Leaving Wisconsin (again) and the year wrap up

Wrapping up my search in Wisconsin, I continued to meet with family and friends. I was unable to see everyone and even worse I was unable to dedicate sufficient time to the hunt for Big Foot but I suppose even daring adventurers need some time off. 

Clearly, not a beer

I have met with many people but it is hard to list every person. One can assume their designed alias is mentioned at some point in this post embedded in a word somewhere. If you look closely you will be able to identify yourself. If you need assistance, please let me know and I can tell you where to go. 

I was able to make a few more stops at familiar locations (Runaway, Main Event, Copper State, Water Street Brewery) and some other local establishments in the greater Milwaukee and Green Bay areas. These locations have been scouted thoroughly for Big Foot and I have not seen any indication of a recent visit by that wily creature. I will need to visit on occasion to be sure, but I will also need to continue looking elsewhere.

Main Event in Burlington

Copper State in Green Bay

Right to left: B, L, D, C, and some random vagabond

Taking a break from the search, I was able to attend C's graduation from St Norbert College. It was great seeing C&D and B&L along with D's family. Both B and C graduated in four years with honors and have "real" jobs lined up right after graduation (and own houses!). The credit for that goes to them. They are both outstanding individuals, wonderful children, and now responsible adults. When Amy and I decided to have children, we did it knowing that we were having children to make the world a better place. We intentionally raised them to be independent and thinking adults who would support themselves and become positive members of society. What we didn't expect was that they would go through this process without a mother. I have read plenty of literature on this topic and while many children do fine after the loss of a mother, there is a substantial amount that do not. I know it has not been easy for either B or C, but they have grown and become incredibly resilient people. Having the graduation on Mother's Day was a nice reminder that even though our moms may no longer be here, they are always with us.   

Now that I have stopped crying, allow me to get back to the rest of the blog.

I want to provide empirical and experiential information on my first 12 months on my nomadic adventure in search of the inexplicable Big Foot along with other cryptozoological creatures. I’m posting this on 5/22/23, the one year anniversary of becoming nomadic  

First, the numbers. During the visit to Ireland and Scotland, I drove about 1500 miles and covered over 8000 miles by air. Looking at only the RV portion of the trip, I have driven about 12,000 miles. To be fair, I have driven far more than that, but that is only the towing miles between sites and excludes side trips including my purchase of a new truck. Speaking of sites, I have slept in 73 different locations in my first year. That means I have woken up at least 20% of the time having to remember where I was that day. Excluding my European adventure, I have been in 62 different campgrounds or places for the night. Combined, it all works out to 5 days on average at a given location.

From a cost perspective, my average camping cost per night over the first year was $28.18. I’ve lowered that per night cost, and I expect the costs in 2023 to be about 30% lower than 2022 thanks to my secret mission in Kentucky along with some longer stays and aggressive use of Harvest Host locations along with continued boondocking and drydocking opportunities. Approximately half the time was spent in private parks and the rest was spent in public campgrounds or mooching off others. Private campgrounds offer a reasonable rate for month long stays (or longer) and will be a mainstay in winter for me. The average cost (including electricity and propane during the winter was $19/day which is quite affordable for full hookups (water, electricity, and sewer) and a community to hang out with.

I have already mentioned that I have now spent at least one night in 25 states. If my plans for this fall play out as I currently intend, that should be up to 38 by the end of the year. Feel free to review the blogs for the details. This also means that I will have spent at least one night in 49 states as an adult by November. Only Alaska awaits my visit. I never set this as a goal but it seems pretty easy to accomplish so I figure why not.

I have not tracked the number of adult beverages consumed, but I feel comfortable saying it has been more than three.

Sometimes a picture works better for those visual people. 

Ireland and Scotland

Travel adventure in the United States

Now for my impressions. When I was six weeks into this adventure, I noted a few things in a blog post which I am sure everyone has read as the pearls of wisdom are strewn throughout all of my posts (this being the 35^th), or perhaps you read my 6 month update.  The observations still stand. The dirt and bugs have gotten better with a bigger trailer as there is more room for the dirt to hide and the fancy euro style windows in my last trailer let in a lot of bugs. Nevertheless, there are still bugs and dirt. The dogs have adapted to this life quickly as they are just happy since they are with me always. 

I really enjoy exploring new areas along with familiar ones. I love traveling - getting a feel for the people and new areas and how truly nice most people are in this world. There is far more that unites us and I think it is important to remember that as we get bogged down in the day to day. There are places I would like to get back to and spend more time in (Arkansas for example) and places I am not particularly interested in ever seeing again (looking at you Mississippi and Louisiana). 

I have tried to show mostly highlights but there are downsides too. The hassle of finding groceries and laundromats is always there and I have good and bad examples of both. The decision fatigue of having to plan every single day of where will I be and can I safely spend the night there with the dogs. You may not know where you will be on December 12th, but you know you have a place to sleep at least. I have the trailer but I may not be able to find a place to park it for the night safely. This is often why I plan 3 to 6 months in advance as I am not yet comfortable with taking too many chances with the dogs. Perhaps if I downsize to sleeping in a van or a truck camper and I park on the street at night, but with a trailer that is less of an option.

I still have no clue on how long I will continue this adventure. It could end tomorrow or in ten years. One cannot predict the future, so I am open to whatever comes next and I'm ready to greet it with an open mind and a grateful heart.

Speaking of what’s next, I will be spending this summer in a remote Department of Defense facility in Kentucky on an important undercover research project. There should be some opportunities for me to get away and visit old friends and family. Afterwards, I have a planned trip to the northeast. I have reservations or at least places identified to cover me through the end of November. After that I expect to head back to Texas for a few months or possibly somewhere more southwest. I really don’t have anything scheduled yet beyond a few key dates including the total solar eclipse in April of 2024 and Alaska in the summer of 2024.

The adventures will not end but the same cannot be said for this blog. No final decision has been made yet on the end of this blog, but if there is not another post, thank you for reading them as I have enjoyed writing them.

Until we see each other again,

Thor