Thursday, October 16, 2014

A REVIEW OF OUR FIFTH YEAR ON THE ROAD

October 16, 2014 – Today is the end of our 5th year on the road. If you're a long-time reader, you know we full-timed for three years and then became snowbirds. We now own a small home in Canton, OH, where we spend several months in the summer visiting family and friends. During the colder months, we visit family and friends in Texas and other warm areas in the south.

Ohio house

This 5th year was spent in preparation of our daughter, Kelly's, wedding and doing some major renovations to our summer home in Ohio. If you peruse our spreadsheet (below) of interesting facts, you'll see we cut way back on travels this past year. We spent most of the winter in Houston, TX, and the summer in Canton, OH.

We began the year, beginning October 17, 2013, back in Mission, TX , the Rio Grande Valley of south Texas. We like to travel there to visit our many close friends that live there and to make our annual trek to Progresso, Mexico for dental check-ups.

L-R Paul, Marsha, John (Shoeless Joe), Angie, Rick
lunch

November found us back in Houston to spend Thanksgiving with our daughter, Carrie. It has become somewhat of a tradition for her to have many of her “twenty-something” friends over for a huge Thanksgiving dinner. We enjoy playing “mom and dad” at this fun event!

Thanksgiving

We then flew to Canton, OH, to spend the Christmas Holidays with immediate family. Marsha usually spends most of December in Ohio with Paul showing up just before Christmas. He stays back in Texas to care for our cat, Bella....or is it to avoid the cold and snow in Ohio???? Surprisingly, it was warm enough in Ohio for Paul to mow the grass, mostly leaves that mother fall deposited while we were gone. That didn't last though. By Christmas day it was snowing, so Paul and daughter, Carrie, grabbed an early flight back to Houston. Poor Marsha got snowed-in and her flight was delayed for several days....ha, ha!!!

Mowing one day
mowing

Snowing the next day.
DSC08410

Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas

This past December was especially memorable because our daughter, Kelly, became engaged to a wonderful guy, Dave. What a great Christmas event!!! We were thrilled and excited to spend the first part of 2014 preparing for the “big event.”

making cookies

Because we wanted to be available for wedding preparations, dress shopping, shower planning, and other decisions mom and daughter needed to make for the big day, we decided to spend the entire winter in Houston, TX. This became especially nice when Kelly and Dave visited Houston in February for a day of wedding dress shopping and a family get-together. Dave even got to spend a few hours hitting the golf ball, which is one of his biggest “loves”.....after Kelly of course! He also bought his first pair of real cowboy boots.

visit in January

Dave’s golf form.
dave golfing

Winter wasn’t only for wedding planning. The end of February marks Houston Barbecue fun. Carrie always has a big tent to celebrate with friends, and this time we were able to crash the big party. Oh, what fun!
cook off

March welcomed the Rodeo to Houston. This was our second opportunity to attend the big rodeo and we really enjoy the festivities. Of course, Marsha and Carrie went to one of the many concerts to see Adam Levine and Maroon 5 perform. Poor Paul had to miss that event.... :-) .

rodeo
Maroon 5

April found us heading back to Ohio. Paul had a long list of projects to complete, and Marsha had orders that  they needed to be finished BEFORE the wedding.....YIKES!!! He jumped right into a total kitchen redo and was able to finish it with several weeks to spare.

Before
Perry house

After
kitchen

With the wedding fast approaching, Carrie flew to Ohio to help Marsha with the wedding shower for Kelly. A well-planned event (who would expect anything different form Marsha) that was a big hit with Kelly and the family. Of course there was a bachelorette party for all the girls at a resort town on the shores of Lake Erie. They aren't talking much about that.....LOL

sign

July was the big day. Kelly and Dave were married on July 19. A day to remember, for sure! Everyone enjoyed the church ceremony and the celebration afterwards. Great planning allowed the entire event to go off without any problems.

Kelly/Dave wedding
married

Paul finally has a guy in the family to help with several projects he had planned for the remainder of the summer. I'm sure we'll have many more projects in the coming years!

With summer coming to a close, we headed to Augusta, GA. With several stops along the way for hiking and sightseeing, we eventually arrived in Augusta to visit with Paul's brother and the “Southern Family.” We also participated the the Walk for ALS, and yes, we did the “ice-bucket” challenge, too, in memory of our sister-in-law, Delores.

ALS walk

We then meandered across the Gulf States to Houston for a couple days, a quick stop to see Carrie in Houston, and then down to Mission, TX, where we begin our 6th year. This was the first time we finished a year of travels at the same location where it began!

beach 
Here are some interesting facts comparing this year to our previous years of travel. Enjoy!!

YEAR 1
YEAR 2
YEAR 3
YEAR 4
YEAR 5
Different Cities Overnight
54
34
40
27
18
Longest Length of Stay
79
69
70
138
172
Location of Longest Stay Livingston, TX Mission, TX Canton, OH Canton, OH Canton, OH
Average Length of Stay
7
11
9
14
20
No. of States Visited
20
11
16
15
10
No. of States Visited 1st Time 17 3 7 5 0
No. of Days in Home State of TX 166 195 127 153 199
Average Campground Cost $12.80 $12.25 $15.33 $13.52 $14.21
Gallons Diesel Fuel Used 1,678 974 1,038 687 705
Highest Price for Diesel Fuel $3.22 $4.05 $4.60 $4.16 $4.03
Lowest Price for Diesel Fuel $2.54 $2.83 $3.57 $3.46 $3.26
Average Price/gallon $2.84 $3.63 $3.92 $3.82 $3.65
Average Miles/gallon 7.36 MH 7.21 MH 7.31 MH 11.54 TR 11.5 TR
MH Miles Driven 12,357 7,428 8,641 NA NA
Car Miles Driven 22,186 15,631 18,496 NA NA
Truck Miles While Towing NA NA NA 7,923 3,600
Truck Miles While Sightseeing NA NA NA 10,854 10,687

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!