First Quarter Report

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