2013 - South

The Plan

We travel to the South this spring.  This will be our 7th "long trip".  We're headed down the Natchez Trace to New Orleans, along the Gulf Coast to Florida, to Disney World and then back home.

Trip Summary

We left on April 4th and returned April 24th.

• 3,304 miles driven
• 2,825 miles towing
• 13.6 mpg

No car or trailer problems

We visited 11 states and traveled on some of the routes we'd used during previous trips.

2012 - Midwest

The Plan

We travel to the Midwest and beyond this fall.  This is our 6th "long trip".  There will be stops in IA, NE, KS, ID, and on to the west coast and NV ... all are states we haven't been to.

Trip Summary

We left on August 3rd and returned September 27th.

We were a bit sad to return from this trip sooner than planned.  Odd performance by the Chevy TrailBlazer made us uneasy.  Getting home seemed the prudent thing to do.

However ... we did get to experience many wonderful sights, do fun things, meet interesting people and finish our quest to visit all continental U.S. states.

• 8,289 miles driven (13.9 mpg)
• 6,738 miles towing
• 16 states visited

Really Neat Places

• Yellowstone National Park
• Grand Teton Mountains
• Mt. St. Helens
• Crater Lake
• Shakespeare Festival (Ashland, OR)
• Tioga Pass (out of Lee Vining, CA)
• Yosemite National Park
• Giant Sequoia National Park
• Death Valley

Next Time

We've been "sampling" all around the country for the past 5 years.  We've pretty much decided to "take a closer look" at areas in future trips.  The southwest has the most appeal.

2011 - Northeast

The Plan

We travel to the northeast this fall.  This is our 5th "long trip".  There will be stops in PA, CT, RI, MA, ME, VT, NH and NY.

Trip Summary

We left on August 16th and returned September 21st.

This trip didn't go as planned.  We traveled 4,985 miles, towed the Airstream 3,823 miles and had lots of adventures.  We've got some fixing up to do, then we'll go again.

2011 - Southeast

The Plan

We travel to the southeast this year. This is our 4th "long" trip.  There will be stops in Arkansas, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, New Jersey and Maryland.

Trip Summary

We left on May 3rd and returned June 12th.

This trip had a different “feel” than our three previous.  It was earlier in the year (May-Jun vs. Sep-Nov), in more populous areas, and involved more stops to visit friends and relatives.  We got to see places we’ve only heard about and met many nice people.

We’ve now been to the NW-most, SW-most and southern-most points in the continental US.  The NE point must be next. 

• 6,198 miles driven (13.9 mpg)
• 4,869 miles towing the trailer
• 17 states

Preparations - pretty simple

• Trailblazer - oil change and filter
• Trailer - wash
• Trailer - check and lube wheel bearings

Things Fixed – pretty simple

• Trailer - replaced a few internal rivets 

2010 - Northwest

The Plan

We travel to the northwest this year. There will be stops at Glacier National Park, Calgary, Lake Louise, Jasper, Vancouver, Seattle and Portland.  Our “northwest” trip imagery falls apart after about six weeks however.  We plan to take Hwy 1 down the west coast to San Diego, stop at Saguaro National Park outside of Tucson and find an interesting way back home.

Trip Summary

We left on July 20th and returned October 13th.

This was our longest trip to-date.  We saw family, friends, states, provinces and many wonderful sights.  

• 11,527 miles driven (13.8 mpg)
• 8,573 miles towing the trailer
• 16 states
• 2 provinces
• Dick had never been in North Dakota, Montana, or Alberta.
• Carol had been in all 48 states, Alberta and British Columbia

Preparations - pretty simple

• Trailblazer - new tires
• Trailblazer - oil change and filter
• Trailer - wash and wax
• Trailer - check and lube wheel bearings
• Trailer - check tires and brakes

Things Fixed - stuff happened, but not much

• 07/30 - replaced Trailblazer ignition switch in Livingston, MT
• 08/30 - Trailblazer oil change and filter in Portland, OR
• 09/22 - replaced LED light over sink in Monterey, CA
• 10/01 - replaced trailer tires in Tucson, AZ
• 10/03 - replaced trailer hitch lift fuse in Amarillo, TX

Notes

(1) Atwood propane gas detector stopped working in OR, it isn't fixed.

(2) 4 internal rivets need to be replaced

(3) Each 7 gallon propane tank lasted about 4 weeks.

(4) Trailblazer brake issues seem to be caused by trailer weight and terrain.

(5) Canadian travel is expensive (gas $5/gal).

(6) It's hard to update the blog every day, but even worse when we get behind.

(7) Verizon's Mobile Broadband service was a great trip accessory.

(8) The original Goodyear Marathon trailer tires lasted 20,932 miles. (tread wear, not damage)

2009 - Southwest

The Plan

We are traveling to the southwest again this year.  The journey concentrates on SD, WY, CO, UT, AZ, and NM.

Summary

We left on August 10th and returned October 2nd.

• 9,167 miles driven (14.4 mpg)
• 6,934 miles towing the trailer
• 15 states

Some of the places we visited:

• 13 National Parks
• 8 National Monuments
• 4 State Parks
• 2 Space Museums

The employees and volunteers at national and state parks do an outstanding job of teaching and serving the public. Everyone we met was very pleasant and helpful.

We met strangers whom we'd now like to call friends.

Every place we visited was unique ... and the country is full of new sights to experience.

2008 - Texas

The Plan

We set out to travel to the southwest, across the gulf coast and back to Ohio through Georgia.

Trip Summary

We left on September 25th and returned November 13th.

• 48 days
• 6,539 miles driven
• 4,698 miles of towing
• 4 days with some kind of rain (3 occurred at night)
• We had everything we needed
• The trailer and tow vehicle performed perfectly
• We found our country to be much more beautiful and educational than imagined
• There was so much to see that we can only consider this adventure a "sampling"
• It was a great experience ... we're ready to go again