I Drove 2,000 Miles From Mexico Back to Georgia

We're home!

I left Mexico on July 5th and arrived in Georgia on August 3rd. It’s been a long month spent finishing my master’s degree, saying goodbye to friends, and wrapping up my life on the West Coast.

Today, a friend asked me what it’s like to be back in Georgia. Did I like the humid weather? What was it like to see actual traffic again? Was it weird to be driving my rugged off-roader in the suburbs like I hadn’t spent the past four years adventuring elsewhere?

Well…

I don’t like the humid weather, and I hate the traffic. But there isn’t anything else I’d rather be driving, and it’s been great to be back with family. It’s also nice to eat someone else’s cooking and have my own yard and total privacy.

But, we’re not here to dwell on my new [and temporary] life in the ‘burbs. I promised a run-down of my journey from New Mexico (the state!) to Georgia. This was roughly 1,600 miles of my 2,000-plus-mile trip from Northern Mexico (the country!).

Silver City, NM

After leaving Arizona, I went “home” to New Mexico. I’ve had four residencies, three driver’s licenses, and multiple license plates since being on the road. New Mexico is the only one I kept for two years.

Sadly, I was so determined to wrap up school before heading home that I had no time to explore. I worked tirelessly on my master’s capstone and prepped for the long drive east.

PRO: Silver City has some of the friendliest people in the world. The only Americans who rival their friendliness are Southern Californians and Urban Coloradans.

CONS: I wish I had spent more than two weeks.

Albuquerque, NM - Route 66 RV Park

After leaving Silver City, our first stop was an RV park at a casino in Albuquerque. Like most stops along the way, I only spent the night.

PROS: Spacious lots with a rural desert view and level concrete pads. I also got a pass to the hotel’s pool area but never used it.

CONS: Because it’s part of a hotel, you do have to check out in the morning at the office. This RV park had a lot of kids, so it wasn’t as quiet and peaceful as I would have liked.

Amarillo, TX - Fort Amarillo RV Resort

I didn’t take any photos here. It was a nice enough park but not quite what I would call photogenic. It was also very windy while I was there, so I spent my one-night stay indoors.

PROS: I didn’t have high hopes as a Black woman in rural Texas. The second I crossed the New Mexico state line, I started getting weird looks, like I had stolen my RV. But everyone at this RV park was welcoming and didn’t bat an eyelash when I walked in. Interestingly, one White guy tried to bond with me by telling me how much he loved grape soda. 😅 He was very disappointed when I told him I didn’t.

CONS: It’s in Texas! 🤣

Oklahoma City, OK - Love’s RV Stop

Did you know that Love’s gas station has RV parks at several of its locations? I didn’t until I looked up Oklahoma City RV parks. Like many RVers and truckers, Love’s is one of the gas stations I look out for when traveling because they provide enough space for our longer and taller rigs.

Sadly, my excitement came to naught as this was my most disappointing stay. The park has a lot of potential, but they have some kinks to work out.

PRO: The park was beautiful and well-maintained. It had large lots, nice lawn space, plenty of covered seating, concrete pads for parking, and a fire pit. You also can’t beat the fact that it’s attached to a gas station with a Subway.

CONS: You check in via a link, and this turns on the utilities, but that didn’t happen immediately for me. I called them to get it resolved and spent 20 minutes without air during a heatwave. A regular RV park would have sent someone to the lot to assist or reassure me, but they only handled the issue via a customer service rep on the phone. Additionally, my site had running water, but a sign read that I should fill my RV tank and disconnect it. That’s really inconvenient, because you’ll either have too much or too little water. Then, you’ll either need to refill your freshwater tank in the night, empty it in the morning, or both. For me, it was both!

CAR TROUBLES: My check engine light came on that morning. Four years on the road full-time, and my check engine light had never come on. But now that I was heading home, here it was. Even worse, it came on just as I was leaving the park. I went to the truck repair shop attached to the Love’s, but they were reluctant to look at my FJ Cruiser. After talking with the manager, I returned to the FJ. The light was gone when I started it up, so I high-tailed it to Arkansas.

Little Rock, AR - Downtown Riverside RV Park

Anyone who’s asked me about my RV journey has likely heard me say something like:

My first time ever in an RV was 600 miles from home, in mine, on my way to Nevada.

This was the RV park where the journey began. We had only spent one night here on my maiden voyage, but my parents and I talked about this place for years.

It was extremely beautiful at night, and the neighbors were so friendly. When I arrived back in 2020, I had never set up an RV at camp and had no idea what I was doing. The neighbors came running with toolboxes, gloves, and support to walk me through the process.

This experience put my parents at ease about me traveling solo in the RV. They couldn’t believe how helpful and open everyone was.

This time around, I spent two nights here and made new friends. We went out on the town, which was the first time for me since Barcelona in August 2023.

Little Rock might not seem like a place where you would enjoy yourself as an RVer, but I highly recommend this park.

PROS: It has beautiful views, and you can bike for miles in the evening or go bar hopping at night. The neighbors there are usually nice, and the price is decent for what you’re getting.

CONS: Two nights barely felt like enough, but it was time to move on to the next stop.

CAR TROUBLES: The check engine light came on again as I was leaving after being off the entire time I was there.

Birmingham, AL - Boondockers Welcome

After leaving Arkansas, I passed through Mississippi. Apparently, Samson (my FJ Cruiser) didn’t want me getting any ideas about hanging around in the state because as soon as I stopped for Taco Bell, the check engine light disappeared again.

It remained off as I crossed into the Volunteer State. I had barely heard “Welcome to Tennessee!” from the GPS before crazy drivers had me honking like a mad woman. One person tried to run me off the road like I wasn’t the one with the setup that was 20 feet longer and 7,000 lbs heavier.

In Alabama, it was even worse. I watched people run red lights, turn left from the right-turning lane, and pull off U-turns in the middle of busy intersections. I was looking left and right while crossing every four-way street like a pedestrian.

Luckily, my Boondockers Welcome spot was in the countryside—about 45 minutes from the reckless drivers in Birmingham.

PROS: It was quiet and peaceful. I had full hookups and a lot of privacy because the house was on the other end of the acreage. My host was also super interesting and had a tiny house on the property that he built for $15,000. He was well-traveled and had tons of advice for my new life in Spain.

CONS: His neighbor almost had a heart attack when she realized who was behind the wheel of the camper as I was pulling in. Like I said, lots of odd looks once I left the haven of the West side.

CAR TROUBLES: The check engine light came on again as soon as I left the following morning.

Metro Atlanta, GA - HOME

The night before leaving Alabama, Mom asked if I could get home early enough for her to see me before she left for work. I got up bright and early, hit the road, and sent the tracking information to her and Dad so they could follow my route.

They were waiting for me when I arrived home less than three hours later. It then took about half an hour for us to back the RV down the hill, between two trees and a porch. It’s hands-down the most difficult backing job I’ve ever done.

The issue is that there’s a tree in front of the RV pad. On the first try, the RV cleared the tree but not the FJ. On the second try, the FJ cleared the tree but not the RV. On the third try, my rig mowed the neighbor’s lawn, as I parked the rig on his side first before straightening it.

Because of the tree, straightening took up most of the remaining time. I only had about 5 feet of turning space to work with. If you’ve ever towed a full-sized trailer, you know that’s not much at all. To top it all off, it had been raining for several days before I arrived, so the wheels picked up quite a bit of mud, and I had some slippage while backing downhill.

In the end, we got the RV nicely parked at the side of the house. For this photo, I stood at the tree that I almost scraped the FJ’s side on ten million times. Neighbors commented that they couldn’t believe I actually got it in there. Trust me—same!

So, what happened to the mysterious check engine light? It hasn’t come on again since I’ve been here in Atlanta. Strange! I usually take Samson in for a checkup after a big tow, though, so we’ll get to the bottom of it soon enough.

I’ve recorded my journey from Mexico all the way to Georgia. So, at some point, I’ll get the YouTube channel up and running again. However, I have a long to-do list to wrap up my life in the United States, so I won’t make any promises on an ETA. Suffice it to say, the footage is there—along with quite a bit of filming from 2022 and 2023.

If you’re a paid subscriber, watch out next week for tips on driving across the country. Anyone might find them useful, but they’ll be especially helpful for solo female travelers.

See you next time!