PART 1 - Nashville, TN through Texas
In July 2022, we embarked upon a journey that would change our lives. Our sweet daughter, Meredith, was selected by Make-A-Wish to receive the wish of her choice during her battle with Leukemia. She had a variety of choices, but ultimately she chose camping in the Grand Canyon. To make her wish a reality, Make-A-Wish gifted our family a Gulfstream Conquest 197bh travel trailer. You can read all about her Wish Day and the camper here.
This post is about the trip itself. I will be covering how I planned our Great Grand Canyon RV Adventure in a future post.
Day 1
We started out from our hometown of Nashville, TN. We traveled through Memphis, TN to Little Rock, AR.
Our first stop - Little Rock, Arkansas
Maumelle
9009 Pinnacle Valley Rd, Little Rock, AR 72223
Maumelle was a lovely park with spacious campsites. My biggest tip would be to try to get a river view campsite. The only downside is that they have alot of geese and they leave little geese droppings all over the place. We opted for site not on the river, but where we could see the river in the morning. This way we could enjoy the view without the bugs and geese. I would also recommend not walking around there at night without a lantern, flashlight, or headlamp. My husband almost fell down an unmarked manhole that was in the woods while he was walking to the bathhouse!
Day 2
The next morning we packed up the camper and headed to Oklahoma. When we travel, we try to stop at all the state-line welcome centers. Not only for that always needed restroom break, but also for information and photo opps. Some states offer a free souvenir such as a pin, sticker, or USA passport book. The Oklahoma Welcome Center on I-40 is one of nicest I have ever experienced. Not only was it clean, but they had a gift shop and some of the nicest people working that we met the entire trip. I would highly recommend stopping there if you are in the area.
Bridgeport, Oklahoma
Territory Route 66 RV Park & Campgrounds
14144 Old 66 Road, Bridgeport, OK 73047
This was our favorite RV park for so many reasons. First of all, it was located on Route 66! The other reasons included spacious campsites, a beautiful view of the sunset, and retro, industrial decorated, clean bathhouses. Oklahoma was not a state I was looking forward to visiting, but staying here changed my mind.
Day 3
On day three, as we traveled from Oklahoma through Texas to our stop in New Mexico for the night, we couldn’t resist making many stops on Route 66.
Our first Route 66 stop was at the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum in Clinton, Oklahoma. I wish I could say that is was a pleasant visit, but it wasn’t. You can read my full review of it here.
Our second stop was a yet another Route 66 museum! The National Route 66 Museum boasts the World’s Largest Route 66 Sign. This museum was super cute and had a little old west village surrounding it.
Throughout the day we drove by many old Route 66 businesses and attractions. I wish I would’ve allowed more time each day to really explore some of these attractions. However, we were on a mission to drive get to the Grand Canyon in four days, so we had to move along.
One of the most well known places we stopped was the Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, TX.
It was a fun stop, but busy. You must park on the side of the road and walk down a long road to get there. Apparently, many people come there to spray paint on the vehicles. As you can see above, they are located in mud. Some people waded in the water to paint, but we had no interest in getting dirty.
Amarillo was our last stop in Texas before entering into New Mexico. Please look for my next post Our Great Grand Canyon RV Adventure- Part 2 to read about New Mexico and the Grand Canyon. It should be out soon!
Until Next Time My Friends!
Have A Magical Day!
