13 Sep 2025 - Arrived at Griff's - Home for the Season - Mission Complete! + Final Stats

 

We departed The Meadows RV Park this morning at 0726 hrs and headed north on Hwy 61.  We reached the Iowa border and the feeling of home came over us, or at least closer.  

We made just one potty stop and then rolled into Griff's Valley View RV Park at 1150 hrs after driving 245 miles this morning.  Our site was vacant and we backed in and leveled up the coach quickly.  Out our back window is the fishing pond, although we will not be sleeping in the coach while it is here.  .

We got started right away taking photos of the cabinets and compartments as-is, and then methodically emptying them using our inventory as a guide.  We do not unload everything out of the coach in the off-season.  Kitchen utensils, pots, pans, etc are all duplication from what we have at home, so there is no need to unload that stuff.  There are many other items like that too numerous to mention.  The soft goods like towels, table clothes, toilet paper, paper towels, etc that a critter might get into are moved into large storage bins that live in the coach over the winter. It is critically important we keep track of what we leave in there and what we haul home so that next year when we do the loading it does not become a cluster, so to speak. 

Once we have unloaded everything that is going to be hauled home, we thoroughly clean the inside and outside including the roof, give the outside a good ceramic maintenance treatment with a buffer, and repair anything that needs tweaked.  Only after all that is done do we move it to inside storage for the off-season.  All that happens quicker than it sounds, weather permitting.  Right now we are schedule to move the coach next Friday, so that gives me five days including tomorrow.  

Everything that gets unloaded has to be hauled home and unloaded into the house and put away.  As we opened the door for the first time there was a hollowness or emptiness that is hard to describe. Our son had gathered up much of Liberty's toys, stairs and other reminders, but the silence here was deafening.  The sadness in losing our little Liberty on this trip still lingers and our returning home reopened the wounds.  I think losing her during our travels made it even worse.  But I cannot say enough about the great folks at the Veterinary Medical Center in Glasgow KY.  The compassion and caring they display was greatly appreciated.  They cremated Liberty right there and returned her remains to our house, so she was waiting for us when we got home today.  Doreen and I agreed to wait until tomorrow to open the box that contains her urn and final paw print.  We both miss her greatly as she has been our travel pup for the last 12 years, but we know she is in a better place and her suffering is over..

We did two big loads home today including the pantry and fridge/freezer, and got most of it put away at home.  Doreen also did several loads of laundry as some of the things that needed washed, such as table cloth for example, go back to the coach,  So tomorrow we will take a few items back out, and then haul the remaining items home, mostly hanging clothes, shoes etc.  At that point we about collapsed.  It was Casey's pizza for dinner, a shower, and watched the Iowa Hawkeye's football team put it to UMass in Iowa City.

So that is a wrap on this year's adventures.  It's had it's highs and lows.  We surely appreciate seeing everyone and the time you all spent with us.  We saw a lot of cool places, ate some delicious food and sampled some awesome bourbon and wine.  We are looking forward to another great adventure next year, to be determined!  

Final Stats:  This is campground #37 of 37 

# States Traveled Through So Far This Trip, in order: 24 (IA, MO, KS, OK, MO, IA, IL, IN, MI, WI, IA, IL, IN, KY, TN, NC, SC, GA,TN, GA, TN, KY, MO, IA)  

# States left to visit on this trip: 0 ()

Baseball Parks Visited So Far This Trip:  1 (Myrtle Beach Pelicans)

Lighthouses visited:  2 (Oak Island Lighthouse, Old Baldy Lighthouse)

Lighthouses climbed:  2 (Oak Island Lighthouse, Old Baldy Lighthouse)

Point to point travel miles (trailer miles):  6799 miles 

  - Avg point to point travel miles between campgrounds:  184 miles

Vicinity miles (truck miles with no trailer):  3536 miles 

  - Avg vicinity miles:  101 miles

Total miles driven:  10,335 miles 

Total point to point driving time:  135 hrs 32 minutes

Total diesel fuel purchased: 961.923 gals 

Total diesel fuel cost:  $3255.63 

Average diesel fuel cost/gal:  $3.375

Max diesel fuel cost:  $3.999 (Elkhart IN) 

Min diesel fuel cost:  $2.879 (Yukon OK) 

Avg MPG:  11.23 miles/gal

Cost/mi of operation:  $0.33

# Nights at end of this stay:  182 (Includes Griff's start & end)

Total lodging cost:  $7587.88  (includes Griff's start & end)

Average cost/night:  $41.69