April 13 – November 6, 2021
Wow, what a great trip!! Our travels took us through some new states – Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington, Montana, Nebraska, and South Dakota – and filled in most of our state map. We still have Minnesota, North Dakota, and Alaska for future trips.
This country is filled with the most amazing places. Some of our favorites on this trip included Carlsbad Caverns, Lake Tahoe, the Redwoods, the northern California and southern Oregon Pacific coast, wine tasting and tours (in California, Oregon, Washington, and Texas), Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore, Devils Tower, Little Bighorn Battlefield, and of course Colorado and the Rocky Mountain National Park.
Carlsbad Caverns 
Carlsbad Caverns 
Lake Tahoe – Emerald Bay 
Wet Woodys at Lake Tahoe 
Redwoods 
Grandfather Tree 
California Coast 
Oregon Coast Arch Rock 
Jordan Winery Chateau 
Barrel Room at Jordan Winery 
Willamette Valley Winery 
Willamette Valley Winery Chef’s Platter 
Augusta Vin Winery 
Augusta Vin with friends 
Grand Canyon 
Mount Rushmore 
Devils Tower 
Little Bighorn 
Rocky Mountain National Park 
Golden Aspens
It was a long mostly dry trip. Would you believe that we didn’t see a drop of rain after leaving Hot Springs, Arkansas on April 30 until we took the Red Bus Tour in Glacier National Park on August 17? We ran into areas with a lot of smoke but fortunately never encountered any fires. The smoke did impacted visibility and we found ourselves saying “this would be pretty if …” Unfortunately we saw way too many hillsides that had been deforested by fire in the past.
By the numbers, this trip covered 8700 pulling miles (more if you include side trips with the truck), included stops in 19 states, and lasted 207 days. Needless to say, we were tired, sad that the trip was over, but happy to be home when we backed into our home base at Cypress Woods RV Resort in Ft. Myers on November 6. Now we have time to reflect, enjoy being with friends and neighbors, and (you guessed it) plan for next year.
So, where to next?
Originally, we thought we wanted to finally do the twice postponed Alaska Caravan trip. In fact, we made most of the campsite reservations for pre-Alaska and post-Alaska. But, do we really want to do two long summer trips back-to-back? What about the wear and tear on the truck and RV? How does Covid change the picture? After much deliberation, we decided to cancel Alaska for next year and instead concentrate on a few of our favorite destinations
- Traverse City, Michigan
- Heber City, Utah
- Kerrville, Texas
Although our timeframe for the above destinations is pretty well set, the route and intermediate stops are still to be decided. So, for now, we’ll just have to leave you guessing.
