We thought as we prepared for this Summer 2021 RV trip that it might very well be our last. With a house in a fun 55 plus community, and now a cabin in the mountains, we just are no longer interested in being gone for months at a time. As the trip progressed, we became more and more comfortable with the idea of this being the swan song trip.
It was fitting that we spent our last couple weeks with family. We visited our cousins Marilyn and Lynn in Wyoming, something we’ve done several times over the years. Who knew how many times we’d pass through Wyoming!
We had smokey skies for our tour along the Wind River Range but still enjoyed ourselves.
We followed it up with a trip to the Museum of the Mountain Man.
We got our grandson and spent five days at Henry’s Lake State Park, the only Idaho park we had never visited before. We missed out for years. It is a great park!
He experienced his first leech! I’m glad Randy was on leech duty!
We went kayaking a couple times.
We watched the visiting moose for several days.
We enjoyed a dinner show at the Yellowstone Playhouse Theater in Island Park.
Of course, we took our grandson to Yellowstone National Park and he enjoyed the bison….
and the stinky mud pots!
We went to Boise for a few days, seeing more family and friends, and then went on to Sumpter, Oregon for our family reunion camping trip. It was good to all be together again after missing for the COVID year.
We had planned a few more weeks on this trip but our water problems in Arizona flared up again and it was just time to go home.
And it is also just time to let this era of our lives go.
Allow me to look back.
This was our first night in our new 2012 Montana Fifth Wheel in March 2012. Of course it was at Three Island Crossing State Park in Glenn’s Ferry, Idaho. We went there so many times while we were still working for spring and fall weekends.
We lived full time in the Montana from 2014 to 2019 and this blog is mostly about those years.
Our last night in the Montana was at the Ely KOA in Ely, Nevada, August 8, 2021.
Throughout our RVing years, 2004 – 2021, I journaled each stay. That was true for this trailer and our earlier Laredo. For the Laredo I kept a running “cost per night” with that first night costing $22,000! Over the years, at an average of 30 nights per year, our costs in the Laredo got below $100 per night. (Those calculations never included campground fees – just the trailer cost.) I stopped doing that calculation when we bought our Montana but still kept the journal. It is fun to sit down and read both journals.
Today we took our beloved Montana to a consignment lot. It was bittersweet but we are in agreement that it is time. We are grateful that we are in agreement!
And what of finishing the map? And what of the blog?
We carefully removed the map and mounted it in our hall.
The plan is still to finish the map as we travel. Our rule has been that we had to spend the night in a state to get the sticker and it is possible we will amend that going forward. We hope to fly in, rent a car, and experience areas in much the same way we did in the trailer. We enjoy historic hotels so we will likely add that to the mix.
And the blog…. we’ll see. We hope to travel nationally and internationally, and perhaps the writing bug will bite as I learn things in new places. Handy Randy has been making modifications in the cabin – so perhaps that will show up too.
And if the writing bug doesn’t bite again, we thank you most sincerely for caring about us and our RV travels.
Serene Wandering 
It has been a great joy to virtually travel with you and Randy. I hope you are able to finish the map and enjoy the ‘life’ in Arizona.
Thanks for coming along Robb! Randy
Dear Ones! I am not getting any younger! Get yourselves to NC!! Right now it is VERY hot. I think you have made the right choice. I have enjoyed your blogs and will miss them. â¤ï¸ð¹
Sent from my Rosie Miller
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We’ll get there! And enjoy seeing you again when we do. Seems like we ought to visit during college football season sometime as we enjoy that together. Blogs may continue – just not sure.
Enjoy the next phase of your journey! To say I have enjoyed reading your blog posts is an understatement. They are so nicely done and have been an inspiration for us. I got to feel close, like you were my virtual brother and sister. I hope to see more blogs in the future so we can keep up with your new adventures.
Thank you for the kind words. We enjoyed having you along!
Thank you for sharing your travels and adventures. It’s been a true pleasure.
Thank you Dan. We’ve enjoyed the years and having so many people along with us.
Best of luck to the two of you! Enjoyed tuning into your fantastic adventures! God Bless you.
Warmest, Steve and Judy Kranz Eagle, Idaho.
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Thank you Judy! We may show up again in your email from who knows where!
We have certainly enjoyed travelling along with you in your blogs. You have taught us some history and some “ odd” things along the way that have been so enjoyable. We wish you all the best in your future and hope to see you the next time we are in AZ. Hugs and Thank You for all your informative blogs.
Thank you Catie. We are glad for the friends we made along our RV way. I”m hoping that the writing bug will bite again – I used to enjoy learning something new, or odd, and writing about it so much.
Farewell, good and trusty friend! I am grateful for your Montana because that’s how I met you.
And now on to the next chapter of adventures…
We’ll said Beth
What a wonderful trip you have been on all these years!! Sounds like you will continue but in a different mode of transportation. Thank you for sharing your journey with us. We enjoyed every blog of it!! Blessings to you both! Reed and Jean
Hey guys, what a great look back! Plenty of things to do and places to go, and some of them may be simpler without the RV!! Enjoy your new adventures and we look forward to seeing you both somewhere down the road.
Best wishes on the next phase of your journeys!
Enjoy your new adventures! Even if you don’t keep the blog we would still like to hear about what yall are doing. Keep in touch.
Hanging it up, what has it been 7 years or so. Now on to your next chapter in life.