Good morning and Happy New Year from Cape San Blas, Florida where we arrived yesterday ducking the colder temperatures to our north and where we'll spend time with friends from Birmingham, Alabama later this week. We're camped at St. Joe Peninsula State Park Campground. 

As in years past, I'm cutting and pasting much of the text from the previous year's annual report to save some time.

As many of you who have been following us know, I started keeping tabs of all our expenditures when we started living in Miranda full time. For those of you out there who may aspire to the van life, living in a van down by the river, I hope this glimpse into what our costs in 2024 were provides an assist.

2024 was a bit different in that Melanie was employed full time by the National Park Service as a Seasonal Ranger from July through October. She was an Interpretive Ranger at Salem Maritime National Historical Site in Salem, Massachusetts.

I again offer this disclaimer: you may experience traveling full time differently.  Variables include  your means, your interests, whether you're working or retired, how often you like to move, etc. Use this as a very general guide for the related costs. Costs reflect our way of traveling. The world is/remains your oyster.

In 2024 we traveled 20,463 miles. That's up 7,935 miles from 2023 and reflects our time working in Salem where we drove from Gloucester where we camped at Cape Ann Campsite to Salem Common and parked while Melanie worked 5 days a week, plus various recreational exploring trips during our stay in Massachusetts.

We continue to chase those ideal temps, climate and peak experiences from state to state, sometimes succeeding, sometimes, not so much. We've experienced cooler temps than we like while camped at the beach on Cape San Blas, but as I told a friend, there's no sleet or snow.

Winter 2024 was spent largely in the Southeastern United States. We opted not to travel west because we wanted to view the April Solar Eclipse at our friend Diana's home located just outside Burlington, Vermont. 

We camped in 85 unique spots in 20 different states and 3 Canadianprovinces in 2024.

We spent 14% of our total costs budget dining out and 14% on groceries, down from 2023.   

Campground fees last year were $12,631.53 (13% of our total costs), an average of $1,052.63 a month. In 2023, we spent $7,964.01, a difference of $388.96 more monthly than in 2023. The National Park Service did not provide us with a full hook up campsite in Massachusetts like we had as volunteers on San Juan Island in 2023 and our seasonal site in Gloucester was exponentially more than we normally pay monthly for campgrounds. However, our Gloucester site was the only campsite around and we were grateful to have gotten it despite our late-in-the-season request.

Our time is divided between staying at private campgrounds, National Parks, State Parks, County and City Parks. We also have the Harvest Hosts service which provides us a data base of businesses and private individuals who will allow us to stay for free for up to 5 nights. We sometimes stay on BLM land, too.

Every now and again we park and sleep on a city street or a driveway for a few days. That generally happens when we are visiting a friend or family. We also have a few friends with summer homes in great places that offer us refuge when we visit them.

I could, of course, get off in the weeds here and tell you precisely how the Campground category is broken down, but usually our choice of campground is determined by a given route we've chosen. We prefer National, State, County, City, and BLM or free spots when we can get them, choosing private campgrounds, like a KOA, for amenities like proximity to a city or bike trail, laundry, pool, hot tub, etc.

Campendium is my go to application for finding campgrounds. We are premium members of the Campendium service called Roadtrippers.

Diesel fuel cost us $4,616.74 (5% of total costs) or an average of $359.36 a month in 2024 and an increase of $25.36 monthly over 2023.  

We're glad to see prices continuing to drop again, and are anticipating reductions in 2025 barring unforeseen circumstances. As a point of reference, we spent more in 2021 on diesel, $362.56, traveling about 100 fewer miles. Diesel prices were $2.716 nationwide in January, 2021.

As of January 6, 2025, the national wide the average price of diesel today is $3.561 down from  3.947 a gallon last year, and down from $4.638 in 2023.  

We use Gas Buddy sometimes to find fuel, but generally just to give us an idea of what prices are like in the area. Prices along major highways are generally anywhere from $.20 to $1.00 more per gallon than prices sometimes only a few miles off a major highway.

Also, be aware that using Gas Buddy doesn't always mean the price you see listed is the price you'll pay. Not sure what is going on, but increasingly I've found that the price is inaccurate when I get to pump. Not always, but enough to give me pause. It's a bit frustrating especially when you've traveled a bit out of the way to get the price you believe is a substantial savings.

Mercedes scheduled maintenance cost $946.71 (less than 1% of total costs) in 2024. We had an B service done in the Spring. That's about $7.00 more than 2023.

We spent $9,614.06 (10% of total costs) on miscellaneous maintenance, repair, and replacement items for Miranda such as dumping tanks, tank treatment, DEF, water filters, replacing our refrigerator, replacing the water pump, repairing our steps, repairing our leveling system, installing a storage unit where the Cummins generator had been, replacing shocks, replacing the macerator hose, new mother board for our Truma Water Heater, and other miscellaneous items we needed for general operation.

Our two six year old Electric Assist Trek bikes cost us $1,223.32 (1% of total costs) to ride in 2024. Costs include repairs of flats, miscellaneous items for both bikes and a battery replacement for one bike. The bikes serve us as transportation and recreation since we don't tow a car.

All of this financial minutia can't capture the priceless joy we experience continuing to live this life.  

Today marks our 6th anniversary of full-time travel. On October 27, 2018, we took possession and began living in Miranda in Saint Louis, Missouri and have called her home ever since.

We currently don't know for sure how much longer we'll continue living as nomads, but we recently made the decision to continue on for at least the next several years, hopefully alternating between National Park Service seasonal positions (Melanie) and travel.  

If you want an interactive view of the map of our travels, click here.

If you're interested in vignettes of our travels, I've made a year by year snap shot on Instagram. Year one, year two, year three, year four, year 5 (part 1) and year 5 (part 2), with year 6, a work in progress.

Melanie and I are now counting the days and beginning to make our plans to travel again. We're 21 days away from leaving Gloucester and Salem, headed south.  

The weather looks as though it may cooperate with us and stay above freezing, with daytime highs alternating between the 50's and 60's, lows mostly in the 40's. 

We've truly enjoyed our time in Massachusetts including the people, the food, and the lovely coastline. I've taken great bike rides along Massachusetts Highway 127 from Salem, through Beverly, Manchester-by-the-sea, and Magnolia to Gloucester. I also enjoyed my bike rides to Nahant, Massachusetts through Marblehead, Swampscott and Lynn and back to Salem. Boston is a great city.

It's been nice mostly to avoid seeing political signs supporting Donald Trump. People here are knowledgeable and passionate about their politics, the environment and social justice. We can't help but be anxious about the upcoming election and regret the race appears to be so close nationwide. 

​There are fewer unhoused people on the streets in Salem than we've seen in other large metropolitan areas, but the greater Boston area has the second highest rate of unhoused among 45 large cities in the U.S. The Boston area is, however, apparently doing a better job of providing shelter than comparable cities. Much of the problem, like many places in the U.S., is a lack of affordable housing.  The cost of living is high here in the Boston metro area.

I'm told Halloween in Salem has evolved over the past 10 years to become not just a day, but a season.  Witches started showing up on the streets a few weeks ago, though there are a smattering of them always, and we're seeing them more each day.  A Satanic Temple is located not far from Salem Common where we park Miranda when Melanie is rangering. Haunting Happenings occur all during the month of October. The Witch Museum is just across Salem Common from where I'm typing.

Just so you know, those found guilty of being witches were not burned at the stake as in Europe -- they were hung. They were tried in Salem and hung on Proctor's Ledge.

The crowds of people who come here from all over New England (and the world) cause parking headaches for the locals. Salem police have posted signs along streets announcing when you can and cannot park at various locations. It's also tow truck season in Salem (FAFO).

Whether related or not, Miranda received one of those bright orange tow stickers on her window about two weeks ago.  This despite the fact we've been parking in the same location on Salem Common 5 days a week for over 2.5 months between 6:30 a..m. and 4:30 p.m.  The free parking is one of the reasons we choose to park here.

It took a trip to the Salem police department and an explanation to the officer who put the sticker on the van to clarify we were not camping on Salem Common. I inquired as to why suddenly Miranda got tagged for illegal camping. He said someone reported we were camping.

I asked for the name of the person who reported us.  He declined to provide the name. I mentioned that if it happened again I would insist he provide a name and contact information because I intended to hire a lawyer and have the person prosecuted for filing a false report.

I wasn't too happy about having to remove the sticker and clean the window where it was located either. The officer declined to come back to the van and remove it. Of course he did.

Melanie has enjoyed working as an interpretive ranger for Salem National Maritime Historical Site.  She likes the idea of working seasonally and will begin her search for her next post this month. With that in mind, we've decided to continue our travels for at least the next 4-5 years, alternating between full time travel and seasonal work for the National Park Service.

We're now 9 days away from leaving Salem after Melanie's last shift with Salem Maritime National Historic Site. 

On November 2nd we'll travel a relatively short distance to Lexington, MA to visit with Melanie's cousin, Tom, and his lovely family who recently moved to Massachusetts from Tejas. We'll be there overnight, then continue southwest to near Danbury, Connecticut for a few days at a Boondockers Welcome location ultimately ending up in the mountains of North Georgia for the Thanksgiving Holiday.  Watch this space.

We're just past midsummer, just over 1/3 finished with our residency in Massachusetts and, having been here over a month (we arrived July 12th), we are pretty much into our new routine.

Melanie likes her new job with Salem Maritime National Historic Site. She enjoys working as an Interpretive Ranger Wednesday through Sunday each week with Mondays and Tuesdays off. She speaks to hundreds of people each day who travel to the area for vacation. It's tiring, but rewarding work interpreting the park's historic buildings, wharf and The Friendship of Salem (currently being refurbished).

Our campsite at Cape Ann Campsite in Gloucester is about 15 miles away from Salem. It's the most convenient and available campground. There's a campground in Salem, but they don't have spots for seasonal campers so we were fortunate the folks at Cape Ann agreed to rent us a seasonal spot as late as we arrived.  Working for the National Park Service was the reason we were able to get our spot so late in the 2024 season.

Initially, we thought Melanie and I would ride our bikes from the campground each work day so she could catch light rail, the T, as it's known, (Metropolitan Boston Transition Authority) into Salem. It's a 6 mile round trip over moderately hilly terrain with moderate to light traffic.  Wingaersheek Beach is a very popular spot for vacationers so Atlantic Street, where the campground is located, can be pretty busy at times, but a bike ride was doable for us and it seemed like our best option for getting Melanie to work each day.

But. Melanie's bike was not operational on and off for the month or so after leaving Milton, Vermont for our Canadian excursion and was not usable when we arrived in Gloucester on July 12th. I'd spoken with Riverside Cycle in Manchester-by-the-Sea and they agreed to take a look at Melanie's bike and try to repair it when we arrived. Something that 2 bike shops around the Burlington area had failed to accomplish.

Since she had no bike transportation to get her to the T, I began driving her to work in Miranda each day. At first I parked in the Salem T lot and waited for her to get off work each day. That is, I didn't drive back to Gloucester, but waited each day for her to finish work before returning. I quickly found out that Cape Ann Campsite is not an ideal spot for me to walk or ride a bike from so remaining in town became preferable.

It took about 2 weeks for Melanie's bike repair to be completed and during that time we agreed driving in each day wasn't too onerous, was relatively cost effective and allowed me to take walks or bike and explore the area around Salem. The train ride takes about 2 hours round trip when it's on time, while the van ride is less than an hour round trip and we rarely encounter too much traffic despite the area being densely populated.

There's fuel and grocery stores, etc. on our route to and from Cape Ann so we can make quick stops for items when needed or have dinner on the way back to camp.

We're up each work day between 5 and 5:30 a.m. I'm usually up first and begin making our morning brew, Melanie gets up and immediately gathers her things and walks to the shower house about 50 yards away from out spot in the campground.

Upon her return, coffee made, she dresses for the day and we quickly ready the van for travel. July was pretty warm in Salem, but more importantly, it was also humid.  There were a few days in the low 90's with relative humidity sometimes in the 90's too. Unusual the locals told us.

Because of unusual warmth and humidity and the fact that T lot parking was full sun most of the day and a parking ticket finally told me parking there was not an option, I found a great spot on Salem Common to park Miranda.  I'm composing this from said spot. Plus, free parking.  My spot gets morning sun so our batteries stay charged via our solar panels and in the afternoon it's shady so the heat is not unbearable in the van.

Today so far we had mostly cloudy skies with an occasional passing rain shower. The high today will be in the lower 70's. The weather has been pretty pleasant for the past week.

The Common proved a great place to park. There are lots of people walking and riding bikes each day and, as mentioned, a great spot for me to begin a walk or bike ride, read, write, eat lunch, nap... 

Salem is very bike friendly with well-marked bike lanes and rail trails available too. I've ridden Coastal Highway 127 (Hale Street) as far out as Rocky Neck Artist Colony numerous times.  My favorite spot to stop along the way is scenic Magnolia Harbor.

I've also ridden partially on rail trail, partially on the road out of Salem to Marblehead, Swampscott, Lynn, and Nahant. Melanie and I took a portion of the Northern Strand Community  Trail, part of the Border to Boston Trail, from Lynn into Charlestown and had lunch one day.

8/25/24

Good morning from Salem Common and another bright sun shining kinda day. It's Melanie's Friday, actually Sunday, but she was excited to begin planning activity on her upcoming days off.

I've gotten out and attached the sunscreens to the front of Miranda to keep the solar effect on our windshield and side windows from overheating the van. I'm likely to get the bike out for an afternoon ride, which reminds me.

A few weeks ago I was out running an errand in Salem on my bike. After waiting for the light to change at an intersection, I attempted to make a left turn from the turn lane I'd been standing in for over a minute and was struck by a car that I now believe was attempting to pass me before I could make the left turn.

The car's side mirror struck me in the hip and was knocked off the car. My arm was cut, hip bruised, knee cut, my bike shorts ripped, and the pannier on the left side of my bike was knocked off.  After I determined my injuries weren't too bad, that my bike was not damaged, my Nikon camera in the pannier was in working order, the driver of the car (who never once apologized) and I parted ways.

During our brief exchange after the accident, I have to admit I was not kind to the man driving the car. I was angry that after standing in front and slightly to the side of him at the intersection for over a minute all he could say was "I didn't see you."  When he finally asked me what he wanted me to do, I responded, "I want you to get the f**k out of my face, leave"! I'm hoping the loss of his side mirror and hitting a cyclist are enough to ensure he pays attention in the future.

The accident was also a wake up call for me. As I thought about the accident later on, I remembered the warning from a man who sold me a new Honda motorcycle when I was 17.  "When you believe you can ride this thing," he said, "that's when it'll begin to ride you."  One can never be too vigilant or careful.

All's well..., as the saying goes.

On the home front, while we continue to enjoy living in Miranda, there are a few items needed attention. I've made an appointment with a (somewhat) local RV repair shop to have our Truma Aquago hot water heater and our Kwiki steps repaired. 

Both of those things are minor inconveniences.  The lack of hot water could have been more serious if we didn't have the bathhouse at the campground to use for showers, but I can operate Miranda with the steps out using all the caution that requires. Neither optimal, neither deal breakers.

As with all home repair projects while traveling, finding the right place or person for repairs takes a bit of work. That's part of the vagabond life especially if you're not an aspiring RV mechanic. And repairs to the motorhome have not been too onerous over the approaching 6 years we've been traveling full time and we're grateful for that.

There's still much to see and do here along the North Shore and in Boston for that matter. Watch this space.

,Good afternoon from Gloucester, Massachusetts where we'll be in residence until November 2nd.

In June, Melanie interviewed and ultimately received a job offer from Salem Maritime National Historic Site while we were touring Canada. She's their latest full time seasonal interpretive ranger and starts with them tomorrow, Sunday, July 14th.

We spent a month in Canada touring around in Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia mostly escaping summer's heat with very few days of rain getting in the way of exploring our surroundings.

We began in Quebec City, Quebec spending four days on foot and on our bikes mostly exploring Old Quebec, but also cycling out on the Corridor du Littoral to Parc Montmorency to see the falls there.

Neither of us speaks French, but since I studied French in college many years ago, I was (minimally) able to ask in French if the person I was addressing spoke English (Parlez-vous anglais?) or to explain I did not speak French (Je ne parle pas francais). In large measure, that worked for us.  Most people we encountered spoke English and those who didn't graciously attempted to communicate with us to accomplish whatever was the task at hand.

Time in Quebec City was a great start to our time in Canada and we left wishing for more time there and that Melanie's bicycle had been properly repaired in Burlington. Getting around on bike is a great way to see the sights.

7/16/24

Good morning from Gloucester and our Cape Ann Campsite where the weather service has issued a heat advisory that will last until tomorrow evening. It's currently 83 and sunny with 62% humidity, not the southern heat we know and love to avoid, but it's warm.

Back to Canada.

Leaving Quebec City, we traveled to and stayed a night in Biencourt, Quebec at a Harvest Host location with a great view of a mountain and the valley below. It began raining shortly after our arrival and rained off and on during our night's stay there. Lovely spot.

Moving along the next day found us camped in Amqui, Quebec at Camping d'Amqui. What I remember is the road between Biencourt and Amqui is in bad need of paving.  Broken in places, pot holes and low spots made for slower driving conditions. Reminded us of some roads we encountered in Maine earlier in May this year.

The town of Amqui itself is pleasant enough and we found groceries and a few good meals there. The campground was nearly empty as their season doesn't really kick off until the end of June when schools are out. It was rainy so we didn't explore much. 

Our beers and dinner at Microbrasserie La Captive were memorable and worth a try, if you're through Amqui. Thanks again to Michelle for making us feel welcome.

The next day found us traveling just over the line from Quebec into New Brunswick to Sugarloaf Provincial Park in Campbellton.  Our drive along the Matapedia River was truly spectacular and I'm happy to report that, once on Route 132 E, the road greatly improved.

Sugarloaf was our first Canadian Provincial Park. There's a smallish ski area, hiking trails and several reservoirs within the park. The Campground was nearly empty and very well kept. Recommended.

We took a few walks in Sugarloaf, along service roads but again with rain off and on. We ate dinner one evening at the restaurant located at the base of the ski hill within the park. Apparently it's one of the few places in town locals gather.  "Something to eat," as Melanie sometimes says-, not bad, not good, just something to eat.

After a few days in Campbellton, we made our way into Nova Scotia to Northport and Amherst Shore Provincial Park. There are hiking trails and beach access and the campground was well kept. The beach has red sand the color of the clay found in some places in Alabama, but it's sand.

Amherst was the first place we encountered mosquitos. We could be outside during the day, but when evening came along, we had to make our way inside unless we sprayed copious amounts of bug spray, something that I'm not too fond of these days. 

We enjoyed ourselves there. I can recommend it as a waypoint, but there's nothing too close by and as an aside, if you are looking for fuel, avoid Coast II Coast Market just outside the park. We filled our tank with diesel there and experienced problems with our ERG valve that, thankfully, corrected itself after adding new fuel to the tank in Antigonish, NS. The fueling/ERG problem could have been purely coincidental, but jus' sayin'. 

​A big thanks to Sullivan's Auto Service in Antignoish, Nova Scotia for running a quick diagnostic on the Mercedes to determine our problem. When the gentleman assisting told me it would be at least a week before he could make any repair, I asked how much I owed him for the diagnostic. "Nothing, you're traveling, it's the least I can do." The kindness of strangers.

Once we were back in Milton, Vermont, a B Service was due for the Mercedes and we found out Mercedes covered ERG valve replacement under warranty since problems are apparently a thing.

From Northport we made the drive to Antigonish, Nova Scotia and spent a night at another Harvest Hosts location, Half-Cocked Brewing Company, located just outside of town. Half-Cocked is a former chicken farm converted into a brewery. There's also a food truck located on premises. Both the beer and food are good and worth your while.

Antigonish is a college town where St. Francis Xavier is located. After our ERG valve self-corrected and I could breath, we found The Brownstone in downtown for a nice lunch.  Melanie found a place for a quick haircut and then we made our way to Half-Cocked for the evening.

Leaving Antigonish we traveled to Cheticamp, Nova Scotia on Cape Breton Island where we spent a few days camped in the National Park in Cheticamp Campground.  Cheticamp is located along the Cabot Trail.

Some thirty plus years ago I drove from Birmingham, Alabama to tour Nova Scotia. My friend and I took the ferry over from Bar Harbor, Maine to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia and traveled along the coast of Nova Scotia in a clockwise route.

I had a vague recollection of Cheticamp as a sleepy fishing village near the border with Cape Breton Highlands National Park. I was using a fair amount of black and white film at the time and somewhere in the archives in Birmingham, Alabama there are photos I eventually printed in a darkroom, one that I remember is of a fly fisherman wading in the Cheticamp River on the border of the National Park.

My friend and I did a few days of backpacking in the National Park where one morning I woke up, unzipped my tent and saw my first moose in the wild grazing in a pond not 10 yards away. Head beneath the water it emerged chewing, looked at me sitting in the tent, re-submerged unfazed and continued its breakfast. Great memory.

The town has changed, but not too drastically. There are certainly more houses, many appear to be seasonals, more restaurants and businesses and a good sized grocery store. There's more of fishing presence with a nice pier or two.

Rain was still with us off and on, but Melanie managed a few great hikes, I accompanied her on a nice walk up the Cheticamp on the Salmon Pools Trail and I cycled through town intending to make my way out to Cheticamp Island to the lighthouse located at the northern end.

After cycling against a very strong wind for miles, I reached the island only to discover the paved road ended and the crushed gravel road I found was a bit too rough. Absent the wind, I might have continued on.

Leaving Cheticamp Campground we drove through Cape Breton Highlands National Park on the Cabot Trail to Dingwall, Nova Scotia.

"We camped in Dingwall at Hideaway Campground and Oyster Market for three days. Our campsite had a spectacular view of Aspy Bay and farther up the coast.

The campground itself is well kept and as the name implies has, among other seafood, oysters.  The owners will shuck them for you or you can take them away and shuck them yourself.  It's a no nonsense set up with tables outside just off the office. In addition to oysters they have beer and wine and soft drinks. Melanie and I had a couple of dozen one evening for dinner. Bring your own saltines.

We cycled around the area and traveled back into Cape Breton Highlands National Park to hike the Skyline Trail while we were there.

Lunch at Morrison's Restaurant is recommended as is dinner at The Markland Coastal Beach Cottages (Restaurant). We met The Markland's chef at the Dingwall post office one morning. He had his twins with him and asked if we were new to the area or passing through. "Passing through," we told him and he invited us to come eat at his restaurant.  We cycled to The Markland from the post office and made a reservation for the following evening.

Both these restaurant recommendations have really good seafood chowder.  Each is a bit different, but each contained identifiable seafood in them. Pieces of lobster, crab, mussels, and fish in each unlike chowders I've eaten in the states where carrots and potatoes are identifiable, but the seafood, such as it is, may be pureed to the point it's difficult to tell just what you've gotten.

When in Nova Scotia certainly order a lobster roll every now and again, but try the chowders.  They are a thing and they are deliciously prepared.

7/17/24

Good morning from Salem, Massachusetts.  I'm in Miranda in the parking lot of the MBTA (Metropolitan Boston Transit Authority) near where Melanie is working for the National Park Service.  It's her second day.  Still no word from the local Gloucester bike shop on Melanie's bike repair, but hopefully, resolution is close and she will then be able to ride to the West Gloucester MBTA stop and ride the light rail into Salem for work.

We're experiencing a bit of warmer-than-usual weather here in Salem, hopefully today marks the last day of elevated temperatures for a while. I say warm, highs in the mid 80's to low 90's today. Temps we don't like while living in the van, but here we are.

Back to Canada

Leaving Dingwall, we traveled down the coast to just outside of Sydney, Nova Scotia to Albert Bridge, stopping along the way in Sydney.  We camped in Mira River Provincial Park another great Canadian park and campground.

We were experiencing some of the warmest weather on our trip and so we didn't do too much sight-seeing while in the area, but did walk around town a bit and found a lunch spot near the waterfront.

​Our next stop was Sherbrooke, Nova Scotia, a village on the St. Mary's River. We had a site on the river camped at Rivers Edge Campground for a night.  Sherbrooke is the home of Sherbrooke Village and North America's first Beluga Whale Sanctuary.

Beanie's Bistro has a nice Lobster BLT. We walked through the Sherbrooke Village History Museum after hours, but were fortunate enough to chat with one of the people who worked there about the village. They've done a fine job of recreating life in the 1860's with restored buildings of the time period.

Traveling along the coast we continued south from Sherbrooke to Dartmouth, Nova Scotia located just across the harbor from Halifax.  We camped at Shubie Campground in Dartmouth located within Shubie Park.

​Between intermittent rain showers we explored the Dartmouth/Halifax area for four days walking and riding our bikes.  Shubie Campground has trails that connect with Dartmouth and, while we didn't take the ferry over to Halifax, we could have ridden into Dartmouth on our bikes and connected with Halifax using it.

We easily drove the van into Halifax on two of the four days we were there.  Parking on the street is possible either downtown or in Northern Halifax.

Don't miss a walk through the Public Gardens in Halifax.

Leaving Dartmouth, we traveled back into New Brunswick to Hopewell Cape and the Bay of Fundy hoping to witness the highest tides in the world. We camped at Ponderosa Pines Campground and spent three days walking and cycling around Hopewell Rocks Provincial Park.


We also drove south to the fishing village of Alma (Fundy-Albert), New Burnswick located at the entrance to Fundy National Park of Canada on a rainy day.

We celebrated our 2,000th day of full time travel here.

7/18/24

Good morning from Salem Common, a nice park near where Melanie works. It was too hot in the MBTA parking lot yesterday afternoon so I scoped out the Salem Commons and found very large oaks surrounding the perimeter which, hopefully, will provide needed shade this afternoon. It's cloudy this morning. So far, I'm good.

Back to Canada

Leaving Hopewell Cape, we traveled west to Hawkshaw, New Brunswick and camped for a night at Sunset View Campground.

I should mention here that while planning our stay at Sunset View Campground, I booked the wrong date for our stay.  I discovered my error when one of the owners contacted me to ask if I was coming in that night.

"No, I'm sorry for my mistake, but is it possible for me to change my reservation," I asked. It was possible, but they only had a tent site with water and 15 amp electricity since they were now booked for the holiday weekend (Canada Day).

Upon our arrival, we found out we had a very nice site overlooking the river with water and 30 amp electricity. The site wasn't level, but the owner gave us an assist with leveling blocks. We spent a very nice evening at Sunset and are grateful for them making my booking error go away.  If that, in and of itself doesn't tell you about the campground, let me add it's a very well-run and well-kept campground with a heated pool on the St. Johns River.

Digressing a bit, Melanie and I spent a few hours in the provincial capitol of New Brunswick, Fredericton, also located on the St. Johns River on our way to Hawkshaw.  We enjoyed a nice lunch at Issac's Way (another great seafood chowder was had), purchased coffee beans and walked around town for several hours taking in preparations for their Canada Day celebrations. Beautiful college town worth a detour on your way.

Leaving Hawkshaw, we traveled to Riviere-Du-Loup, Quebec on the St. Lawrence River stopping in Grand Falls, New Brunswick to take in the falls and eat lunch. 

We arrived in Riviere-Du-Loup during a thunderstorm which quickly passed and we were able to take nice walks in the afternoon along the St. Lawrence River. We camped in Camping Municipal De La Pointe.  The park has recent renovations to their bathhouses which are very nice. We were there during the holiday weekend so the park was pretty much at capacity, but we enjoyed a quiet night in what appears to be a well run city park.

Leaving Riviere-Du-Loup we traveled southwest to Montreal for our last two days in Canada.  The trip was 270 miles and so we laid low upon arrival and toured Montreal's Old Port, Parc du Quai-de-La-Tortue and a bit of Nuns' Island the next day. We parked across the river near Parc de la Terre and took the subway into town.  We wished for more time and definitely will return, but next time with our bikes since Montreal is a very bike friendly city.

Good afternoon from Westford, Vermont.  We've been back here at our friend, Diana's home, for about a week now.  Tomorrow we head north for our first venture into Canada.  Our plan is to spend a few days in Quebec City, Quebec, then venture north to New Brunswick and then over to Nova Scotia.

We don't know exactly how much time we'll have in Canada as Melanie still has National Park Service applications pending for full time seasonal ranger positions that start in July. As of now, we're booked until the middle of June. 

We spent most of April and a good portion of May in Westford leaving Diana's on the 12th of May and spending a few days in Graniteville, Vermont before heading north to one of our favorite Vermont towns, Newport, located near the Canadian border on Lake Memphremagog. 

We rode the Beebe Spur Trail up to the Canadian border several times and even ventured over into Canada to ride the extension of the Beebe one day. We weren't able to ride too far along the Sentier Nature Tomifobia trail as a bridge was out about 5 miles into our ride.

Riding back, Melanie got a stick caught in her bicycle derailleur and, after I attempted to fix it and subsequently destroy it, we found ourselves walking back towards Stanstead. Shortly after beginning our walk, it began to rain. Luckily we had our raincoats, but after about 15 minutes we were both soaked from our thighs down. Squishy shoes.

The rain didn't last and before too long we'd pretty much walked ourselves dry and back into Stanstead where we had a nice lunch at Maison Gorchon.  Afterwards, we walked the remaining short distance to the U.S. border and I left Melanie at the Beebe post office while I cycled back to Newport and traveled back in Miranda to get her and the bike.

On our way back to our campground we stopped in for a beer at a local watering hole, T Bar, in Newport and had a snack too before heading back to our camp at Prouty Beach Campground.

We camped one night on our way towards the Maine coast in Litchfield, Maine at Birches Lakeside Campground. We had a nice campsite with a lake view and enjoyed being on beautiful Lake Cobbosseecontee. 

Leaving Litchfield, Maine we traveled to the coast and Bar Harbor where I had previously contacted Bar Harbor Bicycle Shop about repairing Melanie's derailleur. We are grateful for their willingness to take us in on short notice and replace her derailleur while we found lunch nearby. It made our time in Acadia National Park much more fun.

A few years ago we met Roger Clyne in Georgia when we camped with him and his wife Bonnie at their home through Boondockers Welcome. Roger and I have stayed in contact so when he and Bonnie moved to Maine some time ago, he invited us to visit them if ever we were nearby. 

He now has a spectacular spot on which he intends to construct a home at some point. It's located north of Birch Harbor, Maine on a peninsula facing west. Melanie and I spent four days there and were able to explore the area on our bikes. The sunsets were great.

We cycled around Schoodic Peninsula of Acadia National Park one morning. Since it was early season, there were few cars or bikes around. We rode the coast and circled back to the Visitor Center where we'd parked Miranda on a part of the 8.3 miles of bike trails in the park.

One one of the days we were camped with Roger, we ventured north to Machias, Maine. We'd hoped to ride a portion of the Down East Sunrise Trail, but once we were on it riding we quickly realized the portion of the trail we were riding was only suitable for ATV's. Large pieces of loose gravel were present making for a rough ride. We opted for checking out the town and Fort O'Brien State Historic Park nearby on bikes.

We had dinner at Helen's Restaurant where we both had Lobster Rolls and tried the seasonal Maine delicacy, Fiddleheads. Both were a treat.

Our last day in Maine we spent in Acadia National Park, cycled Carriage Trails and spent the night at Blackwoods Campground. We had a nice lunch in Northeast Harbor at Colonel's Restaurant and Bakery. Melanie began to experience a problem with her bike while on the carriage trails and we were lucky to be able to ride back to the campground. We both agree Acadia is one of our favorite National Parks.

We made our way over to New Hampshire for a night to Chocorus KOA Holiday campground and then traveled back here to Westford where we've been since.

Finally, a shout out to our mechanic at Earl's Cyclery and Fitness in South Burlington for agreeing to take Melanie's bike in and give us a quick turnaround repair time. Luckily, it was a relatively minor fix. We are grateful for his assistance especially since we had already booked our Canada adventure a few weeks in advance. Watch this space. We're pretty stoked about Canada.

​

​

4/24/24

Good afternoon from Westford, Vermont.  We've been visiting our friend, Diana, since the 5th of April and, while we enjoyed an amazing Spring day yesterday, today we're back to a mix of snow and rain. Tonight's low is predicted to be 25 degrees Fahrenheit. While many of the maples have their familiar red flowers of Spring, stick season and mud season are with us.

My last Travel Journal post was on January 10, 2024 when I posted our Annual Report from Collinsville, Mississippi. We were on our way to meet friends, Robyn and Hank, from Florence, Alabama for a camping weekend at an Army Corp of Engineers campground.  Our friends bailed on camping due to inclement weather (storms and cold) and we ended up spending a nice few days with them at an Airbnb in Water Valley, Mississippi near Oxford, Mississippi.

4/26/24

I had technical trouble stopping my progress on the 24th, life happened yesterday. 

Anyway, continuing with my summary of the past few months (how Melanie and I spent our Winter 2024), because of weather (low temperatures) we had to travel south quickly from Water Valley. We spent a couple of nights camped at Paul B. Johnson State Park outside Hattiesburg, Mississippi.  Lots of improvements currently happening to their campgrounds but, once competed, what's already a great setting will be worth a stop as a camping destination.

We made it to the Gulf Coast and spent three days at Fort Pickens Campground (a favorite) located within Gulf Islands National Seashore.  It's truly a wonderful resource near Pensacola, Florida.  It was a bit cold for our bikes this time through, but we took walks and one day took the van and traveled as far east as Navarre Beach and back.

After Fort Pickens we needed to travel back to Birmingham to get our bikes repaired, but  temperatures remained too cold, so we headed east along the coast to Topsail Hill Preserve State Park (another favorite) and spent three nights there.

After Topsail, we traveled to Birmingham, Nashville and over to Sevierville, Tennessee staying a few nights at Two Rivers Landing RV Resort. This was a way point on our way towards the east coast, but we enjoyed a nice quiet few days. We stopped at Great Smoky Mountains National Park on our way towards Greenville, South Carolina.

Outside Greenville we camped at Paris Mountain State Park and spent another quiet few days walking the trails there. From there we next spent a few days just southeast of Charleston, South Carolina in James Island County Park.

James Island is the nicest of the County Parks in which we've camped thus far.  Volunteers do a nice job of maintaining the campground facilities. Great hiking and multi-use trails which we biked and walked for four days. Many of the activities happen during the summer months. Lots of activities then for families with children.

Continuing south along the coast we next camped on Hunting Island, South Carolina. We spent 3 days there at Hunting Island State Park. The weather cooperated a bit and we were able to get our bikes out and explore.  We spent a rainy Sunday midday in Beaufort, South Carolina walking around and having lunch.

Skidaway Island State Park was our next destination. We camped there for two nights and enjoyed a bit of what Savannah has to offer.  We always like spending a few days in Savannah and the State Park is definitely a favorite.  We also took in Wormsloe State Historic Site not too far from the park.

Farther south we spent two nights on Jekyll Island at the Jekyll Island Campground. We enjoyed both walking and riding our bikes around the island which has extensive multi-use trails.

After Jekyll Island we headed into Florida and Clay Fair RV Park in Green Cove Springs the city where we are domiciled, where our home is registered, where we vote. Melanie had a doctors appointment and we camped there for 3 days checking out the area for the first time since we domiciled there over 5 years ago.

We then visited family near Orlando, Florida and traveled farther south to Melbourne Beach, Florida camping in Long Point Park. Long Point is a nice county park located on an island on the Indian River. 

From there we stayed a night in Vero Beach, Florida at a Cracker Barrel.  We'd used a Cracker Barrel parking lot while visiting family near Orlando, our first and, since the experience was a good one, we stayed at the Vero Beach location.  Without belaboring the obvious, Winter travel in Florida is competitive with many seasonal campers in evidence. So, when you fly by the seat of yo' pants and don't reserve campsites far in advance..., Cracker Barrel to the rescue. 😎

Belle Glade, Florida and Torry Island Campground, another county park, was our next camping spot. We camped there for 6 days. We walked, biked around the park and on a trail that runs around nearby Lake Okeechobee and spent a nice day in Palm Beach where we biked around the Island, had a great lunch and rode by the scene of the crimes, Mar-a-Lago.

We visited family in Palm Harbor and spent a nice weekend there. It was then back to Jacksonville for follow up doctor's appointments for Melanie and another Cracker Barrel.

Traveling west from Jacksonville, we spent a night in Sanderson, Florida camping at Ocean Pond Campground located in Osceola National Forest. A hidden gem.

Farther west we camped 1 night near Tallahassee, Florida in Midway, Florida at High Bluff Campground. Another campground as way point. The campground offers lake views, secluded, dry camping on Lake Talquin. 

In Port Saint Joe we camped 5 days at Water's Edge RV Park, a smallish park located outside of town and adjacent to the Indian Pass Raw Bar.  We ate at the Raw Bar a few nights and explored the area walking, by bike, took Miranda over to explore Saint George Island on a rainy day, and, while there, checked out Dr. Julian G. Bruce State Park, for future reference, a definite great spot to camp for days.

We made a just after New Year's 2025 reservation to camp for a week at Saint Joe Peninsula State Park. The campground was reworked after a hurricane and has all new campsites and a new bathhouse. Great spot.

We began a northern trajectory after Port Saint Joe, first camping in one of our favorite Corp of Engineers campgrounds, Gunter Hill,  just outside Montgomery, Alabama for 2 days, then on to our friends, the Andersons for 3 days. We were able to have dinner with a friend, Michael, in Montgomery while we were there. 

It's always great to see the Andersons and driveway surf with them in Birmingham and, as bonus for us, we were able to spend much more time with them this winter season since we didn't travel out west as in past years. We also were able to see our long-time friends, Keith and Beth, again for brunch while in Birmingham. More time with them always a plus.

For those following along, we're now into March and we're beginning to look forward to being in Vermont for the solar eclipse, but first we had to travel to Saint Louis, Missouri for installation of a new storage compartment in the place where our generator used to be.  May that smelly, noisy thing rest in peace.

Continuing north, we spent 2 days with Zoe and Tate in Nashville, a night in Metropolis, Illinois at Fort Mossac State Park, and then into Saint Louis camping in Cahokia, Illinois just across the river in Cahokia RV Parque.

Lunch one day at Grace Meat + Three, a nice meal at Sidney Street Cafe and visited our favorite bar, Venice Cafe, while in Saint Louis.

From Saint Louis we traveled east again towards Louisville, Kentucky and a visit with our friends, Pif and Chip, who live there. We also got to catch up with Pif and Chip's daughter and son-in-law, Jessica and Ziggy too. We stayed a night in Gentryville, Indiana camping in Lincoln State Park as a way stop before Louisville.

Lincoln State Park is a nice park and campground with trails for hiking and there's boating on Lake Lincoln built by the CCC in around 1932.

We camped in a Cracker Barrel parking lot in Louisville.  This one's a bit noisy, by the by.

Leaving Louisville, we headed northeast to Cincinnati, Ohio where we camped 2 cold nights on the Ohio River at Tuckers Landing RV Park. We took a chilly afternoon walk in light snowfall along the Ohio River on the Ohio River Trail when we first arrived and visited the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden the next day.

Alum Creek State Park was our next camping spot on a lake created by the Army Corp of Engineers for flood control and recreation and near Delaware, Ohio. We spent 2 nights there and visited the campus of Ohio State as we passed through Columbus, Ohio. Melanie lived in Delaware and worked for her sorority that had a chapter on the campus of Ohio Wesleyan.

We spent a night in Salt Fork State Park in Lore City, Ohio. Salt Fork is a beautiful state park located on Salt Lake. We lucked out on a camping spot there. I had scheduled us to camp at a Cracker Barrel in Cambridge, Ohio, but in checking out Salt Fork State Park nearby we discovered they had opened up more campsites that day.  We were one of two campsites occupied in a newly opened loop. Sublime.  We also took a walk on the Great Guernsey Trail just outside Cambridge during the day.

We have a good friend, Rebecca, who lives in Morgantown, West Virginia.  Rebecca lost her husband, also our friend, IB last year. We met them in Brevard, North Carolina at a National Forest Campground years back and became friends. It was great to catch up with Rebecca as we continued to grieve the loss of IB, an engineer who loved adventures of all kinds.

Centre Hall, Pennsylvania was our next stop. We camped at Stem to Stable Farm, a Harvest Host location.  We purchased their lamb chops and ground beef for later consumption. Great evening with these nice folks.

Sayre, Pennsylvania was our next stop and Halcyon Hill, a Boondockers Welcome location. We spent the early afternoon walking around Stephen Foster Lake in Mount Pisgah State Park nearby. We were able to spend nice time with Kay, our hostess, who told us about the area where she grew up. She gave us information on local attractions for next time through.

We made a short trip to Richford, New York for a visit with our friends, Linda and Michael. Linda was on the board of the Episcopal Peace Fellowship while Melanie was executive director.  Great catching up with them. We traveled into Ithaca took a nice walk along Lake Cayuga on the Cayuga Waterfront Trail, had lunch at Moosewood and bought coffee beans at Gimme Coffee, a favorite place for beans.

Leaving Richford, we traveled to Lake George, New York where days earlier they'd had 18 inches of snow.  When we arrived at Whippoorwill Motel & Campsites, we were one of only a very few Rv's, and the landscape was still covered in 4-5 inches of snow. Luckily temperatures were moderating and we spent a nice couple of days there.

We took walks on the Warren County Bikeway into town. Lake George is pretty much a seasonal destination and we were early.  Many businesses close for winter and don't come back until sometime in Spring, many were yet closed in late March.

We made it into Vermont and camped in a Boondockers Welcome driveway in Bennington for the last two days of March. We walked on the Bennington Rail Trail and Melanie attended Easter Services at the Episcopal Church.  Bennington is a nice town and a nice reintroduction to Vermont. 

April Fool's Day was spent in Brattleboro, Vermont at a Harvest Hosts location, Saxons Distillery.  The distillery was closed, but they allowed us to spend the night there. I should add we've enjoyed Saxons libations on previous trips. Recommended.

4/28/24

After lunch along the Connecticut River at Whetstone Beer Company, we drove to Keene, New Hampshire where Melanie walked around town and I took my bike out and rode a portion of the Ashuelot Recreational Rail Trail. There's a favorite shop in Keene where we've bought truffles and Melanie, loving me as she does, bought me a nice variety.

Leaving Brattleboro, we traveled north to West Barnet, Vermont to another Boondockers Welcome location and spent the night next to our hosts' nice garage. The weather at this point was beginning to look really dicey, snow, significant snow, was predicted for the next several days.

We made the decisions to contact our friend, Diana, in Westford and ask if we might arrive two days early. She graciously consented and we luckily arrived the next day before the rain, followed by snow began. Over the next 3 days we received about 18 inches of snow. It was a Spring wonderland.

We've been in residence here in Westford since.

The eclipse on April 8th was nothing short of spectacular and, while we arrived believing we might not experience it because Spring in Vermont is cloudy a lot, we lucked out and got the full show. One of those once in a lifetime events not to be missed. We discussed the next one happening in Europe in a few years.  Who knows?  

We are so very grateful to Diana for allowing us to stay with her here in Westford while we figure out next moves. I've got my own space for writing and processing photos upstairs in our bedroom.  I'm looking at cloud draped Green Mountains and Mount Mansfield as I type this morning.

Melanie has applications out for Park Ranger jobs at two National Parks in the Northeast and we're waiting to hear about those. She and Diana have traveled into Burlington this morning for church services and a quick trip to a market.

Our refrigerator gave up the ghost on our way into Vermont, freezing everything inside the freezer compartment and the refrigerator compartment too. A new and different one has been shipped and should arrive in a matter of days. I found Peter at Vermont Road and Home to perform the installation service for us.

We're, off and on, discussing the possibility of a bit of touring in Canada later in Spring/early Summer, but it's likely we'll spend much of Summer in Vermont.  Watch this space. 😎

Winter/Early Spring Photos 2024

Good morning and Happy New Year from Collinsville, Mississippi where we've been for a few days ducking the inclement weather along the gulf coast. We're camped at Twiltley Branch an Army Corp of Engineers campground. 

I'm cutting and pasting much of the text from last year's annual report to save some time.

As many of you who have been following us know, I started keeping tabs of all our expenditures when we started living in Miranda full time. For those of you out there who may aspire to the van life, living in a van down by the river, I hope this glimpse into what our costs in 2023 provide an assist.

2023 was different in that we were volunteers on San Juan Island, Washington at San Juan Island National Historical Park for 4 and 1/2 months from May to September.

I again offer this disclaimer. You may experience traveling full time differently.  Variables include  your means, your interests, whether you're working or retired, how often you like to move, etc. Use this as a very general guide for the related costs. Costs reflect our way of traveling. The world is/remains your oyster.

In 2023 we traveled 12,528 miles. That's down from 21,491 miles in 2022 and reflects our time on San Juan Island where we only traveled a little over 300 miles during our time there.

We continue to chase those ideal temps and climate from state to state, sometimes succeeding, sometimes, not so much.

Winter 2023 was the coldest (overall) and wettest we've experienced. Past winters in the southwestern US where we usually winter have been nothing short of wonderful, but this past year was dramatically different.  We did our best to find warmer temps that, for the most part, simply didn't materialize.

We camped in 85 unique spots in 19 different states in 2023.

We spent 31.3 % of our flexible costs budget dining out and 20.8% on groceries ​(flexible costs represent 20% of our total budget). We spent more in 2023 on dining out and a bit more on groceries too.  See also inflation and living on San Juan Island where costs were higher overall.

Campground fees last year were $7,964.01 (12.8% of our flexible costs), an average of $663.67 a month. In 2022 we spent $10,380.65, a difference of $221.33 less monthly than in 2022. The National Park Service provided us with a full hook up campsite for 4.5 months at no charge to us as volunteers which, in part explains the difference.

Our time is divided between staying at private campgrounds, National Parks, State Parks, County and City Parks. We also have the Harvest Hosts service which provides us a data base of businesses and private individuals who will allow us to stay for free for up to 5 nights. We stay on BLM land too.

Every now and again we park and sleep on a city street or a driveway for a few days. That generally happens when we are visiting a friend or family. We also have a few friends with summer homes in great places that offer us refuge when we visit them.

I could, of course, get off in the weeds here and tell you precisely how the Campground category is broken down, but usually our choice of campground is determined by a given route we've chosen. We prefer National, State, County, City, and BLM or free spots when we can get them, choosing private campgrounds for amenities like proximity to a city or bike trail, laundry, pool, hot tub, etc.

Campendium is my go to application for finding campgrounds. While the service is generally free, we support their efforts and receive a few perks for our donations.

Diesel fuel cost us $4,312.37 (6.9% of flexible costs) or an average of $359.36 a month in 2023 a decrease of $180.98 monthly over 2022. No mystery here. Traveling about 300 miles in 4.5 months while on San Juan Island decreased overall consumption. 

We're glad to see prices continuing to drop, and are anticipating further reductions in 2024 barring unforeseen circumstances. Fuel prices were in the $5 plus range as we departed Washington State in September. We paid $3.32 a gallon for diesel in Robertsville, Florida a few days ago.

AAA reports that national wide the average price of diesel today is 3.947 a gallon. A year ago it was 4.638.

We use Gas Buddy sometimes to find fuel, but generally just to give us an idea of what prices are like in the area. Prices along major highways are generally anywhere from $.20 to $1.00 more per gallon than prices sometimes only a few miles off the major highway.

Also, be aware that using Gas Buddy doesn't always mean the price you see listed is the price you'll pay. Not sure what is going on, but increasingly I've found that the price is inaccurate when I get to pump. Not always, but enough to give me pause. It's a bit frustrating especially when you've traveled a bit out of the way to get the price you believe is a substantial savings.

Mercedes scheduled maintenance cost $940.00 in 2023. We had an A service done in the Spring. 

We spent $3,847.43 (6.2% of flexible costs) on miscellaneous maintenance items such as dumping tanks, tank treatment, DEF, water filters, replacing our diesel generator with a portable Honda generator, replacing our microwave/convection oven, new Mercedes battery, replacing valves on dually tires, new shower caddy, trickle charger, and other miscellaneous items we needed for general operation.

Our two electric assist Trek bikes cost us $1,333.76 (2.1% of flexible costs) to ride in 2023. Costs include repairs of flats, miscellaneous items for both bikes and major tune ups for both. The bikes serve us as transportation and recreation since we don't tow a car.

November and December 2023 were spent traveling to various locations to visit with friends and family.

We spent time in Nashville with our children, in the mountains of North Georgia with our long-time friends who are more like family, and Birmingham, Alabama with other of our long-time friends who are family and most gracious hosts, Wade and Jen Anderson.

We also spent time at Lake Martin with long-time friends who are family, Keith and Beth Johns. They have a wonderful and cozy cabin there.

Thanksgiving was with family in Faunsdale, Alabama, Christmas with our children, Tate and Zoe, was in Nashville and Henderson, Tennessee with Zoe's family, and New Years in the mountains of North Georgia with family and friends.

While we would normally be making our way to the southwest this time of year, this year we'll remain east so we can more easily make our way north to Vermont for the April 8th total solar eclipse.

While we're a bit cooler than we'd ideally like to be, and tornados and hail in January are not particularly what we want to dodge, we continue to travel to new and interesting places. We plan on visiting the Atlantic coast and making our way into Florida in the coming months before heading north.

We anticipate another great year on the road.  Watch this space.

​Five years ago today, Melanie and I moved into Miranda and began what's proven to be the adventure of our lifetimes.

We're currently camped at Canal Campground in Grand Rivers, Kentucky, a nice campground of the Army Corp of Engineers. The campground is part of Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area.

Since early in October, we've been moving more regularly than is usual for us as we made our way across the country. After leaving Grand Teton National Park where we camped for a week, we camped in Green River, Wyoming (1 night), Vernal, Utah (2 nights), Steamboat Springs, Colorado (1 cold 22 degree night), Fort Collins, Colorado (1 night), Thornton, Colorado (1 night in a Cabela's parking lot), Littleton, Colorado (1 night), Denver, Colorado (2 nights), Burlington, Colorado (1 night), Ellis, Kansas (1 night), Topeka, Kansas (2 nights), Columbia, Missouri (1 night), Wildwood, Missouri (2 nights), Lynnville, Indiana (1 night), and finally here in Grand Rivers, Kentucky (3 nights).

Some of our more rapid pace had to do with our desire to position ourselves for Winter and enjoy visits with friends and family who we tend to begin missing as Fall happens each year. Some of it was due to housekeeping issues needing attention. 

We developed a generator problem in Wyoming (still unresolved), we needed a few coach repairs done and we developed a tire issue in Denver that finally got resolved in St. Louis. 

These housekeeping matters are no different than those we experienced as homeowners except they happen while on the road in places with which we may, or may not be, familiar. 

I was fortunate to bump into Don Klassen, the soon-to-be-semi-retired territory Sales Manager for Leisure Travel Vans, while getting work done at Van City in Saint Louis. We first met Don at Van City in June 2017 when we were considering buying our van. He let us test drive the van he was driving at the time and helped us with our order and, ultimately, our delivery. It was great to catch up with him and to meet his replacement, Randy Klassen.

Among other things, we discussed the importance of being comfortable with the art of the quick pivot and learning how to negotiate needed repairs when many RV businesses are reluctant to see you since they are scheduling weeks or months out and you don't necessarily have the time to wait. It's just part of the living on the road.

A shout out to my rock, Danny Dwyer, when it comes to trouble shooting problems and assisting us with getting service done over the years at Van City in St. Louis. Over the past 5 years Danny, has always been quick to respond when I text with a question or problem. He's become a friend and a great part of our travel equation. Thanks also to Van City's Service Manager, Scott, and his team for their assistance, too.

From Grand Rivers, we'll slow the pace a bit, staying 3 nights again in our next location.

I searched our website this morning and found what I wrote after our first year anniversary. I read a few more posts from our first year of travel and I have to say, though 5 years have passed, I'm not sure there's much I'd change or add as far as insights go for anyone considering full time travel. We're still learning, but most of the time our life on the road is pretty seamless.

We continue to enjoy this life immensely and, barring any unforeseen event(s), our intention is to continue down the road a piece. Watch this space.

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