I am actually a month late, but it is official, our blog is 10 years old!
But today, is the 10-year anniversary of the day Barb and I started our great RV adventure leaving Spring Valley, Wisconsin for parts unknown.
Not only that, but last week is also 10 years since Barb retired.
Some of you have followed our blog from Day 1 and what a journey it has been! 86,769 miles, 47 states, 9 provinces and of course Mexico. So, where have we been in 10 years? Let me show you.....
You'll notice a couple of things; even before we bought and built here, the Black Hills of South Dakota was one of our favorite places. As was The Farm in North Dakota and of course Pasha north of Thunder Bay Ontario. We wintered many years and have great memories of Quartzsite Arizona only missing that area in '21 &'22. Both the kids lived in Salt Lake until '17 when one moved to Pennsylvania and the other to Oregon. Some of the years you can see where the year ended or started, like 2017 where the trail ends in Fort Stockton, TX and picks up again there in the 2018 map.
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| 2014 |
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| 2015 |
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| 2016 |
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| 2017 |
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| 2018 |
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| 2019 |
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| 2020 |
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| 2021 |
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| 2022 |
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| 2023 |
So, what will the next 10 years bring? Let's start with this....our big travel adventure for this summer. I will let the map tell the story.....
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| Summer of '24 |
A three-month adventure to Alaska! Barb has the route all planned out to hit some new places, a trip to Fairbanks to see Barb's cousin as well as hitting some of our favorite fishing spots, including a month in the Homer/Soldotna area!
We are beyond excited for this adventure. Here is to 10 more years of good health, happiness and great adventures!
Congratulations! Looking forward to seeing you in Alaska!
ReplyDeleteUs too! Looks like we will be in Homer/Soldotna around the same time. I know of a couple of breweries in the area that we can hit. We might even share a couple of our fishing hotspots with you!
DeleteThat's almost the exact same route I took. The fish in Homer .... man oh man! The views ... the glaciers ... the fish ... I'm jealous!! Congratulations on ten years!! Just looking at your rig on the road in all that snow just scares the crap out of me. We didn't have to drive in snow much in Alaska, which was good for me. I'd rather look at it on the mountain tops. Can't wait for your pictures.
ReplyDeleteWe have had more than our share of snow filled adventures in that big rig. Nerve wracking for sure. The scariest was going up a mountain pass during a snowstorm and the backend of the truck started sliding sideways. We vowed never again to try anything like that again!
DeleteThat is such great news about your travels. Kudos. But.......I will have to admit that I have not watched any news channels for months now and I am quite surprised to learn that there are now 57 states. That is truly amazing to me. I would like to visit them also so that I can put them on our map decal. Love the blog.
ReplyDeleteI punished my proofreader again. Sometimes I think she does it just to be punished!
DeleteFifty seven states? I’ll continue reading now. lol I’m guessing you missed Saskatchewan as the lone province.
ReplyDeleteIt has been an exciting journey and I look forward to reading many more posts about the exploits of the Nelsons.
Happy Anniversary Barb, and to both of you.
Who knew there were so many states? At least I know you thoroughly read the blog! I have corrected it. You and Dino were the only two that caught that. Or at least commented on it. You must be getting ready to head back north?
DeleteCongrats on 10 years! You guys have certainly covered a lot of territory in that time. Good luck and safe travels in the next 10 years!
ReplyDeleteWe can only hope that our next 10 years are as adventurous at these past 10 years have been!
DeleteGreat maps, wish I had done that when we started traveling. Looking forward to your Alaska adventure, bet it will include some fishing!
ReplyDeleteThere are a couple of travel maps that we have toyed with. Some follow the roads, but for me, those look too busy. I prefer these "curved line" ones. Although it does not show the exact route, it does show where we spent each of our nights. You could still go back and recreate the maps!
DeleteYou sure get around. As a Canadian who has been through there, albeit briefly, what is the attraction of Thunder Bay?
ReplyDeleteA good friend of mine owned a fishing resort up there until this past spring. We will still continue to go to that area, the fishing is incredible!
DeleteCongratulations on 10 years of blogging! I love the maps, they are awesome! Now we're really jealous but happy for you and the trip this summer! Do you still have other people going with you on that one? Can't wait to follow that trip. We have friends in Fairbanks that we hope to see one day, if we're not inundated with Ken's dr appointments!
ReplyDeleteWe will be solo this summer. My sister and her husband were going to go with us, but they decided to stay home this summer.
DeleteCongrats on all of the 10-year anniversaries. I found all of the maps interesting, especially since I have only recently caught up with your travels. Your next trip looks fun. I have friends who have homes in both Fairbanks and New Orleans. They drive 2x/year between the two and try to take different routes each time to see different things. I always enjoy seeing where they've been.
ReplyDeleteWow, that must be amazing. I bet they have seen some cool things in their travels.
DeleteCongratulations on the blogaversary. I look forward to your new adventures too!
ReplyDeleteLots of memories and miles, that is for sure!
DeleteAlaska and Canada! I love the maps of each year's travels. Look forward to seeing the Alaska trip and hearing all about it. Whoohoo! Congrats on 10 years of retirement, adventures, and blogging. :)
ReplyDeleteWe cannot wait to take you along our adventures with us!
DeleteHere Here! Here's to at least 10 more happy and exciting years "on the road"!
ReplyDeleteWe'll second that: Here, Here!
DeleteWishing you at least another 10 years of travel and adventure!!
ReplyDeleteWe can only hope, that would be amazing!
DeleteIt is such a coincidence that you all were in the Soldotna Fred Myer Parking Lot the same time we were when Skruffy was so very ill. Despite that hard segment of our trip, the trip to Alaska is still our #1 trip of the 12 years we have been going out for a 5-9 month trip each year...also 12 years since I retired at age 57...absolutely no regrets!
ReplyDeleteIf only we had known at the time we could have met up! It's a great lifestyle isn't it? The hard segments are going to happen in our lives, may as well continue exploring and living along the way!
DeleteVery exciting summer travels--we love Canada and Alaska. We are considering a boat trip on a working tug which delivers equipment and supplies to remote Alaska settlements.
ReplyDeleteWe'd love to hear more about that, it sounds like quite the exciting adventure!
DeleteCongratulations on your Anniversaries. I was a year late in finding your Blog, but have enjoyed reading about your Adventures, your Ups and Downs, along with what you do to keep going. Looking forward to reading many more.
ReplyDeleteBe Safe and Enjoy your upcoming adventures.
It's about time.
I remember it well, you and Kathy were one of the first people we met down in Q!
DeleteHappy 10th blog Anniversary! I enjoy seeing all the maps showing your travels across the country. We are happy to do a fly-drive vacation. Our Arizona trip is coming up soon. Alaska is on our list too, Denali Nat'l Park is one of our must see places. Wishing you safe travels! Have a great weekend.
ReplyDeleteIt was fun writing this post and looking at all the maps, reminiscing about the places we have been. We went to Denali in '16, but never saw the mountain itself.
DeleteHappy blogiversary! Your summer Alaska trip looks amazing. Can't wait to read the blog posts.
ReplyDeleteWe cannot wait to get started, we are already starting to pack and stage stuff.
DeleteHappy ten years of blogging! Your three-month adventure to Alaska sounds fantastic. My brother-in-laws were all fishermen in Alaska fishing the great waters, and they would bring us back some King Crab from time to time. It was so fresh and tasty. Wishing you safe travels this summer on your journey to Alaska.
ReplyDelete~Sheri
Oh my gosh, I could not imagine what it would be like to be out there in the big water. I would be chumming over the side for sure. King Crab would be awesome though! When we were up there in '16 we thought we would find King Crab legs cheap. Not so much!
DeleteCheers! Life is a wonderful adventure!
ReplyDeleteOne of our highlights of last year was meeting you two!
DeleteCongratulations on your 10 years of blogging, some achievement.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't matter how far we travel we just don't get to see everything..
Good luck and I do like your map/s.
I started the blog in about 2004 or there abouts but deleted it and started again 3 years later.
We barely scratch the surface of seeing everything the places we go. We tend to look up the things that interest us and prioritize them for the time we have.
DeleteI love seeing your maps of where you've been. What an adventure. To 10 more years and a great trip to Alaska too!
ReplyDeleteI'll post a link to the map site in our next post, I looked through a lot of map programs before choosing this one.
DeleteGood job on 10 yrs of blogging, what a great way to remember all the good times and places. Looks like a lengthy yet fun trip up "thataway". Eat lots of fresh seafood and be sure to pack plenty of bug spray.
ReplyDeleteHa! We have a shoebox sized tote that is just dedicated to bugs. Sprays, gels, coils, thermacells. In another tote we have a couple of bug suits. Hopefully we are ready!
DeleteWhat an amazing life you two are living!! I love the maps! Y'all are doing retirement up right!! Looking forward to the Alaskan Adventure!
ReplyDeleteOur goal is to be retired as long or longer than we worked our careers. 10 down, 20 to go!
DeleteHappy Multi-Anniversary! Glad to see you're going to post the map program - I think all of us travelers love looking at where we've been almost as much as where we're going :-))
ReplyDeleteThank you. I've just had another thought about the map program, thanks for inspiring me!
DeleteThat really is impressive! Congrats.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jenn, it's been quite the ride!
DeleteHappy 10 yrs....wow, you have been all over.
ReplyDeleteWe still want to hit the rest of Canada and explore other states more thoroughly, but we find ourselves returning to other places we love!
DeleteWow that is incredible. What would you say was your favorite?
ReplyDeleteAlaska is probably our favorite state, followed by Utah with all it's national parks, or Ontario with all the great fishing. Or is it the Black Hills of South Dakota with all the great hiking and scenery? I just cannot decide!
DeleteCongratulations on 10 years! Your 2024 summer sounds great what an adventure!! Although I am a newcomer to your blog I enjoy your travels!
ReplyDeleteWe have been looking forward to getting back up there for several years, but for one reason or another, we have not made it. This year we are going to do it!
DeleteThat is SO much fun to see! I love maps and you've really had some adventures. Looks like you've been to my neck of the woods a few times too! Happy travels...and happy trails for the year to come! We love seeing your photos! Hugs, Diane in FL
ReplyDeleteFlorida is one of our favorite states, so much to offer!
Deletewow, 10 years, i "think" i am about the same. i have not followed you from the beginning, but i have enjoyed reading since i started. i admire how adventurous you both are and that you and barb have similar interests. i am jealous of alaska but yes, do it all while you can!! i enjoyed the maps, so many paths looked like umbrella's!!
ReplyDeleteYou know as well as I do what a commitment blogging is. We now have 10 years of books to look back and review when our memories start to fade. (Well, my memories already are fading)
DeleteWow! That's quite the map! Happy blogiversary!
ReplyDeleteThanks Jeanie!
DeleteCongratulations! You've had so many wonderful adventures. Your summer trip looks amazing. Wishing you more years of travel. It is nice, though, knowing you have a beautiful home if travel gets old. Happy Belated Birthday to Barb!
ReplyDeleteIt's been a great 10 years, hopefully we can have 10 more and even 10 more after that!
DeleteWOW. Those maps are mind-blowing! I wish I had been reading for all of the ten years y'all have been adventuring, but I'm glad to be on board now. Cannot WAIT to read about your summer of travel. It's going to be epic! xoxo
ReplyDeleteIt's not too late you can go back to the very first one and start reading. 😂🤣
DeleteYour round trip to Alaska will be fantastic! Hope you plan lots of time there. It is similar to the Cape Horn/Patagonia area we cruised and was awesome.
ReplyDeleteI think we have about 3 months total, with one full month in the Homer/Soldotna area to get some fishing in!
DeleteTen years is amazing and you have done a lot of traveling in those years made some awesome memories as well I am sure
ReplyDeleteWe have. So many memories that I cannot remember all of them!
DeleteYou've had some wonderful travel adventures, and a good one to look forward to this summer. Happy blog-iversary!
ReplyDeleteWe are super excited for this summer's trip!
DeleteCongratulations!!! That is truly wonderful and loving the photos and all the maps with your routes. What grand adventures you have had and I thank you so much for sharing them.
ReplyDeleteThey have been grand adventures. We are packing things up and staging for our next one already!
DeleteCongratulations on 10 years of blogging. You certainly travel some squiggly lines! 😊
ReplyDeleteWhat a great adventure you've been on. Ten years of blogging and a lifetime of exploring. I know you're excited about Alaska. We're excited about following your trip!
ReplyDeleteAlaska offers such a great platform for incredible photography. You are right, we cannot wait!
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