Sunday January 1st 2017

Happy New Year!!

This blog entry is a review of Rob’s Rambling Road Trip for the year 2016. The year began with the last 3 months of a 4 month stay in Davenport Florida. Staying in one place at a monthly rate saved money, but I really chaffed at the bit to get on the move after a couple of months.

Disney World was a major source of entertainment this year.  I bought an annual pass in January that got plenty of use.

Grounds crew at work at McKechnie Field in Bradenton FL.   Spring Training Baseball games made the month of March a lot of fun.

I started north at the beginning of April, taking a little less than three weeks to get back to New England. I stopped along the way to visit Charleston SC. Touring Fort Sumter National Monument and the Aircraft Carrier Yorktown were interesting and educational. The second major stop on my northbound journey was Washington DC. I spent several days touring the National Mall and the Smithsonian.

Once I got back to New England, my focus turned to getting my Sticks and Brick house in New Hampshire ready for sale. I continued to live in the Motorhome as I had since buying it at the beginning of October 2015. I commuted to work on the house every day from wherever the Motorhome was parked. The house went on the market at the end of July and sold quickly. The closing was in the middle of September. I flew back from Jacksonville Fl for the closing.

At the end of July I started south with a stop in North Carolina for a family reunion. I spent the time until the house closed in the Jacksonville Florida area. Jacksonville had a good airport to return north and was near my mail service. I flew back to New Hampshire once in August and again in September for the closing. Once the house sold I drove the motorhome to Red Bay Alabama. I had a punch list of warranty items on the motorhome to be fixed at the factory.

I returned to Florida via Pensacola to visit the Naval Aviation Museum at the Pensacola Naval Air Station and the Battleship Alabama in Mobile Alabama. My plan was to return to the Jacksonville Florida area for a few days. Mother nature had other ideas. Hurricane Matthew was coming up the coast of Florida. I made the prudent decision to run away. I spent five nights north of Macon Georgia while the hurricane hit the Florida coast.

Battleship Alabama forward 16 inch guns.

Once the storm passed I went back to touring Florida. I started in the Orlando Florida area for a couple of weeks. Followed by St Augustine, Fort Meyers, Port Canaveral, Walt Disney World and Bradenton Florida. As the year ends I am settled in for the month of January 2017 just north of Bradenton Florida in the town of Ruskin.

Some statistics for the year:

• I traveled 6100 miles in the Motorhome and many more in my Honda CRV. I had estimated more, but staying near the house until it went on the market reduced the travel some. It also increased the number of miles on the CRV.
• I moved the Motorhome 38 times over the course of the year.
• The Motorhome got only 6.7mpg towing the car. This is lower than expected. I need to investigate possible causes.
• My average cost per night was $33.50. This is over my estimate of $30 a night. Some of this may be because of the region. The Northeast is generally thought to be more expensive for camping than other parts of the country. I would like to get his number lower. It might happen naturally by being out west or I may need to be more selective on the campgrounds I choose. Five nights at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Campground at $145 a night and staying at KOAs while traveling at around $55 a night had a significant impact on the average. All of these are informed choices I made that worked for my desires at the time.

In 2017 I plan to depart Florida at the end of January. I’ll spend the month of March in Arizona then move north through Nevada, Utah, and Idaho. In general I’ll be on the western side of the Rockies. I haven’t figured out the details yet. As I work on the plan everything may change. So, don’t hold your breath.