Editor’s Note: This post is written by a member of LTV’s sponsored content team, The Leisure Explorers. Do you own a Leisure Travel Van and enjoy writing? Learn more about joining the team.
On May 21, 2024, after completing our tour of the National Parks in northeastern Arizona, southwestern Colorado, and Utah, we left our Leisure Travel Van friends at Zion National Park. We started north on Route 15, then Interstate 80, east toward Long Island, New York.
Mary Ann and I love to travel with our fellow Leisure Travel Van owners, but we can’t help feeling sad and lonely continuing our travels after an LTV caravan has ended. We miss the camaraderie, company, and fun of traveling with our LTV family.
In this first part of our journey, we drove through Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, and the western part of Iowa. There is never a dull moment when traveling in an RV. Between the beautiful scenery and the unpredictable weather, there is never time to fall asleep at the wheel.
We stopped for the night in northern Utah at Deer Creek State Park. The park was situated on a mountain lake and offered beautiful views of the lake and the mountains. The next day, we continued north to Interstate 80 East.
After connecting with Interstate 80 East, we saw a sign for Flaming Gorge Scenic Byway and decided to detour on the less traveled road. We don’t like to get reservations when traveling in our Leisure Travel Van; we prefer the freedom of choosing when and where we explore and stop for the night. Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area seemed like just the place for us.
While at Flaming Gorge, a park ranger stopped by our campsite to let us know a winter storm was going to be passing through and that we should reconsider going any further into the mountains since several inches of snow were predicted. We decided instead to go back to Interstate 80 in the morning. So we took his advice and continued back to Interstate 80 east the next day.
Back on Interstate 80 East, the winter storm caught up to us with high winds and snow that sometimes made it difficult to see. It’s late May, but it looked and felt like February. After driving through the snowstorm for a good part of the day, we stopped for the night at FE Warren Air Force Base, Cheyenne, Wyoming.
The next morning, it was cold, near freezing, but the sun was shining, and we continued on Interstate 80 east and then south into Colorado to have lunch with one of Mary Ann’s many cousins. It seems like Mary Ann has a cousin in every state of the Union.
After lunch in Colorado, we went back to Interstate 80 east. We saw a sign for Jumbo Reservoir State Wildlife Area and decided to check it out as a possible free camping opportunity. We got off Interstate 80 and headed south back into Colorado.
Mary Ann and I love camping in National Forests and Bureau of Land Management land because it’s usually secluded, with no one else around, and, of course, free. Jumbo Reservoir State Wildlife Area didn’t disappoint us. If you are wondering how we find these little gems, we have several phone apps that provide the locations and any pertinent information and signs for these places on the road. Our favorite phone apps are Campendium and Allstays.
The next day, we returned to I-80 and continued east through Nebraska. When we crossed into Nebraska, the weather changed, and now we’re being chased by several tornadoes! We stopped for the night in York, Nebraska, at York Kampground.
The park was easy to access from Interstate 80 and got four stars out of five in the reviews on Campendium. The park was clean, and the staff was very helpful. The camp host told us to be prepared for severe weather and to listen for tornado sirens through the night. He said, “I would send you on down the road, but there’s no place for you to go, and you won’t outrun the storms.” He placed us next to the bathrooms since that was the only building strong enough to resemble a storm shelter.
We slept with our clothes on and closely watched the local radar. Mary Ann put together a “go bag” in preparation for an emergency, and we needed to leave our LTV for the safety of the campground bathrooms. The “go bag” contained important insurance papers, a change of clothes, food and water, a flashlight, and keys–everything we could think of that we might need in case a tornado struck us. High winds made our LTV shake through the night, but every time the approaching line of thunderstorms got close to our location, all of a sudden, the storms would dissipate, which resulted in Mary Ann and I thanking and praising God!
The next morning, we continued east on Interstate 80. It was a very windy day with head winds that made it difficult to keep our LTV on the road. We normally get around 17-19 miles per gallon, but the high winds reduced that to 14-16 miles per gallon. The high winds also reduced our speed.
We were also experiencing a shaking in our steering column, and the passenger-side front tire was showing unusual wear since our Leisure Travel Van now had around 100,000 miles on it. I knew we were going to have to stop somewhere along this journey to have the front end realigned and the struts and shocks replaced. But for now, we will continue on down the road.
We stopped for the night in Clive, Iowa, at a Cracker Barrel and stayed for free. I went into the restaurant and asked permission to park for the night, and I was given directions where to park our rig behind the store. We were the only ones there when we first parked our LTV, but it wasn’t long before other rigs began pulling into the parking lot to spend the night, giving us plenty of company. The winds continued through the night, shaking our LTV back and forth.
The next morning, we ate breakfast at Cracker Barrel to thank you for the free overnight stop. The winds had finally died down, making driving easier as we continued on Interstate 80 east.
In part two of our road trip from Utah to Long Island, New York, we will return to Interstate 80 and continue east through Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. Until next time, safe journey, my friends.
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