Chapter 2: RV Odyssey
Where was I? Our inaugural voyage with our new Travel Trailer was nothing short of a trial by fire! Picture this: a hefty 30-foot trailer, a snowy Salt Lake City evening sandwiched between two snowstorms, and a 5-hour trek to Southern Utah in the dead of night. White-knuckled and wide-eyed, we were in for one heck of a ride! Arriving at WillowWind RV Park in Hurricane, UT around 1:00am, exhaustion washed over us as we tackled the monumental task of setting up camp. With the invaluable assistance of my 19-year-old son, Ethan, we labored until dawn, learning valuable lessons along the way. Note to self: next time, pack rubber gloves for the messy black tank flush! Along with a socket set, pliers, headlamps, oh! and… most importantly A NEW MATTRESS! (IYKYK)
Day two dawned with a mission: a pilgrimage to the local hardware store to get tools and the grocery store for supplies. Equipped with a newfound arsenal, we felt more prepared to tackle the challenges ahead. We spent the next week in Hurricane, working during the week remotely (one of the great perks of being a Remote Sales Rep.) Special thanks to the awesome Wi-Fi provided by the RV Park. (This, we found out later was a rarity.) At the end of that week, we drove back home, dropped the trailer at my mom’s house and spent a week planning for the next trip which would be our longest trip to date.
Little did we know, this was just the beginning of our RV odyssey.
Our summer escapades were a blast, lasting anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks each, with Utah’s stunning landscapes as our playground. We really got the hang of blending this RV lifestyle with a potential career move. Picture us rolling into town, setting up shop, and spending quality time exploring while still hustling on the job.
But let me tell you about our game-changer: Starlink. Big shoutout to Elon Musk for this gem! (This may be an unpopular opinion, but this is a truly revolutionary service for folks like me.) It’s like having a portable office wherever we roam. No more stressing over sketchy Wi-Fi at RV parks – now we can join Zoom calls from the middle of nowhere without missing a beat. And setting it up? Piece of cake!
September rolled in, and I was assigned to represent Lightspeed at the Route 66 RV Group Rally in Colorado Springs, CO in October. What a perfect opportunity to put our plans to the test! Talk about mixing work with pleasure. We’d hit the road on weekends, setting up camp wherever the wind took us, and then dive into meetings during the week.
Take, for instance, our pitstop in Holbrook, AZ – right on the iconic Route 66. Warm weather, cool vibes, and work-from-anywhere bliss. We spent a week there working alongside our best dog pal, Dino, and enjoying the beautiful desert sunsets.
Using the RV PARKY app, we also planned on where we would stop next on our way northeast to Colorado Springs. We found a small, 5 slot RV Park operated by a retired couple who decided to turn 3 acres of their ranch in Las Vegas, NM into a full-hookup RV Park. Sitting at the base of the Rocky Mountains, we got to enjoy walking out to a massive open pasture with cows and bison and the peace and quiet of open farmland. With full hookups, we enjoyed one of the most pleasant stays we’ve had to date.
But here’s where it gets wild: halfway through our stay, Mother Nature decided to throw us a curveball. Cue the hailstorm of the century! Late-summer thunderstorms were forecast so we planned as much as we could by storing our camp chairs, bringing in the awning, all the things that you do. That afternoon, I was on a call with my manager when I had to ask if I could call him back because the wind was really starting to kick up. I opened the door of our trailer and suddenly, I couldn’t see the beautiful mountains that were just about 5 miles away……THEN IT HIT!!!! A hailstorm unlike anything I had ever experience in my life in Utah. The noise from the golf ball sized hail pounding our poor trailer was absolutely deafening. Dino was trembling uncontrollably but then again, so were Michelle and I.
After about 20 minutes, I was convinced all my roof vents were destroyed as well as the rest of my trailer, the storm passed over and we opened the door to see 3 inches of water streaming under our trailer along with 3-4 inches of accumulated hailstones. However, after a thorough damage-control assessment (sorry, I’m retired military), we found that the trailer sustained no damage! In fact, we only lost our Starlink connection for about 3 minutes as this dang thing has its own built-in heater which melted the hail that collected on the dish. Incredible!
Reports were coming in from downtown Las Vegas, NM of extensive tree damage and they had to bring out bulldozers to clear the streets of all the hail. And while the downtown was dealing with a hailocalypse, we were already plotting our next adventure. We would soon be in Colorado Springs with a surprising extra passenger. And guess what? Our journey didn’t just bring us scenic views – it also opened doors with a dealer & the largest group of stores to ever become part of the Lightspeed fam. Talk about a plot twists! So, stay tuned, because the adventure ain’t over yet – and we’re just getting started!
Join me, Brad, on this exhilarating journey as I recount the highs and lows of RV life, offering insights, anecdotes, and a healthy dose of humor along the way. Together, let’s seize the day and redefine what it means to truly live our dreams while embracing our careers.
Brad Loyd
I’ve been with Lightspeed for over 20 years, and in my role as Sales Account Executive in the RV Division, I get the opportunity to show recreational industry dealerships how Lightspeed can transform their business. I work with hundreds of RV, Trailer, Powersports, and Marine Dealers across the country, guiding them through the process of upgrading to a DMS. It's a complex process, but I find it incredibly rewarding.
An added bonus to my current role, is that I get to travel all over the country. I recently purchased a new 2022 Shadow Cruiser travel trailer, so now I spend most of my time on the road, experiencing the lifestyle that I promote.
Fun facts about me: I'm a US Army Veteran and served for 23 years in the Utah Army National Guard as an Army Musician specializing in Saxophone and Clarinet performance. Music is a huge part of my life, and I even took over my dad's Swing Band after his passing in 2020. When I'm not working or playing music, I love spending time with my five adult kids and one granddaughter, with another one on the way.
