2018 Year in Review - Part 2

This is a continuation of our annual year in review post. 

3Q

Mid-year we completely revised our itinerary, returning to Houston, TX, from NV, to help our daughter move her stuff in her storage unit in Astoria, NY (where she used to live) to Houston, her current home. We left our RV in Houston and rented a truck to make the trip. It was quite as adventure, but, needless to say, a lot of driving in a short period of time! We do not usually do that…

While in Houston, we visited the fabulous Museum of Natural History and Cockrell Butterfly Center. Both were fantastic. Our daughter treated us to a night out a Jones Hall to see Apollo 13 (the movie is shown on a huge screen while the Houston Symphony plays the music score). Loved it! 

We planned a route east to visit our son and family who live in NC, with several stops along the way. Travelling from TX, we stayed in several cities in MS beginning in Natchez on the Mississippi River. Driving the Natchez Trace Parkway, visiting historic Native American mound sites, and antebellum homes were all interesting and fun. 

Many National Battlefields, Military Parks, and National Cemeteries were located along the route (MS, TN, GA) we traveled including Vicksburg, Brices Cross Roads, Tupelo, Corinth, Shiloh, Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain and Chattanooga. The horror of the Civil War is brought to life when visiting these somber sites. 

The Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site preserves not only his family home in NC, but also the blue-ribbon goat herd his wife raised there. I had never been in Chimney Rock, so we spent the day there as well. Our next stop was Concord, NC, where we had a blast with our grandson, Andrew, celebrating his 3^rdbirthday. He and Gramps are best buddies!

From Savannah, we visited Fort Pulaski National Monument and the lovely sites of this charming southern town. During our month stay in St. Mary’s, GA, we took the ferry to Cumberland Island National Seashore. Ruins and wild horses were the highlights there.

4Q

By October we were in Florida where we spent the remainder of 2018. Canaveral National Seashore has beautiful sandy beaches. And Biscayne National Park was the 41st national park we have visited.

A one-month stay in Marathon, FL, enabled us to enjoy the beauty of the Florida Keys and its many state parks. The endangered, diminutive Key Deer at the National Wildlife Refuge were so interesting to see. The sunsets here were breathtaking!

But the best adventure of the year was our visit to Dry Tortugas National Park. Located 70 miles west of Key West, we flew there in a sea plane (which was an adventure in and of itself!) Massive Fort Jefferson ruins in this very remote location were fascinating. 

We arrived in Lutz, FL, in December, where we will stay until the end of March. Despite our mid-year itinerary change, we had another great year exploring our beautiful country! Planning continues for our 2019 itinerary. 

2018 Year in Review - Part 1

This is my annual summary for the previous year. Yes, I know, it is already February! I am running a little behind. But, here it is. I write these so I can remember all of the fun stuff we have done!

15,300 miles driven in the MINI Countryman (excluding towed miles) 

  5,800 miles driven in Monaco Monarch (class A motor coach) 

     600 miles = longest RV drive in one day

     135 miles = shortest RV drive in one day

       25 RV park stays this year

       14 states visited (in RV)
       10 more states visited during road trip from TX to NYC (3,350 miles in truck rental)

Here’s a tally of the thing we did throughout the year. Our primary activities involved spending time in nature at local, state, and National Park Service sites, but we always enjoyed some museums, too.

27        Local and County Parks

25        State parks

20        National Historic Parks and Monuments

10        Museums

09        National Military Parks and Battlefields

08        National Parks

08        Religious Sites (cathedrals, chapels, etc.)

04        National Forests

03        National Wildlife Refuges

03        National Seashores (Padre Island, Cumberland Island, Canaveral)

03        National Scenic Highways

02        Theatre (stage)

02        Zoo/Aquarium

If you are interested in more details, read on!

1Q

We spent most of 1Q in Texas (Galveston, Corpus Christi, San Antonio, and Fort Stockton). Highlights included visits to Padre Island National Park, San Antonio Missions, and many Texas State Parks (all of them great for hiking) and local one as well. 

With our daughter, Amanda, in nearby Houston, we were lucky enough to see the musical, Kinky Boots, at Jones Hall. It was great fun!

Continuing west, we stayed in Fort Stockton, TX, where we visited several historic parks including Fort Davis National Monument. 

By the end of March we were in NM at Carlsbad Caverns National Park and the elevator was out of service when we were there. So, we ended up walking 75 flights of steps down (and back up), to explore the largest part of the cave. Well worth it.

2Q

While in Carlsbad, NM, we headed south to visit Guadalupe Mountains National Park. While it is located on the western border of Texas, it is unlike any other area of that state! 

Santa Fe, NM, was our home for a month where we visited lots of museums (Georgia O’Keefe, New Mexico History, Wheelwright Museum of Native Americans, Meow Wolf), and the historic Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis and Loretta Chapel.

We also enjoyed visiting and hiking in Santa Fe National Forest, Pecos National Historic Park, Bandelier National Monument, Petroglyph National Monument.

It has been a lifelong dream to visit Mesa Verde National Park to see the Native American cliff dwellings. They were absolutely amazing! Several other national monuments nearby preserve the dwellings and culture of that era as well. I loved it all.

Our dear friends, Angela and John (from NC), joined us for a week in Estes Park, CO, where we spent time in one of our favorite places, Rocky Mountain National Park. They stayed in a cabin at the RV park where we rented a lot. So much fun!

Continuing west, we stayed in Grand Junction, CO, where we spent time at Colorado National Monument (amazing) and Great Mesa National Forest before arriving in Torre, UT, for a two-week stay. Capitol Reef National Park was fantastic. The geologic and cultural history of the area is so fascinating. It is our favorite national park (and least crowded) of the five parks in UT. Adjacent to Capitol Reef on the south, is Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, another national treasure with such unique slickrock landscapes, canyons, and waterfalls. But the rock formations at Golbin Valley State Park were other-worldly! 

We had only been at Great Basin National Park (NV), for a few days when we made a major change in our travel itinerary and returned to Houston for a one month stay there.

If you still want to read on, see the next post, Part 2 of 2018 Year in Review.