Most of our travel days start with a plan. This one started with a Walmart that wouldn't answer the phone. We were pulling out of South Carolina for a two-day run to Louisville, Kentucky with no confirmed place to sleep, wind picking up in the mountains, and a 40-foot fifth wheel behind the truck. It turned into one of those travel days that tests every system we have.
Leaving with no plan for the night
We usually call ahead before counting on a Walmart overnight, and the one we'd picked never picked up. So Fabiola spent a chunk of the drive on Starlink from the passenger seat, calling around for anywhere that would let a rig our size park for the night. We landed a last-minute Walmart farther up the road, which is about as glamorous as it sounds. It worked, it was free, and we slept fine. If you travel without reservations, having internet on the road is what makes the scramble survivable.
The bridge that eats RVs
The next morning we headed into Louisville, and this is where the day got interesting. Between us and the campground sat an infamous bridge with about 10 feet of clearance. The Google Maps photos for it are literal wrecks: RVs with their roofs peeled open. Our campground emailed us ahead of time specifically to warn us about it, which tells you how many rigs it has claimed. We routed around it, and after seeing it in person, we understand the email. If your GPS doesn't know your height, Louisville will teach it.
The tightest campground we've ever parked in
We've backed into some narrow sites, but this campground was a different level. Our site was a little short for the trailer plus the truck, so we crammed our Brinkley Model Z 3515 in as far as it would go, and the truck still sat partly in the road. Getting back out would have been hard, but by the time we left, the neighbors had already gone. This is not where you want to arrive after dark.
What we actually did in Louisville
We stayed six nights during the week and worked our normal weekday jobs, so we explored in the evenings. The highlights: the Conrad-Caldwell House Museum (locals call it Conrad's Castle, and it earns the name), the Louisville Zoo, where a polar bear completely stole the show, and the fossil beds at Falls of the Ohio State Park, where you walk on a 390-million-year-old sea floor along the Ohio River. We also tried a downtown casino, learned the Bourbon Trail mostly runs as a weekend activity, and ate barbecue that reminded us how badly Texas has spoiled us.
Would we come back?
Yes. Louisville surprised us, and it's said "Loo-uh-vul" if you want to blend in. The city has more to do than we could fit in, and it's an easy stop off the interstate. We'd just pick a different campground next time, one where parking the rig doesn't count as the day's workout, and we'd route around that bridge again without thinking twice.
Watch the whole travel day, the bridge, and the squeeze on YouTube. We also send a short weekly newsletter about where we are and what broke this week. The signup form is on our newsletter page.