A REVIEW OF OUR FIFTH YEAR ON THE ROAD

October 16, 2014 – Today is the end of our 5^th 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.



This 5^th 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


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!



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


Snowing the next day.


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.”



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.



Dave’s golf form.


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!


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.... :-) .




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

After


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



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.




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.



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!

 
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!