We are home, and all is well. What a wonderful trip we had seeing some great country and sights. Time went by so fast and we never got tired of the voyage (or each other).
The final segments from Custer State Park/Black Hills South Dakota took us through Sheridan, WY, Bozeman, MT, and St. Regis, MT. En route to Bozeman, we stopped and toured Little Big Horn (aka Custer's Last Stand). It was quite a place and very interesting to see the failed
strategies of Custer's 7th Cavalry regiment, trying to move the locals elsewhere. There on June 25 and 26 of 1876, 263 soldiers, including Lt. Col. George A. Custer and attached personnel of the U.S. Army, died fighting several thousand Lakota, and Cheyenne warriors.
Some fascinating trip statistics and factoids...
RV miles traveled: 7825 (excludes excursions in the Honda)
Days gone: 72
Campground/RV parks stayed in: 30 (excludes relatives' driveways and bedrooms)
States traveled in/through: 23
RV Gallons of gas purchased: 922
Average mileage: 8.48
Most picturesque states: Kentucky, Louisiana and Montana
Least picturesque states: West Texas, Minnesota, and Illinois
Favorite campgrounds: St. Andrews SP, FL, Fort Wilderness, Disneyworld, Badlands KOA
Least Favorite campgrounds: Parkview RV, Fort Stockton, TX (what a dump!) and Asheville, NC
KOA (terrible Highway noise and unlevel sites
Worst roads: California, Illinois, and Montana
Best roads: Those leaving the repair shops
Most valuable tool: GPS
Some favorite things we did:
~ Swamp tour in Louisiana
~ Carlsbad Caverns
~ Basking in the sun on the white sand beaches and watching dolphins play at St. Andrews, FL
~ Disney World and visiting Animal Kingdom Park
~ Biking around Jekyll Island
~ Castillo de San Marcos and touring St. Augustine, FL
~ Trolley tour of Savannah, GA
~ CD tour of the Amish country in Elkhart, IN
~ Mount Rushmore
What did we learn from this trip:
~ Stuff breaks.
~ When possible, don't make reservations. It just adds to the stress to 'hurry up and gotta get there" when stuff breaks. Only once did we come across a full campground, including Fort Wilderness.
~ Change the belts before you make a long trip.
~ Take more/better tools.
~ Don't pack so many clothes.
~ Turn off the fridge when it is being towed or is up on blocks, otherwise they go bad.
~ Don't bother with a "Ready Brake". Quite a funny story actually ... So we towed the Honda using a Ready Brake which is a surge break device that is in between the RV receiver and the tow bar. The idea is that in an emergency stop, the Ready Brake will apply pressure to the Honda's brakes to help you stop. The problem is that the extra 18" the device adds causes a bit of whiplash effect, so you are constantly correcting the line of the RV, specially when a truck passes you or in side winds, etc. OK, so the funny part is that on the second to last day I decide to take it off to see if it towed any easier. OMG did it. I'
ll never use it again. Could hardly tell the Honda was back there most of the time.
So now we are home. While we had our share of mechanical issues along the way, we traveled over 2900 miles from the Atlantic shore of Charleston, NC to home without one single problem. The RV ran like a top. Needless to say, our (my) frustration during the "events" and decision to "sell the damn thing and buy something without an engine" was an emotional reaction...not logical. So we've decided to keep Bubba Tioga with all of the improvements we've made over the years and we'll be money ahead.
The cabin was in fine shape when we came home, although the grounds had gone somewhat to seed, after an unusually wet spring. The grass was real long.
So now we're cleaning the RV and taking care of the little stuff before our next trip to Pearrygin Lake with Darryl, Cathy, and the boys. In March, we're planning a 1-2 month jaunt to So Cal and Arizona to bask in their sun. Thanks to everyone for watching the blog and keep up with our travels.
Lucky bastard.
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