Final Thoughts, Full Circle, or Whatever You Wanna Call It

Got crazy busy when we got home, so it took me a while to get to writing. I wasn't even sure where to start, and I was overwhelmed trying to figure out how to put the last year into a post. Here's my best attempt. I apologize in advance for the length but I hope you find it to be worthwhile.

I'd never even read a blog before I started this one. Figured it couldn't be that hard so I'd do some research and give it a try. Honestly, it was harder than I thought to get started. Can't lie - almost threw in the towel a few times, but I eventually figured it out and I'm glad I did. After providing a brief description of "Betty Lou and The Crew", I wrote that I hoped to make you smile, laugh, cry, and perhaps inspire you to embark on your own adventures.  I also said that I may even share a few travel tips. I haven't been very good about sharing all the tips we've learned along the way, and there's a LOT. But I know we smiled, laughed, and cried together. Most importantly, I hope we inspired a few people.

One of the first pictures we posted after we launched.

I've met people along our journey that heard what we were doing, and responded with something like "we're gonna do that someday". I genuinely hope this doesn't come across negatively, but I often asked them, "Are you really gonna do it? If so, when?". Melissa and I had those same conversations. And then made the decision that we're doin' it, and we're doin' it now! We rented out our house before we even bought a motorhome. All in! Let's do this sweetheart!

Maybe this is a good place for me to share one of my own "Thoughts of the Day": For all of you that say that you're not going to work until the day you die, just remember that if you're still working on the day you die, then you worked until the day you died.

After I retired and Melissa agreed to this crazy adventure, we spent several months getting ready. You can read more about that in the "About" section. We never really doubted that we were making the right decision because we're both survivors. We knew that, worse case scenario, we'd set out on the road only to find out that it totally sucks. Whatever! We'll sell the RV and rent a house for a year. Chalk it up to a crazy idea and have some comical memories for the rest of our lives.

Our original map. Several changes along the way.

I'd be lying if I said there wasn't some fear that day we launched. Hooked up the tow car, loaded up the dogs, did final checks, and then closed the door. Buckled up, turned the key, and rolled down the street. Yep! It was a bit scary but a lot more exciting, and I can honestly say that there wasn't been a single day that we considered ending our trip. This journey has been WAY more fun then we even imagined.

Just a few numbers:

85 different stops of at least one night.

25,743 total miles (15,304 on Betty, 10,439 on Lou)

Plenty of miles on bikes (and hikes) but I didn't keep track

2,400+ gallons of gas (thank goodness we left last year😁)

120+ gallons of propane

A bizillion hours of Kenny Chesney's No Shoes Radio (Channel 59 on SiriusXM)

2 new slide motors

91 episodes of Orange Is The New Black

20 episodes of Landman

2000+ pictures

15+ veterinary visits including monthly check ups

6 additional National Parks (we've seen several others previously)

5 mobile mechanic visits

1 pesky water leak (that was 3 of the mobile mechanic visits)🤣

Uncountable lessons learned

Uncountable moments of awe and appreciation of our country

We often get asked "What's your favorite place"? That's impossible to answer because there have been so many awesome places. Some were what we expected. Some exceeded expectations. Some did not. Some had no expectations but turned out to be amazing. We stayed in some amazing places but the RV park wasn't the greatest. We stayed in some amazing RV resorts where the surrounding area wasn't anything special. Honestly, I'd have an easier time naming a few places that were NOT our favorites. That list is a lot shorter.

We also get asked if we're excited to be home. When we get asked that question, I think of a different question that we occasionally get asked. "Was part of this adventure to find a place to live in retirement"? My answer to that question is easy and always the same: "No. We love where we live." So I can unequivocally say that we're excited to be home, but I can also say that there's a sadness that this particular journey has ended.

Melissa and I have spent the last few weeks just reflecting on the past year and we find ourselves fascinated by how much we've shared. Kind of mind boggling. There's simply no way I could put all those memories into one post. Trust me - I started to try but it would be more like a book (🤔) than a post. But I can say that The Crew started as a cool name, and turned into so much more. We all grew closer and shared a love of the journey. We helped each other and were patient with each other. I really wish the dogs could talk 'cause, man, they could tell some stories.

Maybe this is the appropriate place to say "thank you" to Melissa. This whole adventure just didn't pop into my head one day. I'd been thinking about it as I got closer to retirement. But I never talked to Melissa about it. When I gently asked her if she'd consider going to see some of the USA in a motorhome, she hardly hesitated before saying yes. Ok. That went well, so let's try the next question. "How 'bout for a YEAR?" I fully expected her answer to be something like: "How 'bout a month?" That one took a little more time for her to answer, but she was in for the year!

Melissa - Thank you for trusting me even when most of your girlfriends thought you were out of your mind. Thank you for sharing my sense of adventure and spending a spectacular year in living quarters that are smaller than some studio apartments! (About 300 sq ft of living space, but certainly well equipped). 😁 I have the hottest navigational assistant in the universe😛😍 and the girls have the greatest dog mom ever. Even if I don't think they need 14 walks and 9 treats daily. 😊 And we all love you so much that we're ready to start planning our next great adventure together! ❤️

We only saw 34 states so there are still plenty more to visit, and we haven't seen any of Canada. So, for now, we're keeping Betty and I'm sure there's more RV trips in our future.

Thank you to all of you who followed along and to those of you that even joined us on parts of this adventure. A special thanks to those of you who hosted us in your homes as well. It's been absolutely amazing!! Drop a reply if we did something that you enjoyed, or inspired you, or you just want me to shut up and finally put the pen down.

Thought of the Day: Some people dream big. Others stay awake and achieve their dreams.

Dream big and then get after it!!!