April 2, 2024 — Van Go is packed – to the hilt – and we are ready to start our new adventure. “Go West young man…” or maybe middle aged man and wife!

The first day has beautiful weather and traffic is fine, with the exception of Atlanta. Nothing new there. Headed towards Birmingham. We were going to arrive a little earlier than expected, so I searched for something of interest to see along the way. Lo and Behold, in Anniston, AL is the World’s Largest Office Chair. A turn off the interstate and we arrived at our first SIGHT of the trip.

We arrived at our Harvest Host destination – Waidsworld in Trussville, AL. Steve met us on his driveway and directed us to park on the turnaround. A very large tree overhanging the driveway gave us second thoughts. A big storm was expected overnight with high winds. On second thought, he directed us to a place on the grass with nothing hanging above us.

He and his wife Debbie were delightful hosts. We talked for a good while then walked their lovely neighborhood. After settling in for the night, we got an invite to come for coffee in the morning. The “scarecast” was just that – hardly any rain overnight and only light winds. In the morning, we shared some danish with them, and we talked for quite some time. They have done a lot of RV and motorcycle traveling, and shared many of their adventures. Talked longer than we expected, but then neither Ed nor Steve were short on stories.

Last summer we got itchy feet and decided to have another travel adventure. After accomplishing America’s Great Loop, seeing the Eastern third of the United States and Canada by water, a voyage that took 14 months and over 6,000 water miles, we decided we haven’t seen enough of the western United States. 

We decided the way to see our western states was in a small RV. I didn’t like the thought of a large RV and the thought of towing a car, so our thoughts migrated to smaller Class B RVs. (Small wasn’t a problem, we had lived for almost two years on a cruising motor yacht. Looking around on manufacturers web sites, joining FaceBook groups, talking to RV friends (some are former boat owners), accosting RV owners at campgrounds and in parking lots, we decided to look for a Travato, manufactured by Winnebago. 

Once we decided on a Travato I had to decide on which year I wanted. Every year manufacturers upgrade, update, add new features, or offer new models. After finding a list of Travato features and specifications by model year I decided on a 2020.5 model or newer. Our search for our RV was made simpler when I found a Facebook group entitled Travato Owners and Wannabees. This group had a wealth of information on the RV, where people are traveling with them, problems they have encountered, remedies for these situations, and Travatos for sale. To shorten the story, we located some, went to look at a few, decided on one in Asheville, and drove it home in late July.

This blog will be the adventures of VanGo. Like our America’s Great Loop blog we will chronicle our travels, sights, people we meet, and fun while we’re searching for a starry, starry night.