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It’s officially Fall! It definitely doesn’t fe It’s officially Fall! It definitely doesn’t feel like it in Miami, it really never does but that just gives us a reason to explore other states. West Virginia is one of them, fun fact I actually lived here between undergrad and grad school! Here are Things to do in West Virginia (SAVE + SHARE): 

1. Enjoy New River Gorge National Park & Preserve, or visit any of the states 35 state parks as West Virginia has 1.5 million acres of parks and public land. We personally walked the Shavers Lake Trail and canoed on the lake. 

2. Enjoy some serious adventures! We’re always trying something new and West Virginia offers a lot of options from whitewater rafting, to 1,000+ miles of off-road ATV trails, to rock climbing, caving and mountain biking . 

3. Take a train ride on the Cass Scenic Railroad which stops at the Whittaker Camp where those who worked in the lumber and coal industry lived during the work season. 

4. Explore Cranberry Glades Botanical Area where you might just get to see some black bears! 

5. Walk the Falls of Hills Creak trail to get up close to some gorgeous waterfalls! 

This week I’ll be sharing various cities and states you can experience a beautiful Fall getaway. What are some of your favorite places to enjoy autumn?

Tap the link in my bio for my West Virginia blog post and a blog post of the best places to experience Fall in the US!
Still not over our day exploring the waters of For Still not over our day exploring the waters of Fort Pierce. We danced, snorkeled, fished and went tubing. Definitely want more days like this and still pinch myself that this is what a day of work looks like for me sometimes. Thank you @seadoo for the opportunity.
If you know my husband you know water activities a If you know my husband you know water activities are his favorite! Fishing, jet skiing, just being on a boat on the ocean relaxing, name it, he’s there. So we couldn’t be more excited than to not only get the chance to test out the new @seadoo Switch but be the stars of a whole commercial for it. We had entirely too much fun filming this. Of course now he wants to buy one!

Do you like getting out on the water? Favorite activity?
Our 3 Day London Itinerary (SAVE + SHARE): 

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Day 1: Walked across the Tower Bridge (you can take a tour of London of Tower as well), walked along the River Thames and took a make a fascination hat class with @create_your_own_hat! 

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Day 2: Harry Potter walking tour, checked out Borough Market and went on a night ghost bus tour. 

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Day 3: Morning Tea at Peggy Porschen, Buckingham Palace for Changing of the Guards, and explore Westminster for the infamous red telephone booths, Big Ben and Westminster Abbey.

If you have more time on previous visits to London we have taken a day trip to check out Stonehenge, Bath and Windsor Castle, rode the London Eye, took a ferry ride down the Thames River, checked out Warner Brother Studios, and did a graffiti/street art tour.

Is London on your list? If you’ve been what did you do that you think is a must for visitors?

Things to do in London, London with kids, family travel
Then vs Now (swipe left)!🥹🥰 My babies are no Then vs Now (swipe left)!🥹🥰 My babies are not babies anymore. Where has the time gone? Excuse me while I go cry in the corner 😭😭😭😭. 

Too in my feelings to provide an informational post, I’ll be back tomorrow.
Why is this man always trying to stop my fun? List Why is this man always trying to stop my fun? Listen replace husband with whoever you need to but why these ppl keep acting like we can take our money when we’re gone?!? Y’all feel me or nah? 😅😬😩
Morning Tea in London! Afternoon or High Tea is us Morning Tea in London! Afternoon or High Tea is usually on everyone’s things to do in London list but since the girls and I don’t eat beef or pork the menus for most places didn’t make sense for us as they are filled with ham sandwiches and other things we don’t eat. I ended up finding Morning Tea at Peggy Porschen instead which offers a tea menu with breakfast items, while not traditional it worked best for us! It cost £35 pp.

For a traditional Afternoon or High Tea Try:

🫖Palm Court at The Ritz
🫖The Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon at Fortnum & Mason
🫖Theatre Royal Drury Lane
🫖The Grill Room Hotel Cafe Royal (has vegetarian an vegan options)
🫖Coronation Afternoon Tea at Cellarium, Westminster Abbey
🫖The Rosebery Coronation Afternoon Tea at Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park
🫖The Goring Hotel

Afternoon Teas Geared Towards Families:

☕️Peter Pan Afternoon Tea at Aqua at The Shard
☕️Jurassic Afternoon Tea at the Ampersand Hotel
☕️Jungle Book Afternoon Tea at Brown’s Hotel
☕️Secret Garden Afternoon Tea at Taj 51
☕️The Buzzy Bees Afternoon Tea at St. Ermin’s Hotel
☕️Grover’s Children’s Tea at Grosvenor House Hotel
☕️The Peppa Pig Afternoon Tea Bus Tour
☕️Sherlock Holmes Inspired Afternoon Tea at the Mind Palace
☕️Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Tea at One Aldwych
☕️Mad Hatter Afternoon Tea at The Sanderson
☕️Wizard of Oz Afternoon Tea at The Soho Hotel

Have you done a proper Afternoon or High Tea in London before? Was the one you did on this list, if so what did you think of it? If you have additional recommendations please do leave a comment!

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6 Tips for First Time RVers

December 15, 2018      Travel Tips, Trip Planning Tips

This post contains affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small commission at no cost to you. Please see our disclosure policy for more information. All opinions are my own.

While we’ve traveled a lot we’d never had the pleasure of taking a Southwest RV trip through Arizona and Utah. As excited as we were we knew it would be different than any other trip we’ve been on and might call for more preparation. Here are some things we learned planning and during on our trip that will be useful for other first time RVers.

You Don’t Have to Buy an RV to Get the RV Experience, Just Rent One!

Did you know you could have an RV experience without owning an RV? Renting an RV is really simple! We rented ours from Outdoorsy, it’s like an Airbnb for RVs. The process was easy and the owner we rented from told us everything we needed to know before we drove off. We recorded what he said and showed so we could reference back on in case we forgot something on the road. You can sign up here to save $50 on your first rental.

This trip was in partnership with Go RVing. All opinions are my own and true!

Average Cost of Renting an RV

  • Class A: $175 to $275 per night
  • Class B: $100 to $200 per night
  • Class C: $150 to $200 per night

The Different Types of RVs and How to Choose the Right RV for You

There are three different types of RV: Class A, Class B, and Class C.

Class A RVs are the biggest ones and resemble coach buses. In all honesty they probably aren’t the best option for first timers unless you’re used to driving tour buses or tractor-trailers.

Class B RVs are camper vans. They are sprinter vans that have been converted into a living space. This means the bathrooms and walking space is extremely tight. Your shower and toilet will be in the same space and the max sleeping capacity is typically two people.

We rented a Class C RV. It is a motorhome on the chasse of a truck or a van. They provide a good amount of space and come with multiple beds, dining table and full bathroom. Here’s a glimpse of the one we rented but you check out more on what vacationing in an RV looks like.

In addition to the motorhome RV’s there are also 5th wheel RVs. These are motorhomes that you pull with a truck and the home cannot be accessed from your vehicle.

Do You Need a Special License to Drive an RV?

In most states RVs weighing under 26,000 pounds don’t require a special license. Be Class A RVs are the only ones that could potentially weigh more than 26,000 pounds so if you plan on driving a Class B or C RV you should be find. You can double check with the states DMV for updated information and these rules sometimes change. Search below for RV rentals in your area.

 

Know The Height of Your RV

Why is knowing the height of your RV important? Depending on where you are driving you may have to go through tunnels or drive under bridges. Your hood scraping the ceiling and you getting stuck is not the time to learn your RV is taller than the height limit. While driving through Zion National Park there is a tunnel that RVs over a certain height can only go through during certain times of the day. If you need to drive through and miss the cut off time the roundabout way adds 2 hours on to your journey!

Making RV Camp Reservations: Do You Really Need To and What Type of Spot Should You Reserve?

I am a big planner so naturally I wanted to make sure we had all of our RV camp reservations secured before getting on the road. Was this really necessary? I think it depends on when and where you are going.

We traveled out West in late November when the weather starts to get very cold. While the weather meant there were less RVers and making a reservation wasn’t really necessary to get a spot it also meant not all RV camps were open. When calling some closer to Bryce Canyon I discovered they were closed for the season. Had I not called ahead to make a reservation we could have been left in a situation of having spotty cell phone service making it difficult to find another RV camp to stay at. The nearest one open one was actually 90 minutes away so I’m really happy we planned ahead.

When making your reservation some parks will give you the option of a pull-through or back in spot. Always go with the pull-through, they are much easier to get in and out of.

Some RV parks have different hook up options. When booking your RV Park you need to know if your RV is 30 or 50amp to make sure you book the correct spot. Some RVs do come with an adaptor to hook up to either but many don’t so make sure ahead of time if you’ll need one or not.

Know Where You Can Replenish Your Propane Along Your Route

Depending on the RV you have your stove and central air including the heat may run on propane only. This means even if you are hooked up to electricity without propane you will not be able to cook or stay warm in the winter. Filling up the propane in an RV can only be done by a professional and not all propane refill stations service RVs. It’s imperative you know where you can fill up alone your route or you could be hungry or freezing!

Double Check Your Destination Has RV Parking

If you’re not pulling a fifth and have a true motor like us parking can be a little tough in some locations. Make sure each of your destinations has parking for RVs. Even if they do space might be limited so always give yourself extra time to find parking in case you have to go to a different RV parking lot.

These tips should help make your first RV trip one without many hiccups. One thing we learned was the RV community is very helpful. When in doubt just ask a fellow RVer and they will gladly assist you. Enjoy your first RV trip and good luck with not wanting to immediately purchase one when you get back home! We loved our first RV trip so much we ended up going on a two more a few months later. The second time around we did a California road trip visiting Huntington Beach, Oceanside and Anza Borrego Park. Our most recent RV trip was a Nevada road trip, read that itinerary here.

Apps to Help Before/While RVing

You May be Interested in Reading: 18 Best RV Apps for Trip Planning, Navigation & More

FreeRoam: Provides information on free RV camp locations and overnight parking. It also shares information on regular RV campgrounds. It shows reviews and gives ratings on how crowded they are, cell reception, safety and ease of access.

Gasbuddy: This app shows the lowest gas prices in your area. You can even search based on brand and type of gas. When planning, its trip cost calculator comes in handy for budgeting.

RV Checklist: Helps with pre-road trip preparation and packing. It offers checklists that are great for first-time RVers who don’t know where to start.

Free Zone Wi-Fi: This app provides information on 5 million hotspots in the U.S., maps to guide you there and automatic notifications when you’re in range of a signal.

Coverage: Depending on where your RV adventures take you, you’ll quickly learn all roads are not created equally when it comes to cell service. This app provides a complete cellular coverage map for popular carriers across the United States.

Did you find this article helpful? Please share it if you did!

The Traveling Child is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca. Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.

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Comments

  1. Tondra Denise says

    December 16, 2018 at 5:44 pm

    Monet!! This is so awesome! One of my most memorable vacations was (summer of 4th grade) the year I took a road trip with my grandparents visiting over 7 states! I have YET to convince my husband and teenage children that this is an experience they need in their lives… but your post may help. Thanks for sharing your adventures.

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Hi! We’re The Hambricks

Hi! We’re The Hambricks

If kids live there, kids can visit! That's our motto and you'll often find us exploring destinations most don't find "kid friendly". We've traveled to 35 countries on 6 continents with our children since they were 10 weeks old and share tips to make it easier and affordable. But mom and dad are people too so we also write about solo travel, baecations and girlfriend getaways.

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