Category: Quarterly Reports

Thank you for your ongoing support and interest in this project, and for providing us this opportunity to share a report of the Jet Set Betties’ activities in their third quarter of traveling. This was another dynamic and successful quarter, with special focus on Kayla’s family and the wonders of the midwest. Let’s take a look at the numbers:

Miles Traveled this Quarter: 5,304

Total Trip Mileage (since Jan 15): 18,836

Gas Expense: $1,486

Nearly 19,000 miles! We’re happy to report that Twyla von Wienerschnitzel (our trusty VW Touareg) is doing VERY well. We had her in for a checkup recently, and she needs some new shoes, but otherwise is in great shape! The Bettie Mobile also performed remarkably well. We have a maintenance list to take care of before we head off on our next adventures, but it’s all within reason.

Route Traveled:

As you can see from the map above, we ended our west coast adventures in early August, and quickly made tracks to the midwest. Choosing to push on without making many stops was a difficult decision: there are so many beautiful and intriguing things to explore in Idaho, Wyoming, and Nebraska/South Dakota. But, ultimately, we opted to avoid heavy tourist areas during high summer heat/humidity, and move more quickly to have extra time with Kayla’s dad in Iowa. And, of course, there was an abundance of intriguing diversions in Iowa as well! Plus, did I mention how VERY HOT and STUPID HUMID August can be? We were happy to stay in homes with A/C and not be camping. No regrets!

A Pause in our Road Journey

This quarter also brings us to a change in our focus. For exactly 8.5 months, Matthew and Kayla have been “on the road”. We’ve always had our car and our camper with us throughout. Upon our arrival in Glenn, MI on October 1, however, we are shifting perspective. Our camper, the BettieMobile, will rest here in Glenn until the spring, when we will once again take to the road. Don’t think that this pause in road travel means a pause in our adventures! We have a few exiting things coming up over the winter months!

As you know from previous quarterly reports, we like to showcase the types of accommodations we enjoyed. The graph below illustrates our shift in focus to more family time this quarter, and a slight reduction in housesitting.

Note: In order to keep the data from being overly skewed, we have chosen to only represent overnight type up to the point of arriving in Glenn. MI on October 1.

Overnight Type:

Q3 Overview:

The third quarter started in the midst of our month-long housesitting gig in Portland, OR, where we were enjoying urban bicycling, intensive focus on music-making, and visiting as many McMenamin’s as we could afford.

In early August, we spent 5 days on Hwy 20, moving from Portland across Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, and Nebraska, and landing in Northwest Iowa. This section of 20 included two notable scenic byways:
+ the “Peaks to Craters” scenic byway, from Idaho’s tallest peaks to Craters of the Moon National Monument (amazing and unexpected lava flows!)
+ “Bridges to Buttes” scenic byway, from the buttes & high plains of the Wyoming/Nebraska border to the high bridges of Valentine, NE.

[Full disclosure: I actually learned something JUST NOW, in retrospect, while writing this report! I had assumed the “bridges” part of that byway would be the bridges spanning the Missouri River between Nebraska and Iowa. But no! Apparently there are a number of historic high bridges in Valentine, NE, and despite the fact that we serendipitously ended up camping in Valentine, we didn’t know about these bridges. We found the town of Valentine to be very charming, and our camping experience was weird and delightful. The bridges are all the more reason to return someday!]

The next five weeks were spent with family and friends in Iowa and Minnesota, including two state fairs, a small-town farming festival, providing support to family house projects, and a grand adventure into the Boundary Waters of northern Minnesota.

The final four weeks of this quarter were largely dedicated to Michigan starting with 10 days in the UP and the last couple of weeks in “the Mitten”. Beautiful fall foliage, exceptional state parks, and perfect camping weather – an excellent way to wrap up our road-trip adventures for this year.

People

We shared delightful moments with nearly 30 friends and family this quarter! Not all were photographed, but here are many:

Favorite Eats/Drinks

• Muddy Rudder in SW Portland – incredible strombolis and pizza, plus a great bar and fun atmosphere
• Hunny Milk in downtown Portland – amazing brunch!
• Blueberry shrub gin & tonic at McMenamin’s Edgefield
• Prime rib at Zimmy’s in Storm Lake, IA
• Moto-i, Nightingale, and the CC Club in Minneapolis
• Grilled Cheese Emporium in Ely MN
• Filling Station brewery + pizza in Traverse City MI

Diversions

Favorite pastimes during Q3:

• Putting together a 2-hour concert and performing at Porch Fest
• Getting stamps in our McMenamin’s passports
• Boise Hawks baseball game
• Biking around (Portland, Storm Lake, Ankeny, St Paul, Scandanavia WI, Upper Peninsula)
• Albert City Thresherman’s and Collector’s Show
• Iowa and Minnesota State Fairs
• Rail Explorers tour
• Getting to be a Minneapolis tour guide for 12 hours
• Boundary Waters canoe trip
• Camping on Uncle Milo’s farm and driving the old Oliver tractor
• Traverse City campground during their Halloween weekend (in late Sept, go figure)

Preview of Q4 + 2024

The road mileage will be MUCH less in Q4. As of Oct 1, we’re settled into Iris’ sweet little lake house in Glenn, MI, where we’re hanging out until mid-Dec. Matthew has stepped back into his line cook job at the Guardian Brewery in Saugatuck, and we’re enjoying time with Iris and exploring more small town life in Western Michigan.

In mid-December, we’re gonna rack up some air miles and head back to Sitka for the holidays! We managed to land a housesitting job there (thanks, Grace & Charlie!) so we’re looking forward to fun times with friends and long walks with Chloe the Wonder Lab.

Just as Q4 comes to a close in January, we’ll head over to Juneau, where Matthew will dive into a new adventure as legislative staffer to Rep. Andrew Gray! We’ll be in Juneau for the duration of the state legislative session (likely until mid-May) – we’re excited for this deeper insight to state politics and anticipating many fun times with our circle of dear friends in Juneau.

We’re just beginning to map out what next spring/summer/fall might look like, but we just committed to return to northern CA in August for three weeks (we get to take care of Oliver the porch pig and all his friends again!), so we’re definitely looking at more Pacific coast time and additional McMenamin’s stamps. But we’re also scheming about a loop through the southEAST in late spring.

You’re Awesome

Thank you – AS ALWAYS – for your interest and support in our shenanigans. We feel truly blessed to have this opportunity to explore the country, visit family and friends, and live life a little differently for awhile. And it’s so fun to share these stories with you – thanks for following along! We look forward to the next time we see Y-O-U and can catch up on your shenanigans as well.

Miles Traveled this Quarter: 7,032

Gas Expense: $1,571.22

Route Traveled:

Overnight Type

Key Findings

The Betties put a lot of miles in the rearview mirror this quarter. We have also seen a whole lot of desert and dust. Traveling through the high desert canyon lands has imprinted indelible memories of big and ever-changing views. Our desert time lasted from May 6 to June 12. Due to the wet spring, there were lots of flowers in bloom! Many days we looked out across vast stretches of bright colors against scraggly rock and blue sky.

You didn’t ask for it, but here is the entire Desert Flower series. You can skip ahead if you want, this will not be on the test:

The Betties also leaned in to our country’s national parks and monuments, visiting nine in this quarter: Oregon Dunes Nat’l Rec Area; Joshua Tree Nat’l Park, Navajo National Monument, Canyonlands NP, Arches NP, Colorado Monument, Grand Staircase-Escalante, Bryce Canyon, and Capitol Reef.

From the graph above, you’ll see that housesitting was still an important facet of our travels, keeping consistent with QTR 1. This time, however, the sitting was only done in two places: Monte Rio CA (31 animals!) and Milwaukie OR. The Milwaukie sit will be the Betties longest: 5 weeks in Portland. Since the quarter ended while we were still on our house-sit, we will provide full details of this adventure on a separate report. We are pleased to report overall favorable feedback on our housesitting efforts, including five-star reviews on our online profiles, and an early request to return to Monte Rio for three weeks next August! (We need to meet with the Board of Directors before committing to activities in the next fiscal year, but it’s nice to be asked!)

The Betties kept this show on the road with support through Kayla’s part-time job. Remote work presents opportunities for unique working locations. Kayla took meetings and conducted interviews inside the car (but NOT while it was in motion), including for three hours one morning sitting in the cell phone waiting area of an airport (good cell signal there!); sitting on a stone wall outside of a public library; from inside the Bettie Mobile; and some terrific outdoor locations (see below).

Other Highlights

Spending time with some fantastic people!

Scenic drives: OR/CA coastline; Hwy 211 to enter east side of Canyonlands; Hwy 128 east from Moab along the CO River; Hwy 133 from Carbondale CO to Redstone CO; the drive from Grand Junction CO to Kenyon’s ranch; UT Hwy 170 from Torrey to Escalante (over Boulder Mtn at 9,100 ft); Capitol Gorge in Capitol Reef; Territorial Hwy between Sutherlin OR and Corvallis.

Long drives through vast stretches of nothing (a different kind of scenic!): Joshua Tree CA to Prescott AZ; Flagstaff AZ to Cortez CO; Across NV (Hwy 50, The Loneliest Road) 

Best campgrounds: Sue-Meg State Park near Acadia CA; Joshua Tree Lake RV Park; Navajo National Monument (free, first-come-first-serve campground); Highline State Park near Fruita CO; Sand Creek RV Park in Torrey UT; Land County Park on Fern Ridge Lake near Eugene OR.

Most unusual campsites: parking lot campground in Winchester Bay (near Oregon Dunes); Staying in Kenyon’s yurt 

Great hikes: Slickrock Trail in Canyonlands; Escalante River Trail to the Natural Bridge plus Devil’s Garden in Grand Staircase; Navajo Loop and Queen’s Garden in Bryce Canyon; Cassidy Arch Trail in Capitol Reef

Favorite Diversions

Exploring whatever area we’re in, but top favorites were Monte Rio CA (west of Santa Rosa, near the Russian River, 12 miles from the Pacific coast), west-central CO (Palisade, Fruita, Grand Junction, and Kenyon’s 110,000-acre ranch), Escalante UT, Corvallis OR, and Portland. 

Learning about CO artist Frank Mechau and the history of Redstone.  

Fort Desolation Festival! The music of Pixie & the Partygrass Boys, Parker Milsap, Madison Cunningham, Shakey Graves, and Jamestown Revival. Plus THAT CORNDOG.

Hopping on the McMenamin’s Passport train and the quest for stamps. There are 118 total stamps (spread across 59 locations) – we’ve gotten 55 stamps so far this quarter!

Biking around Corvallis and Portland.

Celebrating a great day with a delicious beverage in a beautiful place.

Closing Thoughts

We hope you’ve enjoyed this highlight reel of the last three months. Our projections for the next quarter place a heavier emphasis on Midwest adventures, where we anticipate an increase in time with friends/family and a decrease in housesitting. We are truly grateful for your interest and support, and we look forward to providing continued (and more timely!) updates as our journey continues.

Sincerely yours, with love from: The Jet Set Betties!

Thank you for this opportunity to provide a report of the Jet Set Betties’ activities in their first quarter of traveling. This is widely considered to be a successful quarter, with an abundance of friends and family met, beautiful and important places visited, and wonderful cocktails and meals consumed. Let’s take a look at the numbers:

Miles Traveled: 6,500

Gas Expense: $1,485

While 6500 miles will take its toll on any vehicle (especially when towing a Bettie Mobile!), Twyla Von Wienerschnitzel, our 2016 VW Touareg, is holding up well. We’ve seen some cosmetic damage to the front from rocks and other road debris. We also significantly damaged some sort of plastic fairing on the front underside, likely after hitting a giant snow ball in the road in Somerset, CA. This was quickly repaired with Gorilla Tape and has caused no further issues. Twyla will be getting a full checkup in the upcoming week before the Betties set out for their next big adventures.

Route Traveled

Please refer to Map 1, below, for a detail of the roads taken. This map extends beyond the first quarter (spoilers!) which would have ended two weeks ago while the Betties were in Seattle. The visual below is compromised for easy web loading. If you would like the full-scale map please click here.

From the map we can see that the Betties traveled significant miles in few days during the initial phase of their trip in January. This is certainly not the Betties’ preferred pace, but due to delays in the construction of The Bettie Mobile (their teardrop trailer), the Betties needed to travel more quickly than planned to honor their late-January scheduled appearances in southern Arizona and California.

The route becomes more revealing when we look at weather data and overnight choices, in Graph 1, below:

Note that four of the camping overnights occurred in weather where the low temperature was below freezing (as low as 17 degrees Fahrenheit). The Betties were quite comfortable in the cabin of their camper during these low temperatures, however other basic camping functions such as cooking, eating, hanging out, and toileting were hindered by the extreme cold.

Please refer to Chart 2 for a detailed account of where the Betties spent their nights (in a total of 18 different beds):

The Betties were somewhat disappointed in the relatively low number of camping nights, given the anticipation of completing the Bettie Mobile. However, when we take into account the inclement weather during a large portion of the 1st quarter, we feel that this is excusable. And the unexpected addition of housesitting gigs has added new friends and countless curiosities to their stories! The Betties anticipate far more camping nights in the second quarter, as we head into the spring and summer seasons. Of note is the amount of time we have spent with friends & family, which met or exceeded our goals for this quarter – we’ve seen and hugged 30 of you so far!

Final Highlights

Below is a chart of some other highlights of the first quarter. These are not chosen for any particular merit or in any particular order, but serve to highlight the unexpected pleasures and discoveries of travel.

We thank you for your encouragement and support through this first quarter of our journey, and look forward to providing more facts and insights as our travel continues. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to use the form below or contact us directly. We look forward to hearing from you, and perhaps seeing you in the next quarter!

Sincerely (and with love from) ~ The Jet Set Betties!

Favorite recreation:

• Hiking Chiricahua Mountains
• Hanging out on Tourmaline Beach
• The Slot in Anza Borrego
• Biking around Mission Bay
• Balboa Park
• The Diaries of Leonardo DaVinci (play seen at The Old Globe in San Diego)
• Point Loma
• Hiking in Coloma CA (Marshall Gold State Park)
• Rumsey Canyon
• Throwing sticks for Chloe, and Lizzie + Molly
• Bowling with Natalie and her family
• Music nights with Bill & Poppy (+ friends)
• Columbia River gorge, especially Vista House
• Deception Pass – Whidbey Island
• Ebey’s Landing – Whidbey Island
• Jon’s senior recital & seeing Pericles at Cornish – Seattle
• Centennial Park + Elliot Bay trail – Seattle
• Big long walks all over downtown and Seattle Center
• Seward Park – Seattle

Treacherous driving days:

• Tucson to San Diego (Jan 29) – heavy rain/snowfall in San Diego Mountains
• Redlands to Lodi (Feb 23) – severe weather warnings in the Sierra Nevadas, so we went west before going north
• Day One in Somerset, CA (Feb 24) – winding hilly road in the snow!
• Somerset to Placerville (Feb 27) – not a long drive but we had to stall for hours in heavy snowfall until our Airbnb was ready and then drive up some steep hills
• Placerville to Ashland (March 5) – winter storm warning in I5 mountain passes, with warnings that we’d be turned back if we didn’t have chains (notably: 1-3 FEET of snow possible at Mt Shasta!) – once again, we went west before going north, all the way to Highway 101, but then found out the storm had passed and I5 was clear, so we backtracked and hightailed it north
• Ashland to Bend (March 6) – unforecasted blizzard on a secondary mountain road!
• Bend OR, pretty much every day – so much snow! Grateful for the use of our host’s Subaru with snow tires to get up and down their hills

Favorite Eats

• City Taco – Pacific Beach, San Diego
• Ambrogio 15 – Pacific Beach, San Diego
• Ceviche and Beer – Mission Beach, San Diego
• Aroi Mak Mak – Redlands CA
• Pete’s Breakfast House – Ventura CA
• Osteria La Briccola – Ashland OR
• Muddy Rudder – Portland
• Dim sum at Jade Garden – Seattle
• Jackalope – Columbia City (Seattle)
• Ribs smoked by Matthew on the Traeger grill in Placerville CA
• Betty – Seattle

Best Drinks

• The Tavern – Coronado Island, San Diego
• El Prez – Pacific Beach, San Diego
• Aroi Mak Mak – Redlands CA
• Monkey Puzzle whiskey – McMenamin’s (Bend + everywhere)
• Sapphire Hotel – Portland
• Virginia Inn – Seattle
• The Sitting Room – Seattle