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The Great RVenture 2026

Nov 29 2025 - Jan 15 2026

@Rventure

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5674A Dry Run Rd, Milford, OH 45150, USA

Nov 29 2025

The Great RVenture 2026!

Rob and Kristen Brown

January 2 - March 12, 2026

@Rventure

Jan 01 2026

Leaving soon! Here’s a brief outline of our trip!

January

February

March

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Jan 01 2026

Our very own Logo, by Brown Bag Swag Creative Consultant, Syndy Casey!

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Jan 02 2026

On the road! Pulled out 9 minutes earlier than planned (miracle)!

First destination: Crossville, Tennessee

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Jan 02 2026

Command Center!

We needed a way to mount all necessary devises. We order a mounting system from Bulletpoint.

Pictured from left to right:

Cell phone, Garmin RV GPS, Dadh Cam, Tire Pressure Monitor.

High Tech!

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Jan 02 2026

We made it to Crossville TN around 2:30 CT after about a half hour stop at Buccees where we purchased Beaver Chips, chicken and Fries, Briaket Mac and Cheese, Beaver Nuggets, Glazed Pecans, peanut butter and chocolate fudge and Chocolate Carmel Sea Salt Fudge. Because when at Buccees, this is what you do!

Our Crossville/I-40 KOA Holiday is spacious and our pull-through, full hook-up site has a nice view!

For dinner we made salads and heated up White Chicken Chili, made ahead for us by Diane Brown, Robs mom.

The next 2 days we will be hiking and chasing waterfalls!

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Jan 03 2026

Day2/70

The inspiration for today and tomorrow came from a random Facebook post about a waterfall loop near Crossville/Cookville Tennessee, without any verification before last night-Ha!

I like to hike, and Rob likes to photograph waterfalls, so here we are.

Rob grabbed a sunrise photo before we headed out.

We left the camper around 8am with packed lunches, cooler, and layers.

First stop was Ozone Falls. Ozone Falls is a stunning, 110ft waterfall in Cumberland County, with an impressive rock amphitheater. Apparently it has “Jungle Book” filming fame. We were also able to walk behind the falls-cool! This was a short but rugged hike!

Next up was Stinging Fork Falls. This was a 1.9 mile moderate to challenging hike with beautiful waterfall! We had lunch sitting by the waterfall.

The 3rd Waterfall of the day was Piney Creek Upper Falls. This was another 1.8 challenging waterfall loop, including a hiking cable to help navigate the steep and rocky terrain.

We ran out of daylight and headed back to the campground. Rob grabbed a sunset photo before heading in for dinner.

We hardly saw any other hikers most of the day and had these waterfalls all to ourselves!

Packed lunch

Packed cooler

Creating a vibe with a Tennessee playlist!

Hiking sticks are really helpful!

Heading to Stinging Fork Falls

Trail ends at waterfall!

Stinging Fork Selfie!

Hiking poles are a must!

Piney Upper Falls Selfie!

Piney Upper Falls video

Piney Upper Falls video from behind the falls!

It was a very full, active day!

Trying hard!

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Jan 05 2026

Day 3/70

How to title today?

3 state parks + 9 waterfalls?

The Last 1/2 mile is always the worst?

Am I Skinny Yet?

Last night we had to unhook the RV from water because the temps overnight were below freezing.

We were up and out this morning by 7 with our packed lunches and cooler, ready to tackle more of the waterfall loop from the random fb post.

We drive about an hour up to Burgess Falls State Park. We were a little confused with the waterfall labeling, but got 3 waterfalls instead of one!

First Falls

Second Falls? Nope. Middle Falls.

Third Falls? Last Falls? Final Falls? Nope! Burgess Falls!

Pic back at Middle Falls because we forgot at Burgess Falls!

The we headed to Rock Island State Park. Very cool and unique place with waterfalls everywhere!

Rob behind waterfalls

Great Falls

We did a lot of hiking like this today…

Twin Falls

Swinging Bridge

Proof that beavers exist

US!

Then we headed to Fall Creek Falls State Park!

More hiking on rocks…

Along the trail

Finally made it to Fall Creek Falls!

Just before starting the last 1/2 mile back to the car

Taco Chicken ready in the crockpot when we got back!

Fall Creek Falls video.

Found another Tennessee playlist for today! Will Arkansas have such a thing??

Hiking was generally easier today, but we still had a very full day!

Tomorrow is travel day. Arkansas, here we come!

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Jan 06 2026

Day 4/70

Today was a travel day! We pulled out around 8am, travelled 345 miles including a stop at (another) Buccees and 2 rest areas, and pulled into the Memphis KOA Journey around 3pm (I even drove from Nashville to Memphis!)

To pass the time while driving we listened to a Mobituary podcast about Vaughn Meader, a JFK impersonator, listened to Nashville Hits playlist, Memphis playlist, Hamilton soundtrack, and Suessical soundtrack.

This KOA is…adequate. It’s right near the highway and railroad tracks with frequent trains. When we checked in they gave us ear plugs and asked us not to give them a bad rating because we chose this and there’s nothing they can do about the noise. So, you be the judge!

But it’s a pull through site with full hookups, so we’re happy.

We headed to the grocery to pick up a few items, and then went to check out the Wapanocca National Wildlife Refuge which is only a 10 minute drive from our campground. We were surprised with a gorgeous sunset and millions of migrating birds on the Mississippi Flyway Stopover.

We are excited to spend some time there tomorrow!

Look closely on the water and in the sky for all of the birds!

Gorgeous Nature Preserve!

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Jan 07 2026

Day 5/70

We had originally planned to explore Dale Bumpers White River National Refuge, but it was a long drive from our campground and the Wapanocca National Wildlife Refuge was just 10 minutes away, so we got there early for sunrise (cloudy, not so much sunrise as “first light”), and spent the morning exploring the property looking for birds and critters.

This morning we saw American Coot, Bald Cyprus Tree, Woody Pond, Eagles Nest and Juvenile Eagles, and of course thousands of Snow Geese migrating through the Mississippi Flyway (right where we are!)

American Coot

Bald Cyprus tree

Woody Pond

Eagle Nest

Snow Geese!!

We came back to camper for lunch, laundry, and leisure. Then headed back to the Wapanocca refuge for sunset where we saw a hawk, beaver, kingfisher, heron, snow geese, and another awesome sunset!

Hawk

Beaver swimming

Kingfisher (look closely…bright blue in middle of photo)

Heron

Snow Geese

Beaver

(Volume on) Snow Geese!!!

Sunset @ Wapanocca National Wildlife Refuge

Finished the day with BBQ pork nachos, BBQ Pok contesy of Caleb Kennedy who sent it with us on our trip!

Tomorrow is travel and adventure, as we head to Hot Springs National Park!

@Rventure

Jan 08 2026

Day 6/70

We got up early and drove back to Wapanocca National Wildlife Refuge for sunrise. The videos hardly do it justice, but the snow geese migration is truly impressive! Sound on if you watch the videos!

Sunrise @ Wapanocca National Wildlife Refuge, Arkansas

Snow Geese Migration stopover

Sunrise @ Wapanocca National Wildlife Refuge, Arkansas

Snow Geese Migration stopover

Sunrise @ Wapanocca National Wildlife Refuge, Arkansas

Bald Cyprus Trees

After sunrise, we packed up the camper and jeep and headed 183 miles to Hot Springs KOA and National Park.

Drivetime entertainment consisted of:

MUWE June 10, 2023 One For the Road concert recording

Sycamore Community Band Fall 2025 recording

Fun Facts about Hot Springs National Park Podcast (I’m not sure Im a podcast person but I keep trying!)

We arrived at the campground and had a whole loop to ourselves!

We headed out about 1pm to check out all things Hot Springs. Started at the visitor center.

Walked the Grand Promenade…

…to the Hot Water Cascade

We filled up gallon jugs with thermal spring water, just like the locals do

We drove the Hot Springs Mountain and North Mountain Loop scenic drive and hiked our own Goat Rock Trail Loop.

We finished the Hit Springs adventure with the West Mountain Scenic Drive stopping at the summit for sunset.

Tomorrow is one of our longer travel days. 427 miles to Breckenridge, Texas!

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Jan 09 2026

Day 7, 1/8/2026

Today was a LONG travel day! We got up and left before sunrise to drive 427 miles from Hot Springs, AR to Breckenridge, TX, with a lot of strong winds, but thankfully no rain or storms.

We made it to Texas via Texarkana

And stopped at our 3rd Buc-ee’s of our trip in Royce City

Apparently for Texans, planning ahead is a way of life… even when it comes to bomb shelters!

When one flag is simply not enough…

We traveled through Dallas…

Dallas

…and Fort Worth…

Fort Worth

…and The Home of Crazy…

Mineral Wells

…passing exits for Friendship, Fate, and Hope…

…and finally arriving in Breckenridge!

Our KOA Campground comes with a pet bison named Boudreaux!

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Jan 10 2026

Day 8/70

1/9/2026

We’ve been “on the road” for a week now! We’ve driven 1605 miles, been in 4 states and 3 time zones!

Today we traveled 341 miles from Breckenridge, TX to Carlsbad, NM.

Seen along our route today…calling all conspiracy theorists, what is this??

We made it to New Mexico, The Land of Enchantment!

We made it to our campground, Carlsbad KOA

And were greeted by this guy from Roswell:

After getting settled at the campground, we headed out in the jeep to find Sitting Bull Falls in the Lincoln National Forest in the Chihauhuan Desert.

Open Range Cow

Close Range Cow

(Video) Sitting Bull Falls, Lincoln National Forest, Chihuahua Desert

Sitting Bull Falls, Lincoln National Forest, Chihuahua Desert

On the drive back to the campground we spotted a rainbow!

And caught the sunset!

We ordered burgers from the KOA kitchen for dinner. It’s chilly here at 7:00pm MT at 43 degrees, and will get below freezing overnight.

We are here until Wednesday, 1/14, and plan to explore Carlsbad Caverns NP, Guadalupe Mountains NP, and any alien activity happening around here LOL

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Jan 11 2026

Day 9

1/10/2026

Cave Hiking Day!

Left camper in the jeep around 8:30am MT and drive 50 minutes to Carlsbad Caverns. Had to get a Timed-Entry slot online prior for $2 for both of us, our timed-entry was 9:30am.

We had listened to a podcast by Dear Bob and Sue, and they recommended hiking the Natural Entrance route to the Big Room, \240so that’s what we did. The Natural Entrance route is a self-guiding tour for 1.25 miles, descending 750 feet, the Big Room route is another 1.25 miles self-guided, and took us about 2.5 hours to complete both.

We liked self guiding, and it was a very quiet hike. The timed-entry and time of year, made it not crowded at all and a very nice experience. It’s very “other worldly” down there. We were impressed with how much work and effort had been made over the years to make it accessible to everyone! This includes the elevator ride back up 750 feet in just under a minute!

This was not another Mammoth Cave, a different experience entirely, and totally worth it!

We have many photos, and photos don’t do it justice, but we’ll share just a few!

Whales Mouth

Fairyland

Mirror Lake

After the cave hike and gift shop, we hiked 2 short hikes up top:

The Chihauhuan Desert Nature Trail, we didn’t see any rattle snakes or scorpions.

Chihauhuan Nature Trail

But we did see this!

White Crowned Sparrow

And the Walnut Canyon Vista Trail, where we did in fact see a vista

Back at the camper around 3:30 and we finally got the Blackstone out to meal prep:

Bacon for breakfast tomorrow

Chicken for future meals

Pizza for dinner tonight!

Is supposed to be really cold tonight, lows in the 20s, so we unhooked our water hose and will just use water from our fresh water tank overnight. We plan to look for a heated hose when we find a Walmart!

Tomorrow we are truly planning a day of rest, a day without leaving the campground or high adventure!

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Jan 12 2026

Day 10/70

1/11/26

Not all things go as expected!

Below freezing temps last night and we woke up to no water in the camper (frozen) -not expected! But things thawed out by noon and water was back. Phew!

We had French toast and bacon for breakfast-yum!

We watched church on tv inside the camper at our time 8:30am MT, Cinti time 10:30am. Great sermon, Noah!

How did we do that? We have a roku for the tv, and we have Starlink for internet:

When we arrived on Friday and put out the bedroom slide, I found this on the floor:

-not expected! But today Rob figured out where it goes and figured out how to put it back so the slide will continue to work! Phew! He’s so handy!

We drive into town for groceries and tried to stop at a wildlife refuge on the way. Not much wildlife seeking refuge at this time.

Carlsbad National Wildlife Refuge

We picked up necessary items at the grocery, and also stopped to buy a heated hose to get us through anymore below freezing nights on our travels.

Spotted at the grocery:

Spotted in the grocery parking lot

We grilled up potatoes and peppers and made chicken rice bowls, plenty for several meals. Yum!

Sunset at the campground:

Guadalupe Mountains National Park tomorrow!

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Jan 13 2026

Day 11/70

1/12/2026

Roswell Welcome sign

Aliens and Nature day!

After sunrise…

…and laundry…

…we decided to head to Roswell, NM to search for aliens! Of course we needed a playlist!

The town has embraced its 1946 claim to fame!

Finding no actual Aliens, we headed to Bottomless Lakes State Park, a series of sinkholes, and apparently “bottomless” is only 90 feet!

Greater Yellowlegs

After the state park, we headed to Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge, where we saw so many birds!

Bufflehead

Loggerhead Shrike

Northern Shovelers

Northern Pintail

Pied Billed Grebe

Cinnamon Teal

Rock Wren

Sandhill Cranes flying in (sound on)

Sandhill Cranes watching the sunset

Sunset

Bitter Lakes National Wildlife Refuge

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Jan 14 2026

Day 12/70

1/13/2026

Back into Texas for Guadalupe Mountains National Park Day!

We started at McKittrick Canyon Natire Trail.

The trail

Western Bluebird

Cedar Waxwing

Then went to Frijole Ranch and the Manzanuta Spring Trail with all of these birds!

Sage Thrasher

Acorn Woodpecker

Stellar’s Jay

Lesser Goldfinch

Then we went to the Pine Springs Visitor Center and the Pinery Trail.

Then to Guadalupe Point Viewpoint for sunset

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Jan 15 2026

Day 13/70

1/14/2026

Today was a travel day from Carlsbad, NM to Alamogordo, NM.

The shortest route was 127 miles, but through the mountains with incline issues. So we went 261 miles instead to take the flattest overall route through El Paso.