ON THE ROAD: Leg One — The KOA, the Crawl, and the Quesadillas

ON THE ROAD: Leg One — The KOA, the Crawl, and the Quesadillas

Greetings from the road! The trailer is packed, the dogs are buckled in (begrudgingly), and our big adventure to Rich’s Retreat has officially kicked off. 🚐🐾

But first—before hammocks and hiking and whatever else awaits—we’re making a few essential stops. Stop #1: a one-night stay at the Washington DC / Capitol KOA. Not glamorous, but solid. It’s one of those “get-in-get-out” kind of campgrounds that still manages to be peaceful and clean, which is all we really ask after a long drive.

We opted for the I-95 route—flat, familiar, and, in theory, faster when towing the trailer. It’s not without its downsides though (hello tolls, hello traffic, hello occasional “What even IS that smell?” moments). Fortunately, the first stretch from South Carolina through Virginia was smooth sailing. Light traffic, decent weather, and no toll booths playing emotional games with us. Win-win-win.

Then came DC.

Somewhere around Fredericksburg, traffic got real. An accident miles ahead turned what should’ve been a two-hour cruise into a three-hour crawl. We ended up detouring through a bunch of scenic little Maryland towns—quaint, yes. Charming, even. But after a while, winding through stoplights and one-lane roads with a trailer in tow loses its appeal. Especially when you’re running on road snacks and everyone—including Monty and Gadget—is just ready to not be moving anymore.

We finally pulled into the KOA just as the sky decided to open up. Not a light drizzle. Not a polite sprinkle. A full-on frog-strangling rainstorm. And because we use every inch of our tiny trailer for travel storage, setup in that kind of weather turns into a bit of a circus act. There was some sprinting. Some laughing. A little questioning of our life choices. And a very real moment where we almost upgraded to a cabin just to get dry and horizontal.

But! Like most things with this lifestyle, the moment passed. The skies cleared. The gear dried. The trailer got settled. And we finally exhaled.

Once the rain moved on, Monty and Gadget were first in line for leg-stretching duties. The KOA staff were incredibly kind—big bonus points for letting the dogs wander through the camp store, where they took their sweet time choosing their post-travel treats (they landed on jumbo roasted peanuts, naturally).

Dinner was our travel-day standby: pulled pork quesadillas on the Blackstone. Easy, filling, quick—and Gadget-approved, which is saying something. Kristen tossed in a little extra cheese because why not, and we all agreed it was the best decision of the day.

The plan now is a quiet evening, early to bed.  We’re headed to Mystic, Connecticut to meet up with family for two days of campground hangouts and some time on the Long Island Sound. We hear there’s fishing involved. We’re cautiously optimistic. (Monty is not.)

But first... it wouldn’t be a proper road day without the mandatory Wawa stop in the morning. Coffee, breakfast hoagies, and enough snack reinforcements to make New England feel a little less far away.

Catch you after the next stop—

Tim, Kristen, Monty & Gadget 🐶🐶

P.S. Monty and Gadget will be sharing plenty of updates (and possibly peanut reviews) on Instagram. Follow along if you’re into dogs, road snacks, or chaotic campground energy. We’re here for it all.

https://koa.com/campgrounds/washington-dc/