With the RV portion of our grand adventure wrapped up, R and I took up the fine art of reminiscing. We present here a brief list of our trip in the form of numbers. It was wonderful (literally: full of wonder), even when things seemed to be falling apart, and we have great stories to tell…
Where we went*
National Parks: 16
National Monuments, Preserves, and Forests: 8
State Parks: 5
Private Monuments: 2
Total sites: 31
How we got there
RV miles: 9,323
Motorcycle miles: 2,946
Total miles: 12,269
Along the way…
Flat tires: 3 (all on the RV)
Tires replaced: 2
Hubcaps thrown: 4
Fork supports lost: 2
Running lights on top of the RV destroyed: 5 (in one blow!)**
Hitchhikers picked up: 2 humans, one mouse
Weddings attended: 1
Nights spent in a WalMart parking lot: 9.5
Times that…**
The motorcycle trailer caught air: 1
A motorcycle fell over with its rider: 3
A motorcycle fell over with no one riding it: 1
One of us ran down a highway in search of ejected objects: 2
We considered giving up: 4
A park ranger informed R he would not have survived in the ancient world: 1
T got caught lying to Mormons: 1
Strangers helped us out or stopped to make sure we were ok: 6
*National Parks: Grand Canyon, Petrified Forest, Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Rocky Mountain, Wind Cave, Badlands, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Glacier, Waterton, Kootenay, Banff, Jasper, Teddy Roosevelt (South). Monuments, Forests, and Preserves: Mohave Desert, Lake Mead (Hoover Dam), Dinosaur, Grand Staircase, Pike National Forest, Shoshone National Forest, Mt. Rushmore, Devil’s Tower. State Parks: Stage Coach, Kodachrome, Custer, Redrocks, Goblin Valley. Private Monuments: Meteor Crater, Crazy Horse.
**We will gladly tell you these stories, but it comes at a price. You will have to share a drink with us. :o)
A World of Belonging 
Quite a feat you accomplished!
Have you thought of a name for your trip? The Tricia and Ryan Monument Odyssey? 12,ooo miles in search of human kindness? Wonder on the Road?
Looking forward to sharing more than a few drinks with you both…
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What a ride! can’t wait to toast the trip with you!
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Happy to share drinks and a meal to savor the wonders of this great adventure😊
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Tremendous adventure, love the recap.
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Sounds amazing! I’m looking to spend some time in an RV during a trip next year – did you manage to find overnight stops easily enough as you travelled, or did you generally need to get these booked in advance?
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Thank you, Daniel! Yes, finding stops was very easy. We would sometimes call ahead to make sure there was space, but never made a reservation. If you have kids with you it may make things a bit easier on you if you have a reservation, especially for one of the bigger, more popular National Parks. But check out the post we did on this very question! https://fortyfields.com/2016/08/17/to-reserve-or-not-to-reserve-the-pros-and-cons-of-on-the-fly-travel-lodging/
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Wow! I’m quite envious of all the places you have seen! Will you be around at Thanksgiving to share some of your stories and more of your pictures?! I’m sure there will be wine, too!
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We are looking into coming out in early November for a quick visit before heading out on the international portion of the trip. We just bought our tickets to Portugal for mid-November!
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Love all the stops you made. I’d gladly sit around a campfire with you two to hear the stories!
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Thank you! We’d love to host you around a campfire!
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[…] Oh, the places we went Here’s a quick, by-the-numbers rundown of our seven months overseas (U.S. by-the-numbers is here): […]
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