ALASKA TRIP 2016 CLOSING SUMMARY

It is amazing how quickly Real Life wraps its arms around you when you return from vacation. It was right there, waiting for you all the time and has to be dealt with. Since our return to Sopchoppy on September 8, we have been so engrossed that I haven’t had much time to reflect on our wonderful trip.

For the record: We left NC on May 5 and returned to Sopchoppy  126 days later, just over four months on the road. At that point we had driven 16,765 miles and stayed in 57 different campgrounds. We were only out of the camper two nights; once on the ferry to Juneau and again at a cabin at Glacier Bay National Park. After returning to Florida we stayed in the camper at Ochlockonee River State Park for four more nights. And “No”, I never got tired of it.

My FB friends know that we wore out the Magic Bullet (our travel trailer) and our return home was delayed by two long stays (in Reno and in Kansas City) getting it repaired. We considered ourselves extremely fortunate that we were already in large cities when our problems occurred and that help was readily at hand.  We had hoped to get the TT back to Florida and then make a decision but it seemed safer and more prudent to dispose of it in KC. That is how we got our beautiful Villiagio!!!!

Buying a Class B+/C- unit, which is self-contained, required us to drive two vehicles back to Sopchoppy. I drove the truck and Butch drove the Villiagio. Of course, we continued to camp at night and immediately relearned the “B-Shuffle”, from our days in our Roadtrek.  (The B-Shuffle can be done “back to back” or “belly to belly”. It involves drawing in your stomach and being careful where you put your feet. It can be done with musical accompaniment or you can just hum. )

We arrived in NC on 9/21 and it is lovely here. Not much sign of fall but it is getting cooler every day. We are ready to slow down and enjoy the lake and the mountains for awhile, then back to Florida to enjoy the river and the coast.  There are simply no words to describe the wonders that we have seen and the experiences that we have had. Many, many thanks to those of you who followed along with us.