Carolina, it too would be brief. [...]
Charleston, South Carolina is a place of firsts; the city grew from the first successful settlement in the Carolinas, it is home to America’s first theater building (the Dock Street Theatre which opened in 1736), the town gave the struggling new republic its first decisive victory of the Revolutionary War, the state was the first [...]
Our last day in the Savannah area was spent exploring two islands, Cockspur and Tybee. We began our day on Cockspur Island with a visit to Fort Pulaski National Monument. The fort is named in honor of Casimir Pulaski, a Revolutionary War hero. Called the “Father of the American Cavalry,” Pulaski was a Polish citizen [...]
Savannah is a wonderful city. It has history, cool architecture, a great location, colorful citizens, lots of ghosts (or so they say) and plenty of charm. Thankfully, much of Savannah has weathered the trials of the past 275 years gracefully. In the years since the city’s founding by General James Oglethorpe in February of 1733, [...]
It was our lucky day, the eastern entrance to Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge was open to visitors. Our plans to visit the northern entrance the week before had been disrupted by a huge wildfire. While the fire was still raging across southeastern Georgia, it wasn’t close enough to be a threat on the far side [...]
Our original plan, to stay in Waycross and explore the northern entrance of Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, was changed abruptly by fire. Seems that southern Georgia is suffering a drought and there were several fires burning near Waycross. So, we headed out to the Georgia coast (our RV has now traveled from coast to [...]
We were in the Gainesville and Dahlonega area of northern Georgia to visit family. Lance’s Grandmother Ruth, Uncle Gary, and Aunt Chris all live up there while his cousin Katie, her husband Ryan and son Kaden live about an hour and a half south. Most of the family is originally from New York state [...]
We could have popped into Atlanta to explore World of Coca-Cola, which celebrates the soda’s creation in Atlanta. Or we could have paid our respects at the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site since he was born in Atlanta in 1929. Or we could have perused the Jimmy Carter Center and Presidential Library. [...]
Chattanooga, Tennessee is at the junction of several major interstates (I-24, I-59, and I-75) and was an important crossroads long before the city existed. Some of the Native American trails are thousands of years old; people have lived in the area for over 10,000 years. The Cherokee were the last Native Americans in the area [...]
We have entered a distinctly different part of the United States, the South. We are not from the South. The closest I came to the South was growing up in Arizona which was held by the Confederate Army for a few short months and we’ve visited New Orleans.
While its true we just spent three [...]
Our next location in Arkansas was chosen because of my desire to visit with an old friend. Jenny and I met almost nine years ago while working at Glacier National Park one summer. Of all the National Parks I have worked at or visited, Glacier is my favorite (close second is Olympic). It is [...]
Tucked in the southwest corner of Arkansas lies a unique geologic feature, one so rare and valuable that its story is filled with intrigue. A few miles from the small town of Murfreesboro, near the banks of the Little Missouri River (Little Mo), lies the remains of a 95 million year-old lamproite volcanic pipe.
What [...]
By entering Arkansas through Texarkana (TX, AR) we were able to visit the only federal building of its kind in the U.S. In the middle of State Line Street, which actually follows the border between Texas and Arkansas through the center of town, is the unique edifice. The large building houses the only Post [...]
It was a beautiful sunny day and the roadsides were covered with the Texas state flower, the Texas Bluebonnet, a species of lupine. We were traveling along ‘blue highways’ in an effort to avoid the megalopolis that is Dallas–Ft Worth. (As one of my favorite authors William Least Heat-Moon calls them in his [...]
We were in Waco, Texas for one very specific reason. Not because it was once the home of a peaceful, farming Native American tribe called Huecos (pronounced “Wacos”). Their village was located near fresh, cold springs not far from the Brazos River. They were forced out of the area in the 1830s by Cherokee Indians [...]
Keep Austin Weird is the slogan and the locals that feel that way are clearly in for a challenge. The slogan was created to remind people to support local businesses and protect Austin’s heritage. Austin faces the same changes as other cities across the U.S.: big box stores, strip malls and chain restaurants that slowly [...]
During our time in San Antonio we were exposed to the city’s early cultures: Indian, Spanish, and Mexican. A later culture that settled in the area was German; at one time German settlers comprised a third of all residents and this rich heritage is still infused in San Antonio. We didn’t fully experience this [...]
In San Antonio we explored the Riverwalk several days in a row, and also took the famous river boat tour around the downtown area. It’s a great way to see the city—and the tour guides give you a rundown of all the famous buildings and historical areas.
Here is what it looks like to see one [...]
fautrever.com chronicles the Travel Adventures of Lance and Erin Willett. We are traveling across North America in a 34’ RV—living and working from the road. Contact us or read more about us.
Where are we now? Ocean Shores, WA 98569. 
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