The Wendlands have mapped out plans to check off five more trips on their ever-growing list of must-visit destinations.
By Mike Wendland, F426141
September 2013
We all have places we want to see, to explore, and to experience. We’ve come to refer to these as items for a bucket list. When Jennifer and I decided that traveling in a motorhome was how we wanted to spend much of our retirement time, we started out with such a list. And as we began hitting the open road, we visited the initial places on our list in short order.
This year, in which we are on track to cover about 35,000 miles by winter, I’m surprised that our bucket list is now even longer. It seems that as soon as we check off one place, we replace it with another two destinations.
So far this year, we’ve revisited Yellowstone National Park; tooled around the Bighorn Mountains; climbed Pike’s Peak; howled with the wolves in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula; scooted around the Four Corners region of Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona; and meandered along the Emerald Coast of Florida and Alabama. That’s not counting big rallies we’ve attended in Branson, Missouri, and Gillette, Wyoming.
Each location only stirs our wanderlust for more. So many places; so little time.
We’re not alone. I’ve been asking friends and others we meet across the country to share with me their RV bucket lists. Some places the big ones such as Alaska, Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, and the Florida Keys “” seem to be common to all of us.
Jennifer and I are not full-timers. Many people think we are, judging by all the miles we have been racking up. Typically, we’ll embark on a trip of from 10 days to three weeks and then return to our Michigan home to restock the motorhome and tend to our sticks-and-bricks house and yard.
Jennifer and I also need frequent grandchildren fixes. We have two in Michigan and four in Georgia. When we visit Georgia, we take our coach.
So, our bucket list tends to be built around tours. We try to drive no more than 250 to 300 miles a day so we can enjoy each place where we overnight. Sometimes, we’ll stay two or three days if something strikes us as interesting.
But the more we travel, the more excited we become about places we’ve yet to see. Our RV bucket list remains a work in progress.
Here are the next five big bucket list trips that I want to program into my GPS as soon as possible.
Newfoundland “” Newfoundland is the most eastern of all the Canadian provinces and is remote, stunningly beautiful, and abounding in unique experiences for motorhome owners. We want to see all of the Maritimes, but at the very top of our bucket list next year is a two- to three-week visit to Newfoundland. You have to take a ferryboat ride to get there, but if we time it right in late June or early July, we can park along the shoreline and see whales. How cool is that?
The Canadian Rockies “” Over the past two years, I’ve traveled up and down the U.S. Rocky Mountains. But everyone tells me that until I experience the Canadian Rockies, I haven’t seen real mountains. Since we have a western United States trip planned for the bucket list (see the next item), we will travel there via a northern route “” the Trans-Canada Highway. We’ll budget 10 days for this trip, with extra time to be spent around Calgary and Banff National Park.
The Oregon Coast “” This will be another 10-day trip “” at least. RVs are very welcome in this state and allowed to park just about anywhere along the spectacular coastline. Dungeness crabs, tide pools, spectacular Pacific Ocean vistas, and great hiking opportunities call us loud and clear.
The Natchez Trace Parkway “” We were there briefly this past spring but were able to explore only a small part of the Tennessee section of this 444-mile drive between Natchez, Mississippi, and Nashville, Tennessee. I was fascinated by the history of the Natchez Trace, a wilderness trail used by American Indians, early settlers, bandits, and explorers. Meriwether Lewis, of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, died on the Natchez Trace in 1809 at Grinder’s Stand, an inn in Tennessee, under very mysterious circumstances.
Since our spring sampling, I have read much about the Natchez Trace and would like to spend a week in autumn leisurely driving it and learning more about this great route, which prohibits commercial truck traffic. A dozen campgrounds dot the route, including three run by the National Park Service.
The Mitten Tour “” This is a trip of all my own design. I have mapped out a shoreline drive that follows the outline of the Michigan Mitten, starting in southwestern Michigan and following Lake Michigan’s western shore to the Straits of Mackinac, then over the Mackinac Bridge to the Upper Peninsula (U.P.). The plan is to follow Lake Michigan’s northern shoreline west to the Wisconsin border, then jut up to the southern shore of Lake Superior, following it east until it blends with Lake Huron near the eastern U.P. town of De Tour Village. We will then head back west to the Straits, down U.S. 23 through Michigan’s “sunrise side” to Port Huron. We’ll travel around Lake St. Clair, through Detroit, to Lake Erie, and on south to the Ohio border. Along the way are the Les Cheneaux Islands, lots of lighthouses, great fishing, and wonderful Great Lakes views on what will be a trip of more than 2,000 miles and will take us nearly two weeks.
How about you? What’s on your bucket list?
Veteran journalist Mike Wendland, F426141, FMCA’s official on-the-road reporter, travels the country with his wife, Jennifer, and their Norwegian elkhound, Tai, aboard the couple’s Roadtrek Type B motorhome. Mike can be reached at openmike@fmca.com.