Nowhere in the world inspires road trips like the US. The scenery, the ease of travelling the open road and the sheer size of the country all feed a vast holiday style that has no equal: the RV world. The Recreation Vehicle comes in many shapes and sizes, but is part of a $140bn industry that touches just about every part of America. We’re aiming to chart as much of it as possible in the next 12 months.
We’ve invested in our own RV for the trip, and are forsaking our usual Florida stomping ground to head north and west in search of the sights, sounds and tastes of the open road for a full year. We’re looking for the national parks, forests and monuments and the immense vistas of states like Wyoming, Montana, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona and the Dakotas, on a journey that – if we last the pace – will total around 15,000 miles.
We won’t visit many cities, but we will dwell on the scenic and picturesque, the wildlife and wilderness, highlighting the unique beauty that is essential to the ‘Why’ of why we travel. Most of all, we’ll show you how to do the great American road trip and discover a whole new way to appreciate the States for yourself. Buckle up…
Sunrise over our RV at the Harvest Host H&P Family Farms in Angola, Indiana
(Simon and Susan Veness)
Part One: Florida to Minnesota
“Welcome to the UP,” smiled the cheerful toll bridge attendant at the Mighty Mac, the shimmering five-mile-long bridge that links Michigan to its Upper Peninsula (UP) and was dubbed the Eighth Wonder of the World when it opened in 1957. Still the longest suspension bridge in the western hemisphere, the Mackinac Bridge marked our transition from the familiar world to the unfamiliar.
Susan is originally from Michigan and has a sound knowledge of the UP, but coming across the bridge in the passenger seat of a 36ft-long, 11-ton Class A motorhome (a nine-year-old Winnebago Sightseer) was a whole new experience. In simple terms, with the 200-foot drop into the chilly waters of the Straits of Mackinac seemingly only inches away from her right shoulder, it was borderline terrifying.
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Yet here we were, passing into (relatively) uncharted territory, two complete RV novices and our aged Labrador, armed with an RV GPS, several map books, various videos of how things work and a surfeit of enthusiasm.
Happily, the RV world was ready…
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