Wow! 8800 miles in 26 states driven in our new-to-us motorhome, Pearl, and it all began with a flight back to the US from Mexico, where we'd been living in Playa del Carmen for most of the previous year. The map above shows our 2016 travels in purple. We made it as far north as Minnesota, North Dakota, and Montana; as far west as eastern Idaho and Utah, and to quite a few spots in the midwest and southeast. There are obviously many places we didn't get to, but for one year, we traveled far and wide! Our Top 10 Campgrounds of the Year.During our first year on the road, we've been to lot of camp spots of all styles, from one night to a month at a time, from county and city parks to commercial parks to national parks. We've enjoyed the luxury of full-hookups at times, and other times we've boondocked with no hookups at all, and everything in between. We've been in sites with no internet/cell/TV signals at all to the occasional "luxury site" with cable TV and plenty of bars on our Mifi (internet) jetpack. We've stayed in quiet, dark spots where sleeping came easy and bright, noisy parks where we had to use ear plugs and put black plastic over our windows to keep the intrusive sound and light out. In the order in which we stayed in them, here are our favorite spots where we camped this year. You can click on each one for our blog post telling more about them. These all happen to be public parks; although we've stayed in some nice commercial parks, none of them quite cracked our top 10.
It's been kind of amazing. We started the year as novice RVers and now, after living full-time in Pearl for nearly a full year, we still have much to learn, but we have come a long, long way. We've had to make our share of small repairs, buy new house and starting batteries, and install a new water heater, but have not had an accident or a breakdown along the road...knock wood! We've driven back roads through many charming small towns, been awed by the beauty of our country in national public lands, and have explored some interesting cities. We took some incredibly beautiful hikes in numerous states, but as you know, our number one passion is bicycling, and over the course of the past year we've been privileged to ride in some super special spots. Our Top 10 Places to Bicycle of the Year.In the order visited and ridden, these are the cycling spots that were highlights for us over the past year. Click on each for a blog post, if you want the deets!.
So What Is Next?After racing around all over the US this year, we're really enjoying staying put for awhile -- especially since we're in Florida, one of the only spots we'd even consider spending the winter months since we are not fans of cold weather. We're getting some improvements and much-needed maintenance projects done on Pearl and need to take her in to the dealer where we purchased her last January for some service also.
After this? We haven't decided what 2017 will bring but are mulling over a few ideas. In the meantime we are planning to do several posts sharing some of our experiences in Mexico, since we'd taken a blogging break in the latter part of 2015. We'll bring those to you this winter. To those who are still with us, thanks for following along on our travels. We hope that our posts have been interesting and perhaps even inspiring. Best wishes to all our readers for a happy and healthy New Year!
4 Comments
Jody McGraw
12/31/2016 09:10:28 am
We plan to stay at Rosebud East Campground on our way to Alaska this spring. I have a first cousin that lives in Forsyth and we'll spend a few days before moving on to Big Sky. But inbetween the two, we'll go to the Tetons, so may stay at another of your faves. I really enjoy reading your blogs and seeing your pics. Hopefully we'll meet somewhere, sometime. We'll go bicycling together. We are taking our bikes with us on our 4 month odyssey to And from Alaska.
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Emily
12/31/2016 05:23:56 pm
I hope you and David like Rosebud East as much as we did. We highly recommend Gros Ventre campground in the Grand Tetons, though it has no hookups. Still, a great place to stay and one of the prettiest national parks I've EVER been to. GREAT cycling too on paved paths and park roads. Can't wait to hear about your amazing trip. What an adventure!
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Sabrina Nichols
12/31/2016 12:49:51 pm
Wow -big miles. Nograss growing underyour RV. Happy New Year!
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Emily
12/31/2016 05:22:11 pm
There's grass growing under her now, but we deserve it. We went racing around all over this year! Happy New Year to you and Tom!
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Emily & BarryWe're a long-married, early-retired couple who are currently traveling as nomads with no fixed home base. After years of living in North Carolina (Emily's home state), we spent 18 months living oceanfront on Ambergris Caye, Belize, a year road-tripping the US in a Honda CR-V, a year in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, and are now roaming North America in our 32' motorhome, Pearl, following warm weather whenever possible. Archives
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