We’ve been on the road now for 22 1/2 months – almost 2 years. During that time we’ve traveled through 33 states, and have gone just over 18,000 miles. We have a sticker map on the side of our bus that we’ve been filling in as we go.
What Counts?
There’s a long-standing discussion amongst RV’ers: what counts as having “been” in a state? Different people have different criteria:
- Stepped foot the state sometime in your life (airport layovers count)
- Drove into or through the state, in any sort of vehicle (doesn’t have to have been in your RV)
- Drove into the state in your RV
- Slept at least one night in the state in your RV
- Had sex in the state (in your RV)
Just for clarification – our criteria is #4, slept at least one night in the state in the RV.
No California?
That’s not just a missed sticker – so far we haven’t been to California in the RV. In the beginning, we went north to visit Jere’s sister in Washington, and then we started toward Florida. We didn’t really WANT to go to California for a number of reasons (traffic being high on the list).
After plenty of experience driving in all sorts of conditions, including big-city rush hour, we finially decided Californiat would be okay to visit. We were going to go there to visit family this summer, but plans changed and now we are heading east to New York. So, at some point when we are back on the west coast, all our California-based family (both his and mine) will get visits and we’ll put the sticker on the map.
Filling in the Blanks
When we head west to Oregon and Washington this fall, we will plan to hit another “row” of states. They’ll have to be the more southern ones (Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming and Idaho). Hopefully, we’ll beat any of the really bad weather (or will be able to hunker down safely somewhere if we’re visited by any major storms).
Tracking the Route
Besides the state sticker map, I keep a detailed paper map with our routes marked in. I taped it the side of the bus and took a picture and then enhanced the routes. What you see is:
BLACK – Starting in Oregon August 11, 2015, we arrived in Clearwater, Florida just before Christmas.
RED – After a couple of months in Clearwater, we did a small loop through Georgia for a couple of months before the HSCG Conference in May.
BLUE – After the conference, we went as far north in Maine as we could (and still get good cell reception!).
GREEN – From Maine we worked our way to Texas, where we spent Christmas 2106 in San Antonio.
ORANGE – Starting the New Year (2017) we headed toward Las Vegas for the HSCG Conference in May.
YELLOW – After the Conference, we started east, on our way to New York, and are currently in West Virginia.
All told, one pretty complete lap around the US, and we’re on the second one. 18,000 miles. Wow.
Leave a Reply