Welcome Aboard Serenity!
Captain Mike and I, Donna (aka Mrs. Padilly), began cruising into our newest adventure when we started America’s Great Loop (AGL) on June 7, 2024.
So much planning and work has gone into realizing this dream. As a result, this site has been quiet for a long time.
Not anymore! We purchased our Looper boat, Serenity, in January 2024. In June 2024, the Captain cruised her from her home port, Kemah, Texas, to Mobile Bay, Alabama.
Serenity is a 2005 Grand Banks 42 Europa. She is a beautiful twin-engine diesel trawler with a full walk-around deck.
On June 7, 2024, we placed our AGLCA Looper flag on the bow flagstaff and began the first segment of our cruise to Lake Barkley, Kentucky.
Cruising Serenity to her new home port took a few weeks and was my first real experience in long-distance cruising. While the Captain is a seasoned boater who began his boating career racing sailboats with his dad, this First Mate has enjoyed boating with her Captain and family for leisure.
Not anymore! Preparing to do America’s Great Loop is happening! The first thing I learned as we cruised Serenity up the rivers to Kentucky is that cruising in your boat over long distances is NOT a vacation but an adventure.
My rose-colored glasses quickly fell into the water, as I quickly learned there was so much to learn! I could not have imagined learning and experiencing so much in just two weeks!
This “mini” cruise taught me a lot about being a new cruiser. I will be sharing the legs of this trip with you on our dedicated website on cruising America’s Great Loop: Backwards on Serenity.
I am also working on a small travel memoir about my experiences and growth while cruising the rivers to Kentucky. The book will be released in 2025. I’ll update subscribers as the release date draws near.
Here on MrsPadillysTravels.com, I will be providing updates on ALL our travels with my quarterly Padilly News updates. As we complete America’s Great Loop, will be visiting so many towns, restaurants, and attractions. In addition, when we are not cruising, we will still be camping, making road trips, and sharing tips and DIYs.
The reasons I travel are simple: to learn, grow, and seek new adventures. I blog because, as a former educator, I still desire to share what I have learned with others. My hope is you enjoy what you discover as we cruise America’s Great Loop Backwards on Serenity and become one of its subscribers.
Happy Trails, Fair Winds,
and Following Seas.
Mrs. Padilly
If you are interested in:
- Living Life in the Outdoors by Land and Sea.
- Discovering new places and learning from those who traveled there before you.
- Taking on BIG adventures like cruising America’s Great Loop.
- DIY projects for restoring & glamping your travel trailer. (Check out my series on glamping my CASITA and SHASTA)
- Fun ideas for creating travel souvenirs from found objects (DIY TRAVEL SOUVENIRS)
- And, of course, posts on our Camping, Boating, and Road Trip adventures.
Then please SUBSCRIBE to Mrs. Padilly’s Quarterly Newsletter by scrolling to the bottom of this page and entering your email. Once you have subscribed, check your email to confirm your subscription. Note: I NEVER share your email. It is only needed to subscriber to MrsPadillysTravels.com.
YOU CAN ALSO SO FOLLOW ME AT:
Instagram.com/MrsPadilly – My place to share photos of my travels by land, including roadside attractions, Florida’s coastal town, and Walt Disney World pics.
Instagram.com/BackwardsOnSerenity ~ My place to share photos from our cruises on Serenity and other boating-related activities.
BackwardsOnSerenity.com ~ Post on latest crusing adventures as we cruise America’s Great Loop.
Instagram.com/DonnaMarieBooks ~ My place to share my latest books and writing activities, including creating a special garden.
DonnaMarie.blog: This is my newest blog, my author’s page. If you noticed that MrsPadillysTravels.com has been pretty quiet, it’s because I have turned my attention to completing several books I have been working on for the last ten years. One will include untold stories about glamping my Casita travel trailer, “Free Range.” But first, my attention is publishing a series of children’s books about a special garden.
Pinterest.com/MrsPadilly—Who doesn’t love Pinterest?! I know I do! I have been on Pinterest since its beginning, pinning everything from camping tips to travel, vintage trailers, and more. You can find many ideas from my boards, so check them out!
YouTube/MrsPadilly—Wow… Will I ever upload my videos? Help motivate me by checking out my channel and subscribing.
MRS. PADILLY – THE LONG STORY ON HOW I BECAME A BLOGGER.
*MRS. PADILLY, THE TEXAS and FLORIDA PADILLY LOGOS ARE TRADEMARKS OF THE COMPANY, MRSPADILLYSTRAVELS.COM. All Content and Images on this site are created by and are the property of Mrs. Padilly. All content is copyrighted, with all rights reserved.
I already left a personal note, I think, about Canyon Lake Rally camping and the great info from other owners for our first time out with our 2004 Spirit, 16′. I mentioned we were warned to get “travel trailer tires” for safety due to the sway.
Well, I have GLAMPED UP our Casita. It is Copper top and white bottom. Had decals taken off. Inside I did window treatments with valances of agate stone,burlap and leather strips. At the rally we were surprised we were the only ones that GLAMPED our Casita. My backsplash is also agate,tile and some small mirror squares. I changed out my knobs for cool fossils discs. Left the cushions and wood coloring, as despite the age of the Casita, they were in perfect condition! Oh,yeah, I Glamped the bathroom wall with faux painting around wood wording that says” Hello World”.
In other words, I made it ours! Such fun! Hope we get to meet others that like to Glamped! 😄
Hi Mary! I did get your email and tried to reply, but I could not get it to send out. We are traveling back from Big Bend Country and internet/cell is almost non-existent. My mail is all messed up. I’m glad you posted here, too!
Your Glamped Casita sounds awesome! It is such a great trailer. Always good to have quality tires, but one of the things I never had a problem with was sway. It pulls so well. I pulled it with a Diesel Jeep, however, so that might have something to do with it. But I use the Jeep to pull my Shasta, which blows all over the highway in Big winds. The Casita is just designed so well.
There is a group on Facebook called Casita Owners. I suggest you join it if you have not already. It is a great group of passionate owners. And there are glamped Casitas there, too.
Hate to say this, as I’m already thinking about when I will buy the next Casita, but I sold my little brown egg this past summer. A member in the Casita Owners FB Page now owns it. I sold it because I bought a Shasta, but I miss it very much. I’m sure I’ll own another in the future.
Hope you have subscribed to my page. When I get my email fixed I’ll send a reply to your note. Happy Trails!
We have a 1995 16′ Casita and love some of the things you have done. Especially, the screen door (which the 16′ doesn’t have, darn!) and the tile backsplash. I’m curious to see how the backsplash holds up on the bumps on your travels. Since I am now retired, I am looking forward to more time to spruce up our Casita and to hit the nation’s highways! We are planning a trip this spring and will be in Texas earlyin April. Maybe we’ll see you and “Free Range” while we’re in the Lone Star State! Happy travels!
Coleen
Thank you, Coleen. I must admit, the screen door project was my favorite, too! As for the tile backspace, so far so good. We took her on a long road trip from Texas to the Colorado mountains, and it hasn’t shown any signs of cracking. The back of the tile has a very sticky adhesive (If I tried to move after placing it would start to mess it up), and I used a sanded grout. I guess over time the grout could start cracking…if so, I will do a follow-up on the backsplash post. If you see “Free Range” on the highways please honk to say hello, and if you are camping anywhere in southeast Texas, let me know so I can see if Mr. Padilly and I can stop by to say hello. Happy Trails to you!
I thought that was you at Inks Lake! Was so excited when I saw you pull in with “Free Range”. I didn’t have an opportunity to speak with you but hope your weekend was fun. We were in the unmarked Casita on the turn.
Oh no, I wish we had a chance to say hello (what a small world)! I knew you had to be a glamper, because your camp site was awesome! I was planning to stop over and say hello on Saturday, but you were taking things down. 🙁 Next time I see a potential glamper, or Casita owner, I need to be quick to say hello!
Your camper looks brand new! Since it does not have the Casita lettering, did you just have it painted? I like your tire cover (I was admiring from one of our kayaks on the lake).
Mrs. Padilly, It is brand new! We chose to leave off the Casita lettering because I’m still thinking about what I want to do with her! It would throw off my glamping choices. Thanks for liking my tire cover! I painted it because it had the “800” number for Casita on her back side! She felt like a call girl, so I fixed it with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.
I thought I recognized your egg because of the color, but I didn’t recall the” Free Range”. I was to “chicken” to invade your privacy! Since we are new to camping, I wasn’t sure of the protocol for space and time to set up. Mike was laughing at me because I literally jumped up with excitement to look down the road when you pulled in to our area. We obviously would have had lots of fun chats. Next time, I will stand in the road and not let you pass! I am also a member on Lou’s Glampers and I registered with SOTF, yesterday. I’m sure we will have an opportunity to meet again. We had been at Inks Lake since Sunday. We wanted to get on home to ride our Harleys.
Chalk painted your tire cover…very cool! I would have loved seeing that up close!
I understand the “invade your privacy” feeling, lol. At times I’m like that too, especially during camp set up and take downs. Never sure if people are under a deadline. Darn, would have loved to talk with you! (FYI, Mr. Padilly is also a Mike).
I will look for you on Lou’s, and welcome to SOTF. When you get your SOTF information, make sure you register for the sub-group “Texas Sisters.” They hold meet-ups across Texas. I’ve not been able to join any of their meet-ups yet, because there have not been any in my area (those north and west Texas girls have all the fun!), but they look like lots of fun and a great way to meet Sisters locally.
Enjoy your new Casita! Look forward to seeing what you do with your egg shell. 🙂
Just stopping by to ck in on your Casita. I own a 1994 Casita that is in great shape. I have not camped in her in about a dozen years. But, I recently brought her in from her parking spot outside to get her ready for a future trip across the United States. I also own a sweet tiny house on wheels that is 8 x 18′ and it is all glamped out. Not sure if I want to sell or keep my Casita after my trip from WA to NC, but I am kinda getting the bug to sweeten her up with rust, ruffles and lace in the near future. I love tiny spaces and ran into your blog as i was researching new window treatments for my Casita. I have a chandy for her and quilts and lace- but have not been inspired to glamp her out till recently. I look forward to seeing what your Casita looks like in future posts.
Hi Tonita,
Your ideas for glamping your Casita sound wonderful! Another glamping friend said my Casita could be called, “Audrey” for Audrey Hepburn – simple and elegant. I would describe her that way, too (but named her “Free Range” because she looks like a brown egg). I love all the wonderfully creative makeovers I see on other glamper’s campers, but for me I needed the feel of a “zen” retreat, with a bit of fun. We took the Casita on our first long trip to Colorado in August (9 days). I was worried about that length of time in such a little space, but it was perfect! She’s like a big warm blanket! Thank you for stopping by, and happy to hear you are looking forward to her transformation. 🙂