Our 2018 Travel Map and Summary

Every year Mark makes a map that outlines where we traveled the previous year. It's always fun for us to see our path. We're a little late in getting it published, but he finally had a chance to connect all the dots for 2018. The following map includes points that represent stops of at least one night. The list on the right contains the name of each campground. Clicking on the picture below will make if easier to read. As you can see, we made a figure-8 this year.

We started 2018 in the panhandle of Oklahoma. Then we made a quick trip down to the tip of Texas for a stay of two months during the coldest part of the winter. We headed north as the rest of the country thawed out. That's when 2018 became "the year of the family." We were back in Oklahoma to spend time with Mark's parents in the spring.  Dot #18 was another longer stay, as we stayed two months to properly spoil our first grandchild after her birth on May 2. Then we had another big event as we drove to Oklahoma City for our youngest son's wedding. What a busy spring!

We were back on the road at the end of June, heading straight north to get out of the heat. We went all the way to the Canadian border, enjoying northern's Minnesota's Voyageur National Park and the Boundary Waters. This was the summer of the Great Lakes, as we explored Lake Superior and Lake Michigan. Even though we didn't get any ocean-time in 2018, we decided these lakes are so big they feel like an ocean. We made our way across the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and then hugged the east coastline of Lake Michigan as we started our drive south.

In 2018 we added nine more states to our list of places visited in our motor home, as we headed back towards home through Indiana and Illinois.

Our year by the numbers:
We parked at 55 different camping spots.
Our average nightly camping fee is $12.85 (includes free nights boondocking or staying with family and friends).
Our average paid nightly camping fee is $18.04.
We visited 11 different states this year.
We spent $1,832.06 on 600.77 gallons of diesel (at an average price $3.05 per gallon) for the motor home.
We spent $36.47 on 12.95 gallons of DEF for the motor home.
We don't even try to keep up with the amount of gasoline we purchase for the car, as we use it to explore while we are camped.

2018 was another great year of family time and wandering more of God's wonders!