It’s that time of year again. In 10 days, we’ll be pulling out of our driveway for a month-long RV adventure through the Midwest, visiting State Parks and family along the way.
Long-time followers know that my wife and I like to take an extended RV trip each summer, with an occasional curveball thrown in for fun (a cross-country train trip, a cruise to the Arctic). We bought our 2018 Reflection 5th wheel and 2017 F250 a few months before I retired in 2018, and have gotten our money’s worth from the investment. After 8 years, we’re still happy with our choice, and suspect we’ll be using them for years to come. Sure, they were expensive, but if they’re amortized over 15 years, it’s a reasonable expense for the benefits they bring to our lives.
Tip: For those on the cusp of retirement, buy your toys before you retire and hold them for a long time.
Here’s a summary of all of the major vacations we’ve taken since I retired:
Today, we’re sharing our plans for the RV Adventure of 2026!
It’s that time of year again. We’re heading out on a month-long RV trip! Here’s what we’ve got in mind…. Share on X
As always, we map our trip and book all of the campgrounds in advance. Our 2026 route is shown above. As I wrote in How To RV in Retirement, we’ve learned from experience that it’s less stressful to arrange things from the comfort of home rather than seeking out campgrounds en route.
We also follow the 330 Rule (never drive more than 300 miles in a day, and stop by 3:30 pm), which makes it easier to map our route in advance. Finally, we typically stay 2-3 nights per spot, allowing time to “catch up” to our itinerary if there are problems en route. It’s helpful to have that flexibility built into the itinerary, though in 8 years of RV travel, we’ve never had to exercise that option.
A North Carolina rest area during our 2026 shake-down cruise.
The Shake-Down Cruise
Every year, we plan a few shorter trips before our “big trip.” This year, we took a midweek trip in April to nearby Vogel State Park with some friends who had just purchased an RV. It was fun teaching new RV’ers the lessons we’ve learned over the years, and we enjoyed a few relaxing days together, hiking, eating meals in the campground, and enjoying s’mores by the campfire.
In May, we joined another group of “Fido Family” friends on a trip to 4 Paws Kingdom, a dog-focused “campground and dog retreat” an hour outside Asheville, NC. With 4 families and 11 dogs, we took full advantage of the dog-oriented amenities of the unique campground, including numerous dog parks and a beautiful fenced-in pond for the dogs to swim in. It was chaos, and it was wonderful. Here’s a glimpse into what we did for a few days:
Our first “dog-oriented” trip, with 11 dogs!
It’s helpful to take some shorter trips as the RV gets older to reduce the chance of surprises on the bigger trip. On our last day at the dog campground, our 8-year-old 50-amp power cord shorted out in the rain, allowing us plenty of time to order a new one before we hit the road for a month. Better safe than sorry, and a good excuse to get in a few shorter camping trips early in the season.
The 2026 RV Adventure Itinerary
Below is a quick summary of each of the State Parks we plan on visiting during our June RV adventure:
Paris Mountain State Park, SC: A chance to add the “South Carolina” sticker to our RV map. Paris Mountain is in Greenville and comes highly recommended from friends. It’ll be a 2-night visit, and the first on our trip.
Hungry Mother State Park, VA: 1,881 acres nestled in the diagonal ridgeline of the Appalachian Mountains, we visited this park once for a short visit and found it worthy of a longer, 3-day visit. I’m hoping to get in a few swims in the gorgeous mountain lake that is the central feature of this park.
Hocking Hills State Park, OH: Our favorite State Park in Ohio, and a frequent stop on our trips to visit family. It’s a beautiful gorge with waterfalls, miles of hiking trails, and various campground options.
Mosquito Lake State Park, OH: We’re fortunate to have this park just a few miles from family, and plan on spending a full week here. We used to live nearby, so we’re visiting some of our old friends while in town.
Findley Lake State Park, OH: After a week with family, we’re taking a few days for ourselves in this charming park halfway between our “Ohio Family” and “Michigan Family.”
Pennyrile Forest State Park, KY: En route home from MI to GA, this will be our first visit to this park. We’re looking forward to spending 3 days exploring the miles of trails with the dogs.
In addition to the State Park visits, we’ll be attending a family reunion at my sister’s new retirement lake house in Southern Michigan. They recently retired, sold their farm, and built the house of their dreams on a Michigan lake. We’re looking forward to seeing their new house for the first time and reuniting with extended family at a family reunion she has planned during our visit.
Summertime
Retirement
Go-Go Years
We love our annual RV adventures, and look forward to taking a “vacation” from our normal routines. I encourage all of you to get outside, escape the rut, and enjoy life in these golden years.
While I’ll be offline for the next month, we have three posts planned to keep the blog content flowing. Next week, you’ll see the May guest post (Sahil Bloom), and Dana will be writing an article in mid-June. At the end of June, I’ll share another guest post (Jordan Grumet), before returning to the keyboards in July.
That’s our plan for the summer of 2026.
What about you?
Your Turn: Do you have any vacations planned for the summer? Do you find value in breaking up the “routine” in retirement? Let’s chat in the comments….
