Year Six Summary

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.