Farewell and some Facts and Figures

It's a sad time for us but our trip would not have been so enjoyable without the absolutely fantastic people of the USA. Maybe it's because we were RVing but we never stopped meeting great people, be it at a RV park, on a cruise, sightseeing or at the shops. I cannot count the number of times we spoke to people and on finding out we were from Australia they would say "thank you for visiting our country" or "thank you for visiting our town" and a lot of these people were cashiers. I would like to say to all of America, "thank you for having us".

I will be the first to admit I have changed a lot of my own opinions, we hear so many negatives about the USA but that is the media. Every person we met was hardworking, polite, friendly and welcoming. America is a truly a patriotic country and not a day went by where we did not see at least 50 American flags flying, be it down the Main Street of a small town, in parks, in national cemeteries or in the front yards of houses and farms.

American's honour their military and not just on Veterans Day, they do it everyday. On a bus tour of the Aeroplane boneyard in Arizona the guide introduced himself, as a retired veteran, immediately several people said to him "thank you for your service". We heard this many times on our travels. Every Walmart has an honour board where families can put pictures up. One small town we went through had flag staffs on the light poles with pictures of the local kids with their name and what service they had entered, be it Army, Marines etc. If in conversation to people I mentioned my son was a returned serviceman they would say "tell your son thank you for his service".

To me many Americans have a special place in their hearts for Australia and many said they wished to travel their one day so I hope we as Australians can welcome them as nicely as they did us. Most are not fortunate enough to have as much vacation time as us or the means but they never stop wanting to visit Australia.

America was born on its freedom and they are immensely proud of this point and will not give it up lightly, they love their states and what it offers. Not one time while we have been here did we feel threatened or not safe. Of course there are places of danger and violence but using common sense will often keep you safe and this applies worldwide not just here.

In all, my words cannot describe how much we loved our time here and the many sights we have seen, we have been so fortunate to be able to do such a trip but the person who really made it possible is my partner Rose, hesitant at first with the thought of leaving family for so long but with modern technology it was made much easier. Rose was there at every set up of the trailer learning how to do things, how to connect the sewer, the water and of course flushing black tanks. She learnt how to hitch up and to drive our rig, just in case, and she did it well. Rose was my co-pilot and spent countless hours on the iPad researching RV parks, including researching information on things to do when we got there, she was fantastic. She edited my blogs without complaint. I will say this, our love is now stronger than ever, because of our journey.

Moving house every 6-7 days is not everyone's idea of a holiday but it was ours and we did it and enjoyed every moment of it, in fact we loved it so much we will be back.

I would also like to thank the many Canadians we met, you also have a place in our hearts and you also made our journey to the USA complete, with your hospitality, friendship and humour.

Also thank you to the many who took the time to read our blog I hope you enjoyed it and are possibly inspired by it.

* Countries visited - 3 USA, Mexico, Canada
* States travelled through - 30
* States camped in - 26
* Days in the US - 335
* Miles travelled - 22,700
* Klm's travelled - 36,532
* Fuel stops - 87
* Fuel costs - $6,354.11
* Highest price per gallon paid - $4.35 -
* Lowest price per gallon paid - $3.35 - Vicksburg, MS, ( with fuel vouchers)
* Servicing costs - $1,163.89
* Number of gallons - 1455.08
* Number of litres - 5,500.24
* Average fuel consumption - 16 mpg
* Towed miles approximately - 15,000 miles

*Parking tickets - none
*Speeding tickets - none

*Truck - Dodge 2500 Laramie 2WD with 5.9 turbo Diesel engine
*Truck length - 21'
*Truck length metric - 6.4 metres
*Trailer Type - Forest River Sierra
*Trailer length in feet- 40' 7' inches
*Trailer length in metres - 12.3 metres
*Trailer weight imperial - 12,000 lbs
*Trailer weight metric - 5.44 tons
*Truck and trailer combined - 52 '
*Truck and trailer combined in metres - 15.8 metres

* Highest temp F and C - 112 F / 44 C - California travelling across the Rockies to Eureka
* Lowest temp F / C - 10 F / -12 C - Ruidoso New Mexico

* Highest altitude - 12,246 feet above seal level. Tioga Pass, Yosemite National Park - Ice Lake
* Lowest altitude - 282 feet - Bad Water Basin, Death Valley

* Number of RV parks stayed at - 92
* Highest price - $50 - Clute Park and Campground - Watkins Glen, NY
* Worst RV Park - Crazy Horse - Lake Havasu
* Best RV Park - Gulf Waters RV Resort - Port Aransas, Corpus Christi, TX
* Hardest camp site to get into - Rockhounds State Park - several attempts to back up into the site at 20 mph due to steep rocky site

* Longest miles travelled in one day - 450 miles / 724 km - Racine, WI - Manchester OH
* State with most time spent in - Texas 30 days
* Shortest / longest stay - Idaho - Coeur d Alene 1 night

* Must have gadgets would have to be a GPS which takes into account your vehicle size as in the Rand McNally RV GPS. Next would be a set of walkie talkies essential for backing up and sighting the trailer in camping spots, this saves a lot of yelling and makes for happy relationship.

* The best holiday location within a holiday for us would be our Alaska cruise

* The best forms of entertainment on a budget would be the Redbox DVD rental, they are everywhere and you can return them at any location.

* Our cheapest repair job tyre valve was a tyre valve stem near the Mexican border just $5

* Favourite take away would be Papa Johns Pizza

* Best apps for the IPad would be RV stays this list most RV parks including phone numbers, facilities, hookups as well as many other things.

* Best support tool, for was the iPad and Wi Fi hotspot with Verizon.

* Best car product was an item called a Californian dust mop, just wipe the truck over to get rid of the dust, great for the desert regions.

* Best place to buy RV gadgets would be Camping World and as a Good Sam member we get free shipping anywhere in the US.

*The worst roads we encounter by far was in the state of Wisconsin with so much snow and ice it takes it's toll on the roads. We were told there are two seasons in Wisconsin, Winter and Construction.

*Funniest moment was Rose took the truck to the shops. After putting the shopping in the back she got in the wrong side, actually shutting the door before realising the steering wheel was on the other side. So embarrassed she had to wait for the bloke in the next car to go before changing sides.

Well it's 7-30pm here in Dallas as we wait to board our plane back to Australia we must be two of the luckiest people in the world to be able to have done such a trip.

Goodbye my Blog readers.


- Posted by RnR on their IPad

Location:Farewell from Aussies Travelling the USA in a Fifth Wheeler