Fall RV Travel: Wacky Festivals & Leaf Peeping with Mr. Road Trip

SPEAKER_00 0:06

There's a morning that shows up every single year. Whether we like it or not, the air gets chillier. You step outside your rig and there's a crisp breeze in the air. And something's just different, right? So the air maybe has an edge to it. Not too cold. Well, maybe for me it is, but you look up and one tree has this one leaf peeking at you, and I've already seen one in some of the places that I've been this season. But if you're an RVer, we have something most people don't have. We have wheels. And that means that we don't have to wait for fall. We can go find it. So grab your coffee or your favorite beverage of choice. Let's go chase some color today. Hello, friends. Welcome back to Learn to RV the podcast, where we say learn it before you need it. Here's what this episode is and what it isn't. So this is not the Halloween episode, although there may be some fun Halloween ideas in it. Pumpkins are out, the pumpkin spice hit the shelves a month ago. The skeletons went up in August. But we're gonna save the ghost stories for that one. Today is about fall. Like the bigger picture of fall, right? The one that starts kind of before anything else does. And the costumes are not part of that equation unless we're talking about the trees wearing their costumes. So I'd like to introduce you today to Mr. Road Trip. Now, you may remember him from one or two of our previous episodes. Rick Steelman's back on the show today, but his name is familiar because he sat down with us a couple of times. So what you may need to do is go back and listen to those episodes because those were different, but still tons of fun. Rick and his wife Dawn have been RVing for like, I think over 10 years now, overall, but he went full time last year on the road. So Rick, welcome to the show. Hey Jennifer, how are you today? Good. Well, last time you were here, you guys had just hit the road full time. Catch us up. Where are you now?

SPEAKER_02 2:09

Well, we're currently in uh Elkert, Indiana, the home of RVs.

SPEAKER_00 2:14

Uh so is fall your favorite season on the road? Because it's it's not mine.

SPEAKER_02 2:20

It's not mine either. It really well, realistically, the reason we moved from Chicago is so we wouldn't have to see a fall in the winter anymore. Some people say, Oh, I love to see the four seasons. Yes, I like to see all four of them, but all green. So in a warmer place. But um, I don't mind fall per se. I don't mind it being crisp. I just don't want to see snow, and I just don't want it to be, you know, where I'm really cold.

SPEAKER_00 2:46

Yep, I can relate to that all too well. So I went down a research hole going to this episode. So Henry David Thoreau, like, wrote an entire essay in 1862 called Autumn Tints, basically making the case for his neighbors that they were walking past a miracle of leaves every single day. And I don't know that I see them as a miracle. I grew up in upstate New York, but there's so many people that love fall. During World War II, there was also gas rationing, so not quite the same as today is, but fuel was limited. And that means that a 1942 newspaper reported that people were hoarding their gas rations all year long just to go see the leaves change color in the fall. Isn't that crazy?

SPEAKER_02 3:31

That is kind of crazy. Uh but uh but we've been to Michigan in the in the uh fall time. We used to go up there in Wisconsin, and uh and it is it is quite breathtaking.

SPEAKER_00 3:43

And there's nothing quite like the changing of seasons. I did a full blog on it last year on places to go. I think we highlighted 10 places, places people don't even think about. But there's a leaf peeper app, and now there's leaf peeper maps and leaf peeper half marathons, like it's a whole thing, like all across the country. People now want to go leaf peeping.

SPEAKER_02 4:04

It's to me, fall fall is like the best time actually to camp. Because if you're gonna have a campfire, I mean, this summer you put a campfire out, it's 100 degrees, you everyone looks like you're nuts. But if it's a fall day or it's a fall night and you have like an Indian summer, oh, nothing is better than that that crackling the campfire and something warm to drink and making some oars and looking up. Oh, that that is fantastic.

SPEAKER_00 4:32

Well, and last year when Myrtle Beach, back when FRVA's gear rally happened, we did just that right outside your rig, sat around a campfire in chilly temperatures, but it was perfect because you had the campfire going, we had good company. It's kind of the best of both worlds, I think, in some places. But the other side of that, it was at the beach. So for me, like the day was warm enough for me to go walk on the water. Well, not on the water, but you know what I mean. Uh out at the beach, and then the evening was perfect for just campfire get-togethers. Tourism is a big deal this time of year, and I think a lot of people love to travel in the fall for all those reasons. So there's another side of that that's happening. All summer the leaves are packed with chlorophyll as the day gets shorter, the tree starts shutting down its production, and underneath it, those colors pop up. So that's where the yellows and oranges come in and reds and pigments. So, where do you go further south to chase it? Do you how do you think that works?

SPEAKER_02 5:30

Further north north just makes no sense to me. So you catch it when you can. Uh the colors are are are gorgeous, but I think if you miss one year, you have you have the next. But it's not just the colors and driving around, but it's like you know, the cider donuts, and and we used to always go for for fall. Uh, we go to a pumpkin patch with the with with the kids or the grandkids, and you know, pick out their pumpkin and they'd uh run and have a hay ride and and hot cider and the and the cider donuts and just just a lot of fun and go through the corn maze. Uh that is what makes fall fun.

SPEAKER_00 6:09

And my favorite place to go in orchard sense is a place called Bates Nut Farm, and it's in Valley Center, California. And when we were stationed in Oceanside, it was one of those places that just had all the things. They came by wagon actually in 1921 and bought 40 acres out there. But in the 1970s, they built it into something so much bigger. It's got a zoo, it's got llamas, it's got emus, it's got peacocks, and it runs September through October 31st. And admission is free most of the year. They've got car shows out there, all sorts of stuff. So we love going out there when we're on that side of the country. And it's a family farm, and so you're just going to visit the farm that day. So we will hunt down like a pumpkin patch to get our pumpkin as opposed to buying it from Walmart most of the time. And I think that's important. And you talk all the time about experiences and those memories, and I think that that's a big deal when it comes to fall on the road. If you're getting away to a pumpkin patch, you know, it's a different feel than just grabbing a pumpkin at Walmart.

SPEAKER_02 7:15

Oh, absolutely. And uh in terms of the kids, the grandkids, they remember that all their lives. It's a wholesome memory of being fun, riding ponies, etc. That was just something I really enjoyed uh a lot.

SPEAKER_00 7:31

And I mean, leaf peeping can happen anywhere you are, like whether you're home or not, especially if you're up in the north. But I also think that people count out things like aspens changing color. Um, like if you're out west, you know, a lot of times, like if you're in Yellowstone and you're experiencing the fall colors, it happens sooner because it's colder. You can be at different places each year. And I think that's what makes RV life so neat, right? Is that we can do this anywhere we want to each year.

SPEAKER_01 7:57

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 7:58

You don't have to be in Maine next fall if you're in Maine this year. But there's a whole Rick's treasure trove full of things that I want to let you talk about today because I want you to give us some great spots to go as you're traveling this season.

SPEAKER_02 8:17

I've kind of put together a a calendar that has uh all of the the big festivals going on from October to December. I've put in all of the wacky offbeat stuff that I just love uh so much that really make it special. I've added RV rallies to it. There's music festivals, so obviously I we don't have time for every single one, uh, but I have a calendar. So uh the fourth summit, I'm putting on my old man glasses now because I can't see otherwise. Oh, Jennifer too.

SPEAKER_00 8:48

Well, the nice thing about your list though is people aren't limited to like saving this for this year or next year. They can they can go access this list from whenever they want to. So even if something's not on their list this year, it could be something they go put on their list for next year. And some of these events I think that we're gonna talk about actually require almost a whole year in advance to like make a reservation. And that includes some of the leaf peeping spots in certain parts of this country. If you're going to like Smoky Mountain area, I hope you have a reservation already. Because if you didn't make it six months ago, chances are it's gonna be hard to get. And it's probably twice the price it normally is if any other time of the year.

SPEAKER_02 9:28

Absolutely. I I I couldn't agree more there that you some of these things you really do need to have reservations up front. But again, all this stuff is gonna be in what I call the wow calendar, wacky off beaten wonderful. Uh so Jennifer, there's the gardens of light in Montreal, Quebec. It's at the Montreal Botanical Gardens, and it transforms its Chinese, Japanese, and Indigenous Peoples Gardens. It's got lanterns, projection sound, and immersive uh nighttime lighting, and that's through all through September, all through October in Montreal. And then, of course, going back to the states, we can't uh forget to mention the big state fair of Texas. Uh that's the largest state fair in the country. Again, a huge classic state fair at State Fair Park. It's got midway rides, live entertainment, livestock, uh, over-the-top fair foods, and of course the iconic big tech. Uh, there's been movies made about it. You know, our state fair is the best state fair. Don't miss it, don't even be late.

SPEAKER_00 10:32

So you've been there, right?

SPEAKER_01 10:33

No, I have never been. Have you?

SPEAKER_00 10:35

No, so I actually in October, right near Conroe, Texas, there's actually the largest Renaissance fair in the country.

SPEAKER_01 10:43

Oh, yes, I have that too.

SPEAKER_00 10:44

Yeah, and so that one is super fun. We've gone to that one, and they're themed weekends, so they're super fun to go to.

SPEAKER_02 10:51

Well, a little more south in Austin, Texas. You've been to Austin, I'm sure. Uh I I'd love to go maybe sometime to the South by Southwest Festival. But in Austin, in October 2nd through 4th at the beginning, uh, the famous Austin City Limits Music Festival is going on. Uh, it's got a hot more than 100 performances, multiple stages, and a strong showcase of Austin food and culture. And I don't know what that means because Austin's just got what it's it's like it's like uh Portland, weird Austin, you know.

SPEAKER_00 11:25

Yeah, I think Austin has the whole like unique vibe of food where it's kind of like a blended, you know, Texas meets wherever they moved from, but Austin's really good.

SPEAKER_02 11:37

And and great barbecue. Well, some of the best. Yeah, I mean, we did a barbecue crawls one of our trips, and we didn't hit we didn't hit Texas as part of it but we did hit it uh later. I I still think the best is Kansas City Joe's in Kansas City. That was just amazing. But in the West, going a little more north now to Idaho, uh, October 7th through 11th is going to be the trailing of the sheep festival. And this is a wonderfully unusual celebration of sheep herding culture. I mean, come on, what what do you know about sheep herding? I mean, uh, with sheepdog trials, wool arts, lamb cuisine, folklore, and the famous big sheep parade through ketchup. That sounds like a fun time too, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_00 12:23

Well, I mean, like, I could see going to a sheep festival like that just for fun.

SPEAKER_01 12:27

Why did you think it was bad?

SPEAKER_02 12:34

There's a rally in Kentucky we're thinking of going to, and that's part of the part of our list is go back to Moonlight Barbecue because it oh my god, it's delicious.

SPEAKER_00 12:43

That could be fun to see the herding dogs and experience that. I just think I'd bring a snack lunch.

SPEAKER_02 12:51

Maybe. Well, so we're now I'm gonna take you from Idaho down to Florida and uh Key West. And Key West from October 16th to the 25th has their fantasy fest. Uh this is a legendary 10-day costume extravaganza with extravagant outfits, parades, body painting, theme parties, street events, and just an anything goes island atmosphere, which of course is everyday in Key West.

SPEAKER_00 13:22

That sounds fun though.

SPEAKER_02 13:23

Yeah, it's one place we haven't been to, is really Key West. Now back to Texas. I don't know why I have all this Texas stuff, but back in Austin, because it's a big state. Yeah, I know, but it's the same place. October 23rd to 25th, they're hosting the Formula One United States Grand Prix. So for the racing fans, that'll be a lot of fun. That's a bit usually a big event for RVers.

SPEAKER_01 13:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:46

Uh so it's a major Formula One race weekend at Circuit of the Americas. It combines world-class racing with concerts, food, and a large festival atmosphere. Uh, so that's you know, for the racing fans out there. Have you ever been to a race?

SPEAKER_00 14:02

So, yes and no. Um, we were in downtown Las Vegas when the Formula One race cars came through that day, like on purpose, intentionally. But that's the only place we've seen.

SPEAKER_02 14:16

So I've been to a few. I've been to a time trial at Indy. We used to be in the automotive business, so we got tickets to the ghosts. And basically, this again, I know I know there's people who love racing, but for me, all it was was this. Well, just seeing my head just go one way, and that was about it. But let's head to Chicago now.

SPEAKER_00 14:39

And I still got time to plan it if you're heading that way. But again, campgrounds are gonna be limited.

SPEAKER_02 14:45

But uh, but usually racing events are big parties. Uh, that's why I know a lot of people used to go, especially like Indy and the Idie 500. Uh, it's just one big huge party. Uh, now we're gonna go to Chicago, and if you're looking for a good laugh, and I I think a lot of us could use a big laugh uh this year, they're having the 312 Comedy Festival. Now, for those who don't know, 312 is Chicago's area code, and uh this is pretty famous. It's a multi-venue stand-up comedy festival featuring a broad lineup of top-performing comedians uh across Chicago over more than a week, and they're at various comedy clubs. I love comedy clubs. Do you go to comedy clubs?

SPEAKER_00 15:27

Not very often, actually. I mean, like everybody's sense of humor is so different. We do a lot of family-friendly stuff just because we want to bring the kids along. So, unless we're going out with another couple, which we do, but we don't have any friends that do comedy clubs.

SPEAKER_02 15:41

I mean, the only thing you don't want to do at a comedy club is sit in the front row because the comedian will make fun of you the whole time and and and you'll be the butt of the jokes. But as long as you don't mind laughing at yourself, it's it's a lot of fun. Uh, I I had one, in fact, we went to um that was just so funny. Somebody in the middle of the of the of the performance got up and went to the bathroom, and the comedian did uh it was actually somebody who was a ventriloquist and he didn't like it. So every time uh he said a certain word, he got the audience to laugh that made no sense. And so when the Christine came back, we're all laughing every time he said this word, and and then they started laughing, which made us even laugh even harder. So, like I said, never sit in the front row and never stand up in the middle of someone's routine and go to the bathroom. Hold it if you can. Let's go to South Carolina now. One of my favorite cities is Charleston, and from November to the end of the year, uh they're having the holiday festival of lights. Now, a lot of towns and cities have festival of lights. I know I think St. Augustine has a famous one. This is at James Island County Park. Uh, it becomes a large holiday light destination with extensive displays, uh, family activities, and easily paired with a Charleston City weekend. Again, Charleston is one of my favorite places. Have you been?

SPEAKER_00 17:01

Yeah, so we went last year for the first time, and we were surprised by the amazing things to do there. But we went to the Charleston Tea Garden, and that was absolutely wonderful. We're running out of tea, so we may have to go back on our way south this year. The other thing we did was we actually saw Betelgeuse in in Charleston, which was very cool. We just happened to be there that weekend, and my daughter loves Betelgeuse, so we bought tickets and we hit the theater, and that's why we like taking a couple weeks in any one location, is because then you can kind of immerse yourself in the culture of wherever you are.

SPEAKER_02 17:36

Uh in fact, I told you we went to the Maritimes uh a few weeks ago, and we went to Nova Scotia, we went to the uh Prince Edward, and then we had to go through New Brunswick because we were on our way to Gettysburg. And I went to our site and um RV getting there and looked up festivals, and I found out that there was a Highland Games going on in New Brunswick. Do you know what the Highland games are? So they had you know where the caber is, you know, this big uh telephone pole, and they have to uh they have to carry it and they gotta flip it and and putting weights over. I mean, it was it was so much fun, it was so inexpensive. Plus, we had haggis, and of course, you don't just have haggis, you experience haggis the week after you have haggis, but yeah, uh it was a lot of fun, and uh we have some good photos for it, and um we went to some festivals, and that was where the parties were, and uh met a bunch of people that were local and uh found out about life in Canada and life in New Brunswick, and again, that to me is what it's all about. You know, it's seeing the sites, but it's really having part of you leave there and part of that leave with you that you you see a little wider and a little deeper, and then and and you appreciate things a little more.

SPEAKER_00 18:55

But you do things like that we don't do, like I mean, sometimes you're crazy. And so like I know you'll take like a trip where on the way to somewhere you don't like going to like grab fast food, you'll actually take the rig and like get local food.

SPEAKER_02 19:11

Absolutely. Oh, yeah. So one of the things that we've done is we have gone to a lot of places that have been on triple D. And I'm always amazed when I say triple D, how many people raise their hand and but still a good few don't? I can't understand how you can have an RV and not know what triple D. So, what's triple D, Chen? Do you know what it is?

SPEAKER_00 19:30

You're gonna have to explain it.

SPEAKER_02 19:32

Oh my gosh. Diners, drive-ins, and dives. It is generally the best places, the best local places to go. And we have gone and we've uh to some of these places, had some not just meals that were great. Chefs have come out, talked to us for 45 minutes, made something special for us. We've gotten free drinks just because we said, Hey, we saw you on TV and tell us about the thing. And we were like treated like family instantly. And as you know, as somebody who's really doesn't live anywhere but lives everywhere, being treated like family is is really special. You know, you kind of missed that being on the road so much.

SPEAKER_00 20:13

We actually have been to quite a few of those over the years. Our favorite one was this little Greek restaurant that we just kind of happened upon. And so you saw the sign up in the window for diners, driving, dives. And you know, it's just one of those fun, like, oh, we should try this. Now, there is one place out in West Yellowstone that we said that about, and I gave it three tries the summer we stayed there for the season. It's a great barbecue joint.

SPEAKER_02 20:36

Set your calendars for the end of November up until Christmas Eve. Uh, if you're gonna be in the LA area, uh La Canada Flint Ridge. Um the Conzo Gardens becomes an artistic illumination landscape, illuminated landscape. It's got interactive light installations, glowing forests, and immersive nighttime effects. And that's in the LA area. So you get nice weather and you've uh have a nice time. The owner has a an a an Academy award that he got from somebody.

SPEAKER_00 21:08

Uh do you and Don ever do the like the drive-thru light displays?

SPEAKER_01 21:14

Oh yeah. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:16

So one of the things that's neat about those drive-through light displays is if you're military or retired military like we are, a lot of them will do half off or discounted days. You just have to plan for a line. The Las Vegas Motor Speedway has one. We did one last year in where were we? Uh Daytona had one. But our favorite one still to this day is the one that's in Nashville. We did that many years ago, back when we worked Amazon Camper Force for the fall season. You just made a point of making it up there one of the days to go through the light display. And most light displays like that have a spot where you can get out and get cocoa and feels real and visit Santa.

SPEAKER_02 21:58

Michigan has a really famous. One. I think one of the pizza, one of the pizza guys, uh, meaning I can't remember if it's Domino's or whatever it is, sponsors it. And uh, I mean it's like a million lights, and it's it's supposed to be breathtaking. I I we went to one last year uh that was actually kind of nice, but you know what? I have no idea where it was. Also in Los Angeles, uh on December 6th, a Merry Tuba Christmas, Los Angeles, and dozens of decorated tubas and euphoniums gather for a giant low-brass holiday concert, and musicians are encouraged to dress brightly and decorate their instruments.

SPEAKER_00 22:36

That sounds like a definitely falls under your wacky ones for sure. You know, I use Atlas Obscure to find kind of offbeat stuff, but a lot of the stuff that's on Atlas Obscura is already on your website.

SPEAKER_02 22:47

Yep. Uh I I like uh Roadside Uh America.

SPEAKER_00 22:51

The Woolly Worm Festival that's right near Firefly Hills, Kentucky. My friend Tanya actually owns the campground there, and so she actually was at the FRVA event um back in March with us, and she has this really neat little campground. But what's really beautiful about it is their showers, they have the best showers in all of the campgrounds.

SPEAKER_02 23:12

One of the events that I missed is October 24th in um Manitou Springs, Colorado. Picking of some wacky things. The Emma Crawford Coffin Race. Um, they have coffins that people are in them, they have to race them down the street. It's a lot of fun to watch. I've yet to be, but I really want to because I haven't found a reason to be up in that neck of the woods in October. But if you are, it it just sounds like a blast.

SPEAKER_00 23:46

You have to watch the weather up there if you do go up because it's right near Colorado Springs. Such a great location. Because it is on the eastern side of the Rockies on the Front Range. You know, a lot of times you can get away with doing stuff there later in the season. In Colorado, my um my friend Lauren actually has a big Halloween event in South Fork, Colorado. So if you're looking for friends to go hang out with for Halloween, the thing is they're at like 6,500 feet. So, you know, it can and does snow. Um, it's just such a great location.

SPEAKER_02 24:20

Uh, another thing I found was November 21st and 22nd in Hollywood, Florida. Uh not a bad place to be at that time of year. They have the Camelot Days Medieval Festival. Uh, so kind of along with your Renaissance. You have knights and pirates and fairies and jousting and sword fighting and magic and comedy, music, and a living chess game. So, in fact, I was gonna say about the coffin racing, you know, you probably laugh so hard you could die of laughter, but I don't bump.

SPEAKER_00 24:48

The other thing is, is I had a ton of Oktoberfest activities, and like there's Oktoberfests all over the country.

SPEAKER_02 24:55

Isn't it funny that Oktoberfests aren't in October that they're in September? Have you noticed that?

SPEAKER_01 25:02

All the Oktoberfests I've been in were the end of September. Really? That's interesting. I know, I don't know why. I mean, they're a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_02 25:14

Well, I I love German food. I just love different kinds of ethnic food and going to those festivals and trying things, and like um uh when I went to um the cow testicles, um there are actually festivals for that too. I think it's Virginia City has a big one.

SPEAKER_00 25:34

So would you say is a state or a region that nobody like the would know about?

SPEAKER_02 25:40

I've tried to put as many as I could in terms of the ones that are are are are kind of unique, but again, um you know, RV getting there when you go to there and you hit the state, one of the things is spares and festivals, and you can click on that and you can see all the local festivals for that state. So um we have been to the duct tape festival in Ohio. It's the company that makes duct tape, uh not no DUCK, and all of the um the floats have to be made with duct tape.

SPEAKER_00 26:12

That's fun.

SPEAKER_02 26:13

I'm trying to think what has been your your favorite festival? Most of mine are usually music festivals.

SPEAKER_00 26:20

So I mean, I think there's the bucket list one that everybody has on their bucket list that they should go to at least once, which is Albuquerque. If you're going to Albuquerque, you need to stay as long as you can and get involved. I think that that festival made a big difference for us because we were crewing and so we were working directly with pilots. We were we were flying. And what's neat about the Albuquerque Balloon Festival is one of the only places in the world that you can do something called fly the box. If the weather is right, you can fly in a square over the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, and so it's kind of a unique situation. Now, a lot of times you're getting flown one way or the other, and one of the things people don't realize is you can't control the wind. But there's nothing quite like hearing the propane burners over top of your rig as you're waking up in the morning going and just hearing them inflate behind you. It's the only place in the world that you can get that close to balloons, but it can get rained out, so you know you have to be there for more than one day.

SPEAKER_02 27:20

Yeah, I would love to go. I don't know about going up with a balloon. Dawn has told me that it you talked about hearing the flames going off. Uh, I'd hear her voice louder than that if she was up in one of them, screaming her head off because she does not like heights at all.

SPEAKER_00 27:36

It's very relaxing. You know, I I put my kids in baskets long before I got in one. It was actually not until Albuquerque that I got to fly for the first time. And we were very fortunate for that because we were crewing, learning how to fly, but at the same time, you can't control which way the balloon's gonna go. We were coming down, and Nolan, my the pilot, he's actually out of Manitow Springs, Colorado. And I'm in his balloon, and it's it's a 105, which in balloon world means it's enormous, it's bigger than most other balloons. It was magical though, it was absolutely fantastic. It's so quiet up there.

SPEAKER_01 28:16

You're scared going up or anything.

SPEAKER_00 28:19

No. It's it's magical. You just feel like you're floating. And so it's it's it's kind of an experience of a lifetime. Now, if you are nervous about it, you can get a tethered ride, which you know that's a safe way to do it completely. And no balloon pilot is going to put their balloon up in inclement weather. So, like if the wind is over five miles an hour, you just plan on not going up, you know. And I think that's one of the reasons I tell people to stay all week if you can, because you can't control the weather. So if you don't stay through all of it, if there's like a balloon festival activity or a flight that gets canceled because of weather, you're seeing the one the next day. A lot of people just go for two days, and I think that's one of the biggest mistakes people make out there, actually.

SPEAKER_02 29:04

Well, there are there are a lot of RV groups that that plan big events around the balloon festival, don't they? Like I know Escape East has one, I think Airstream has one.

SPEAKER_00 29:14

Yeah, there's actually pilots with escape's, and you can get paired up with them for festivals too. And I think that that's one of the things you just don't think about. But that's not the only balloon festival. So, like if you aren't looking for Albuquerque, which is enormous.

SPEAKER_02 29:29

I just remembered a festival that is one of my favorites. It's at the beginning of October. It is the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesboro, Tennessee. Oh, it is fantastic. I've been there, we've been to it twice. Uh, I took Dawn the first time, and she's like, Oh, okay, going because I said that I wanted to go. And after the first one, she's like, We got to come back here. And it's it's these um storytellers, not once upon a time, but there's people who spin these yarns, basically professional liars to some extent, um, telling these great, uh either funny or poignant their uh stories. Um some include music, some are for just for kids. And Jonesboro is the quaintest little town, it's the oldest town in Tennessee. You can walk around, there's some good restaurants there. We stayed at a Yama farm, actually, and uh uh that was maybe about 20-30 minutes from Jonesboro. That was an RV park. And you know, they not only do you see the yamas, but you can buy Yama stuff, and you know, it was a lot of fun, and I definitely would recommend that. But I tell everybody in the brother about the the story, the storytelling festival.

SPEAKER_00 30:46

All right, so I want to back up. This is your wheelhouse. You are great at finding the off-the-beaten path stuff. How do you do that?

SPEAKER_02 30:53

Well, I I feel like I'm about to give you a plug for my website, or if you getting there. So I have throughout the years uh found a bunch of good websites and I've put them together so it will help me figure out not only what there is to see and do, but also to help uh figure out the best route at in order to see and do everything. So one of the things I tell people is the first thing is what tickles your fancy? You know, yeah, hiking is great, and I'm not knocking hiking, but I'm all about it filling your soul, like it actually is going to evolve you to some to another point, which I believe is why we travel. I love the wacky things, and it's not the wacky things that take a picture, though those are fun. You know, you put them on your social media, and people say you've been to the craziest places, and and they laugh, and and that's good. But it's the stories behind it that I really love. So there's one story, and actually I did a video on my YouTube channel. It's called The Concrete People. And there was this lumberjack in uh northern Wisconsin who was around 63, 64, and he loved it. He he was just a worker bee, just loved the lifestyle, and he wound up getting debilitating arthritis, and he had to retire from being a lumberjack, and he didn't know what else to do. So he had some money and he decided to open a bar in this northern Wisconsin area, and other lumber decks came and they they had fun and they drank, but he just wasn't enough. So he had this artistic side, and he took the broken glasses and bottles and plates, and he combined that with concrete, and he made people, meaning, you know, statues of people. And these are amazing. He has one of like the Budweiser Clydesdales being pulled. I mean, there's like about a hundred of them at this site. He tells stories of Native Americans and and how they were abused, and he did it all with concrete and glass and beer bottles and broken pieces. And it's just amazing to come see that and to think of a story. But to make these with debilitating arthritis, I mean he could barely move his hands, but yet he just had this vision inside of himself that he just had to get out. And I just find that fascinating. I always try to look for good character stories of people to to to learn from, to mentor from. And uh, you know, we we talk about all the great sights that we see, but it's not the sites. To me, it's the stories behind it of the people who put those together who, yeah, some of them were for, you know, to get people to get to come to their business. But a lot of them just did it because they just had this vision, they just wanted to get it out and share it with other people.

SPEAKER_00 33:36

Scenery isn't really an experience, actually interacting with the people is where that magic starts to happen. We were just in Goshen, Indiana not that long ago, and they actually have a free museum in downtown Goshen. And inside this free museum are all these artifacts from the town of Goshen and the history of the city. But then we met the guy that gave us our tour of the upstairs apartment. He actually was the son of the woman who had the apartment, and they would rent out part of the apartment, but his memories were what he shared with us. He didn't share just some organic story that he was told, it was really his life, and so he told us about how he and his brother would ride their tricycles up and down the hallway in the winter time, and it was just such a neat experience to see the apartment through his eyes. And when my daughter stood there and asked, Where was this? and he'd say, Oh no, no, my my parents took the little tiny room for this. We'd show it so so that that's bigger room looks like the main bedroom. But we had a heater in the bathroom, and so you look up in the bathroom and there's this heater inside there, and he's like, It was the best thing taking a bath because everything else was cold. But then everything that went down Main Street we could see, and so like those stories are what stuck with me.

SPEAKER_02 34:54

We had we say we had a similar story. We we were up in Nova Scotia at the Maritime Museum in Lunenburg, and uh one of the people that works there grew up there and was talking about how it was growing up, and that her grandfather was a fisherman back when whaling was the big thing, and how when the boats came in, kids weren't really wanted because it was not a very good, you know part of town at that time, and how the the wives would send their boys to get their men because they would come back from from these you know long, month-long trips and they'd have money, and they all they wanted to do was drink and have fun, and a lot of them would spend all of their earnings. So the wives would send their boys over to go and uh you know get their dad to basically take all their money so that uh the family could live. So in my seminar, I talk about the three things that I recommend of how to have a trip of a lifetime. And I ask people, what is a trip of a lifetime? So to me, it's accomplishing one of three things. One is that you have an aha moment. So you're not just looking at things, but you learn something new and unique, and you go, wow, I didn't know that. But it wasn't something that just was like, oh, okay, trivia, but it was something that really piqued your interest, and now you want to know more about it. You know, like we when we were in Albuquerque, we went to the Native American Center and we talked to somebody who lives in a pueblo. Now, you know, I grew up in suburban Chicago. I don't know, Native Americans aren't that plentiful in that area, and of course, Pueblo's not. And we we just had a really great conversation with him about growing up in the Pueblo and what it's like to be Native American. And of course, it's only one person's perspective, but it really made me want to know more about the struggles, about the trail of tears and and all that. So that's that's an aha moment. But the second one is when I say this, they really get excited about it because they didn't think of this. And what they get out of it of traveling is getting a story. Not just I've been to the Grand Canyon. I mean, how do you explain Grand Canyon and the Badlands? There are holes in the Grand Canyon.

SPEAKER_00 37:06

So my my oldest son actually, we went to the Grand Canyon when we PCS'd across the country. So we Frank had orders, we took 13 days and we traveled across the country. And oh, it's a big rock. And a couple years back, we went to the north rim of the Grand Canyon as we were traveling through Utah, and one of my kids said, I don't want to go. And I said, Why? And he said, It was a big rock. I don't care. And you know, the reality was the north rim was so different from the south rim.

SPEAKER_01 37:33

Right.

SPEAKER_00 37:33

We actually went the year before the fire happened out at the Grand Canyon, and the North Rim doesn't look like it did when we went anymore. I think stories are just they're just beautiful. They're kind of they kind of get woven in our family story. And we've never we've gone back to the same place twice, but we've never traveled the same way each time to get there. And so as we were coming into Indiana this summer, it was, hey, let's take this route. So there was different things on the journey, and I think that you can make every trip like that, whether you're full-time or part-time.

SPEAKER_02 38:06

So but you you didn't visit the world's biggest ball of paint in Alexandria, Indiana, did you?

SPEAKER_00 38:11

We actually entertained it because you had suggested I told you about it. But there's there's that time squeeze, right? We had the issue of flooding when we came through that area, so that was part of the reason we didn't even try.

SPEAKER_02 38:25

I've been there twice, both times. And again, there's a great story. It's yes, it's the biggest ball of paint. Yes, it started as a baseball, but for 48 plus years, every day at least one coat of paint was put on this ball. And this thing now is 12,000 pounds. I mean, it's huge, it's massive. But it's this story about not only how he did it, but that how that every day, if he was sick, that his kids or his grandkids or his wife, that their dates were putting a coat uh paint on this ball and going and going out to the movies or whatever. That was their date night. And that yet the whole world came to visit him. I mean, Good Morning America and and the Today Show, and the Statler brothers, and uh Jay Leno and Kimmel, and I mean, there are just signatures all over his wall, and the world came to him. And and he was just this mild-mannered guy, but just the nicest guy in the world. And one of the stories I loved was that if it Christmas and your birthday, in order to open your presents, you had to put a coat of paint on the ball.

SPEAKER_00 39:36

Well, that wouldn't have been bad when it was small.

SPEAKER_02 39:38

Yeah, but and now he's got like eight or nine gallons of paint in these rollers, and you could put one on, and he'll he'll take your picture and and it's free, but you gotta call first to make it to make a reservation. But I'm telling you, even your teenagers would have a fun time at this place because it's unique.

SPEAKER_01 39:56

One of the things we did, we we went to uh Pennsylvania and there's this big uh whale that's in this, and it's pretty famous.

SPEAKER_02 40:08

And uh I wanted to get a picture of it, and we were there. By the time we got there, we found there was construction, so we couldn't get there, and it wasn't listed or anything, and I was so mad or I got this 35-foot fifth wheel behind me, and uh I had to turn around, make a U-turn on this highway, get around, and then Dawn had to take the picture in order to do it, but I scraped, I went too close to the railing and I scraped the the camper because of it.

SPEAKER_01 40:37

But I got the picture, and that's what it mattered most, is I got the picture. But see, but but again, that's a story, isn't it?

SPEAKER_02 40:48

It is, and that's the whole point of it. The whole point isn't seeing the stuff, the whole point is having those stories to tell other people to make them laugh and cry and and vicariously wish they were there. And um, I mean, every time I tell the paint thing, people are like, that sounds so cool about the the the guy. I said, Yeah, you should go, because that's a lot of fun, and that that's what we're made of of all these stories along the way. So that's number two is having a great story to tell that you can share. The last one is the hardest one. I believe that we're searching for something and we just don't know what it is. Subconsciously, we have this question that we're looking to get answered, and that's why we have to get out and travel and meet people and have new experiences. So I believe that there are all these dimensions inside of us that have yet to come out, and and I I realized that when I was when I got divorced before I met Dawn. So the last one is having an epiphany, and that's the hardest, but that's where you actually evolve into another part of you that's been dormant because the community that you've been around hasn't triggered that to open up. You know what I mean? And that is just so amazing. It gives you a world perspective that you wouldn't have had otherwise. And I I just believe that if more people traveled the way that you and I do, that we would talk to each other much more as a world than we do now.

SPEAKER_00 42:12

Yeah, for sure. Rick, thank you. I appreciate all that you shared today. I've got about nine new things on my list that I need to go to now. Don't forget, don't just go look at fall. Get out in it. You know, pull over at an ugly spot, buy a pie. I mean, take the long way around. Uh, make one thing a tradition and then do it again next year. You know, we love going to Grandad's apples because if they're apple cider slushies and you can get every kind of apple that you can think of up at their farm. It's absolutely wonderful. But they make an apple slushie with ice cream in it. My gosh.

SPEAKER_02 42:49

Now I want one.

SPEAKER_00 42:52

But you know, don't quit on the season when the leaves come down. Just start heading south. Fall happens for a long time, it just happens through different months and weeks of the year, you know. Some of the dark gray is kind of part of the magic of fall too. If you take the time, the leaves are gonna do what they do, whether we show up or not. It's just kind of how it works, right? But fall is a season that hands us something beautiful and it doesn't take any one of us a chance to earn it. It just happens.

SPEAKER_02 43:21

A fall campfire is just the best.

SPEAKER_01 43:23

Find Rick at roadcruiser.life. The calendar is under rvgettingthere.com.

SPEAKER_02 43:34

So I have two sites. When you go to road cruiser.life, you can get to rvgetting there, but it's the wow calendar and it's under additional things. I highly recommend going to it and figuring out what you want to do, even if it's just for a weekend.

SPEAKER_00 43:48

So get out there. Don't forget to like, subscribe, and follow Learn to RV. Get out there and go find something worth finding. There's something around every corner. You just gotta look for it. We'll see you next week.