1 Year Later

We've been back in the UK for a year and thought it was time to do one final blog post about life since MERTA before closing down this blog and starting the next adventure. 

Our feelings were mixed at the end of the trip. We were looking forward to seeing friends, family and our cat Mitzy, interested to see what had changed during the 6 months we had been away but also very sad that our adventure was coming to an end and that a way of life we were now used to, would be a distant memory within a couple of days.

Our friend Jay picked us up from the airport and it was nice to hear all the news on our way back home. We arrived at our house to find that our fabulous house sitters had left it in better condition than when we left.

Mitzy was unsure of us to start with but after a couple of hours, she was soon snuggling with us in bed demanding cuddles and strokes. It seemed like she had missed us as it took two weeks for the attention levels to drop back down to normal, she was even waking us up in the night with head bonks and purrs.

It didn't take long to fall back into life pre-MERTA. We both went back to our jobs and it soon felt like we had never been away; it's amazing how little changes in 6 months!

Whilst we were on the trip, we were cramming so much into a day to get the most out of the time we had. Yet when we returned home, time just seems to disappear. We were back into the routine of getting up, going to work, coming home, having dinner and then going to be bed. Weeks turned into months and then before we knew it, a year had passed by.

A lot of people have asked us whether the trip has changed us. I don't think there has been any radical changes (although maybe those that know us have noticed something we haven't) but there are little things we now think about differently. For example, spending 6 months with each other day in day out has made us closer as a couple. We were close anyway but to get through all those months without a single argument or disagreement showed us just how much pressure stress from work puts on relationships. I now try to leave work at work and not bring it home (although this is not always successful) and if I am grumpy about work, I try not to snap at Lee about it.

We also realised just how poor our work/life balance was before the trip. We were both often working 12+ hours a day, leaving work late and logging back in during the evenings or over the weekends. Whilst its not possible to completely work to rule with our jobs, we are more aware of it now and try to keep those extra hours to a minimum. Lee has even dropped down to a 4-day week, allowing those pesky jobs to be completed on a Friday so that we have more free time at the weekends.

We loved our hire car so much that we decided to by a Fin in the UK! It was difficult to find a Ford Edge in the UK as they are not a very popular car but I managed to find a dealership in Wales who was selling an ex-demo. It is the same colour as Fin and surprisingly, the same size (despite the smaller roads!) but with a few more extras. Our new car is called Guy and he has been perfect for getting out over the weekends for country walks and camping trips. The only challenge has been trying to park him as the spaces in the UK are tiny compared to what we were used to in the US!

Another question we are often asked is would be do it again. It's a simple answer.... Hell Yeah!

If we had the money, time off work and someone to look after Mitzy, we would be off again in an instant! We would both love to do MERTA again, maybe visiting those places we didn't get time to visit or spending longer in the places we loved. Although we both agreed that if we were to do the trip again, we either need to start earlier in the year or do the trip in reverse to avoid the cold wet weather in the North East.

I would really like to visit Canada, Alaska and Hawaii as we didn't have time to cover these areas during MERTA. We are also looking into doing a 3 week motor home tour of Japan in 2021 or 2022. More details of this will be in our new travel blog!

The most important thing we're left with after MERTA are all the memories we share. We talk about the trip everyday, remembering things we did, places we went, people we met and the amazing experience we had.

This blog was set up to capture our memories of the trip. It was a lot of hard work to maintain, especially when we had no wifi and no power and even more so once we had returned to the UK and were updating the entries retrospectively. But it was worth the effort. We regularly look back at the blog entries and videos, remembering those things we had forgotten and smiling at the amazing time we had.

The most important thing we have both learnt from this whole experience is get up and do it. We all have dreams and aspirations of things we would like to do but unless you make them happen, they will remain dreams forever and you'll never get around to seeing them happen. Sometimes life throws a big spanner in the works and without warning your situation or health takes a turn for the worse, and you'll forever regret not taking that chance when you had the opportunity.

If there is something you want to do, somewhere you want to go or something you want to change, only you can make it happen. So what's stopping you?!

The Revised Itinerary

1	Date	Location	State	Day	Type	Where We Stayed
2	Mon 7 May	Miami Airport	FL	1	Motel	Regency Hotel Miami
3	Tue 8 May	Miami Airport	FL	2	Motel
4	Wed 9 May	Miami Airport	FL	3	Motel
5	Thu 10 May	Homestead	FL	4	Motel	Travelodge Florida City
6	Fri 11 May	Bahia Honda State Park	FL	5	Camping	Bahia Honda State Park Campsite
7	Sat 12 May	Key West	FL	6	Motel	Eden House
8	Sun 13 May	Key West	FL	7	Motel
9	Mon 14 May	Everglades City	FL	8	Motel	Ivey House
10	Tue 15 May	Sanibel	FL	9	Camping	Periwinkle Campground
11	Wed 16 May	Chassahowitzka River	FL	10	Camping	Chassahowitzka River Campground
12	Thu 17 May	Ichetucknee Springs State Park	FL	11	Camping	Ichetucknee Springs Campground
13	Fri 18 May	St. Joseph Peninsula State Park	FL	12	Camping	Gulf Breeze
14	Sat 19 May	Fort Pickens	FL	13	Camping	Fort Pickens Campground
15	Sun 20 May	New Orleans	LA	14	Motel	Maison Dupuy
16	Mon 21 May	New Orleans	LA	15	Motel
17	Tue 22 May	New Orleans	LA	16	Motel
18	Wed 23 May	Memphis	TN	17	Motel	The Peabody Hotel
19	Thu 24 May	Memphis	TN	18	Motel
20	Fri 25 May	Lake Guntersville State Park	AL	19	Camping	Lake Guntersville State Park Camping
21	Sat 26 May	Chattanooga	TN	20	Camping	Lookout Mountain Chattanooga West KOA
22	Sun 27 May	Atlanta	GA	21	Motel	Hyatt Place Atlanta Downtown
23	Mon 28 May	Atlanta	GA	22	Motel
24	Tue 29 May	Tallulah Gorge	GA	23	Camping	Tallulah Gorge State Park Campsite
25	Wed 30 May	Smoky Mountains National Park	TN	24	Camping	Smokemont Campground
26	Thu 31 May	Nashville	TN	25	Motel	Fairfield Inn & Suites Nashville Downtown/The Gulch
27	Fri 1 Jun	Nashville	TN	26	Motel
28	Sat 2 Jun	Land Between the Lakes	KY	27	Camping	Redd Hollow Campground
29	Sun 3 Jun	Pounds Hollow Recreation Area	IL	28	Camping	Pine Ridge Campground
30	Mon 4 Jun	St Louis	MO	29	Motel	Hilton St. Louis at the Ballpark
31	Tue 5 Jun	Kansas City	MO	30	Motel	816 Hotel
32	Wed 6 Jun	Kanopolis State Park	KS	31	Camping	Rockin' K Campground
33	Thu 7 Jun	Wichita	KS	32	Motel	Hotel at Old Town
34	Fri 8 Jun	Oklahoma City	OK	33	Motel	Holiday Inn Express & Suites Oklahoma City Downtown
35	Sat 9 Jun	Oklahoma City	OK	34	Motel
36	Sun 10 Jun	Tulsa	OK	35	Motel	Desert Hills Motel
37	Mon 11 Jun	Fayetteville	AR	36	Motel	The Chancellor Hotel
38	Tue 12 Jun	Eureka Springs	AR	37	Motel	Red Bud Manor
39	Wed 13 Jun	Mountain View	AR	38	Camping	Blanchard Springs Campground
40	Thu 14 Jun	Little Rock	AR	39	Motel	Comfort Inn & Suites Presidential
41	Fri 15 Jun	Little Rock	AR	40	Motel
42	Sat 16 Jun	Hot Springs	AR	41	Camping	Gulpha Gorge Campground
43	Sun 17 Jun	Crater of Diamonds	AR	42	Camping	Crater of Diamonds State Park Camping
44	Mon 18 Jun	Dallas	TX	43	Motel	Hyatt House Dallas/Uptown
45	Tue 19 Jun	Fort Worth	TX	44	Motel	The Ashton
46	Wed 20 Jun	Fort Worth	TX	45	Motel
47	Thu 21 Jun	Austin	TX	46	Motel	JW Marriott Austin
48	Fri 22 Jun	Austin	TX	47	Motel
49	Sat 23 Jun	San Antonio	TX	48	Motel	Hyatt Regency San Antonio Riverwalk
50	Sun 24 Jun	San Antonio	TX	49	Motel
51	Mon 25 Jun	Junction	TX	50	Camping	North Llano River RV Park
52	Tue 26 Jun	Big Bend National Park	TX	51	Camping	Chisos Basin Campground
53	Wed 27 Jun	Big Bend National Park	TX	52	Camping
54	Thu 28 Jun	Marfa	TX	53	Camping	El Cosmico
55	Fri 29 Jun	Guadalupe Mountains	TX	54	Camping	Pine Springs Campground
56	Sat 30 Jun	Guadalupe Mountains	TX	55	Camping
57	Sun 1 Jul	White Sands National Monument	NM	56	Camping	Backcountry Camping
58	Mon 2 Jul	Albuquerque	NM	57	Motel	Econolodge Old Town
59	Tue 3 Jul	Albuquerque	NM	58	Motel
60	Wed 4 Jul	Albuquerque	NM	59	Motel
61	Thu 5 Jul	Navajo Lake	NM	60	Camping	Pine Juniper Loop
62	Fri 6 Jul	Mesa Verde	CO	61	Camping	Morefield Campground
63	Sat 7 Jul	Black Canyon	CO	62	Camping	South Rim Campground
64	Sun 8 Jul	Black Canyon	CO	63	Camping
65	Mon 9 Jul	Eleven Mile State Park	CO	64	Camping	North Shore Campground
66	Tue 10 Jul	Estes Park	CO	65	Camping	Estes Park Campground at Mary's Lake
67	Wed 11 Jul	Grand Lake	CO	66	Camping	Elk Creek Campground
68	Thu 12 Jul	Rimrock Drive	CO	67	Camping	Saddlehorn Campground
69	Fri 13 Jul	Moab	UT	68	Motel	Moab Rustic Inn
70	Sat 14 Jul	Moab	UT	69	Motel
71	Sun 15 Jul	Calf Creek Falls Capitol Reef National Park	UT	70	Camping	Calf Creek Campground Fruita Campground
72	Mon 16 Jul	Bullfrog	UT	71	Camping	Bullfrog RV and Campground
73	Tue 17 Jul	Monument Valley	UT	72	Camping	The View Campground
74	Wed 18 Jul	Lake Powell	AZ	73	Camping	Wahweap RV & Campground
75	Thu 19 Jul	Lake Powell	AZ	74	Camping
76	Fri 20 Jul	Grand Canyon North Rim	AZ	75	Camping	North Rim Campground
77	Sat 21 Jul	Bryce Cayon	UT	76	Camping	Ruby's Inn RV Park and Campground
78	Sun 22 Jul	Valley of Fire State Park	NV	77	Camping	Arch Rock or Atlatl Campgrounds
79	Mon 23 Jul	Death Valley	CA	78	Motel	The Ranch at Death Valley
80	Tue 24 Jul	Needles	CA	79	Camping	Needles KOA
81	Wed 25 Jul	Flagstaff	AZ	80	Motel	Embassy Suites
82	Thu 26 Jul	Flagstaff	AZ	81	Motel
83	Fri 27 Jul	Sedona	AZ	82	Camping	Camp Avalon
84	Sat 28 Jul	Phoenix	AZ	83	Motel	Hyatt Place Old Town Scottsdale
85	Sun 29 Jul	Phoenix	AZ	84	Motel
86	Mon 30 Jul	San Diego	CA	85	Motel	Staypineapple at Hotel Z
87	Tue 31 Jul	San Diego	CA	86	Motel
88	Wed 1 Aug	El Capitan State Beach	CA	87	Camping	El Capitan State Beach Campsite
89	Thu 2 Aug	Pinnacles National Park	CA	88	Camping	Pinnacles Campground
90	Fri 3 Aug	Pinnacles National Park	CA	89	Camping
91	Sat 4 Aug	Sequoia National Park	CA	90	Camping	Stony Creek Campground
92	Sun 5 Aug	Yosemite (Wawona) Sequoia National Park	CA	91	Camping	Wawona Campground Stony Creek Campground
93	Mon 6 Aug	Yosemite Calistoga	CA	92	Motel	North Pines Campground Craftsman Inn
94	Tue 7 Aug	Yosemite Calistoga	CA	93	Motel
95	Wed 8 Aug	Lake Tahoe	CA	94	Camping	Camp Richardson
96	Thu 9 Aug	Lake Tahoe	CA	95	Camping
97	Fri 10 Aug	Lassen Volcanic NP	CA	96	Camping	Summit Lake South Campground
98	Sat 11 Aug	Redwood National Park	CA	97	Camping	Elk Prairie Campground
99	Sun 12 Aug	Redwood National Park	CA	98	Camping
100	Mon 13 Aug	Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area	OR	99	Camping	Eel Creek Campground
101	Tue 14 Aug	Newport	OR	100	Motel	Hallmark Resort
102	Wed 15 Aug	Portland	OR	101	Motel	Jupiter Hotel
103	Thu 16 Aug	Kalaloch	WA	102	Camping	Kalaloch Campground
104	Fri 17 Aug	Olympic National Park	WA	103	Camping	Heart O' The Hills Campground
105	Sat 18 Aug	Seattle	WA	104	Motel	Gaslight Inn B&B
106	Sun 19 Aug	Seattle	WA	105	Motel
107	Mon 20 Aug	Seattle	WA	106	Motel
108	Tue 21 Aug	Leavenworth	WA	107	Camping	Alpine View RV & Campground
109	Wed 22 Aug	Coeur d'Alene	ID	108	Camping	Camp Coeur D'Alene
110	Thu 23 Aug	Georgetown Lake	MT	109	Camping	Philipsburg Bay Campground
111	Fri 24 Aug	Salmon	ID	110	Camping	Century 2 Campground
112	Sat 25 Aug	Sunbeam	ID	111	Camping	Casino Creek Campground
113	Sun 26 Aug	Craters of the Moon	ID	112	Camping	Lava Flow Campground
114	Mon 27 Aug	Pocatello Lava Hot Springs	ID	113	Motel	Thunderbird Motel
115	Tue 28 Aug	Grand Teton National Park	WY	114	Camping	Jenny Lake Campground
116	Wed 29 Aug	Yellowstone	WY	115	Camping	Canyon Campground
117	Thu 30 Aug	Yellowstone	WY	116	Camping
118	Fri 31 Aug	Yellowstone	WY	117	Camping
119	Sat 1 Sep	Hardin	MT	118	Motel	Lariat Motel
120	Sun 2 Sep	Theodore Roosevelt National Park	ND	119	Camping	Cottonwood CG (South Unit) or Juniper CG (North Unit) Medora Campground
121	Mon 3 Sep	Devils Tower National Monument	WY	120	Camping	Belle Fourche River Campground
122	Tue 4 Sep	Custer State Park	SD	121	Camping	Blue Bell Campground
123	Wed 5 Sep	Badlands National Park	SD	122	Camping	Cedar Pass Campground
124	Thu 6 Sep	Victoria Springs State Recreation Area	NE	123	Camping	Victoria Springs SRA
125	Fri 7 Sep	Sioux City	IA	124	Motel	Hampton Inn & Suites Sioux City South
126	Sat 8 Sep	Minneapolis	MN	125	Motel	Embassy Suites Downtown
127	Sun 9 Sep	Minneapolis	MN	126	Motel
128	Mon 10 Sep	Devils' Lake State Park	WI	127	Camping	Quartzite Campground
129	Tue 11 Sep	Chicago	IL	128	Motel	AC Hotel by Marriott Chicago Downtown
130	Wed 12 Sep	Chicago	IL	129	Motel
131	Thu 13 Sep	Dearborn	MI	130	Motel	Hampton Inn by Hilton
132	Fri 14 Sep	Dearborn	MI	131	Motel
133	Sat 15 Sep	Niagara Falls	NY	132	Motel	Comfort Inn The Pointe
134	Sun 16 Sep	Niagara Falls	NY	133	Motel
135	Mon 17 Sep	Watkins Glen	NY	134	Camping	Watkins Glen State Park (ReserveAmerica)
136	Tue 18 Sep	Lake Placid	NY	135	Motel	Golden Arrow Lake Resort
137	Wed 19 Sep	Lake Placid	NY	136	Motel
138	Thu 20 Sep	Lake George	NY	137	Camping	Lake George Battleground State Campground
139	Fri 21 Sep	Woodstock	VT	138	Motel	The Charleston House B&B
140	Sat 22 Sep	North Woodstock	NH	139	Motel	Inn 32
141	Sun 23 Sep	Grafton Notch	ME	140	Camping	Grafton Notch Campground
142	Mon 24 Sep	Acadia	ME	141	Camping	Blackwoods Campground
143	Tue 25 Sep	Acadia	ME	142	Camping
144	Wed 26 Sep	Portland	ME	143	Motel	The Press Hotel, Autograph Collection
145	Thu 27 Sep	Portland	ME	144	Motel
146	Fri 28 Sep	Portsmouth	NH	145	Motel	AirBnB, Vernon's House
147	Sat 29 Sep	Boston	MA	146	Motel	AirBnB, Back Bay, Boston
148	Sun 30 Sep	Boston	MA	147	Motel
149	Mon 1 Oct	Boston	MA	148	Motel
150	Tue 2 Oct	Provincetown	MA	149	Camping	Coastal Acres Campground
151	Wed 3 Oct	Provincetown	MA	150	Camping
152	Thu 4 Oct	Martha’s Vineyard	MA	151	Motel	The Oak Bluffs Inn
153	Fri 5 Oct	Martha’s Vineyard	MA	152	Motel
154	Sat 6 Oct	Newport	RI	153	Motel	AirBnB (the boat)
155	Sun 7 Oct	New Haven	CT	154	Motel	Omni New Haven Hotel at Yale
156	Mon 8 Oct	High Point State Park	NJ	155	Camping	Sawmill Pond Campsite
157	Tue 9 Oct	Atlantic City	NJ	156	Motel	Caesars Atlantic City
158	Wed 10 Oct	Atlantic City	NJ	157	Motel
159	Thu 11 Oct	Washington	DC	158	Motel	Hotel Hive
160	Fri 12 Oct	Washington	DC	159	Motel
161	Sat 13 Oct	Baltimore	MD	160	Motel	Brookshire Suites Inner Harbor
162	Sun 14 Oct	Hershey	PA	161	Motel	Fairfield Inn & Suites Hershey Chocolate Ave
163	Mon 15 Oct	Hershey	PA	162	Motel
164	Tue 16 Oct	Hershey	PA	163	Motel
165	Wed 17 Oct	Shenandoah Valley	VA	164	Camping	Big Meadows Campground
166	Thu 18 Oct	Blue Ridge Parkway	VA	165	Camping	Lynchburg NW BRP KOA
167	Fri 19 Oct	Green Bank Observatory Snowshoe	WV	166	Motel	Chestnut Ridge Country Inn Corduroy Inn
168	Sat 20 Oct	Green Bank Observatory Snowshoe	WV	167	Motel
169	Sun 21 Oct	Lansing Roanoke	WV	168	Motel	Chestnut Creek Campground Hampton Inn, Roanoke
170	Mon 22 Oct	Raleigh	NC	169	Motel	Residence Inn by Marriott Raleigh Downtown
171	Tue 23 Oct	Myrtle Beach	SC	170	Camping	Myrtle Beach KOA
172	Wed 24 Oct	Savannah	GA	171	Motel	Olde Harbour Inn - River Street Suites
173	Thu 25 Oct	Savannah	GA	172	Motel
174	Fri 26 Oct	St Augustine	FL	173	Motel	Hemingway House B&B
175	Sat 27 Oct	St Augustine	FL	174	Motel
176	Sun 28 Oct	South Beach	FL	175	Motel	Room Mate Lord Balfour
177	Mon 29 Oct	South Beach	FL	176	Motel
178	Tue 30 Oct	South Beach	FL	177	Motel
179	Wed 31 Oct	Flight home :(		178

Lee Special - Camping Tips

Lee here, and I've got another Hints & Tips article for you, this time on the subject of camping.

Tent Camping
I've touched on this previously, but it's worth saying again. When Americans talk about camping, don't assume a tent is involved. In the UK camping always implies sleeping under canvas, but in the US this could mean any kind of outdoors accommodation, including staying in a camper or RV. In the UK, we'd call this caravanning.

We soon found ourselves using the term "tent camping" to make it clear to people what we were doing.

Booking
While it may not suit those taking a more laissez faire attitude to their trip, we'd recommend booking your pitch well in advance. A lot of the National Parks open up their booking windows 6 months in advance, but timings do vary, so make sure you check. For some popular campsites - for example, Yosemite - there is so much competition for campsites that they will typically sell out seconds after going on sale. Yep, hundreds of sites gone in a matter of seconds, literally. 

I think a lot of these sites still have a problem with bots - automated software that books up sites as soon as they go on sale, many for subsequent resale at massively-inflated prices. I don't understand why the Parks Service doesn't put some simple protection like a Captcha in place to stop this.

However quick you think the campsite is going to sell out, I'd recommend doing a bit of research as to which area of the campsite you'd prefer to stay in. I used a combination of the campsite maps, satellite imagery and online reviews to choose a pitch that we'd like. There are lots of things to consider, some more important than others for you. My criteria were as follows:

• somewhere close to the toilets but not right next to them; I don't want to walk miles for my 2:00am wee, but I also didn't want to be kept up all night by flushing toilets and hand dryers
• likewise for water spigots (stand-pipes), close but not too close; these can often get waterlogged and people tend to do their dishes in them, which is often prohibited as it can attract wildlife
• whilst we were in the South and South-West in the height of summer, a pitch with shade gave you a lot of relief from the heat; tree cover also gave you a little protection from high winds and heavy rain
• that pitch right by the water may look lovely, but be aware that you might get inundated with mosquitoes or sand flies
• if there is segregation of tents and RVs, you might want to position yourself away from the RV section, otherwise you could be disturbed by the constant chug of generators (yes, even outside of designated "quiet hours")

For booking Yosemite, I actually took a day off work and had multiple browser windows up ready to book one of our preferred pitches. Five seconds after they were released, I only managed to get my 4th choice! This was all wasted effort in the end, as our plans for Yosemite were ultimately thwarted by nature.

Some campsites don't take reservations, which means you have to plan slightly different for these:

• plan to arrive early
• have contingency plans

Facilities
The US is far more set up for camping than we are in the UK. Not without the odd exception, your tent pitch typically contains at least a fire pit complete with removable grill for cooking, and a large picnic bench. You will have seen this setup in lots of our videos, and makes the whole preparing, cooking, eating and packing away process a doddle.

Having said that, it was obvious that RVing is much more popular than tent camping in the US. Campsites typically had a lot more large and hard-standing pitches for RVs than for tents, and the latter tended to be a little on the small side. 

An essential purchase we made fairly early on - after seeing many of our neighbours' setup - was a cheap plastic tablecloth from Walmart. Throw this over your picnic bench and you've protected your food and utensils from the bird poo and forest effluent underneath. A quick spray and wipe at the end of the meal and you leave the table all clean (or at least as clean as it was) for the next visitor. 

In terms of other facilities, there was a large degree of variation. With only one exception, there were always toilets - although these could range from smart, warm, clean toilet blocks with flush toilets, soft loo roll, hot water and soap, to unlit, smelly, fly-ridden vault (hole-in-the-ground) toilets. But when you gotta go, you go!

Drinking water was always available too, via spigots dotted around the campsite.

A few campsites had showers which you typically needed a handful of quarters for. These were few and far between, though, so if you're a two-showers-a-day OCD kinda person, maybe camping isn't for you. 

Wood
If you're planning on building a fire - and if you aren't, you should stop and take a good, long, hard look at yourself and ask yourself where your life is heading - then make sure you know the rules. Some campsites allow you to collect and burn downed wood, but most don't. Even then, unless you're in very dry conditions, downed wood will be either green or damp and won't be great for a fire. 

Often you will be forced to buy wood from either the camp store or somewhere in the vicinity. Despite this looking like a money-making scheme, it is often down to state jurisdiction that doesn't allow transfer of wood across state lines to prevent the distribution of invasive species such as wood beetles. So, even if you do head to the grocery store to get some cheaper bundles of wood, make sure you burn it in-state.

Finally, don't expect the existence of a fire pit means you can have a fire. On a couple of occasions, I was excited to leave the city and head to a campsite where I could do my man-make-fire act, only to find that there was a fire ban in effect due to the risk of wildfires. Sad times indeed, but I wasn't going to breach the rules and be the next idiot responsible for the next catastrophe. 

Camp Hosts
Many campsites didn't have a camp store to buy wood or an office to check in at. Even if they did, campsites often had a Camp Host. These were typically seasonaires living in an RV on site for an extended period of time. They had a variety of roles, including checking guests in and out, selling firewood, doing patrols of the campsite, restocking toilets and so on.

I'd recommend always searching for your host (their pitch number is often advertised at the entrance) and going to say hello. They are invariably friendly, full of useful information, and appreciative of you visiting their campsite of which they are very proud.

Note that although they often sell firewood, don't expect them to provide the facilities of a camp store. Do your research in advance and plan for getting supplies en route if need be. 

Neighbourly Interaction? Not so much!
This is a strange one... One of the things we were most looking forward to was meeting and socialising with our camping neighbours. You know, taking our camp chairs and tinnies over to the pitch next door and chewing the fat around the fire late into the evening.

We had loved chatting to people at bars in the towns and cities, but it seems that outdoorsy types in the US keep to themselves. There were a few notable exceptions which we are grateful for, but people tended to just go about their business on their own pitch and not really interact. This was especially true with RVers, who often locked themselves up in their motor homes watching satellite TV. This whole situation was totally perplexing to us, and made us feel a little sad.

Washing Up
I mentioned people washing dishes in the water spigot earlier. Although you shouldn't resort to this, you shouldn't expect hot running water, or facilities for washing up. Right from the outset, we found ourselves boiling water on the propane hob and washing up in a small plastic washing up bowl we had bought on Day 1.

For campsites with toilet blocks, there is often a dump station for waste water. Failing this, we flushed washing up water down the toilet. Don't be tempted to just dump it - not only is it ecologically irresponsible, you may inadvertently attract wildlife to your campsite. You definitely don't want the likes of Phil and Grant ransacking your campsite - and even less so a bear.

All trash should be disposed of properly. If you're in bear country, there will be bear-proof dumpsters to use.

Bear Lockers
Whilst on the subject of bears, you'll have seen in quite a few of our pictures and videos, bear lockers. These should be used to store anything that has an odour - not only your food, but also toiletries. Bears will be attracted to any unusual smell and leaving your toothpaste in the tent could end up in disaster. I won't go into the details of what we were told about ladies on their monthlies...

Even locking stuff in your car was not permitted in some places. Apparently the bears know how to get into cars, and would even be attracted by the look of things even if they didn't have a smell. That innocuous cylindrical object on your back seat shouts "PRINGLES!" to a bear.

We only had one (alleged) bear/campsite interaction but weren't prepared to take the risk and so, if there was a bear locker, we used it. 

Sleeping
Tent camping doesn't mean you have to have an uncomfortable night's sleep. What you sleep on generally depends on two things:

• the ground
• the temperature

We bought good-quality but reasonably-priced folding campbeds (which they call "cots") at the start of the trip, and made extensive use of these on hard or stony ground. They were very comfortable and, Sam's snoring aside, I always got a good night's sleep on them.

On soft ground or sand, we tended to sleep directly on the floor of the tent, on top of a thin blanket and in (or on)  our sleeping bags. Creepy crawlies stayed out of the tent - as far as we know - so sleeping on the floor also resulted in a good night's sleep.

The final scenario was when the temperature dropped. Anything below 5C (59F) and we started to feel really cold at night. In these situations, irrespective of how comfortable the ground was, we dispensed with the camping cots and opted for the floor. The reason being is that we could zip our sleeping bags together (at some times, double-layering them) and snuggle up close to each other in an attempt to pool body heat. It was romantic, sure, but let's make no bones about it, self-preservation was the main objective!

Since returning to the UK, we have invested in some roll-up foam beds. These compress to small rolls but when opened up, the foam sucks in air and results in a mattress a couple of centimetres thick. We have tried them once so far and they were very comfortable, so will definitely be an option for our next epic road trip.