Overview | Travelin-Tortuga.com

2001 to 2007, 2009, 2015, 2016

The United States and Canada

The Early Years

From Newfoundland to Alaska, from California to Key West, The US and Canada have so much to see and do.

Limitless sights and sounds to hold the interest of anyone with a traveling spirit. From the gracious hospitality of the American South to changing colors in New England or Nova Scotia; From the wild openness of the Western Mountains to the ever present closeness of Chicago, New York or San Francisco; From the crack of the bat at Fenway to the hush of the fishing fleets in the mists off Newfoundland’s Grand Banks.

We’ve traveled via motorhome and motorcycle in all but two of the United States and all ten Canadian Provinces plus the two Territories that can be driven to. We’ve been to Hawaii, but until they finish the bridge you still have to fly; and somehow we just haven’t figured out how to get to Rhode Island yet; guess we have to have something to save for next time. We’ve travelled north of the Arctic Circle on the only two roads in all of North America that do so and generally have just plain covered a lot of ground. In the US & Canada we’ve traveled nearly 200,000 miles in motorhomes and about 150,000 on motorcycles; and cannot begin to say we’ve seen it all; ‘though not for lack of trying.

During our first five years living on the road we spent all but a few months in the US or Canada. As time went on we spent more of our winter time in Mexico until in 2007 we bought our Tiger and left North America for an extended period. First we spent eighteen months in Central and South America; then, from 2010 through 2015, we spent most of each year with the Tiger in Europe. In early 2017 we off once again, spending the next three years in New Zealand, Australia and Southern Africa. During those early years we criss crossed the US several times, trying over time to travel more in a north-south direction, moving with the seasons as much as possible rather than going east-west across the country.

We spent considerable time in Canada every summer from 2002 to 2007. In 2002 & 2004 we went to Eastern Canada, enjoying Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, the Gaspé Penninsula, PEI, Newfoundland and Labrador. In 2005 & 2007 we went west, enjoying the beauties of British Columbia, Alberta, the Yukon and the Northwest Territories on our way to Alaska. In other years we wandered across the central heartland, dipping in and out of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Ontario.

In 2007 we bought our Tiger and did some fast cross country traveling in the US before heading north through some of the western US and Canada, spending the summer in Alaska, the Yukon and the Northwest Territories. We undertook this trip for three reasons

We wanted to re-visit Alaska and the Yukon and see the North West Territories for the first time;
We wanted a challenging summer to act as a shake down cruise for the vehicle and gear we were carrying before we left the country for an extended tour of Latin America;
We wanted our Latin American tour to begin in the far north so that it would indeed be a true Pan American journey.

As it happened, our summer was a success on all fronts. We had some wonderful experiences, saw more than we could ever have hoped, and very definitely shook things down most effectively. Then, a quick swing through the southeastern states before heading into Mexico and points far south. It was quite a year.

At the end of each year we spent in North America we compiled a Year End Best Of list showing our favorite restaurants, campgrounds, scenic spots, etc. You’ll find a compilation of these lists on our two Best of the Best lists; one for the lower forty-eight states and one for Alaska and Canada.

In 2009/10 we had the Tiger in the US for about eight months and did four stories from the road. For the next five years we were only in the states for a few months each winter, spending most of our time traveling in Europe. During these years we didn’t do any writing on our time in the US. Finally, in 2015 and 2016 we had more time to travel stateside and managed to write a few stories. Beginning in 2020, we plan to have the Tiger back in North America and to pick up where we left off in terms of seeing our own country and its neighbors to the north and south.

Below you’ll find links to all of our messages and photo albums covering our time in the lower forty-eight states, Canada & Alaska. We hope that you’ll enjoy reading our stories about these travels and that you’ll feel motivated to get out and see more of the world as well. Adventure is just around the corner, wherever you are.

maps by epgsoft.com

Journal Entries & Photos for the US and Canada