When I say “quite a ride”; I mean literary and figuratively. We started as RV novices in our Winnebago Adventurer in August, 2017; we learned a lot the first couple years and graduated to our current diesel powered Fleetwood Discovery XLE. Always more to learn, but a few years of experience goes a long way.

During the last five years we have gained three granddaughters (for a total of 5); sadly lost Jim’s parents, and faced uncertainty through the pandemic and now, high fuel prices. Being able to travel for family time in Michigan, North Carolina and Maryland has been the best. In five years, our travels have taken us from Maine to California and Montana to Texas, and we really like our Florida winters!

Challenges in the five years have included recovering from a broken ankle, a close tornado encounter; and being in tight spots trying to turn around. Tight road constructions zones (hate the cement barrier walls) and mountain roads can be a little scary (at least for me), but these are all part of the adventure and life. Whether you live in an RV or not, events happen, life goes on and you make adjustments as needed. So, here’s to another 5 (or more) years!

Year Five Summary: We left Michigan in late August (2021) for the long planned western trip that included Glacier National Park, Oregon Coast, Northern California Redwoods and much more.

We hurried to Florida in mid October to fly to Michigan to be with family for Norm’s passing. We spent Christmas in Michigan with the whole family present, then settled in Florida for the rest of the winter. Several winter trips while in Florida, including the Keys, Tampa area, and east to Port St. Lucie.

Mid April we headed north with stops in North Carolina and Maryland; arriving in Michigan May 5th. The summer seemed to go by quickly with lots of family time and activities. Loved catching up with family and friends and our trip to northern Michigan.

Once again, thankful for our spots at Indian Creek Campground near Tecumseh for the summer and Siesta Bay Resort for our winter home.

New campgrounds or resorts we enjoyed this year include: Gull Lake Recreation Area in Minnesota, West Glacier RV Park, Montana, Sea Perch RV Resort, Oregon, and Rancho Sonora in Arizona. We also really enjoyed our stay at Stovepipe Wells RV Park in Death Valley National Park, especially since we were there in October with cooler temperatures.

Park/Camping & Fuel Expense: Obviously, these are our main expenses and it’s been challenging this year. We traveled more miles (approximately 10,000), including our western trip when fuel prices were still low. We pulled back on our travel plans for the summer and fall due to the dramatic price increase. For the year, we had a 40% increase over the previous year in both RV and automobile fuel expense. (Combination of more travel and price increase.)

Park fees have also increased. We keep hearing the RV industry has enjoyed record sales in the last few years, so it’s no surprise park and camping fees are up; some significantly. We are averaging close to $50/per night; a 20+% increase over the previous year.

This includes our dedicated spot in Florida, extended stay in Michigan, and our western trip. We prefer to stay at full hook up parks with 50 AMP service that are “big rig friendly”, so this adds to the cost. We stayed in a very nice resort in the Keys; Fiesta Key RV Resort; loved it, but way too expensive. That’s one I would not do again, and I don’t say that too often.

Cell Phone, Internet, TV & Mail Service: We purchased a new Orbic 5G UW Hotspot for our internet and we noticed a big improvement in speed. Still with Verizon, I check for new plans regularly and change if a better one comes along. Overall happy with the coverage and service. We still use Dish Network for TV and St. Brendan’s Isle for our mail service. We changed our residential address to Fort Myers, but still use the mail service when we are not in Florida.

Health Care: Becoming Medicare eligible recently has been a good thing for us and were happy to sign up. We were with Liberty Health Share previously, and unfortunately they became a problem in the last 2 years. Likely due partially to the pandemic, medical benefits were not getting paid and they haven’t been able to get back on track. Our experience in the first couple of years was good, but currently I cannot recommend them as a good option.

I don’t want to get too deep into Medicare options since they differ depending on your State residency, we chose to go with a plan offered by Lasso Healthcare http://www.lassohealthcare.com. A little different approach, but we think it fits our situation.

Repairs & Maintenance: Yeah! This is one area we had a decrease in expenses! Jim continues to keep the rig in top shape and does most of the maintenance himself. We had a good experience with Great Lakes Freightliner in Monroe, MI who took care of several minor RV recall items.

Remote Work: I continue to work remote, but terminated my employment with MRPR in June. I am continuing to do tax and accounting work on my own as a sole-proprietor. I felt more comfortable having my own business going forward and will work with my small group of clients for the foreseeable future.

Other Notes: For RV and car insurance, we have continued to use Overland Insurance Services out of Arizona; only a small increase over previous year. I continue to use RV Trip Wizard for trip planning.

We got back into the e-bike market as there are a lot more choices now than when we bought our first ones in 2017. Jim recently purchased a new Heybike Ranger; a little smaller bike that folds. I am still looking; want to make sure I get one that fits me better.

We also updated the theater seating in the RV this year, and it has proved to be a good move (purchased through Pro Bass Shop on line.)

Sixth year and beyond: We will be leaving Michigan soon following our planned eastern trip and will arrive in Florida mid-October. We will travel to North Carolina for Thanksgiving and fly back to Michigan for Christmas. We hope to take a couple trips in Florida during the winter and look forward to meeting up with friends and family.

We will have time to consider future trips during the winter. Hopefully fuel prices will continue to come down, because there are many more roads to travel.