2010 Travel Review / 2011 Outlook

We have now been “on the road” for 1257 days and we enjoyed a great travel year in 2010. We started the year in Pasadena, traveled to the Eastern most point of North America in Newfoundland and are now ending the year in Southern Florida. We stayed in 62 different places while putting 11354 miles on the RV and 11472 on the CRV. We traveled through 28 states and stayed in 21 of those including eight new ones; New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and Delaware We also added five new Canadian provinces; New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland Labrador, Prince Edward Island and Quebec. A big change in our travel style was spending 15 nights at Walmarts, rest areas or friends when we were only stopping for a night. We dry camped for extended stays five times and had five month long stays, all of which helped reduce campground costs.


We had some great firsts including the Rose Parade, Quartzite, driving to the top of Mt. Washington and, of course, two great months in Maritime Canada. Being able to stand on the shore in Labrador and watch the humpback whales up close was one of our greatest experiences ever. We revisited several places including Betty's, our favorite park, in Abbeville, LA. I know I say it to often but seeing people while traveling is one of the best things about this lifestyle. We spent time with friends and family at 22 stops this year. We started the year with Valerie & Richard, John & Ann, Emile & Raymonde, Bob & Gini and other SKPs at the Rose Parade in California and ended it with Jack & Mary Lou in Florida. In between we had planned visits with Joan & Dick, Tom & Georgie, Rick & Denise and Mike & Sherri, a week with Jean Paul & Celine in Quebec and several stops with Class of 07 mates. Other visits were chance meetings along the road with Mike & Loretta, Otis & Mary and Richard & Val. We went to the Escapade and reconnected with many SKPs. The list is really too long to name everyone. We had a great time at the Yanni wedding in Cleveland and seeing all our old pals during our extended stays in Washington. That stay involved many doctors visits from routine check ups to Nanc having her knee scoped for a torn meniscus. All of which turned out well.

Looking forward to the 2011 travel year we plan to leave Florida in early February depending on when NASA plans to launch the shuttle. We are going to Betty's for a month of Mardi Gras celebration. We want to add Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri to the map on our way back to WashPA for our annual visit in the spring. Next we will add Minnesota, Wisconsin, North and South Dakota on the way to the Escapade in Gillette, Wyoming over Labor Day weekend. If we stick to this plan we will have visited all of the lower 48 since going full time. We plan to winter in Arizona with stops on the way at Yellowstone and the Balloon Fest in Albuquerque if the weather permits.