Wow, we’ve reached a milestone in our fulltime adventures - one decade on the road! I still remember sitting in our home of 16 years in western New York waiting to hear from our real estate attorney to confirm that the closing had gone well and the proceeds would be deposited into our account the following day. We were officially homeless except for the 38 foot motorhome with Jeep in tow. We had spent the previous 9 months or so selling, donating or trashing 95% of our worldly possessions. We had found room in the rig for everything we thought we should bring with us as we start our travels. We had a few boxes of keepsakes to store in family members’ basements in Ohio. The plan was to live in our ~450 square foot “home” and travel the country. There weren’t any real set goals except to experience what other parts of the USA had to offer. We also didn’t really have a timeline in our minds other to enjoy as many places as we can and try to set a pace that actually permits us to get a feel for a location.
In those past 10 years, we have camped 3652 nights at over 450 places. While writing this blog post, I got to thinking, how often do we spend just one night in a place as we passed through an area on our way to a distant destination? Or how often do we spend a couple weeks or months at a place? Well, I have a spreadsheet with all the underlying data and we used to be engineers with analytical skills so we should be able to answer that question.
Turns out, roughly a quarter of our stops are just for one night. That might sound like a lot but it only represents around 3% of our nights camped. This is a big country and when we are repositioning from one part to another, there are times where we are just trying to make distance so we might do a series of one night stops. We try to limit our travel days to 200 miles or less so it’s hard for us to cross the country quickly. About 40% of our stops, we have spent between 2 and 6 nights. This duration of stop might be to simply break up the tedium of driving long distances several days in a row. But it also might be some sort of stop for service on the motorhome that takes a few days before we can continue on. Frequently we will spend a few days to see some areas that have a handful of things we want to see or do but don’t require a longer stay. Our next stop duration is between 1 and 2 weeks which covers another quarter of our stops. These are places that we felt justified spending some time to explore. Often we wish we could have stayed even longer but maybe it was a state park that often has a 2 week maximum stay limit. There were a few times where we overestimated what there was to do from a stop and wish we had reduced the time spent there but those are fairly infrequent. We are pretty good at finding things to do.
I next broke the stop duration into longer stops with the following categories: 2 to 4 weeks, 1 to 2 months, and 2 or more months. These represent a smaller percentage of our stops but account for a just over half of our nights. For the longest duration stay of 2 or more months, we had 11 stops that equals roughly one third of our nights. Just over half of these were at a winter destination in either Florida or Arizona. But 5 of those longer stops occurred during the summer travel season. A couple of those were “forced” upon us when COVID messed up everyone’s travels but some were planned to take advantage of visiting friends and sights back in western New York or exploring the mountains of western North Carolina. We feel we have done a reasonable job of slowing the travel pace when it makes sense and moving somewhat faster when needed.
Below is the travel map from year 10. As you can see, we have pretty good range both north to south and east to west. I am including a link below the map that will actually open up the underlying Google Map I used to document our journey. This will permit you to zoom and scroll around. Plus clicking on a pin for any location will open a popup window with link to any blog post written for that stop.
It’s clear from the map that we have done a pretty good job of covering the country north to south and east to west. We started out year 10 in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan having just completed a 2 week Habitat for Humanity build in Marquette. We had headed to the far western side of the UP and spent about 2 weeks exploring before heading south into Wisconsin. The two weeks we spent camped there was mostly spent in Oshkosh at the annual air show. That stop rates near the top of our list, not just in the past 12 months but in the past 10 years. It ranks right up there with the Albuquerque balloon fiesta or the Lake Havasu fireworks festival. From here we headed into the Minnesota for around 5 weeks exploring the Twin Cities and some of the beautiful state parks in the northern portion of the state. Then we headed into eastern North Dakota for a week or so to experience some of the best geocaching we have seen in Gilby.
We then headed back into Minnesota to visit the North Shore before entering Wisconsin to check out the Apostle Islands on the northern side of the state. In central Wisconsin we got to get up close and personal with a cranberry harvest. The next 4 weeks was spent with short stops in Iowa, Illinois and Indiana and longer stays in Tennessee and Georgia before making it back to The Great Outdoors in Titusville Florida. After nearly 6 months of sitting still, we were ready to start traveling again as spring approached. After completing a couple of motorhome repairs in western Florida and South Carolina, we were ready to start our travels west. Mainly following I-40 through Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma and the northern panhandle of Texas taking 3 weeks to get to New Mexico. Here we plan to explore the mountains in the northern portion of the state with 2 weeks in Taos, 1 week in Los Alamos and as I write this post at the beginning of 2 weeks in Santa Fe.
Like in the past, I’m including the “heat maps” that help to show how long we have stayed in the various states. No real surprise that Florida is the “winner” again but we did camp in 16 different states the past 12 months. We finally added Oklahoma to our list as full time travelers. The second map shows a similar map but for the full 10 years. At this point we are up to 46 states. We have camped in 3 of the 4 remaining states but New Jersey and Delaware were from a little before going fulltime in 2015 and we have camped in a rental RV in Alaska way back in 1995! One last heat map is showing all 10 years but this time broken down into the county level to better see what parts of the states we have camped in.
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| Heat Map for Year #10 |
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| Heat Map from 10 Years of Fulltime |
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| Same As Above but Broken Down to County Level |
Of course I have the table that helps show what it costs to live this lifestyle. It doesn’t include costs that we would have if we lived a “normal” life in a sticks and bricks home. So healthcare, groceries, dining out and other entertainment isn’t part of the table. But it does show how many stops we had, the number of miles on both the motorhome and the Jeep as well as the fuel for each. It’s clear there has been an uptick in both the number of stops and the miles driven in the motorhome. This is simply a function of the route and pace we picked. Other than our extended stay at TGO, we have only had 10 stops where we spent more than 7 nights. To some extent our travel plans built in the pace that led to the faster pace and higher miles.
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| Condensed Stats for Last 6 Years |
The other line item in the table is the amount we spent for camping. This year wasn’t our highest year but it does come in second place. Since we have 10 years of data, I was curious what a plot of average dollars per night looks like over the decade. The chart below shows that data with the blue line. It’s clear that there is a fair amount of year to year variability but I also noticed that there is a definite upward trend in the costs over time. The red line represents the trend of the raw data and it obviously is increasing. Since we haven’t changed our camping style to higher end RV resorts versus state parks or Elks Lodges like we typically like to stay at, I can only assume the slope is a function of inflation over time. The good news is the slope of the line represents 63 cents per day increase each year. That increase equates to $230 more spent camping each year so I’m not too concerned that it will have any bearing on how or where we camp.
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Graph Showing Average Cost per Night to Camp for 10 Years
Blue Line Average Data, Red is Linear Trendline |
Like years past, we like to use our anniversary blog posts to highlight our favorite hikes or bike rides of the past 12 months. I was initially concerned there really wouldn’t be many. It’s not like we had traveled to Glacier National Park, the Adirondacks, the Green Mountain of Vermont or other classic “hiking” destinations. But after going through the past blog posts as well as my notes from places we’ve more recently visited that don’t yet have a post written, I was pleasantly surprised and fondly remembered quite a few hikes and bike rides that made the cut. For each hike I will give a brief description of the hike, a favorite photo from it and a link to the blog post which will describe it in more detail. In chronological order here are the top 8 hikes and bike rides from year 10.
- Escarpment Trail - Ontonagon MI
Situated in the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park of far western Upper Peninsula of Michigan, this park is beautiful and this trail was the best of several we tried in the area. AllTrails lists this as an 8.2 mile out and back hike with over 1600 feet of elevation gain. the trail follows a ridge that overlooks the wonderful Lake of the Clouds and the Carp River. There are several named peaks along the ridge with lots of rock outcroppings to take in the scenic valley below. The last section of the trail drops 400 feet through the woods and we suspected it wouldn't be nearly as scenic so by skipping this we keep it to 6.5 miles and 1360 feet elevation gain.
Blog post with Escarpment Trail Hike
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| View Along Escarpment Trail in Porcupine Mountains |
- Bean and Bear Loop Trail - Silver Bay MN
The North Shore of Minnesota along Lake Superior has a lot to offer outdoor enthusiasts. Bean and Bear Loop Trail is a 7 mile long hike with just over 1000 feet of elevation gain. The trail goes 2 miles before hitting the loop portion of the hike. In another mile, you have reached the first of the two lakes. Since we took the loop clockwise, Bean Lake was first. There are beautiful views all along the ridge overlooking the lakes. We had the start of autumn colors but I suspect spring wildflowers would be nice too.
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| Bear and Bean Lakes Lined Up |
- Lakeshore Trail - Cornucopia WI
Part of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, this trail follows the rugged shoreline of northern Wisconsin along Lake Superior but from 70 feet above the water. The constant churn of the lake has eroded many sea caves all along the cliff wall. With the curves in the shoreline, there are many opportunities to look below and see the caves. The trail is an out and back that starts at Meyers Beach (where parking is somewhat limited) and goes for 5.4 miles to a primitive campsite. The last sea cave viewpoint is about 2 miles out and is well worth hiking that far. We continued nearly 2 miles beyond that and found the trail to be okay, but nothing special. Other more unique options to see the caves is by kayak or even hiking on the frozen lake in the dead of winter.
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| Sea Caves Along Lakeshore Trail |
- Beach Bike Ride - New Smyrna Beach FL
The town of New Smyrna Beach is right along the Atlantic Ocean in central Florida. While not technically a trail per se, there is a 5 mile stretch of beach where cars are permitted to drive the sand. It would be possible to bike on the car "lanes" but the sand is much firmer for bikes on the ocean side of the vehicles. You must pay attention to the tide to successfully bike here but the morning we went, we had low tide, light winds and cool but sunny conditions. To the south we found the beach was bikeable even beyond the car permissible area - but e-bikes are not permitted beyond there. We went until the sand became too soft to easily ride. Back to the north and beyond our starting point is Smyrna Dunes Park. Bikes are not permitted on the long boardwalk in the park but worth a look. In total, we managed a 16 mile bike ride that was quite unique.
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| Ponce Inlet Lighthouse |
- Rock Garden Trail - Palo Duro Canyon SP Canyon TX
About a hour hour southeast of Amarillo, Palo Duro Canyon is an incredible place in the otherwise barren landscape that makes up this area of north Texas. There are other more popular and strenuous trails here that likely would have been even better than Rock Garden, but we were there during an early heat wave and this trail seemed to be a safer choice for the one day we had available. We only went as far as needed to get to some excellent overlooks on the Rock Garden Trail - which is about 1.5 miles up the trail. We modified the return hike to come across the Lower Comanche Trail to the Mesquite Campground and then back along the Cottonwood Trail to the parking area making a 5.3 mile loop with just over 1000 feet elevation. By getting a very early start we finished around noon with a temperature of 88 degrees. Whether it is this trail or the more popular Lighthouse Trail, Palo Duro Canyon is well worth a visit.
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| View of Palo Duro Canyon from Rock Garden Trail |
- Cebello Mesa Trail - Taos NM
Taos has a wide variety of hiking trails. Two of them made our list of favorites but they couldn't be more different. Cebello Mesa Trail is north of town along the Rio Grande River. It drops 700 feet in the first mile as it works down toward the bottom of the canyon and near water level. Once past all the switchbacks, the trail is relatively flat as it continues upstream for another 3 miles or so. There are several back country primitive camping sites along the way. It definitely has a desert like feel with all the prickly pear cactus in bloom. We made it out 2.7 miles to the second camping area. While eating lunch at the shelter we realized a storm was rolling in from the north. We decide to error on the side of caution and head back since the climb back up the side of the canyon would be a tough one. We made it back to the car just as it started to sprinkle. Beautiful area and trail, just be careful of the unpredictable New Mexico weather.
Blog post not written yet
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| Heading Down to Rio Grande River |
- Williams Lake Trail - Taos NM
This trail starts at Taos Ski Valley in the mountains northeast of town. One of the more popular trails in the area, this 4 mile out and back trail gains 1000 feet in elevation which wouldn't be too bad but it starts at just over 10,200 feet. Roughly 4500 feet higher in elevation than Cebello Mesa makes a huge difference in the landscape and vegetation - not to mention the impact on our breathing. Maybe it's just the views are breathtaking? The grade of the trail is fairly consistent the whole way up to the pretty alpine lake. There was still some snow on the surrounding peaks and if you venture beyond the lake, you will treat yourself to a nice waterfall. Better yet, there is a German restaurant near the trailhead and ski lift to treat ourselves to lunch and a beer after a 4.9 mile, 1300 foot elevation gain hike.
Blog post not written yet
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| Williams Lake |
- Bayo Canyon Trail - Los Alamos NM
Los Alamos is quite the unusual town. Sitting up on a high mesa, there are multiple canyons carved in the area all around town. Bayo Canyon Trail is a loop that follows one of these canyons on the north side of town. The 4 mile loop has about 500 feet of elevation gain and being in the vicinity of 7000 feet, it isn't too strenuous. It was unreal how you start near a busy roundabout in town and after a half mile you feel like you are in the middle of nowhere except for the expensive homes perched on the top of the canyon walls. We follow the loop in a counterclockwise direction which starts with a gradual decline into the canyon. As we get further into the canyon, it is a bit confusing because the other side (the return trail) is only about 1000 feet away but across a 250 foot canyon. For a while it isn't at all clear how we will get over there. The solution was clear once we made it to the canyon floor at a point where it has widened up a bit. We cross the valley and find the one challenging part of the trail - coming back up over 300 feet in just over a third of a mile. We have to take the spur trail out to the viewpoint of the canyon. It only adds a quarter mile or so to the total hike and is worth the view. The return trail is a much wider path and from this vantage point we can easily see the trail we came out on. Incredible to such a remote feeling hike in a town.
Blog post not written yet
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| View Over Bayo Canyon |
Below is the map that shows all 450+ stops in the past 10 years. Clicking on the link provided below the map will bring up the Google Map that permits you to zoom and pan around to get a closer view of a location you might be interested in. I had recently run into a limitation with how Google Maps functions and needed to completely rework how the map data is presented. As it turns out, the new format is actually much more user friendly. Each calendar year has its own color. If you hover the cursor over any of the years, those stops for the year will be highlighted showing what our general route was. For stops in the current year, the stops are still shown as individual blue dots. Clicking on any of the pins will open a popup window with the name of the stop, what year and a link to the blog post(s) written for that location. If you aren’t familiar with our blog posts, think of them as more of a what there is to see and do in an area but not as a campground review. A post may mention the campground but generally my writing is geared toward hiking, biking and general sightseeing in an area. If you enjoy hiking, biking or geocaching, these blog posts might be worth a look. I also generally tend to take lots of photos (working 32 years at Eastman Kodak has something to do with that!) and often will have plenty of pictures to help you experience an area like we did and maybe will even convince you that place is worth a visit.
