Our RV Life adventure story starts during the pandemic.
I imagine that’s not so different from a lot of people. Like many others, we were desperate to get out of our 12 block radius, and explore and visit family— some of whom happened to be across the country. During this time, we were also considering a move outside of California.
So we decided to take a journey from California to Carolina, in our first RV adventure. (Cue the country song now.)
Our mode of transportation? A 25 ft RV from Cruise America.
Like many folks, we were looking for a way to have some sort of vacation in that crazy year after our plans, like yours I imagine, got canceled one after another. By summer’s end, we were feeling the smallness of our little shelter-in-place world. But we also felt that social distancing was imperative and no other mode of transportation felt safe.
We started joking about just taking an RV adventure trip across the country. Wait, what? We’d never RVed before a day in our lives. (Though we did love camping.)
Before long, it wasn’t a joke. Our son was distance learning, I was remote working and what a great adventure to boot to do so while traveling across America? And like everyone, we were feeling the affects of a world made incredibly small by the pandemic.
(Meet Cooper. He was our beloved 13 year old lab who took the trip with us. He sadly passed away in 2022.)
Planning the trip
We called Cruise America back in September 2020 (which turned out to be pretty fortunate since the person who checked us in told us prices were triple our rate when we picked it up in November 2020 due to demand. Seemed like everyone was on board for an RV adventure by that point)
So that’s tip number one. Call early.
We knew we were planning to stay in North Carolina for a month, so we ended up booking two one-way trips. Because of that, we had to shop around a bit to find a location that could accommodate us. Our customer service rep was really helpful in planning everything out. (Thanks, Robert!) We’re traveling from the San Francisco Bay Area to the Raleigh area of North Carolina.
There is an extra fee for one ways trips, so be aware. With Cruise America, you pay a daily fee, plus mileage and obviously your own gas. You will also pay hourly for generator use.
Dave and I are both planners (as you’ll definitely see as we plan our new RV adventure), so we had all of our stops reserved, planned and knew exactly where we were going every step of the way:
Yup, here’s the route we planned:
And here was our reserved/planned list:
And our planned trip home in January:
Each of those items when you clicked in had our details about reservations, amenities, timing, and confirmation details.
We planned all of our stops at KOA campgrounds. The website and app made it really easy. We mostly knew what we’d get and even on days where we arrived in the dark, we would know how to hook up and get set up for the night. We used the KOA app (easy to download) to maintain and watch and update our reservations where we needed to.
KOAs ran us on average $40-60 per night, so on any long term stretch, the costs would add up really quickly. But for us, where the learning curve was high on traveling in an RV, we were most looking for consistency in how we needed to get set up, what would be at each stop and make sure we felt comfortable with that.
Not all KOAs are created equally. Most KOAs are close to the freeway for easy, drop in access. That also means high noise levels. And they do vary, depending on where they are, on amenities. So if those matter, definitely check out what you’re in for.
Meals and Shopping Planning
A big part of our plan for this trip was to not have to stop at fast food restaurants and maintain inside our RV as much as possible. So that meant a lot of planning ahead. We planned out our meals, shopping lists and had checklists for what to bring, back, etc.
For meals, we made some things ahead, such as chili — that could be easily heated up along the road. There is limited space — counter, refrigerator and cooking — so plan as best as you can ahead of the trip and it will make your stops much easier.
The RV
We got the standard 25 ft RV. It says it sleeps 5 but that seems realllly generous. I tend to think 5 people traveling and sleeping in this would be a bit cramped, especially if you’re also packing for a longer trip. But for our three person-and-a-dog family, it’s was fine. We packed for inside the RV for 8 days, plus suitcases in the storage underneath for a 3+ week stay in Raleigh.
Inside the RV
I meant to take pictures of the RV before we loaded it up but that didn’t happen so you’ll have to make do with how we were living in it, after it was, well — lived in. RV adventure, baby!
The front cab:
The cab is pretty spacious. We tucked our dog’s bed right in between and he was perfectly happy.
The living area was bigger than it appears. It’s also very brown. 
And because we were traveling over the holidays, of course I had to decorate a little.
The dining table area could fit four slim people or two average people and two kids. Not sure it’s big enough for more. (Say hi to Connor. That’s our son and this is most likely the most you’ll ever see of him. lol)
It also folds out to become a bed.
The kitchen area is compact— comes with a microwave, sink and stovetop and a refrigerator/freezer. We cooked ahead and brought food for almost all our meals and we had plenty of storage.
The back area has a queen size bed. Another bed is above the driving cab. It’s also bigger than it looks in pictures and the videos.
The bathroom has a toilet and a shower. The water heater tank only holds about six gallons so showers would need to be FAST. I actually ended up showering mostly at the KOA campgrounds showers. This bathroom is not bigger than it appears. 
Our trip in a nutshell
We planned our trip basically across i40.
The Beginning: California
The first day of our RV adventure was a lot of driving— eight+ hours to get from Northern California down to Highway 40, the route we’re taking. Anyone who’s been on i5 knows what to expect—not much. It’s a pretty boring drive.
This is i5. Pretty much all of it.
Bakersfield
We made it to Bakersfield pretty smoothly. I will say that your comfort level sitting in your RV 
depends on the roads you’re driving on. California roads? D- and that’s only because of the spots that are newer.
When we got past Bakersfield into the mountains, the wind was pretty brutal. Dave was doing the driving and he said it was pretty exhausting. It’s a bit of a white knuckle drive. The steering in the Cruise America is a little loose, and well, it’s a 25ft box being hit by strong winds.
So that’s tip number 2: when you plan your route, look at the winds and be prepared.
(And somewhere around here, we passed through Hinkley. Come on, where are my movie buffs? 
Yes, the town that Erin Brockovich drove to— the same town that fought PG&E.)
The Middle
We drove pretty consistently each day. Our goal was to get to Carolina in 8 days at most. So a lot of the time was spent driving. We did stop in a few different cities, such as Kansas City, Memphis, a brief overnight in Nashville. But mostly, it was a trek to get to North Carolina.
A lot of this:
And this…
And this…
And even some of this…
We finally made it to the Carolinas and one of our most breathtaking moments on the drive.
Incredible.
That was probably the word of our trip. This country is incredible. There is so much to see, so much to experience. Different parts of the country and different people, different experiences. It was one of the wonders we experienced every day.
We saw landscapes. Nature at its bests. Cemeteries that defy time. Memorials. And so much more.
You could say we caught the bug. We loved the driving, we loved seeing the country. The above was just our trip out there. On the trip back, we stopped by the incredible Grand Canyon and much more.
And we’re excited to head off on new adventures soon. Until our next sunset.
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