Category: Uncategorized

And we are off…

cairbarker1 Comment

Happy 2018 to you ALL!!

This past week has been whirlwind of final preparations, saying good-bye’s to friends/family, and packing up the camper. It has been a great opportunity to evaluate what we really need and enjoy to have in our lives – and get rid of all the “other” stuff! The drastic drop in temperatures this week created an additional obstacle, which caused us to move the camper back into the hangar last night – to avoid frozen pipes this morning. We did the final run through the house this morning, then got loaded up & headed out of town before noon.

Our original plan was to make our first stop in Hot Springs National Park. However, with the continued frigid temperatures, we are opt’ing to head on farther south to Shreveport, LA. That makes it a one day drive to New Orleans from there.

We are so excited about getting started on our adventures in 2018 – and we look forward to sharing them with each of you!

Love – Carrie

First leg plans

DrewBarker1 Comment

Here we are, ten days away from departure!

We now have a fairly solid game plan for where we are going on the first leg, or at least for the first half of it 🙂

January 1 we are departing Springdale, AR and heading south to Hot Springs, AR to spend a night and visit the Hot Springs National Park. Then it’s down to New Orleans, LA for a couple of days. Leaving NOLA for south Florida with a few stops along the way. We will spend a few days around Everglades National Park. From there it’s down to the Keys! We have booked passage on the ferry to go out and see the Dry Tortugas National Park late in the week of January 8. After a few days in the Keys, we are off for Biscayne National Park.

That gets us through the second week in January, TruTrak has a trade show in Sebring, Florida the third week of January. So we will meander that way after Biscayne. Hopefully we can catch the launch of the SpaceX Falcon Heavy while we are in the area.

After Sebring we will head toward Arkansas again, perhaps making a few stops along the way. We will figure that out as we get started on the trip.

~Drew

Post Turkey Day Update!

DrewBarkerLeave a comment

Well, we survived the family Thanksgiving events and shared the news of our trip with about everyone in our families.

Yesterday, Cair submitted her official resignation from her job and she alerted the school that the kids will not be returning for the spring semester.  Over the last week or so, I finished getting the solar panels installed on the Flying Driving, gotten the roof rack on the jeep, installed the base plate for towing the jeep, and finished all the wiring changes on the jeep. I haven’t actually attached and pulled the jeep just yet, but that is coming very soon.

The first leg has been determined, at least in theory.  We will depart Springdale on January 1, and will head for Hot Springs National Park.  From there it will be to New Orleans, then along the coast all the way down to the southern tip of Florida.  We will visit Everglades National Park, Biscayne National Park, and Dry Tortugas National Park during the first few weeks in January.  Then it will be off to Sebring, Fl for a trade show for my work.

More to come!

~Drew

It’s REAL!!!

DrewBarkerLeave a comment

Well folks, it’s really going to happen.  There were some major hiccups along the way, but things are actually coming together.  About six weeks ago we purchased our motorhome, which has already be named “The Flying Driving Camper”.  Over the next 48 (YIKES!!!!) days, we will get the Jeep all ready to go and try to get things buttoned up so that we can begin this epic journey together!

I’ll get some more pics of the Flying Driving posted soon, as well as the planned route for the first leg of our journey.

When I created this site, we didn’t exactly know what our plan was, but that is now solidified.  We are going to visit as many of the national parks as possible in 2018.  Yes, we are also planning to visit every state as part of this, but the MAIN goal is the national parks.

Stay turned for more about our awesome family journey!

~Drew