On August 30, 2013, I drove out of Phoenix to start a full time RV adventure. My first real destination, back when I thought that destinations and stops where different, was Trinidad, California, in the redwood coast of Northern California.
After five years on the road, I’m back where I started.
Trinidad, from 2013
I’m back in the area again to close out 5 years on the road, this time a few miles south in Eureka, but Jenna and I spent the day in Trinidad.
Trinidad 2018
Highlights for Year 5
- Arches National Park, Utah – spectacular rock formations
- Elephant Butte State Park, New Mexico – fantastic camping at the largest lake in New Mexico
- Bainbridge Island / Seattle, Washington – visiting Kylee and Jeffrey while staying at an island in Puget Sound
- Lake Osakis, Minnesota – hanging out with old friends
- Custer State Park, South Dakota – up close with buffalo and other wildlife in a spectacular setting
- Sierra Vista / Bisbee, Arizona – Bisbee, Copper Queen Mine, Kartchner Caverns
- Pierre, South Dakota – Capital of my new home state, camping on the banks of the Missouri River
- Sturgis / Deadwood, South Dakota – scenic and historic Deadwood – origin of the “dead man’s hand”
- Holtville, California – hot springs and hanging with friends
Lowlights for Year 5
- Smoke – fires in BC, Washington and Oregon clouded the air on and off in Seattle and Oregon, even set off my smoke detector in Eugene.
- Paint – On I-5, en route to Bainbridge Island, I drove through a spill of 50+ gallons of white latex paint covering much of the truck and 5th wheel. Four weeks later I’m still removing it.
- Taxes – Arizona piles on by billing me $700 city sales tax on a Truck I purchased in Oregon, after the federal tax fiasco.
- The big truck cluster t**ck.
What Now?
I’ll be in Eureka for a couple of weeks, then a short trip to Bend, Oregon for an RV repair I haven’t addressed since July 2017. After that, who knows. Maybe this will be the year I get to Banff and Maine.
By the Numbers
- 102 blog posts
- 762 published pictures
- 335 stops
- 3 motorcycle trailers
- 2 scooters
- 2 RVs
- 1 dog
