Steve’s Spring Race Season

May 13, 2026May 13, 2026 / marniesteve / Leave a comment

Since we’ve settled into our new little home in the Phoenix area, I wasn’t interested in getting back on the road too soon. So, while I stayed home and nested, Steve tackled much of the spring marathon season solo. Here’s a recap on his Herculean efforts.

Maryland #45

First, he flew to Baltimore and participated in the B & A Trail Marathon. The race was conducted on the rail-to-trail path that goes from Baltimore to Annapolis, and he finished the 26.2 mile race in his normal time of about 4 1/2 hours.

New Jersey #46

Three weeks later he boarded a plane to Newark. There he traveled into Jersey City which lies on the Hudson River across from Manhattan. The day before the race he picked up his packet and then enjoyed the views of the city on a beautiful day.

The run through the streets of Jersey City and past the Statue of Liberty was a classic urban race. He finished again at his normal pace.

Oregon #47

Less than a week later he was on a plane again, this time to Eugene, Oregon for the Eugene Marathon. Eugene is the home of the University of Oregon and is known as “Track Town USA.” Since this was Steve’s third 26.2 mile race in five weeks, it was a bit slower. He still finished in under five hours.

Illinois #48

We fit the final spring marathon in during our travels to Michigan for the summer season. The Starved Rock Marathon was held in the town of Ottawa, IL and the race ran through the beautiful Starved Rock State Park, where we also camped. We were joined by Steve’s high school running buddy Kent Ferris and the guys “enjoyed” doing the race together, if you can enjoy running 26.2 miles up and down big hills.

A side note: Kent also ran state #20 in Des Moines with Steve.

With #48 in the books, Steve has just two states left to complete his goal of running a marathon in all 50 states. We’ll hit Vermont and Massachusetts the fall. But first, Traverse Bay RV Resort is beckoning.

On our way north we stopped to see our Baja buddies, Yujing and Jim in Kalamazoo. Yujing prepared an incredible meal of Chinese Hot Pot that was a super fun experience. This is what RVing is all about…the fabulous friends you make and the unique experiences you have along the way. Thanks guys!

Jim, Yujing, me & Steve with hot pot ingredients in the foreground

We plan to spend another summer in Traverse City with our friends, enjoying the lakes, trails, and wineries. Have a great summer everyone!

The Mundane of RV Living

July 22, 2020 / marniesteve / 2 Comments

Our COVID-19 RV travels are continuing, carefully, in Central Oregon. We had a great two day stay at La Pine State Park and wish we could have stayed longer. The park is just south of Bend, situated right on the banks of the Deschutes River, and has a ton of easy mountain bike trails. This gave me an opportunity to get back on the bike for more than a few minutes and Steve a chance to try out trail running with his injured collarbone.

We both loved it! Flat single track along the river and nice weather made this stop one that illustrates why we love RV travel.

But let’s be real…it’s not always champagne and roses when you tow your home with you wherever you go. This blog post will focus a bit more on the day-to-day realities of RV travel, rather than the places and adventures we’ve experienced. In fact, here are nine realities of living in an RV, especially during a pandemic.

Many of the highlights and “must see” attractions are closed. Along the way we’ve seen tours (yes, brewery tours!) and parks that we’d love to explore. However, due to the pandemic, they are not operating. Most of the pools and recreational features at the RV parks are also off-limits. We expected this but still it’s kind of a bummer to see something cool and be unable to check it out.
You still have to do laundry! And it’s not always pleasant when you don’t have your own fancy front loaders and laundry room. Here at the Thousand Trails Bend/Sunriver RV Park the laundry room was pretty scuzzy and the machines weren’t very fast.
You don’t get your daily mail. I love getting the mail and take for granted the ability to walk outside and open my mailbox each day. Last week we had our wonderful neighbors, Nancy and Tom, send us our mail from the last month. It was quite an ordeal. Long story short, we sat at these mailboxes in the middle of nowhere for over two hours before we finally received our package, which was already a day later than guaranteed.
Some really fancy RVs have dishwashers. We, on the other hand, have a dish drainer and some cute kitchen towels!
Electric power is variable. At each stop we either have 20, 30, or 50 amps of power or nothing. This number determines if we can run the A/C at the same time as the microwave and if I can blow dry my hair while the electric water heater is on. At the Bend/Sunriver Park, an older park, the power was on and then off and then…
Steve has to “dump” regularly. Yes, it’s a reality and practicality of RV living…the water and sewer tanks must be emptied on a regular basis. Sometimes we have a sewer connection a the site but often in the Thousand Trails parks you have to visit the dump station to empty the waste.
Speaking of sewer, did you know you have to treat the sewer tank after it’s emptied? Yep, every time Steve dumps, I have to pour a little bit of this stuff into the toilet to help “break down the solids.” Yes, we’ve learned some pretty gross things on this journey.
We are big Costco customers, but can’t buy in bulk while traveling in less 300 square feet. Our 8 cubic foot refrigerator/freezer barely gives us the room to keep a little frozen food and the necessities for a few days. More frequent trips to the grocery store seem to be a reality of living like this.
We interact with very few people along the way and that leaves us missing our family and friends. Because of the pandemic, we stay to ourselves the majority of times. Luckily we like each other, but we do miss hanging out with our neighbors in the Mahogany Lane parking lot!All of this said, we are very grateful to have this opportunity and know how lucky we are to be able to travel this way and see our country. Regardless of the mundane tasks and inconveniences of RV travel, it is really the best way to see the United States up close. While the pandemic continues to rage on, we feel safe motoring along in our self-contained, moving home.

One highlight of our stop in Bend was a visit with my cousin Tom Zimmerman and his family. Wife Kelly prepared a tasty BBQ meal and we got to spend time with their three girls, Zoe, Laney, and Kira. Connecting with family, far and near, is certainly one of the benefits of RV travel. We’re in Bend for a few more days, taking care of business…oil change, haircuts, groceries, etc. and enjoying the beautiful scenery, world-renowned breweries, and endless bike trails. Even though this blog post focuses mostly on day-to-day RV living, we have really fallen in love with Bend and the surrounding area. It will be hard to leave but next we are heading north into Washington State. Until then…

Crater Lake National Park

July 16, 2020July 16, 2020 / marniesteve / 2 Comments

Crater Lake was formed over 7,500 years ago when a large eruption caused Mount Mazama to collapse and then fill with rain and snowmelt. This was our 20th National Park visit.We took a day to explore the highlights of Crater Lake National Park and probably could have spent more time if the Visitors Centers and other amenities had not been closed due to COVID-19. The nice thing about visiting at this time is that the crowds are thin and it’s easy to get in and out of what would otherwise be crowded attractions. At some times we were the only people at the lookouts.
We entered the park from the north where we are staying for a few days. The Lake Lemolo/Crater Lake North KOA has been a great base from which to explore the area. We are about 13 miles north of the National Park and right on the shores of a nice little reservoir in the middle of the Cascades.To explore the National Park we followed the advice of Michael Joseph Oswald who wrote the book Your Guide to the National Parks and drove the Crater Lake Rim Road in a clockwise direction. This gave us the opportunity to easily pull off to the right to see many views of the beautiful lake.

Crater Lake is America’s deepest lake at 1,943 feet. At one point the mountain that created it stood at over 12,000 feet, but it collapsed after a major eruption and created the crater that became the lake. And, yes, in mid-July there is still a bit of snow along the rim.

Why is it so blue? It’s not because of its depth or mineral content. Instead, it’s because blue wavelengths are reflected back instead of being absorbed by the depths of the lake. Sunlight is able to penetrate deeply into the water and the lake’s magnificent, intense blues are due to its great depth and clarity.We drove the 33 mile rim trail and stopped at all the highlights. There are waterfalls, overlooks and sweeping views. One side road took us to the Pinnacles, unique formations of pumice spires, created by erosion along a steep-sided canyon. Some of the cones are especially tall, tapering to a sharp point. Super cool. We also did a short hike, the Castle Crest Wildflower Trail, which featured the annual display of wildflowers that inhabit the area. It was only a half-mile trail, which was fine with us injured travelers.

We are picnic-lunching every day and it’s really fun to pack our food (Lentil Ceviche on the menu today) and find the perfect place to dine. Today we found a spot right on the rim where we set out our ground cover and enjoyed the views. Steve decided it was also a good place for a photo shoot.

There’s a lot more to explore at Crater Lake had we been up to hiking and/or biking at our usual pace. Considering Steve’s broken collarbone and my ailing foot, we took it easy and appreciated the views. We did spend a little time on the trails around the campground.