Well,
I'm back at base camp in Keyser, West Virginia from the first trek of 2014. I
thought I would take some time to wrap up the salient details of the trek in
this post. First, it was the first major trek for "My McVansion"
since I reached about 75% to 80% (my estimation) complete for travel earlier in
the fall of 2013. I had it on two short "shakedown cruises" of about
a week's duration each, one in September and one in the end of October and
early November of 2013.
So,
here are the statistics for Trek #1 of 2014:
12/30/13 Left West Virginia
base camp about 8:30 PM
12/31/13 First major stop
Sparta, NC
1/4/14 Departed Sparta
approx. 4:30PM for Mebane, NC arrived approx. 7 PM
1/5/14 Side trips while
staying in Mebane to Raleigh, NC return to Mebane
1/6/14 Departed Mebane, NC to
head south to FL, approx. 1 PM
Traveled
cross-country to reach Rt 301 (Blue Highway)
1/6/14 Arrived Manning, SC
WSC at approx 8:30 PM (overnight stop)
1/7/14 traveled Rt 301 with
brief stop in Bamburg, SC to Yulee, FL WSC 7:30P
1/8/14 traveled and visited
Fernandina Beach, Amelia Island, St. Augustine, Marineland, dinner at a
favorite restaurant in Flagler Beach and arriving LTC to overnight) Ormond
Beach/Daytona Beach, FL approx 8 PM
1/9/14 Explored (old stomping
ground) Daytona Beach on rainy day then headed to Titusville, FL WSC to
overnight arriving 6 PM
1/10/14 to Vero Beach, FL WSC
to meet up with friend and visit other friend in Assisted Living
1/11/14 Visit with friend and
friend in Assisted Living then departed Vero Beach for Fort Pierce WSC
overnight (4 nights) arriving approx 6 PM
1/11-1/15/14 spent time enjoying
beaches at nearby state parks and U.S. Navy Seals Museum
1/15/14 Total
Miles for first 17 days of travel, 1,623 when leaving Fort Pierce
1/15/14 departed Fort Pierce
return to Titusville, FL to WSC to overnight arriving 7:30 PM
1/16/14 departed Titusville
for Merritt Island and lunch with friend then to Brandon, FL WSC for overnight
arriving 8 PM
1/17/14 departed Brandon for
Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa to meet friends exhibiting at Florida Super
RV Show then to Hudson, FL to meet up with Vandweller friends arriving 6 PM
1/18-1/20/14 Visiting with
Vandweller friends in Hudson, FL
1/20/14 Depart Hudson, FL for
WSC (overnight) in Sebring, FL arriving 5 PM
1/20-1/22/14 visiting friend and
sightseeing with visit to Sebring International Raceway
1/22/14 depart Sebring approx
12:30 PM to visit and overnight in Port Charlotte, FL with new friend arriving
4:30 PM
1/22-1/28/14 Sightseeing in Port
Charlotte, Punta Gorda, Arcadia, Gasparilla Island, the town of Boca Grande and
Ft. Myers
1/28/14 depart Port Charlotte
for Sarasota and lunch with friend then to Reddington Shores, FL to overnight
by invitation with new friend arriving 7:15 PM
1/28-1/30/14 overnighting in
Reddington Shores
1/30/14 departed Reddington
Shores 5 PM to head to Clearwater, FL to overnight by invitation with a new
friend arriving approx. 6 PM
1/30-2/2/14 overnighting, relaxing
and getting to know new friend in Clearwater
2/2/14 departed Clearwater to
return to overnight with new friend in Reddington Shores, FL arriving 5 PM
2/2-2/4/14 Relaxing, writing and
wandering around the area
2/4/14 depart Reddington
Shores for Orlando, FL for dinner with friends at Celebration, FL (near Disney
World) then after dealing with considerable traffic finally arrive at Altamont
Springs, FL WSC to overnight at approx 10:45 PM
2/5/14 depart Altamont
Springs approx 1 PM to visit a few sites in Orland then make way to WSC to
overnight at The Villages (to visit two friends and the community) arriving at
8 PM
2/6-2/7/14 lunch with one friend,
dinner with another friend and touring around The Villages
2/7/14 depart The Villages
7:30 PM and arrive at the Inverness, FL WSC (overnight) 8:30 PM
2/7/14 Total Miles after
40 days on the Trek is 2,969
2/8/14 depart Inverness at
12:45 PM to meet full-time RVer friend for lunch in Crystal River, FL then on
to Hudson, FL (again) to meet up and overnight with new friends by invitation
arriving 4 PM
2/8-2/11/14 Relaxing, writing and
exploring area with new friends
2/11/14 departed Hudson, FL 11
AM for Ocala meeting other Hudson Vandwelling friends for lunch on the way -
arrive Ocala, FL (Silver Springs) WSC at 4 PM
2/11-2/15/14 exploring the area
especially Ocala National Forest and Juniper Springs met several new
RV/Vandwelling friends while at the Ocala WSC
2/15/14 depart Ocala for The
Villages to overnight at the WSC with a new friend joining me arrive 2:15 PM
2/16/14 depart The Villages to
return to Ocala WSC with a visit to Alexander Springs on the way
2/16-2/19/14 additional exploration
of the Ocala National Forest region
2/19/14 depart Ocala 11:15 AM
for Gainesville, FL arriving Gainesville WSC 9 PM after lunch with friends at
their home and dinner with another friend at his home
2/20/14 depart Gainesville at
12 PM arriving Ocean Pond campground in Osceola National Forest near Lake City,
FL at 3:30 PM and meeting up with a friend from the Ocala WSC
2-20-3/2/14 Relaxing, writing,
meeting several new RVing and Vandwelling friends at the Campground and in Lake
City - this was the longest stay in one location of the trek and the only one I
paid any camping fees for (very inexpensive with my Senior National Parks
Pass).
3/2/14 depart Osceola
National Forest at 12:45 PM to head to Stagger Lee Music Park between Baxley
and Hazlehurst, GA to meet up with another RVing/Vandwelling friend (actually
two) arriving 4 PM
3/2-3/7/14 relaxed and endured
some serious rain and chilly weather
3/7/14 departed Stagger Lee
Music Park for Jasper, GA to meet up with another new friend by invitation
arriving about 8 PM
3/8/14 departed Jasper, GA
for Tumbling Creek campground in Cherokee National Forest near Copper Hill, TN
to meet up with a couple more Vandweller friends.
3/8/14 had a serious breakdown
in Blue Ridge, GA about 20 miles from Tumbling Creek destination - overnighted
in HD parking lot until Vandweller friend returned with necessary tools and
made repairs to My McVansion in HD parking lot on 3/9/14
3/9/14 arrived Tumbling Creek
campground about 4 PM
3/9-3/12/14 relaxed at Tumbling
Creek campground with Vandwelling friend from Dalton, GA
3/12/14 departed Tumbling
Creek 4 PM to Maryville, TN WSC to overnight arriving at 8:45 PM
3/13/14 departed Maryville
11:30 AM arriving Covington, VA WSC to overnight 7:30 PM
3/14/14 departed Covington 10
AM for final leg of trek arriving at base camp in Keyser, WV at 2 PM
So,
that's a recap of the trek and here are some more stats:
Total
Days on
the Road = 75
Total
Miles of
Trek #1 = 4,719
Total
Gallons of Gas consumed
= 359 gallons (approx)
Average
Gas Mileage for
the Trek = 12.9 mpg (approx) after making adjustments for the last tank of
gas and about 20 gallons used to either heat the van or charge the batteries
while stationary
Total
Fuel Cost =
$1,167.5 (approx) ($3.25/gal approx avg. price per gallon)
Total
Days/Nights lived
in My McVansion = 73
Total
Overnights in
Walmart (WSC), Love's, (LTC) and Home Depots (HD)
WSC = 33, LTC = 1, HD = 1
Total
Overnights in
someone's driveway or yard = 20
Total
Overnights in
some kind of formal campground = 18
Total
Overnights in
someone's guest room = 2
Total
# of friends
visited (previously known) = 21
Total
# of new friends never met in person previously = 26
Total
# of interesting people I engaged with on a one time basis = 5+
Coldest
Temperature encountered
during the trek was approx. 5 degrees with sustained winds of 40 to 50 mph and
gusts between 60 and 70 miles per hour. Bringing the wind chill factor into the
-30 degree range from time to time.
Warmest
Temperature encountered
during the trek was approximate 88 degrees (delightful).
Total
fees paid for camping was 10 days at Osceola State Forest at $52 or $5.20/night avg.
Blue
Highways vs. Interstate travel - of the total of 4,719 miles, less than 500
of those miles were on the Interstate Highway System. The trip was mainly on
Blue Highways and back country roads driving through the small towns, villages
and hamlets.
I
haven't accounted for food consumed or differentiated between meals prepared in
or out of My McVansion and meals consumed at a variety of eating
establishments. I attempted to patronize eating establishments that were
locally owned as much as possible as opposed to chain restaurants. There were
also some other miscellaneous expenses for additions to the livability of My
McVansion along with replacing a burned out headlight and cleaning/polishing
the headlight lenses.
My
McVansion proved its livability beyond question and still is only about 75% to
80% complete. Obviously, my project over the next couple months is to go full
steam ahead at completing the balance of the necessary build-in and refinements
. . . and make a few modifications based on this 75 days on the road.
I
might add that while I did endure some serious cold snaps, I was never really
uncomfortable in my cocoon on wheels. And, while I only encountered a few
significantly warm days, again, I was never really uncomfortable. And even
though I have to get the rear axle replaced from my breakdown in Blue Ridge, GA
and I just replaced the serpentine drive belt on the engine and the automatic
tensioner that went bad right as I returned to base camp, I'll be taking a few
short jaunts with my tiny house on wheels before I leave in late May or early
June for northeastern Pennsylvania, New York State and New England.
In
another upcoming article I'll enumerate all the people I interacted with along
the way and thank them for making this a most memorable trek. I also have at
least a couple thousand photos I shot along the way that I haven't had time to
begin editing, culling and categorizing, but I'll be posting some of those
photos periodically in future posts. And, to further document this trek, I have
approximately 200GB (or about 80 hours) of 720P High-Definition video from my
dash cam covering just about every mile of the trip.
As
a final note, while I thoroughly enjoyed this trek, in retrospect, I feel like
I spent way too much time driving point to point and not enough time in
specific locations. This trek was still too much like my nomadic motel treks of
the past where I always seemed to have to be somewhere and didn't take near
enough time to stay in an area and explore it. That being said, I do have to
especially thank several people who, on this trek, showed me how to slow down,
relax and smell the roses along the way. I plan to incorporate this thinking
and planning for the rest of the treks for this year.
