Greetings from Iowa! We hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable Thanksgiving. Since mid-September when we returned from our 2023 RV trip, we have been busy prepping the RV for winter storage, knocking out projects here at the house, taking care of medical-related appointments and basically getting caught up on things that did not get done all summer while we were out galivanting around the county! One of the main projects we start on soon after returning is planning for our 2024 RV adventures. I created this 2024 blog framework which includes this first post. This will allow you to bookmark the URL for future reference, which is: https://schellhasetravels2024.blogspot.com Notice the URL is the same as in year's past except for the year. You can go back and revisit any of our travels from 2016 through 2024 just by changing the year on the URL. Here is a map that illustrates our travels since 2016:
If you are on Twitter you can get notifications of when I update the blog. It also posts to Facebook. In the blog on the right side you can "follow" the blog for updates also.
So we had an outstanding 2023 camping season with a large focus on national parks out west, and 2024 promises to be totally different and exciting. Planning starts about 1 Nov with a concept and a few goals; a paper map, sticky notes and a highlighter.
From there we refined it and started nailing down the stops, the routes and dates. The process is involved and at times mind-numbing but it is fun to see the plan come together. We transform the dining room into a "planning cell". Dual computer monitors helps a bunch. The new one is a 27 inch curved screen and it really helps.
We utilize the "Roadtrippers" online site and many other web sites including https://www.militarycampgrounds.us/ Over the years we have refined the spreadsheet we use to track it all, which also produces our "stats". The end result is a 35 column x 44 row X 8 tab Excel spreadsheet, a map with dates, and a 3" thick three-ring binder full of info. Each tab (stop) contains routing, info on the stops (campgrounds), things and folks we plan to see there, etc. Once planned we will spend quite a bit of time researching each stop and the surrounding area for sites to see. One that hit the radar this year is the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in Weston WV!! We might have to take up residency there LOL. Some of the best sites we visit are those off the radar, the not-as-well-known oddities that are just fun. The local cuisine is always a target along with the local wines and beverages. Everywhere we go is difference scenery, different culture, different food, etc. Seeing this great United States as we travel with our RV is really fun and educational.
2024 Phase I: This year (see map above) is broken up into Phase I and Phase II. Unlike the past two years we won't be able to stop home in the middle. So Phase I will start 15 Mar 2024 when we take the camper to Griff's Valley View RV Park not far from our house. It will be there for a couple weeks which allows us to get it stocked, hopefully unwinterized, and test everything out before we launch out on 1 Apr. Then Apr-May 2024 will take us south through Missouri and Kansas to see AF buddy John Kimball, the Oklahoma and south to San Antonio to see my Iraq battle buddy Frank Leota and his friend Vanessa, further south to visit my sister Karen Nantz, then up the coast and back north through College Station to visit our Air Guard friends Drew and Dorothy DeHaes then to Mineola Texas where the Alliance Texas Rally will be held. This is a huge Rally and we will reconnect with many Alliance friends from all over the country. From there we head northeast to the Little Rock AR area and north to trout fish the White River south of the Bull Shoals Dam. Next stop will be Scott Air Force (AF) Base in east St Louis, Camp Atterbury south of Indianapolis and Elkhart IN. We will move from Elkhart to Goshen and attend the Alliance National Rally the last week in May. Hundreds of our Alliance friends will be there. Also, daughter Jennifer and her family live not far away in Michigan
2024 Phase II: Following the Alliance National Rally, we head east to Camp Perry OH and then around the Great Lake to the Buffalo NY area to visit an AF buddy Matt "Captain Zap" Steffan. From there we drive east through NY and then north to Fort Drumm and will investigate the Thousand Islands area. Then further east and north from there and across Lake Champlain on the ferry to the Burlington VT area to visit AF buddy Armand "Hammy" Lambert. Then into Maine to visit more AF buddies Ernie Souther, Kirk Small and on up to Aroostook County near Loring AF Base (closed) where we were stationed in the mid-70's. Another AF buddy Greg and his wife Diane Noskowiak moved back up there from Wisconsin last year. Then down east to Meddybemps ME to visit AF buddy Chick McCoubrey. Somewhere between Ohio and Maine we hope to see AF buddy Ernie Reid!!
Then down the coast of Maine and through Massachusetts, to New York to visit another AF buddy George Lechner and his wife Ann Marie. SW through PA to Gettysburg (daughter Michelle's friend April lives in Hanover) then further SW through West Virginia and on down the Appalachians to Asheville NC. AF buddy Brad Herren and his wife Beth will camp with us there for a few days. Then we head back west to Shreveport LA and north towards home to arrive 16 Sep. The stop before we get home will take me back to the town which I grew up, DeWitt IA, where hopefully we can reconnect with some of my classmates there. Right now it looks like we will be staying at a record (for us) 14 military FamCamps, 4 Fed/State/County/City campgrounds and 24 commercial campgrounds for a total of 42 stops which is the same as last year. If nothing changes we currently project right at 8500 trailer miles and probably around 14,000 truck miles.
We will post again before we depart on 1 Apr 2024, but for now we hope everyone has a great Christmas and New Years, and a safe & healthy winter. Spring will be here before we know it!
Thanks for tagging along and checking in on us. Take care,
Ed and Doreen
