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Well, hello everyone!

I thought I would write up a close out post for our 41-night trip to Tucson, AZ, Holbrook, AZ, Farmington, NM, and Buena Vista, CO.  Now this post is not big on pictures, sorry about that.  But we’ve been to Buena Vista so many times there is just not anything new to take a picture of at this point.  And we’ve already posted our pictures and updates from all the other locations.

One thing this post will be big on is data.  Its time to summarize all the data I collected during this trip and if I can find a way, I will even attach my excel spreadsheet.  But, before I get into the geek stuff, a quick review of the trip.

It was awesome.  Not only did we get to spend time with family, but we also got to see and do things we’ve never seen or done before (ok, not sure on the English for that sentence).  We did stargazing and ended up on Good Morning America.  We went to the Petrified Forrest.  The rocks that we saw were standing trees over 250 million years ago.  To give you some perspective, the supercontinent Pangea was still formed and the location that is now in Arizona was at about 10 degrees north latitude so almost at the equator.  Outside of Holbrook (location of the Petrified Forrest) we also visited Meteor Crater.  Now this crater is relatively new, only being formed 50,000 years ago so that means that humans were on the planet and saw it streak through the sky.  In Farmington, we got to enjoy a Hot Air Balloon ride and visit the ruins of an ancient village and we also got to go to one of our favorite National Parks, Mesa Verde.

At all our locations, the food, either at a restaurant or made at the RV, was outstanding.  But I really think the best part of the trip was getting to visit with family.  At Tucson, my brother Steve (yes, I have two brothers named Steve, as well as a son-in-law named Steve, and until recently, my daughter also had a cat named Steve) and his wife Susie joined us with their RV for the full time we were there.  Steve is an amazing cook especially when it comes to anything on the grill, so we ate very well.  On our way to Farmington, we got to enjoy lunch with my sister Robin and her kids.  It was a quick visit, but we did some catching up and made plans to meet again later this year.  Finally, in Farmington, we met up with my Cousin Scott and his wife Sharon.  They treated us to the balloon ride, and we enjoyed an evening live music concert and fireworks show.  Scott is also a great Chef but is grilling equipment was down.  But that’s ok because Sharon made a wonderful pasta meal and Scott made some of his world renown Sangria. 

In Buena Vista we just got a couple of days to chill and get ourselves together for the short trip home.  Once home we had 2 days to get ready to head out for a short, weekend trip with our kids, grandkids and our close friends, Debbie and Charlie and their oldest grandson, Ryker.  The weather was really against us for the entire weekend, but still did some grilling, some smoking, and we made breakfast outside for two days.  I brought our Camp Chief 2 burner and the griddle that goes with it and used that to make Pancakes, bacon, and sausage.  It went so well that today I purchased a Blackstone 2 burner griddle with stand and cover.  It might be overkill, but now we will travel with a portable gas grill, a portable pellet smoker, and our new portable gas griddle.  I guess I like to be prepared.

On Monday, we dropped the RV off at the dealer for some warranty repairs which we hope will take no longer than a month because that is our timeline to head back out on the road again.

Well, now everyone is all caught up.  Our next trip will take us up and around the great lakes.  Should be exciting.  I did however promise some travel stats for you so…..

Total Number of Nights:  41

Avg Cost Per Night:  $52.45

Most Expensive Per Night:  64.05

Least Expensive Per Night:  41.00

Total Towing Miles:  1,914.51

Avg MPG for Towing:  8.9

Total Non-Towing Miles:  1,355.9

Avg MPG for Non-Towing:  13.84

Overall MPG:  10.5

Most Miles Between Locations:  364.9

Fewest Miles Between Locations:  126.5

Total Spent on Fuel:  $909.13

Total Gallons Purchased:  299.40

Avg Cost Per Gallon:  $3.04

Fuel Cost Per Mile:  $0.28

Most Expensive Fuel:  $3.41

Least Expensive Fuel:  $2.59

TTFN