September 13, 2015 (by Angela)

Jim and I have admired the travel maps many campers have on them, and so we knew that one day we would have our own. This past weekend we purchased our map, and this weekend it was mounted on the side of our entertainment slide. Unfortunately, due to the fact that the storm-damaged awning arm (the replacement part has been on order for a month so far) juts out, it obscures a clear view of the map; however, once the arm is replaced, we’ll have a clear view and clear access.

We have very specific requirements for counting states in which we have been. For Jim, he counts states by those in which he has worked; currently he’s worked in 17. For me, I must stay in a state at least one night and do something other than eat in that state. With this in mind, I’ve been to 45 states. I have the same requirements for provinces in Canada and the other countries visited, but that’s a post for another time. For the purpose of our RV map, we must have camped in the state (and later, the Canadian provinces) before that state’s sticker is moved to the now predominantly blank map. As we add states, the map will change from its current black and white situation to an array of stately color. Bring on the color!

The blank map

We’ve added four states – those in which we’ve camped the last 10 months.

The fun yet to come – the states in which we’ve yet to camp