2014 In Review

2nd Year of Fulltiming Summation
Posted from Casa Grande, AZ

It's the time of the year when so many bloggers post a "year in review" or a summation of what occurred during the year.  Well, I've decided to follow the leads of others and do a summary of a few of the "key" points during our first year of fulltiming.
I'm not going to re-hash the places we've been, nor show pictures of significant stops. Hey, that's what the past blog entries are all about.  Please feel free to look back at our blog during the first year if looking for something specific.

Ok, here goes.

We began 2014 in Casa Grande, AZ at Palm Creek Golf and RV and we liked the place so much that we decided to return for wintering over this year, so we ended the year there as well.
Due to a family health issue we traveled back to Virginia to spend some time in that area before heading up thru the midwest.  We attended a few rallies along the way, then turned north to take in some of the national parks in ND and MT.
It was getting toward the end of the year by now and time to begin our trek toward AZ.  We stopped at several locations in UT (planning to return) before arriving in Yuma, AZ and getting some dental work taken care of in Algodones, MX.
Click on this link if we're interested in viewing a map of our travels in 2014.
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Because I'm a bit anal when it comes to numbers and statistics here's a breakdown of our second year on the road showing a comparison to 2013.
Transportation Related

                                                  2013                  2014

Motorhome:        
       Miles Traveled                   9095                  8384
       Ave. MPG                           8.58                  8.40
       Total Cost of Diesel Fuel   $4162.53          $3781.76
        Ave. Price per Gallon        $3.61                $3.78

Honda Fit:                   
       Miles Traveled                    8592                7886
       Ave. MPG                           39.34               35.70
       Total Cost of Gasoline       $777.66           $674.96
       Ave. Price per Gallon         $3.56               $3.05

Camping Related (Figures include all utilities as well)

Total Cost                               $7387.21          $8942.69  
        Ave. Price per Day          $20.24             $24.50
        Shortest Stay                  1 night               1 night
        Longest Stay                   60 days             74 nights
Types of facilities (separate locations, not nights)
        Pr/Comm/Fairgrnd             18                  23 
        StPks/COE/CoPks              7                    3
        Member Pks (TT, SKP)       9                    6
        Tiffin Service Center            1                    1
        Dry Camp (Boondock)         1                    1
Total Locations                         36                 34

We actually camped in a total of 19 different states during the year of 2014 and stayed an average of 10.73 days in each location.
I have all of the budget line item figures for the year as well, but because this varies so much from person to person I've decided not to post charts for these figures.
Should anyone be interested in a "budget" item please do not hesitate to either leave a request in the "comment" section below or send us an email at the address listed in the top left portion of this blog page.
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Summation and General Comments Pertaining to the Second Year on the Road

Last year I used the phrase “we’ve had a blast during our first year of fulltiming”.  Well, that phrase continues to ring true in 2014. There is just so much to see, and so many places to visit in this beautiful country we live in.
Here's wishing everyone a safe travel year in the coming year.
Hopefully, we'll meet up with a few of you on the road this year.
(OF NOTE) We began writing this blog in December 2012, just prior to our fulltiming life on the road. We've now had over 117,000 page views to date. That’s an increase of 35% over the prior year. We never thought that so many people cared about what, and where we were.  We began this blog just as a "diary" for ourselves and to let our family know a bit more about our travels on the road.  THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO HAS READ OUR BLOG!

Thanks for stopping by to take a look!

Merry Christmas Greetings!

Posted from Casa Grande, AZ

Merry Christmas from Karen and I to all readers of our blog!  We are hopeful that 2015 will bring a wealth of new adventures for all of our traveling friends and wish for only good fortunes for everyone else.

We concluded our Hawaiian cruise last Sunday and arrived back in Casa Grande after and 8-hour drive from Long Beach, CA.  I intend to do multiple posts on our cruise beginning after the holidays and attempt to detail much of the cruising process, as well as the destination, for those of you who might be thinking of cruising to Hawaii, or for those who have never cruised before and would like to get a feeling for the whole cruising style of vacation.


Thanks for stopping by to take a look!

Unusual Happenings in Casa Grande

Posted from Casa Grande, AZ

Not unusual for other parts of the country, but we awoke this morning to a weather phenomenon called rain.  We've now been at Palm Creek Golf and RV Resort since October 15th and this is the first day since we arrived that we've had any appreciable amount of rain.

Of course, rain always seems to occur at the least favorable times.  We booked a cruise to Hawaii to celebrate our 30th Wedding Anniversary (which was actually in September) over a year ago.  We leave tomorrow to drive to Long Beach, CA to board on Saturday.  We were going to use today to prepare the coach for our absence. Things such as stowing outside small items, putting in the slides, and disconnecting the water while gone were all to be done today.  It would be much nicer if the rain would stop, so that things won't have to be stowed still wet.

Probably no blog posting until we get back from the cruise, which will be just a few days before Christmas. 

Here's wishing everyone a safe and enjoyable holiday season.  If you need to be traveling during this busy time of the year, slow down, plan ahead, and get there safely.

Thanks for dropping by to take a look!