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)
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
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.
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.
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