THE LIST..............................YEAR 4.......Year
5.......YEAR 6
Motorhome
Miles.....................9,576......11,209.........5,300
Average
Miles Per
Day..................26.2..........30.6..........14.1
Average
Trip................................184..........180.............160
Gallons
of Diesel Fuel...............1179.93...1467.75........747.26
Average
Cost Per Gallon.................3.46.........3.86............3.84
CRV
Miles..............................11,517........8776.........11344
Bicycle
Miles...............................119...........180...........107
Camp
Sites.....................................52.............62.............33
Average
Nights in
Each...................7.0............5.9..........11.1
Number of
Frosty Nights............too many......very few...none
Number of
Windy, Stormy Days. too many...very few....few
Number of
States(Provinces).........27(3).......17(4).........11(0)
National
Parks & Monuments.......34............25..............10
Blog
Posts.....................................62.............79.............61
Days
of Exercise (Jim)................173...........161..........193
Days of
Exercise (Nanc)..............240............223........238
Number of haircuts
(Jim).................0...............0.............0
Old &
New Friends & Family..Priceless...Priceless....Priceless
It has now been six years since we hit the road to explore North
America while living in our motorhome, Opus. We continue to love the
lifestyle and don't have any plans to go back to a stix and brix.
People always ask what we like best and while it is hard to pick one,
seeing old and making new friends is really the best thing about the
lifestyle. When it comes to places we love, Betty's RV Park in
Abbeville, LA is the best because of the wonderful hostess Betty is
and the many people (RVers and locals) we have met there. Also,
while we did not do many this year, any National Park Service site is
always near the top of the list.
This year we stayed in eleven states in the Eastern half of the
country and only put 5300 miles on Opus, the least in six years. We
stayed in 33 places, by far the fewest since we went on the road.
That said, our campground expenses at $21.35 a day were the highest
we have had since our first year when we stayed in75 places. This
was mainly because of the time we spent in the Keys, New Orleans and
having to leave the Outer Banks early. (No refund since we were
paying the Passport America rate). We did have help with the
increase in expenses because Nanc is now a member of the “check(s)
of the month club” (Social Security and a pension from an old
job).
We started the year in Ohio and then spent two months in WashPA
getting caught up with family, friends and taking care of personal
business. We are ending the year in the same place doing the same
thing. After we left WashPA last October we made a couple of stops to see friends, one in
Charlottesville, VA to see Richard and Valerie, where we ran into our former WashPA neighbors Jeff and Joanne (small world). We then
spent a day with the
Sharp family in North Carolina before heading to the
Outer Banks for what was supposed to be a month long
stay only to be driven out two weeks early by
Hurricane Sandy. Then
after short stays with
Brian and Lori and in
Charleston, South Carolina we went to Florida for three
months. We spent January in the Keys where I was able to go the
whole month wearing shorts and t-shirts making the added expenses
very worthwhile. In Florida we got to spend time with Nanc's sister
Judy and her husband Bill and our friend
Mary Lou. We also had
visits from
Tom & Georgie and
Mike & Sherri. We also went to
Punta Cuna, Dominican Republic, on vacation (no we are not always on
vacation just because our home has wheels). We have decided we are
going to take a vacation at least once a year.
Near the end of February we headed to Louisiana and
Betty's RV Park our favorite stop. During our six years we have been there six
times for a total of almost eight months. In addition to all the
people we have met there, we love the food and of course the music.
We love this place so much we even have
a special blog label for the
time we spend there. After leaving Betty's near the end of April we
were able to cross the
New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival off our
list, only to add it again as we plan to return someday.
From NOLA we went birding in
Grand Isle before taking five weeks to
slowly travel back to WashPA. We took in the
Vicksburg battlefield,
the
Natchez Trace Parkway,
Elvis's birthplace and the
Blues Highway
in Mississippi. The Blues is our favorite music and we were treated
to some great musicians at the festival and on our way north. We
then spent a week in
Tennessee with Charles and Sandy who we met at
Betty's. Only RVers would invite almost total strangers into their
home and have them spend a week parked in their yard. Another reason
we love the lifestyle. While in Tennessee we did some music in
Nashville. Next we went to Bardstown, KY and did the
Kentucky Bourbon Trail before spending a few days with Nanc's
family in Marietta, Ohio.
The year included many stops at places related to the name
Tidball.
Tidball's Bar in Bowling Green, KY was the last stop of
Tidball related places we visited. We met the owner, John, and
learned we were the first Tidballs to patronize his bar. Last fall
our first stop was the
Tidball Trail on the Antietam Battlefield. I had
discovered the trail while reading a biography about John C. Tidball.
This spring in Grand Isle we learned that Lanny, the owner of the RV
park, had an uncle in Illinois who was a Tidball. In Vicksburg we
found a Tidball listed on the Illinois memorial. It has been neat
finding all these distant connections to the family tree.
As we look at the big picture plan for year seven we have an
appointment in Elkhart for some RV service when we leave WashPA in
mid August. We hope to do a Mark Twain stop in Hannibal, Missouri,
take in some shows in Branson and drive the mother road, Route 66, on
our way the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. We will then take advantage of
a good fall rate at Sun Life RV Park in Mesa until the first of the
year. We have scheduled a Riviera Maya vacation to celebrate our
anniversary in November. We will be staying somewhere in the
Southwest for the rest of the winter before heading North to Alaska
in the summer of '14. That said, as we have learned when your house
is on wheels, the plans can change just like the wind.
1 comment:
Nice summary, sounds like you have lots of miles and fun planned for the next year!
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