What then, I wonder?

Capitol Reef... just gorgeous — Capitol Reef National Park… just gorgeous

Today, September 7, 2015, marks the beginning of my 17th month traveling the USA in my motorhome. Holy crap! 16 months down! When I set out on my See-the-USA-in-an-RV trip I was uncertain that I’d last 16 days, let alone 16 weeks, or 16 months. Yet, here I am, and I suppose it fair to say that I’m finding the thought of going back to my stationary sticks-and-bricks lifestyle near San Francisco ever less appealing.

The San Francisco Bay area has a lot to offer: fine restaurants, lots of art and music… It’s a melting pot of many cultures offering a rich diversity: East Indian and Pakistani (LOVE their food!), Asian, Hispanic, Mexican and others. There is relatively easy access to nature, the climate is mild, and the great state of California has much geological diversity to offer from the Sierra Nevada mountains with Mount Whitney, which at over 14,000′ in elevation is the highest point in the contiguous 48 states, to Badwater in Death Valley–a desert wonderland larger than the state of Rhode Island–which at 282′ below sea level is the lowest point in the contiguous 48. You can visit both the same day. There’s the Napa Valley wine country which in spring is amongst the loveliest of places with rolling green hills carpeted with the impossibly bright yellows and oranges of mustard and the California poppy. The coastal Redwood trees tower above the forest floor, soft with their fallen needles, silent, sometimes shrouded in fog. It’s magical, I tell you. Their cousins, the Giant Sequoia reside high up in the spectacular Sierra Nevada mountains along the eastern side of the state, their huge girth wide enough to carve out a tunnel through which a car can be driven. The dramatic, rocky coast offers spectacular views… Yes, California has a great deal to offer. While it’s true that California has more than its share of riches it also has more than its share of congestion, traffic, pollution and maybe crime. Too many people in too little space makes people close off to each other lest they be over stimulated, or something like that, so I believe. Those things I do not miss.

Little Molas Lake at Sunrise, Silverton, Colorado

As I’ve traveled about I’ve seen the most amazing places from the depths of the Grand Canyon to the peaks of the Rocky Mountains. There has been the desolate beauty of the desert and the mysterious spookiness of the swamp. There have been interesting people: fabulous photographers; a man named Chris who for 23 years has hitch-hiked the country living out of his backpack; Harrison, who was riding his bicycle from Alaska to Florida, and Steve who as of this writing is still riding his motorcycle around the world. I even found romance with a wonderful woman in New England, for a time, anyway. So, when I think of going home, of going back to California, I also think of those things and how many others like them still await discovery and exploration.

View From Blue Lakes Pass Above Yankee Boy Basin, Colorado

One goal of my See-the-USA-in-an-RV trip was to get to the 34 states I had not yet been to and spend at least a night in each one. There have been a few in which I did spend only one night: Rhode Island, Wisconsin, Ohio, but there have been others where I spent many weeks: Colorado, Connecticut and California. Now, as I grow increasingly close to completing the list of 50 states I find myself increasingly pressed up against the question of “what then?”

Wildflowers near Rabbit Ears Pass. A short drive and hike from Meadows Campground.

The life I led in California was in part the motivation for my trip: there wasn’t that much going on for me, it was largely routine with little new. The greater impetus for traveling America was to see places I’d not yet seen. As time has passed, the nervousness, the trepidations I felt prior to and earlier on in my trip have faded, the desire for those things familiar and safe at home have waned and the thought of possibly continuing this vagabond lifestyle beyond the completion of my 50-states list waxed. I have learned that this shift in thinking is commonplace amongst those who now call their RVs home. Many I’ve met have been living for years in their rigs, happily, comfortably. They’ve given up their sticks-and-bricks houses and don’t, DON’T want to go back.

Selfie along Medicine Bow Peak hike — Yours truly along the Medicine Bow Peak trail in the Snowy Range outside of Centennial, WY

It won’t be long before I get to Illinois, Kentucky, Kansas, Nebraska and South Dakota, the last five states on my list. What then? I wonder.

A smattering of photos from my trip.

I found abstract art in this little tidepool at Acadia National Park.

Stuff you find in tide pools

Almost ready to roll, Steve has just about everything piled onto his Triumph. Is there any room left for him?

Sharptop Mountain over Abbot Lake. It’s but a short hike through the woods from Peaks of Otter Campground to the lodge from where this photo was taken. You can drive over too. The lodge has a restaurant that is open to the public and there is free wifi there. Cross your fingers that it is working when you go.

Mountain Laurel near New Paltz, NY. I love the shape of the buds before they burst open. The individuals I’ve seen have varied from pink to white.

This is the upper portion of Lower Doyles River Falls, Shenandoah National Park, VA.

Linville Falls, NC. A relatively short hike from the campground, but depending on which trail you choose it can be a challenge. Getting to where I took this shot is not a pice of cake.

An early morning view along the Blue Ridge Parkway, NC.

Crabtree Falls. I don’t know if that’s a crab tree!

This is a portion of a sculpture at the city center of Charlotte. It’s representative of what you would see from directly above the city. The square in the middle is the city center where the sculpture is located. I enhanced the image by raising the color saturation quite a bit.

I took a walking tour in the downtown area of Charlotte and snapped this along the way.

Brookgreen Gardens, Murrells Inlet, SC. You can easily spend a day here. Besides the gardens there is a butterfly house, a small zoo, and lots of sculpture throughout the gardens.

Floutist: Brookgreen Gardens

Cypress and reflections, Okefenokee Swamp, GA

I guess you could say this gator was chillin’ even though he was warmin’ in the sun. He didn’t seem to mind our presence… I mean he didn’t eat any of us or anything like that.

Staircase: Tennessee Capitol Building

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the sunsets here in the desert art just the best!

I tell ya… the skies here in Arizona are just the best! The reason I’m showing this sunset in black ad white is that I just could not come close to doing it justice in color!

This vicious beast, in reality, is really cute little dog that suffers from a slight overbite. The light in his eyes is making him squint as they reflect the color of the sandy hillside behind me giving him, along with the overbite, a menacing appearance.

This Little Burro is just so cute. Don’t you think ? He lives here too.

Overlooking Senator Wash Lake at the BLM’s Imperial Dam Long Term Visitor Area near Yuma, AZ.

Saguaro National Park

I was in photographer’s heaven at White Sands National Monument. My friend Tim and I accidentally walked into an area that was off limits. Before the park rangers came and booted us out we managed to get off a few shots. This area had plants and zero footprints except those from birds and animals. Almost everywhere else we went was littered with human footprints, people, had little if any plant life, and was thus uninteresting.

I loved the rich red colors of this butte near Catalon in Big Bend National Park, especially set against the rich blue of the sky with its beautiful white clouds.

I have returned to this location to camp over and over. Although snow is on the ground this was July or August and the temps were typical for summer in the high Sierra and delicious–warm days, cool nights. The snow was left over from a winter with a deep snowpack. That’s Forsyth Peak in the background, some two miles distant.

Inside St. Mary’s Basilica in Natchez, MS.

Harrison Brown as we chatted in my RV about his cross-country bicycle trip

Some of the glass by Dale Chihuly that was on display at the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock, AR.

The amazing underworld of Blanchard Springs Caverns is just amazing. It took millions of years for the caverns to form and they are still in the making. They go on for miles and miles. A small portion of them can be toured. This shot was taken in the upper level, the most spectacular of the three.

The Cat’s Pajama’s thrill the audience at the Music City Centre in Branson, MO. Brian Skinner, producer and the group’s bass and percussion vocalist is second from right.

Over time mineral deposits at Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone have created these fabulous terraces

If you don’t mind climbing 1400 feet and for the last half mile of the hike hanging onto steel chains to keep from falling back down that distance and you’ll enjoy the view from atop the Angels Landing in Zion National Park! Seriously, it’s not that bad. All kinds of people make it to the top.

Interior View: Iowa State Capitol Building

This was taken at Cut Foot Sioux Lake, MN, late September 2014.

View from McClure Pass

Imagine being a pioneer traveling by horseback or covered wagon in the valley below and trying to figure out how to navigate this place… That’s one reason they call it badlands.

Detail view of a thermal stream in Yellowstone

Microbes growing in the thermal streams in Yellowstone create amazing colors and patterns

Yours truly with Yellowstone Falls in the background

When I was at Bridge Bay campground in Yellowstone a couple of bison were hanging around pretty much all the time. One morning I heard what sounded like someone pulling up grass outside my window, but when I looked I discovered it wasn’t a person… not unless he had a really good bison costume!

This is a view of the Grand Tetons in the morning from route 287 outside the park

Popo Agie Falls

Little Molas Lake outside Silverton, CO: in the early morning

I counted as many as 10 hummingbirds hanging around my neighbor’s feeder at Meadows Campground and they didn’t mind you getting to within a couple feet of them.