In a nutshell, during our eight months of fulltime living in 2019, we stayed in twenty-one different locations (not including an overnight at my sister’s and one night in a hotel while our rig was up in the air in a service center) across eleven states.  Here’s where we visited:

1. Clearwater Campground, Ortonville, Michigan (April 27 – May 31) — We moved into our motorhome at the end of April 2019, after selling our house.  This location provided easy access to finalize the sale of our house and our sailboat, consult with trusted doctors before heading out, and celebrate our new chapter with family and friends from Metro Detroit.

2. Vista Green RV Resort, Boardman, Michigan (June 1 – July 5) – We’ve always loved northern Michigan and wanted to enjoy time in the area.  We figured we would be close to RV resources to help us fix any issues that we found after our first few weeks and our first long drive in our rig.  Plus, we enjoyed visiting breweries and wineries, having more celebrations with friends and family, attended Cedar’s Polka Fest, Traverse City’s Cherry Festival, and SOL music festival at Lost Tamarack Lodge near Petoskey. 

3. Newberry Campground, Newberry, Michigan U.P. (July 6 – July 19) – Can you believe this was my first visit to Michigan’s Upper Penninsula?  We were able to get in visits to Tahquamenon Falls, Pictured Rocks, Crisp Point Lighthouse, Oswald’s Bear Ranch, a few hikes, and more.  We hope to get back to the U.P. again someday!

4. Nemadji Golf Course, Superior, Wisconsin (July 20) – Using our Harvest Host + Golf Membership, we spent one-night dry camping (a.k.a.  camping without hookups) in the parking lot of this beautiful golf course.  The stay broke up our drive to Minnesota and gave us an excuse to get out our golf clubs.  We played a nine-hole scramble, enjoyed a great sunset, and had a quick breakfast in the clubhouse in the morning before heading back out on the road.

5. Royal Oaks RV Park, Bemidji, MN (July 21 – August 10) – In this land of 10,000 lakes we found Lake Itasca where we enjoyed a couple of great bike rides and walked across the headwaters of the Mississippi River, listened to music at Nevis’s Muskie Days Festival, played tourist in and around Bemidji, and enjoyed many walks on the Peaceful Meadow Walk.

6. Minot State Fairgrounds, Minot, ND (August 11 – August 17) – Here we attended the FMCA (Family Motor Coach Association) Minot Magic Rally, drove to visit the International Peace Gardens, stopped to take pictures at the “Geographic Center of North America,” and visited the Scandanavian Heritage House.  The scenery along the way to and from Minot did not disappoint.  We enjoyed acre after acre of sunflowers on our way to Minot, followed by an overwhelming sense of how vast our country is on our way from Minot to South Dakota.

7. Badlands Interior Motel & Campground, Interior, SD (August 18 – August 31) – We loved our time in this town of only 68 people.  We visited Wall Drug and spent lots of time in the Badlands National Park, exploring by Jeep and on foot.

8. Fort Welikit Family Campground, Custer, SD (September 1 – September 7) – The town of Custer is quite nice, but Custer State Park is an absolute must-see!  And while access to the caves at Wind Cave National Park’s was unavailable, we did go for a hike and explored miles and miles of land above the caves.  We loved seeing where the buffalo roam!

9, Dakota RV Repair, Rapid City, SD (September 8 – September 11) – We became parking lot dwellers while undergoing some necessary repairs and routine maintenance.  We did have a chance to explore the city a bit, including Founder’s Park downtown.  And we officially registered as residents of South Dakota.

10. Three Flags RV Park, Black Hawk, SD (September 12 — September 14) – With our time in South Dakota winding up quickly, we made our way to Mount Rushmore late one afternoon for a walk around the park and to see the lighting of the monument.

11. Robidoux RV Park, Gehring, NE (September 15 – September 21) – This western Nebraska town surprised us!  We enjoyed the time we spent here and would go back with pleasure again someday.  Scott’s Bluff national monument is something special to see both from the park where we stayed as well as in the jeep and on foot.

12. St. Vrain State Park, Longmont, CO (September 22 – October 5) – With the beauty of the Rockies to our west, the sunsets did not disappoint, nor did all of the easy foot trails for morning and afternoon walks.  We took time to explore Boulder, Rocky Mountain National Park during peak fall color and elk rut seasons, and finally got our long-awaited electric bikes.  We had additional maintenance and repairs done on our rig, and we also had some unexpected repairs to the Jeep Patriot.

13. Transwest Truck Service Center, Frederick, CO (October 6 – October 7) – With no reservations and final repairs scheduled on the rig, we once again became parking lot dwellers.  Free parking in repair center lots isn’t the most romantic, but it’s a very nice amenity that some service centers offer their customers, especially those spending lots of money on repairs.

14. James M. Robb Colorado River State Park, Fruita, CO (October 8 – October 11) – We were happy to get over the Rockies just before the snow came.  The drive here was amazing!  And we were happy to see how beautiful this area is with the Colorado National Monument in the background.   Plus, we got to spend a little time with family.

15. Richfield KOA, Richfield, UT (October 12 – October 25) – We had lots of opportunities to ride our bikes in and around town.  We also had an amazing visit to Bryce Canyon National Park.  And we loved Utah so much we have big plans for lots of time there this year!

16. Poverty Flats, Overton, NV (October 26) – We wanted to break up our drive to Las Vegas and found this great spot for boondocking just outside of Valley of Fire State Park.  We plan to return later this year to see more of the area as well as to visit the park.

17. Main Street Station RV Park, Las Vegas, NV (October 27 – November 2) – Seven nights in Downtown Las Vegas would be fun on its own, but add in Halloween and our first Xscapers Convergence, and we had a blast!  We stayed here for most of the week but managed to make it over to the Llama Lot with the rest of the group for the last two nights of the event.

18. Shadow Hills RV Resort, Indio, CA (November 3 – November 30) —  We were happy to be in a single park for a full month, and this one didn’t disappoint with its awesome views.  Included in the Top Ten things from the area, we enjoyed a visit with friends, a couple of trips into Joshua Tree National Park, Moorten’s Botanical Garden, hiked in Cahuilla State Park, and biked in Box Canyon.

19. 88 Shades RV Park, Quartzsite, AZ (December 1 – December 22) – While I believe that the town should be renamed Quirksite, we had fun going to the Desert Bar in Parker, AZ, hiking in Palm Canyon, visiting Yuma, AZ, and enjoying some amazing sunsets.  While we planned to stay through the end of the year, we decided to take time to go to Tucson for Christmas.

20. Sentinel RV Park, Tucson, AZ (December 23 – December 29) – We loved Tucson and enjoyed riding our bikes on the city’s bike paths, exploring Saguaro National Park, eating great Mexican food, and sharing Christmas with a fellow traveler.

21. Plomosa Road, Quartzsite, AZ (December 30 – December 31) – We returned to Quartzsite to celebrate New Year’s Eve with fellow Xscapers.  We had a great time and liked Quartzsite by way of boondocking much better than being in town.

We covered some land in these past few months, but have lots still to see and explore.