Happy, Happy New Year to you! We are ringing in the 2016 at Bahia Honda State Park, here in the middle of the Florida Keys. We’ve had a wonderful Christmas and holiday season here in the Keys – we can honestly say it’s been one of the best holidays we have ever had.
TODAY marks our 200th day on the road! When I did the calculations I was shocked that today would land on the 200th day. Time has flown by since we left Olympia, Washington on June 16, 2015. We’ve had our share of ups, downs, u-turns, milestones and breakdowns – but what a year it’s been!
Here are some numbers since we started traveling ::
Total miles driven: 12,730.8 miles
Total spent on gas (diesel): $2055.47
Average mpg (diesel): 13.2 mpg
Average price paid per gallon (diesel): $2.58
Total # states visited: 25 states! Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida
Junior Ranger badges earned: 15
These are badges our kids can earn through the state and national park system for learning about the places we visit.
Total # of family and friends we have visited along the way : 40 (plus lots of extended family in Minnesota!)
Total # of speeding tickets: ZERO, we are slow pokes
Total # of times missing our exit (as in taking a wrong turn): Surprisingly only 5 or 6 times, probably because we are slow pokes.
Most miles walked in a day (as a family): 11.2 miles on Dec. 2 while at DisneyWorld
Total # of pounds of weight lost (between Jeremy and Heather): About 25 pounds and still going. . .although our lifestyle is more active we are also enjoying things like lobster rolls, philly cheesesteaks, Key Lime pie and other local fare. The kids are growing like weeds – so going the other direction!
Total # of Costco Warehouse visits: 12 Costco stores in 12 different states. Same polish dog and pizza everywhere we go. 🙂
Total # of Target store visits: Ha! We lost count early in the trip. It’s our go to store on the road.
Total # of Airstream repair appointments: 4 (although the first one doesn’t count since they didn’t fix anything)
Here are some of our highlights from this year ::
Preparation before hitting the road ::
- Deciding for sure that we want to travel full-time January 6, 2015
- Going to the Tacoma RV show January 10, 2015 to tour possible RV options
- Purchasing our 2015 Airstream Flying Cloud 30 foot bunk model February 28, 2015
- Purchasing our 2015 F-250 truck in early March
- Researching and learning all about towing and owning an RV – purchasing things like a truck canopy, hitch, generators, solar panels, tools, etc.
- Selling all our possessions and downsizing to only a 5 x 10 storage unit and our possessions in the Airstream
- Having two garage sales, taking countless loads to Goodwill
- Re-roofing our house, painting every room (and all the trim) in our house and staging our house for sale
- Listing our house for sale and getting 3 full-price offers in the first 2 days (yay!)
- Having a BIG house-cooling party – inviting all our friends and family over to tour trailer and to TAKE home items they want from our house.
- Wrapping up the school year
- Packing up our trailer and hitting the road June 16, 2015
Since we’ve hit the road ::
- Towing our trailer over Snoqualmie Pass
- Visiting Leavenworth, Washington for the first time
- Touring Grand Coulee Dam in Washington
- Visiting family in Clarkston, Idaho
- Spending the day at Silverwood Theme Park in northern Idaho
- Visiting and spending quality time with family over the 4th of July in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho
- Meeting up with family in Glacier National Park, Montana
- Touring the Lewis and Clark Caverns in Montana
- Seeing Mount Rushmore in South Dakota
- Dodging hail storms in South Dakota
- Celebrating Liam’s 8th birthday in South Dakota
- Celebrating Hadley’s 5th birthday in Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Getting a new water tank installed in Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Spending time with family in Northern Minnesota
- Visiting Heather’s grandfather’s grave in Northern Minnesota
- Seeing the church where Heather’s grandparents were married in Nebish, Minnesota
- Wading in the headwaters of the Mississippi river
- Visiting Mall of America in Minneapolis
- Eating cheese and visiting the largest producer-only Farmer’s market in Madison, Wisconsin
- Visiting Notre Dame Football stadium in South Bend, Indiana
- Eating Culver’s for the first time in South Bend, Indiana
- Getting a SECOND new water tank installed in Grand Rapids, Michigan
- Playing on the giant sand dunes of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park in Michigan
- Taking a ferry and spending a day on Mackinac Island, Michigan
- Spending a week along the eastern coast of Michigan in beautiful state parks
- Celebrated Heather’s 35th birthday in Michigan
- Staying at wineries in Ohio and Pennsylvania
- Swimming in Lake Erie over Labor Day weekend in New York
- Visiting Niagara Falls and going on the Maiden of the Mist boat tour to the base of the falls
- Walking across the Canadian border at Niagara Falls
- Visiting family and eating Dinosaur Barbecue in Rochester, New York
- Eating lobster rolls in Maine near the flagship LL Bean store
- Touring lighthouses in Maine
- Walking the Freedom Trail in Boston, Massachusetts
- Watching a Red Sox game at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts
- Taking a Ride The Duck tour in Boston, Massachusetts
- Seeing the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Touring Gettysburg battlefields
- Visiting Amish Country in Lancaster, Pennsylvania
- Visiting the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
- Visiting Smithsonian museums in Washington, D.C.
- Visiting the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.
- Seeing the White House in Washington, D.C.
- Trick-or-treating at a massive RV park in Virginia
- Playing in the Atlantic Ocean at Virginia Beach, Virginia
- Seeing dolphins swimming off the coast in Virginia Beach, Virginia
- Flying home to Washington state for a couple weeks in November
- Taking a guided horse-drawn carriage tour through downtown Savannah, Georgia
- Seeing 6 alligators, 1 turtle, countless birds at Savannah National Wildlife Refuge
- Spending time with family outside of Savannah, Georgia
- Spending 8 days at DisneyWorld
- Swimming in a natural springs full of fish near Tampa, Florida
- Swimming in the Gulf of Mexico for the first time, near Tampa, Florida
- Touring a Turtle Hospital and learning about sea turtles in the Florida Keys
- Spending Christmas in the Florida Keys
- Eating Key Lime Pie in the Florida Keys
- Saltwater fishing off the coast in the Florida Keys
- Spending New Years Eve at Bahia Honda State Park
We end 2015 with a sense of wonderment over the last 200 days. We feel incredibly blessed to be on this journey. I can’t wait to see what 2016 has in store for us. In the next week or so we hope to sketch out a general route for the next few months.
Stay tuned for more posts and adventures!
I LOVE reading about (and seeing pictures!) the Clarke’s excellent adventures! Here’s to a healthy, happy 2016!
Happy New Year! What a great post! I enjoy following your family on your USA adventure!
I love reading about your adventures! Can’t wait to read more!!
I so enjoy reading all about your adventures!! Can’t wait for more!!
Happy New Year! I love reading your blogs and getting tips on how to RV camp. We plan on following your footsteps in a few years.
Happy New Year
Thank you for sharing your family and adventurs with us. Thank you for letting us know we can have dreams and put them into action.
May the next 200 days be as good or better as the last 200.
Best wishes to you and your family in 2016. Thank you for continuing to share your story on the road. I love hearing about your travels.
Happy trails to you!