When we started our Big Adventure in our Big Rig, I naively thought one year was plenty of time. I’m not sure if I actually believed that, but it was the amount of time I could get my head around. When a homesickness wave came over me, I’d tell myself, ‘It’s only a year. It will fly by.’
The ‘fly by’ part was accurate.
2016 begins our second full year on the road. Midway through 2015 we changed rigs. We traded our Winnebago Journey Big Rig for an Allegro Bus Big Rig. We also dropped the defined timeframe. Our plan now is to stay on the road until we’re done. I’m not sure what done looks like, but we trust we’ll know it when we get there.
Our previous home in Ohio.
We left Ohio in early November of 2014. In the 14 months we have been ‘out’ we have crisscrossed the country, logging about 16,000 miles. We’ve spent time on the Atlantic coast and the Pacific coast. We’ve camped in 12 states and driven through numerous others. We’ve grown accustomed to 100+ gallon fill ups and overnight expenses ranging from free to $90 a night.
Our Big Adventure started in 2014 with gremlins causing grief with the Winnebago. After a couple weeks in Tennessee, resolving the gremlins, we headed west. It felt like it took forever to cross Texas.
We made it to California in time for the holidays with daughter and her pup Beesly. We spent Thanksgiving in Menifee and Christmas in Palm Springs. We did some touristy stuff, some more enjoyable than others.
New Year’s Eve 2015 found us in Las Vegas with friends from Ohio. From there we headed to Mesa Arizona. Here Other Half and Rigby stayed in Mesa while I flew back to Ohio for some family and friend time. Next was Quartzite Arizona for a huge RV related snowbird street fair. From the big Q we headed to San Diego and spent our first month at Mission Bay RV Resort.
In San Diego we toured Old Town, enjoyed the seals in La Jolla, got our Margarita on, became regulars at the farmer’s market, enjoyed wildlife, bike rides, long walks and sunsets. We also got our taxes done and reflected a bit on how our lives had changed.
From San Diego we went back to the desert. We camped a second time at Caliente Springs in Desert Hot Springs. The spring fed hot tubs are fantastic. We celebrated Other’s Half’s birthday and I went up to North Hollywood and got my first tattoo. Our good friends Ray & Kathy Crabtree joined us for 2 weeks of nonstop fun.
After 6 weeks in the Palm Springs area we started our trek back east. We spent time in San Antonio Texas. We visited the Alamo and got some serious steps in walking the San Antonio River Walk. (An experience Other Half says he’s NOT planning to repeat.) We also enjoyed more than our share of frozen margaritas.
We got to Florida just in time for Other Half’s annual golf trip with his buddies. I got to spend time with an old friend. We stayed at Lazy Days RV Resort. Here is where the Big Rig swap took place.
My sisters, Cindy on the left and Mary on the right.
From Florida we headed back to Ohio. My beautiful sister, Mary, was facing a health crisis. I’m so thankful we were able to spend lots of time together.
Our beautiful family in Maine.
After several months in Ohio we headed east to visit family and friends. We spent time in New York, Maine, Maryland and Massachusetts.
We came back to Ohio and stayed through my nephew’s wedding on Nov. 7. The wedding was beautiful and bittersweet.
We left Ohio mid November and headed to Red Bay Alabama. Once again, we were dealing with gremlins, only this time it’s the Allegro Bus. We entertained ourselves in Red Bay while the Big Rig got serviced.
From Red Bay we continued our trek west and ate way too many meals at Cracker Barrel.
We spent Thanksgiving in Tucson, Arizona. We did some sightseeing and toured a giant Habitrail. From there we went to Yuma, AZ, toured an historic prison and walked to Mexico.
I made a quick trip to North Hollywood to help daughter deal with her stolen car. Then we headed back to San Diego. Our plan is to snowbird at Mission Bay RV Resort.
And then the clod gene struck. (That’s where the 31 staples come in.) From that point on, I’ve been dealing with recovery and Other Half has been dealing with a cranky wife.
Gotta love the Charlie Brown Christmas tree.
We spent Christmas with our daughter and her pup. She and her Dad handled dinner. New Year’s was spent with our friends Mike and Donna Kuper. www.flyingthekoop.com Mike and Donna brought dinner for us and prepared it here. We so appreciate friends. We played Yahtzee and celebrated NYE on Eastern time.
And here we are. Starting our second full year of our Big Adventure in the Big Rig. I plan to step up my blogging and work on a couple writing projects I’ve been kicking around. Hope to take advantage of all this ‘sit time’ and do more than leave my butt imprint on the couch.
Life on the open road is like life anywhere. Stuff happens. We’re happy to be here and realize how lucky we are. Wishing you and yours the best 2016.