by We have now visited 37 states in the van (double the number from the first year), though some of them were truly a “dash in, do something, and dash back out.” Not included in the list of 37 are Alaska and Washington, which we visited by plane; Washington, DC; or Montreal, Quebec, which we also visited by plane.
When we first set out, I thought we would be soon heading west. But a combination of work and family needs has made it so that the farthest west we’ve traveled so far is Albuquerque, New Mexico!
Pictured are some stats on our spending (and savings, too!)
The big things we are not tracking are food, internet, and vehicle maintenance/insurance, but there are also lots of smaller items we are not logging, like parking, tolls, and laundromats.
If you are wondering, our van’s MPG is hovering right at 18, which is not what I’m used to in a Honda Civic, but much better than I thought it might be!
Here are some highlights of our travels this past year:
- We have been able to meet up with lots of friends and family members that we have not seen in years (decades, in some cases!), which has been really great! Not so great is that we keep forgetting to take photos with them! Shout outs to Krissy, Beth, Lauryn, Darrell & Jan, Dorian & Marshall, Don & Jen, Jenni & Sher, Greg & Jen, Andy & Karen, and everyone else we’ve temporarily forgotten. Thanks to all who loaned us their driveways and spare rooms for the night!
- Getting to see the Solar Eclipse in totality with clear skies was thrilling!
- We have seen lots of great architecture. Some of our favorites were the Gropius House, the Miller House, Craftsman Farms, the Glass House, and the Frank Lloyd Wright House in Ebsworth Park.
- We have done lots of birding. Doug’s life list surpassed 200, not bad for less than a year’s adventures. The Eastern Screech Owl sighting was a definite highlight!
- We (by which we mean mostly Jennifer) also visited lots of botanical gardens and took lots of photographs of flowers and plants.
- We’ve really loved visiting historic artist studios and homes, learning about new (to us) artists, and making connections between the different experiences. Robert Henri (and the Ashcan School) and Thomas Hart Benton have been standouts.
- We’ve continued making Civil Rights education a priority by visiting sites and reading/listening to lots of books on the topic. The National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum were both phenomenal (and heartbreaking). There were many small-but-powerful sites in Montgomery, Alabama, as well.
How long will we go? It’s hard to say, but we obviously have barely scratched the surface of the United States, never mind Canada, so hopefully we can keep going for a while!
Several pictures included in this post are of picture puzzles that we put together in the van (or more likely at a picnic table or in a brewery). We’ve also done a couple of “escape rooms in a box” in the Blackbrim series. They were much harder than I thought they’d be!
