Tonelli's Travels

The adventure has officially begun! Yesterday I picked up my home away from home at Flagg RV in Uxbridge, MA. The Winnebago Solis is finally here and ready to safely take me to explore the country. Yippee! It was a long several weeks of waiting for the registration, inspection, and prep work to be complete, and it is finally done. I drove there early in the morning to meet my parents and learn all about how to use the vehicle and it’s systems. The staff was extremely helpful. They are great teachers if I do say so myself! After about 2 hours, I got the keys and drove out of the lot, ready to pack up and prepare to hit the road the following day. If you couldn’t tell, we were eager to get going.

The Solis is a great adventure mobile. It has sleeping room for four with it pop-up top, a small bathroom with a toilet and shower, a sink, two burner propane stove, and a mini fridge. I am all set! If you’re interested, you can check out additional details here.

While it also has lots of storage, packing and organizing a 19’9” van/home for 8 weeks was hard work! Fortunately, I enjoy the challenge of packing light. On my last several trips, my goal has been to only bring a carry-on (even four 3 weeks in South America) and so far I have succeeded each time! So, this challenge was the next level and I was ready for it! I’ve got all the gluten free, soy free goodies stored, several books to read, all my hiking gear, and a few stuffed animals to keep me company. I’ll do a van tour at some point in the near future!

For those wondering, The Boys (Timmy, Tommy, and Chester) are comfy at home in my apartment. A dear friend is taking care of them while I’m away, bringing them fresh greens from her garden every day. They will be in good hands.

Also, the baby pigeon hatched and has flown the coop, so all is well there too. The pigeon parents, Jeff and Jenny, who nested on my balcony, took good care of the squeaker (apparently that’s what baby pigeons are called!). Check out the pictures below to see how the squeaker grew. Its appearance at first was quite surprising!

So, with all my furry friends in good hands, and the RV in my possession, I am off on the first long adventure. My parents and I left this morning to start our trek west, with our furthest destination being Glacier National Park in Montana. We have many days to go and miles to drive, but our caravan made good distance today.

Despite being the largest vehicle I’ve ever driven, the Solis is easy to maneuver. I feel very high up, and often as though I am speeding when I’m barely doing the speed limit, but I’m getting used to it. Following my parents in their motorhome has been easy so far as we’ve been largely on highways.

We traveled through three states today, Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania, logging 301 miles. For my followers who love maps, or may just want to track me, we took 90 West to 87 South to 84 West to 81 South and 80 West. Fun fact, did you know all east-west interstates are even numbered while all north-south interstates are odd numbered? Also, I found out that there is no I-50 or I-60! Apparently, when President Eisenhower commissioned the building of the interstate system, it was decided that the east-west interstates would start with the low numbers in the southern part of the country increasing as they went north. To avoid confusion between the new interstate system and the existing US routes, no I-50 or I-60 were created. If they had been, they likely would have crossed the same states as the US routes, causing a lot of confusion and lost drivers! Always learning!

As we’ve driven, rolling green mountains and vast farmland have lined the highways through each state. Little blue and white flowers have been dotted the roadside, bringing me joy. A good playlist and podcast have been my friends.

Tonight we are staying in a Cracker Barrel in Buckhorn, PA. They allow RVs to stay overnight for free! It’s level, clean, and quiet. The view is pretty nice for a parking lot too.

This is the unceeded land of the Susquehannock tribe. (If you are curious about the land you live on or visit, check out this website and enter your location). They lived along the lower Susquehannock River and were masterful canoe builders. The indigenous peoples in this tribe created large towns and lived in longhouses as a close knit community. The were agriculturalists in addition to fishing and controlling the fur trade for a century. There are no known surviving tribe members today, but the history of Pennsylvania is forever indebted to the practices and goodsthe Susquehannock people shared and traded. More information can be found here.

Tonight we ate a delicious dinner of scallops and salmon (my parents are well versed in this road trip/RV life!) and are resting up for another day of travel tomorrow. So far everything has felt very safe. We are very aware that we are traveling in the middle of a pandemic and making sure to take precautions to protect ourselves and others from COVID-19. We are privileged to be largely self-contained on our travels. When we do go into public spaces, we always wear masks, wash our hands, and carry hand sanitizer. We will continue to stay informed about the situation in each location and adjust accordinly.

Feel free to add comments below, ask me questions, or let me know what you’d like to learn more about! Thanks for joining me virtually on this year of travel and reflection.