Viva Las Vegas

It has been about 2 months since we last wrote a blog post and it hardly seems possible that it has been that long . . . We arrived back in the lower 48 as of that writing and here we are, two months later, approaching the last couple of months in the US before we cross the US-Mexico border.  Hard to believe that just about Thanksgiving time, we will be crossing the border for the next phase of this road trip.

At the moment, we are “camped” in downtown La Vegas at a “campground” at the Main Street Station Casino/Brewery/Hotel which is nothing more than a parking lot with full hook ups. It is everything we need and more, especially when you see the amazing updated, modern and impeccably clean bathrooms. Yes, there is nearby road noise and yes, there are few trees but we are in the middle of downtown Las Vegas and the location (and cost) cannot be beat. Past visits to Las Vegas left us less-than-enthusiastic about returning but we needed a place where we could service Wolfie as well as a place from which we could fly to the east coast for a trip to visit friends and family and to celebrate a milestone birthday.  It also goes to prove that earlier impressions can change in subsequent visits – this time around, we have found a lot to like about Las Vegas, including the ever-present sunshine and the border of gorgeous mountains that fringe the city. As it happens, having the resources of a city and the time to just stay put for a while has also allowed for a lot of catching up on a variety of things, including another installation of this blog.

While making plans with friends back east, more than one expressed excitement about seeing us and learning all that we have learned about life along the road so far. In our day to day life, neither of us regularly discuss subjects such as the life lessons learned along this road trip but these comments caused us to consider what we might share with friends when we return East. We wish we could make erudite lists of our lessons learned but neither of us feel qualified to do so. Perhaps it is because when you are in the middle of something, it is more difficult to see it clearly.  It will be interesting to see if anyone back “home” notices changes in us that, perhaps, we don’t see in ourselves. With time, we think that the lessons learned from the trip will make themselves known.

Notwithstanding the lack of a coherent life lesson list, we have reflected often on the magnitude of this undertaking. Because Gertie’s truck cap windows are nearly completely obscured with stickers from parks and other sites we’ve visited, we are regularly questioned when, for instance, we stop for gas and we launch into the 30-second elevator speech about our trip. We have applied the last state sticker to our map of the United States before we cross into Mexico and we have visited all but one of the national parks on our list before we leave the US. We figure that we will be crossing the border to Mexico just about Thanksgiving and as this date approaches, we thought that it was a good time for a trip recap.

As we approach the Mexican border, we have sought out and read a number of blogs from other travelers on the Pan American highway.  From these, it seems that we are pretty much ready – ready for this next phase of the journey, ready for new adventures and ready in terms of trip gear, paperwork and other preparations.  By now, we are used to many of the kinds of potential obstacles we may face: bad roads, slow going, little or no cell or wifi signals,  lots of bugs, inaccurate mapping and more.  In other words, we’ve gotten pretty used to looking at each other, shrugging and saying “It’s good practice for Mexico and Central America” and just continuing.

Some (mostly useless) Trip Stats

The following is a mostly-accurate account of some trip stats and some mullings from along the way –

Time on the Road

• 292 days
• 41 weeks
• 7 months
• 80% of a year

Miles driven

• Approximately 37,000
• Daily average: 126 miles (remember that this includes local driving once we arrive at a stop)
• Approximately 3000 gallons of gasoline used
• Approximately 170 fuel stops

Places Visited (on this trip only)

• Approximately 140 overnight stops, ranging from a single night to a week in one location
• Approximately 35 national parks plus additional national monuments/recreation areas/national seashores/forests and other federally protected lands
• Approximately 40 state and local public campgrounds
• Approximately 15 wild camping locations
• Number of nights spent in accommodations OTHER than Wolfie: 4 (two in a hotel during a snow storm and two with friends Nia and Len while in Lake Tahoe)
• Approximate average nightly cost for campsite: $22.88
• Major towns and cities visited: Asheville, Charleston, Savannah, Louisville, Miami/South Florida, Jacksonville, Pensacola, New Orleans, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Santa Fe, Tucson, Phoenix, Denver, Calgary, Fairbanks, Anchorage, Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, Reno, Stockton, Fresno, Las Vegas

Some Favorite Things

Along our trip, we have met so many people who claim a “favorite” park. Yosemite rises to nearly everyone’s list. Others include Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon and all of the southern Utah national parks. Variables such as weather, traffic and crowds, to name a few, can influence an experience. Comparisons of places on a scale as large as the one we’ve traveled is an apples-to-oranges thing and any mental list we might have is a constantly changing one, as we see and visit new places. There have been some standouts to us, however: (subject to change):

• US and Canadian National Parks
  • Big Bend National Park – Texas
  • Zion National Park – Utah
  • North Cascades National Park – Washington
  • Banff/Jasper/Yoho/Kootenay – Alberta, Canada
  • Kings Canyon/Sequoia National Parks – Sierra Nevada region, California

• Favorite Night Sky Locations
  • Death Valley National Park
  • Everglades National Park
  • Kodachrome State Park (Utah)
• Some favorite towns
  • McKinney, TX
  • Silverton, OR
  • Delray Beach, FL
  • Valdez, AK

Notable Factoids

• Nearly ALL grocery (including Target) and warehouse clubs (Costco and Sam’s Club) outside of the MD/DC/VA area sell not only beer and wine but also liquor as well
• Discourteous drivers exist in every state
• Costco hot dogs taste the same everywhere; the buns, however, are different from location to location
• Nearly every public camping website leaves essential questions unanswered and make it more difficult than necessary to book campsites
• National parks are amazingly distinct and even when they are virtually next door to another national park, there are stunning differences that make each worthy of selection
• We have not perceived any divisiveness anywhere in the US and yet we believe that this country is very divided. We cannot completely explain this disconnect

Some Preliminary Thoughts on Lessons Learned (so far)

• We still enjoy our visits to cities for our dose of energy, people-watching and urban services, however, the longer we are on the road, the less we believe that we will end up living in one long term. Smaller cities/larger towns have become more appealing to us because they have necessary conveniences but allow for the building of relationships and a sense of community.
• We have been able to maintain a similar lifestyle as the one we enjoyed before the road trip, despite an income that is between 1/3 – ¼ of our prior income (a topic for another blog post) in part because we have used this trip as a way to ease into our new income and a slower lifestyle
• As a couple, we have experienced some bumps along the road but still enjoy spending 24/7 with each other and have learned a new language and new skills to help keep our conversations fresh, activities exciting and togetherness non-stifling. (Hint: laughter is key!) 
  

  Beautiful Lake Tahoe

  

  Roque and me with Len at Lake Tahoe

  

  Ruthann, Bobby, Len, Nia, Roque and me at our campsite dinner party