We Drove Where?

From Google Maps History 2021 travels. Many years ago Carol’s late brother asked for maps of our travels. At the time it was a nontrivial ask. Today Google Maps makes it almost too easy. If you think about our desire to stay warm it becomes clear that the northern route was late Spring into Summer and the Southern route was in the Fall. 

First stop West bound was Dyke Virginia where Dan and family now live on their large farm (15 acres) with space for their two horses. The moochdock space for us is a straight pull in (which results in an extended back out). From there we headed south to Charlotte for a reunion of friends and time with the Rainwaters, who have since begun to relocate to Asheville.

We got in a bit of a hurry leaving Charlotte NC after a week long delay for mechanical stuff. We skipped Louisiana altogether. We made four stops in Texas although only three show. Texas is that big and we needed some time in Livingston to pick up the mail and get the coach inspected. Then on to New Mexico to visit Leora and Stuart in Las Cruces and then to Erica in Albuquerque. This resulted in backtracking south on I 25 to get to Quartzite where we hung out in Hi Jolly camping area to limit our total time for the year in California to less than 180 days. We returned to Jojoba Hills SKP Resort on December 4 and finished 2021 there. We have enough diesel to make it out of California before we need fuel.

The eastbound trip had a hiccup or two. The first stop was Redlands Truck and RV to service the coach and set up the tow for our new Jeep. From there we made it to Albuquerque to meet Erica who flew in to scope out the town as a place to move to. A doctor suggested we return to Jojoba HIlls so Carol could have yet another test and so we did. When the results came back we were released to continue on. We returned to Redlands since the new brake system for the Jeep did not seem to be functioning as expected. They jumped on it the minute we arrived and determined that one of the parts they had installed had failed and they replaced it under warranty, total time was two hours! We stayed the night in their campground spending time with two other Jojobian couples who were there. 

As we ventured north and east we had wonderful experiences along US 50 headed to Lake Tahoe. It appears that most of the places we stayed and visited have been reduced to ashes. 

Colorado was the big draw for the next section of the trip as we visited Elly and Kelly from our trip to Thailand and Vietnam in 2013 and then moved on to Escapade in Rock Springs Wyoming. Heading north toward Nebraska we finally returned to elevations where there is more air to breath. Our next destination became Madison Wisconsin for a visit with cousin Mimi and finally a reprise of US 20 through Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania. We gave up on US 20 in Buffalo as it was very local and very high traffic.

The map also shows a jaunt into Canada. We left the coach in storage and took the Jeep to Hamilton to visit Carol’s Aunt Dorothy, now 98 years old, and cousin Marilyn. Then to Toronto where we stayed with the Starkman’s and made a condolence call to Harvey’s younger brother Michael whose wife Stacy died recently. That was a tough visit. They are the youngest in their generation of the family. 

Back to Rochester and back on the endless, so far, cycle of time on the East Coast and then on the West coast with extended drives in between. 

Our travel plans for 2022 include Boston for a Bat Mitzvah, Jazz Fest in Rochester and Sicily in August. That trip has now been postponed twice.