By Barry Zander, Edited by Monique Zander, the Never-Bored RVers
This is our 57th posting to RV.net this year – a voluntary, unpaid effort for which our reward has been getting to know you through your comments and crossing paths along the highways and byways of North America. In the past year, we stopped in 30 states and 4 provinces, each of which has made us richer by allowing us to get to know more people and being able to share our experiences with you.
Memories of our Travels in British Columbia
It’s tiring to realize that we stopped in 93 different places for at least one night in 2013. And it’s amazing that since not knowing anything about RVs just eight years ago, we have now rested our rig 476 times in every type of camping spot imaginable. Ah, the adventures we have had, meaning there are still lots of stories to tell!
Getting to know the people of North America: that’s what I always consider the best part of RV traveling. We appreciate the variety of scenery on our journeys and take great interest in the history of places, both of which continue to earn us the “Never-Bored” label, but it’s mingling with people that really sticks with us.
In line with that, I want to add a message of condolence. We, the readers of RV.net and other blog sites, have lost a friend with
James "Butterbean" Carpenter
the passing of James “Butterbean” Carpenter, who was a frequent contributor to the comments section. I have more to say about Butterbean and our visit to his ranch and meeting his wife Joyce on http://ontopoftheworld.bz, my personal website.
Now another plug for traveling with RV caravans, as it relates to the people we have met. Acquaintances we made on our trips to Alaska in 2010 and to the Canadian Maritime Provinces this year will be friends forever, even if we never meet in person again. Each time we receive emails and cards from them it’s a heartfelt experience.
In addition to the dozens of postings on this website, I’ve written several stories for RV magazines and posted numerous blogs and articles on other RV-associated sites. It’s all in the spirit of sharing what I consider the greatness of this nation and our neighbor to the north. Along the way, I’ve taken about 1.3 billion 
photos (yes, that’s a gross exaggeration) of everything from the most spectacular to the most mundane places we’ve seen, which I love to include in postings.
What’s ahead? We are excited about manning a booth at the January 18-26 RV show in Quartzsite [Come by for a visit at Booth #401]. Then, at the end of February we’re off to Baja with Fantasy RV and Creative Tours to enjoy the Baja Peninsula of Mexico and make new friends, including RVers, locals and whales. After that, a few unplanned outings in the West and then possibly we’re off to Key West for the winter. And looking even further forward, I hope we can put the final sticker on our U.S. map, Hawaii, in 2015, renting a van conversion to tour some of the islands.
Enjoying the experiences -- Bar Harbor, Maine
We hope the year ahead holds many pleasant memories for you. There’s a wonderful world all around you waiting for you to experience it. Please stay in touch, and if you happen upon our 28-foot Bigfoot travel trailer, come by to share experiences.
From the “Never-Bored RVers,” We’ll see you on down the road.
© All photos by Barry Zander. All rights reserved
Because of the numerous Spam comments on this site, the comments section has been deactivated. Please email us at [email protected] and I will pass along your comments. Learn about Alaska, the Canadian Atlantic Provinces and much much plus a growing number of travel photos at http://ontopoftheworld.bz.
COMMENTS ABOUT THE RECREATION.GOV BLOG:
FROM D_HANDLER — I never fail to understand why people do not pay attention to the instructions on the reservations site. The only problem would be length of your rig, regardless of what you call it. If it fits, reserve it. I never seem to have trouble, but I have only bee RV-ing since the 50’s.
FROM MARY HANSEN – Isn’t it just like all governments everywhere? It seems that they need to make all descriptions more wordy than necessary. Describing a campground should be easy: sites are this long, this wide, pull-thru or back-in, with these services. Thanks for being curious enough to go the extra mile to try to clarify something that we have all wondered about – but it still sounds like a governmental botch-up! Mary
PS: Thanks for sending blogs that are still free of sales pitches. I hope you will not find it necessary to become annoying!
FROM THOMAS WILSON – Of course it’s convoluted — it’s a GOVERNMENT site! Everything the government creates is unintelligible, convoluted, and generally incomprehensible. If it isn’t, some bureaucrat won’t get paid.
FROM BUTCHPHI — Seems clear to me, ha.
FROM BEN CLARK — What dif does it make, you call and ask for a space to fit the length of your vehicle (s) . All they care about is having the money in their hot little hands. OK ?