Filling the map...
When you want to buy something, you know you are dealing with the right place when the company's employees don't just sell the product, they actually USE it. That's how it is at Driftwood RV Center with many of us being avid RV'ers. Recently, Driftwood RV Center Marketing/IT director John Worthington and his family achieved a milestone that many life-long RV'ers work toward, they have now camped in all 48 contiguous states!
The quest to visit each state in their RV started in August, 2001 when John retired from a 22 year career in newspaper editing and management. They bought a small travel trailer (and later a Class C Motorhome) and set out with their three children on a few short trips before heading to Disney World in Florida. They were hooked, and John came out of retirement to work in the RV industry. While in the Parts and Accessories store one day, his wife Dianne purchased one of those stick-on maps, the type where you add each state as you visit. The next summer they took a trip to the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone National Park and the map began filling up. Somewhere along the way, they decided that it would be fun to try to visit all of the lower 48 states with their RV.
Recently, with a trip to New Orleans and Mississippi, the journey was completed. Along the way they have stayed at hundreds of campgrounds, visited scores of National Parks and Historic Sites and seen uncounted places of interest amassing more than 50,000 RVing miles.
While their children, who were 11, 9 and 5 when they started, have grown, they have been able to see much of the country, learn its culture and its heritage. Photos from their trips, set into Power Point presentations have been shown at various schools and RV-related events. Even though this part of their quest is complete, they know they have just begun to scratch the surface of places to go. Currently, they are looking forward to a number of short trips for the rest of this year, and working on plans to visit Alaska. After that, it is just a matter of finding a way to get the RV to Hawaii so they can complete their USA tour.