A Change of Pace
As many of our readers might remember, we have spent past January's, February's and March's in sunny Florida at Strawberry Fields for RV-ers in Chiefland, Florida, about 35 minutes southwest of Gainesville. It's a very nice resort, with a pool and hot tub, level pull-thru lots, and very friendly owners and fellow travelers.
We've also spent October, November and December in North Georgia to be near family (and especially grand kids) during the holiday season. But North Georgia hasn't been very weather-friendly the past 5 years for people living in a motor home. In short, too many sub-freezing temperatures and too much snow for our much more – modified – tastes in weather.
After thinking things through for travel in early 2026, and the realization that North Georgia is only about 7-8 hours away by Jeep, we decided to head south earlier in the season, and use early 2026 to travel out west to the California border, then spend some time near my brother and his wife for a couple of months.
While there is little to no room at either daughter's homes for us in which to stay, there are plenty of dog-friendly hotels at relatively reasonable rates that could take Barbara, Grover and me for a couple of days.
The pluses: no snow or sub-freezing temps thru December in Florida. Hot tub every day. Very reasonable winter rates and level lots.
Potential minuses: October IS the tail end of hurricane season, so we'll need to keep a weather eye out for impending storms. We can be slides in and jacks up in 20 minutes if need be, and we have enough gas in the tank to drive 380 miles.
This will also give us time to scout out potential late 2026 winter quarters nearer to Tampa, where many of our fellow RV friends reside.
As to January travel out west, we had visited near Baton Rouge, Louisiana this past spring, but it was too hot and muggy to do any sightseeing in the city proper, so our first stop in the New Year will be there. After that, there's a friend in the Houston area we want to see, then a visit to famous Quartzite, Arizona, where the boondocking is legendary. Hopefully we'll meet up with a whole lot of fellow Tiffin owners when we stay there for a few days. Next will be Yuma, Arizona, the furthest west you can get without entering California. As I've stated before, THIS motor home will never cross the state line into California as long as their gas prices are $5.00 per gallon and higher. But Barbara has a friend in San Diego we'd both like to visit, so our hope is to meet her halfway in the Jeep.
By the time February rolls around, we should be in the Casa Grande area of Arizona, about 40 minutes outside of Phoenix, Spend a month there, then start heading northward with the goal being to FINALLY hit the Grand Canyon during the end of March or early April.
Finally, it will be house battery replacement time after almost 7 years on the road, and it will be done in either Nevada - where Battle Born batteries are located, or back to Red Bay in late April to have the upgrades done there.
So expect a few posts over the next couple of months depending on what we do and who we meet. As always, there will be ample Grover updates, because we know how much some of our readers worry about him.
