When we tell people that we are fulltime RVers, one question they frequently ask us is what is our favorite place in the country. That’s like asking a parent which child is their favorite.
We have so many “favorites” that I could never choose just one. One winter Terry and I made our first visit to the Texas Gulf Coast, and fell in love with the area around Fulton/Rockport and Port Aransas. We have been back several times and always enjoy it.
We lived in Arizona for most of our adult lives, and the desert has a certain beauty that delights us. Until you have watched an Arizona sunset, seen a sky filled with more stars than you could ever count, and been serenaded by coyotes as you fall asleep in the desert, you have not really lived.
We spent last summer on the Pacific Northwest coast, a wonderland of forest, rock, and water that we never get enough of. From the tip of Washington’s Olympic Peninsula to the mouth of the Columbia River, and further south to the wonders of the Oregon coast, we love every inch of it.
A couple of months ago we returned to Morro Bay, California, where we honeymooned eighteen years ago and relived our memories as we strolled along the Embarcadero, drank in the salt air, and enjoyed the views of the rock monolith that dominates the bay.
You can see a thousand photographs of Mount Rushmore, but you still cannot comprehend the size of those sculptures until you see them in person. Visit South Dakota’s Black Hills once, and I guarantee that you’ll return again.
And there are plenty of wonderful places in the Midwest and further east. The little river towns along the Mississippi River in Missouri have mostly fallen on hard economic times but they have a charm that we remember fondly. We’ll never forget driving along the back roads of the Ozarks one spring when the dogwoods were in bloom and we passed mile after mile of scenes that took our breath away.
We love the architecture of the East, with those magnificent old buildings that were built back in the days when craftsmen put part of their heart and soul into every project. Give me a 150 year old structure over the fanciest new glass and steel building anytime.
I’ll always remember walking Boston’s Freedom Trail, touring the museums of Washington, D.C., and watching the Atlantic’s waves crashing over the rocks at Thunder Hole in Maine’s Acadia National Park.
The South has its own beauty and personality. We love the mountains of Tennessee, the swamps of Florida, and the beaches along the Gulf Coast from Panama City, Florida to Gulfport, Mississippi.
Did I mention New Orleans? Hurricanes and hard times will never keep the Crescent City down, and we have spent many happy hours listening to jazz in the French Quarter. But let’s not forget the sparkling waters of Grand Traverse Bay in Michigan, or the wild Upper Peninsula. Or the grand old towns along the Ohio River. Or the magnificent Hudson River Valley. Or the blue bonnets blooming along the roadsides in the Texas Hill Country. The list goes on and on.
There are so many places we have fallen in love with and can’t wait to get back to again. Still, if we do, what about those other places we have yet to discover? When will we have time for them? Choose just one “favorite” place? It can’t be done!
I know you’re all busy with the holidays, but be sure to enter our latest Free Drawing. This week’s prize is an audiobook of Dog’s Run, my mystery novel set in a small town in Ohio in 1951. Many people tell me it’s my best book ever, and I have to agree. To enter, all you have to do is click on this Free Drawing link or the tab at the top of this page and enter your name in the comments section at the bottom of that page (not this one). Only one entry per person per drawing please, and you must enter with your real name. To prevent spam or multiple entries, the names of cartoon or movie characters are not allowed. The winner will be drawn Sunday evening.
Thought For The Day – Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
I love the pristine mountain lakes of north central Tennessee where nothing has changed since Dan’l Boone walked the hills and you can get in a boat and go around one point and watch deer watch you and eagles soar and foxes come down to the shore to water their kits and otters play and not se another human all day long. While I know you like to get off the 4 lanes I always want another trip up I-15 from Vegas and across I-70 over the continental divide toward Denver. mule deer, mountain goats, big horn sheep and gorgeous mountains..
Great response! We get asked this question a lot and I never know how to answer. There’s beauty all over the US and every spot is unique in some way.
How about the Crazy Horse Memorial in the Black Hills, just 17 miles from Mount Rushmore? The heads at Mount Rushmore are just 60 feet tall and all four of those faces would fit in part of the 87.5 feet tall head of the Native American Chief Crazy Horse who was in the battle of the Little Big Horn aka Greasy Grass?