2017 Year End Review

Our 2017 Route

With the end of 2017, we have now been on the road full time for 18 months. The map above shows where we have camped for the year. Click on the link to get to the actual Google map if you want to zoom in to see more details. Obviously, we have been spending time in the western US states. And not that we have anything against the state of Nevada, but it looks like we have successfully circumnavigated it this past year never once crossing the state line - not even to get a geocache there! We will likely rectify that early in 2018 but with no definitive plans, who knows?

Where We've Stayed and How Long

Our travels have taken us through 7 states. There were 61 travel days, although four of them were a single night stay when we were trying to make distance between real destinations. In terms of the type of campgrounds we stayed at during the year, our most frequent stop was at Elks Lodges. Since we were not Elk members at the beginning of 2017 and didn't become a member until late March, we had no idea how well this would work out for us. We spent a total of 119 nights at 25 different Elks Lodges or roughly 1/3 of the year. Private campgrounds accounted for 107 nights. While state and county parks were used for 104 nights. The remaining 35 nights were spent boondocking in the desert of Quartzsite, casinos, a couple RV rallies and at a service facility. The motorhome was driven 6500 miles for the year or about 18 miles a day on average. We put another 14,500 miles on the Jeep to do all the side trips we have taken.

Some travelers will give their top ten campgrounds of the year but we never choose a campgrounds for what it has to offer but rather pick it based on what things there are to see and do in the area. So instead, we will give our favorite stops based on what we saw or did not on where we stayed. There are likely better campgrounds than those we picked for a given spot and even the best campground wouldn't be able to make up for a so-so location. Unfortunately weather or other calamities can sometimes ruin a wonderful location. Two that should have made the list but didn't were Crater Lake (smoke from fires) and Mt St Helens (fog and rain). These will need to be kept on the bucket list and revisited on a future trip.

What were some of the highlights from 2017? Well there were so many that it is hard to narrow them down to a reasonable number but we will try. In chronological order they are:

• Tucson, AZ: We stayed near here four times over the winter and spring. There are lots of great hikes and things to see but our highlight was going to the Tucson Rodeo and Parade. A wonderful parade and our first rodeo experience.
• Sedona, AZ: I almost don't need to say anymore. What a wonderful place. The beauty is astounding. The West Fork Trail hike was a memorable one but there were many others.
• Page, AZ: Lower and Upper Antelope Canyon hikes were quite remarkable. A guided walk through the slot canyons and seeing the water carved rock formations with the intense colors was a stop we won't forget.
• Kanab, UT: Our spot to see Zion National Park with some pretty incredible hikes. The downside for us were the crowds and we were there before the summer rush. The highlight in Kanab was actually Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. A place we would love to spend some time volunteering at.
• Bryce Canyon, UT: This area has some beautiful sights. The hoodoos in the national park are almost otherworldly. Two hikes here were favorites. One inside the park following Peekaboo Loop to Navajo Loop and another hike outside the national park in Red Canyon doing the Golden Wall Trail.
• Burien, WA: This was our stop to get into Seattle and the main reason for this one making the highlight list was visiting Geocaching Headquarters in Freemont for our 10,000 find. Probably would not make it on most people's top 100 list but it made our top 10.
• Terrebonne, OR: We had a wonderful spot to park and hosts that were some of the nicest people we have met, but Terrebonne might not normally be on someone's list of places to stay. So why did it make ours? Timing, timing, timing. We were there for the solar eclipse in the path of totality. An incredible experience that might force us to find a spot for the 2024 eclipse.
• Yachats, OR: We loved lots of things along the Oregon coast but the highlight from this stop was at Cape Perpetua Scenic area. The Spouting Horn and Thor's Well were very interesting to see. Just be sure to time your visit with high tide or it might disappoint.
• Brookings, OR: This was one stop that brought us to the wonderful world of coastal  redwoods. These trees are so tall that it is difficult to comprehend while standing at the base of one. The actual highlight was across the border near Crescent City, CA in Jedediah Smith Redwood State Park. There are numerous spots here that could have made the list but the Boy Scout Tree Trail was the one that comes out ahead. A beautiful hike where your neck may be as sore as your legs afterwards from needing to tilt your head up to admire the tall trees.
• Desert Hot Springs, CA: In the shadow of Joshua Tree National Park, one might expect this to be the highlight of this stop. There were also numerous sights in nearby Palm Springs, but the highlight here was the ride up the tram to the 8500 foot level to do an incredible 5 mile hike in San Jacinto State Park. This may also be one stop where a campground amenity nearly made the list - hot mineral spring pools.

One thing we get asked a lot is "What does it cost to live this lifestyle?". Well a lot of the costs we incur would happen whether we were living in a home or on the road. Health care insurance costs - our highest line item cost - would likely be identical. Groceries and dining out costs seem to be about the same as before for us. Sometimes we're in an area with higher food costs and sometimes lower. It likely averages out. Entertainment and recreation expenses are purely discretionary, they seem to be similar for us but your mileage may very. Things that are different are the cost of owning and maintaining a home. Our campground costs could be compared to home ownership costs like water, electric, gas, garbage collection and taxes on the home. In our case, our campgrounds fees totaled $9500 or $26 per day. Our cheapest spots were boondocking for free but spending just about $3.50 a day in diesel for the generator. Our most expensive stay was at a private RV resort near Mt Hood Oregon at about $65 per night. In our case this cost is lower than during our home ownership days. Our cellular/data bill totaled about $2500. We do miss having consistent high speed internet access like we had at home and this cost is greater than the equivalent from before. Fuel cost us about $2200 in diesel for the motorhome and $1600 in gas for the Jeep. Motorhome and Jeep service costs were about $1900 total with only a few hundred being unexpected service. 2018 will be a much more costly year since we need new tires on both vehicles probably approaching $5000 - ouch! I suppose the equivalent thing in home ownership is when a roof need replaced or the house needs painting. Neither is cheap, but they don't happen often.

In a nutshell, we don't find the costs of living this lifestyle any more costly than living in our sticks and bricks house and it is generally a less expensive way to go. Of course it doesn't have to be. As we were investigating camping spots in the Palm Springs area, we found an RV resort that cost between $160 to $250 per night! I would hope they wash and wax my rig for that price. We don't find living in a confined space an issue. I occasionally miss having my workshop and all my tools but am happy I traded them for this experience. We enjoyed our home on 49 acres and all the trails, but now we have the whole country and all its trails. And best of all, I don't need to maintain them.

We did have a good year geocaching as well. We got in 1603 caches - our best year yet. And much to Chris' chagrin, we have a 540 day caching streak underway. We have done some very creative cache hides along with our fair share of somewhat lame ones. But geocaching has taken us to many interesting and scenic spots along the way. We also had the privilege of placing a new virtual geocache and did so at the lighthouse in Cape Blanco Oregon.

What will 2018 have in store for us? We will spend the bulk of the winter in southern Arizona before heading east. A visit in the Dallas area with some of Chris' family, then up to Cincinnati around Memorial Day for a big geocaching event and visit some of my family. Beyond that, we likely will hit the Rochester area and maybe east to Maine? Who knows? Only time will tell where we end up.