Third Quarter Report

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.