The 50 Best Things We Did: Year Two

Last updated: June 12th, 2024 | Originally published: July 4, 2023

This is our second annual report since we moved into our motorhome full-time. If you didn’t know, in July 2021 we accepted a nursing position with the VA Travel Nurse Corps, and for the past two years we’ve been serving in different communities while moving around the United States.

Year One was a rough transition from stationary life, but there were incredible highlights. You can read about it here if you like. Looking back even a year later we cannot believe we did so much in such a short time!

Year two was rough in a completely different way. I mean, just look at Monica in the photo below. She’s got it soooo rough.

Just kidding. As you can imagine, living in a motorhome with three kids and two dogs would be a terrible turn of events for most folks.

However, when the motorhome breaks down on your way to Utah for a work assignment, and you’re living in a Hilton Hotel as a result — with the same kids and same dogs — life turns much, much darker.

In two different SLC Hotels we dwelt for a total of six months (with a month-long road trip between, after the RV received its new engine). Monica brokedown a bit living in the hotel, but she kept her act together. Who knew the suite life was so hard? Her well chronicled play-by-play can be found here, and here, and here.

In February we re-established residence in San Antonio to get Parker’s adult life underway. Everyone stayed behind to help initiate the processes, while I returned to SLC to work another assignment. Every two weeks I flew back to San Antonio to assist with house furnishings and a significant plumbing repair.

So, Why Do We Do This Again?

Apollo joined me in Salt Lake City for two weeks in early April and we took an unforgettable road trip to southern Utah and West Colorado. We visited a few National Parks and Monuments. It was perfect.

When the SLC assignment ended in late April we gathered up all of our things and headed back out on the road in the motorhome. This time we left Parker and one dog — the barker — in San Antonio.

For 5 weeks we visited New Orleans, the Alabama Coast, the Florida Panhandle, and Memphis. At the end of the road trip we settled into another work assignment, this time in Topeka, Kansas, starting June 4th.

Life is much easier with one less man-child and one fewer dog. We’ve settled into a very desirable groove and we hope it continues for a long, long time. The kids are engaged in more activities than usual, church is pleasant, work is chill, and we’re frequently getting out to eat BBQ and see the sights. Kansas City and Topeka are pretty great cities.

Life is good for the Hoffmann’s — Please don’t cry for our self-induced predicament. God provided this awesome experience for us and we can’t believe this is our lives. Not everything has been easy — haha, none of it has — but it wouldn’t be meaningful if it were.

The following are the 50 best things we did in year two.

1. Zion National Park, Utah

Zion National Park was the most breathtaking place we visited all year. The hiking was spectacular. Even the kids loved it! We need to return to scale the precipice (photo above), because we didn’t have a permit.

2. Miramar Beach, Florida

Perhaps our favorite place on earth. The sand and water are unrivaled.

3. Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, New Mexico

Balloon Fest is the largest balloon festival in the world. It started with 13 balloons in 1972 and has grown to over 600 balloons in 2022. The weather was awful, but we got one great day at the fiesta.

4. Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah

There’s nothing on earth like Bryce Canyon. It is the largest consolidation of hoodoos in the world, and one of our nation’s most sublime settings. Read more about Bryce Canyon here.

5. Arches National Park, Utah

Apollo and I arrived before sunrise, and we hiked most of the highlights: Windows/Turret Arch, Delicate Arch, Devil’s Garden. Afterward we ate sub sandwiches and crashed hard in Monticello.

6. Orange Beach / Perdido Key, Alabama

Orange Beach is one of the South’s premier beach destinations. It has white sand, blue water, a clean town, reasonable crowds, historical significance, and a family friendly vibe. Read more about Orange Beach here.

7. Big Bend National Park, Texas

Big Bend is the strangest and most surprising National Park we’ve visited. It is a circus of the countryside, where the rules of geology are clearly broken. Read more about Big Bend National Park.

8. Temple Square, Salt Lake City

The Salt Lake Temple is the crown jewel SLC. This is a wonderful place to take photographs, admire architecture, and learn about the Church of Jesus Christ from a missionary.

I had the sweetest encounter with a distressed sister missionary — I will never forget our conversation.

9. Graceland, Memphis

Elvis was 22 when he purchased his famous home. After we spent a day learning about The King we realize that Elvis Presley was quite possibly the coolest cat to ever walk on two legs. This was the best thing we did in Memphis.

10. Canyonlands National Park, Utah

Apollo and I watched the sun rise at Mesa Arch with about 50 other people. Afterward we listened to some General Conference talks between incredible hikes all around the park.

11. Beale Street, Memphis

Beale Street is to Memphis as Bourbon Street is to New Orleans; as Duvall Street is to Key West; as Las Vegas Boulevard is to Hell. This is the historical hotspot of those hallowed blues musicians: BB King, Louis Armstrong, Muddy Waters, Rufus Thomas, and others.

12. Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico

There is nothing like it anywhere on the planet. Around every turn is something unimaginable: Emperor stalagmites; brilliant pools of age old water; frightening abysses and impossibly high ceilings. Carlsbad is the ultimate feast for the eyes. In Ryan’s opinion this is the most underrated and incredible place he’s ever been. Read more about it here.

13. French Quarter, New Orleans

In all honesty, we found the French Quarter has the amazing capacity to A). Pique our interest. B). Hit the gag reflex. C). Raise the hair on the back of our necks. It’s an uncommon combination. You can read about our two days in New Orleans here.

14. Rafted the Provo River, Utah

We’ve never floated a river like this — where the raft is under constant threat of rocks, trees, and sea creatures. Half of our group exited the river bruised and scraped, some to alarming degrees. Who knew danger and beauty were such great bedfellows? James Bond did, that’s who.

15. Ice Skating at the Gallivan Center, Utah

One of our family highlights from 2022 was a Christmas ice-skating fiasco in downtown Salt Lake. We took turns yanking each other into the ice and taking strangers off their feet. Good times. Read more about the awesome things we did in Salt Lake City here.

16. Skiing in the Salt Lake Valley

It had been 22 years since I last skied, so with fear I wrangled two other out-of-practice “skiers” from work and headed up to Brighton in SLC. Turns out skiing is exactly like riding a bike (just not for Brent). Utah snow is as good as advertised.

17. Mob Museum, Las Vegas

It was like peeking into the historical vault Martin Scorsese has kept to himself all these years. The evolution of gangs (and police work) in the USA is fascinating.

18. WWII Museum, New Orleans

Anything you want to know about WWII is here. All the events that led up to the war, the US reluctance to enter the war, how the US citizenry supported the war, the European front, the Pacific front, etc., all of it is artfully illustrated and recreated at this state-of-the-art museum.

19. Bellingrath Gardens, Alabama

Walter Duncan Bellingrath purchased a Coca-Cola bottling franchise in the early years of Coke distribution and became incredibly wealthy. He bought some land with fishing cabins, and his wife, Besse began to garden there. In 1934 Bellingrath Gardens were opened to the public with a $1 admission.

Check out the best things to do on the Alabama Coast.

20. Gulf State Park, Alabama

Gulf State Park is on the short list of best state parks in the USA. The park includes 6,000 acres of Alabama Gulf Coast and is home to nine unique ecosystems. There are three lakes for fishing, and miles of hiking and biking trails. And best of all, there are fabulous beaches.

The entire coast of Alabama and the Florida Panhandle is known as the Redneck Riviera. But which is better, Florida or Alabama? We did a comparison, The Redneck Riviera, if you’re interested.

21. Guadalupe Peak, Texas

At 8,751 feet, Guadalupe Peak is the highest point in the state of Texas. And it was a #$@! to get up there. Read more about Guadalupe Mountain National Park here.

22. Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico

One of the more surprising places we explored last October. The Jemez were an ancient native peoples who dwelt in the side of cliffs in northern New Mexico.

23. Mud Island, Memphis

Some genius (and a machine) carved an exact replica of the Mississippi River into brick and cement, at the scale of 30 inches to a mile. The replica spans 2,000 feet of riverfront space, where every sandbar, oxbow, and topographic contour is faithfully reproduced. Dozens of placards tell countless historical accounts of life on the river. Words cannot do this justice. We’ve never seen anything like it.

Check out other incredible things to do in Memphis here.

24. Antelope Island, Utah

Antelope Island is the largest island in the Great Salt Lake, and Frary Peak is the highest point on the island at 6,596 feet. The 360-degree panorama at the top is exceptional. We saw two coyotes, two bison, a large mule deer, and a big-horned sheep. Read more here.

25. Sun Studios, Memphis

Sam Phillips opened his Memphis Recording Service studio on January 3, 1950. Anyone — Anyone?! — could record a two-song record for the whopping fee of $4. Elvis Presley was discovered at Sun Studios, along with Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, and others.

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26. Colorado National Monument

A man named John Otto pushed the federal government to make this place a national park, but all he got was a National Monument… and a divorce. Apollo and I drove along Rim-Rock Drive a couple of times. Hiked a few short trails. Listened to some rim-rock n roll.

27. WWI Museum, KC

Like the WWII Museum in New Orleans, Kansas City’s WWI Museum is one-stop-shopping for immersive history of our world’s first war. As a kicker, the Museum has a spectacular presence on a hill above downtown KC.

28. National History Museum of Utah

This museum houses an enviable collection of dinosaur skeletons, including a brachiosaurus, Utah Raptor, Allosaurus, Stegosaurus, and variations of the Triceratops. Many of these fossils were dug from the Dinosaur Nat. Monument in Vernal, Utah. Lots of other cool things to see here as well.

29. Battlefield Las Vegas

Would you like to shoot a machine gun? Battlefield Las Vegas can help you accomplish this. Want to pretend you’re a sniper? Lay it down with an uzzi? Launch a grenade? Who doesn’t?

Parker shot machine guns like a natural. Bad guys should be very afraid.

30. Dinosaur National Monument, Utah/Colorado

Way out in NE Utah a multitude of brontosauruses and stegosauruses died in a river, floated downstream, and piled up at a bend in the river. It was quite the discovery. Bones were shipped to museums around the world, but a portion of the motherlode was left in the ground and a facility was built around it.

31. Garden District, New Orleans

This famous neighborhood is a great place to wander. It doesn’t really matter where you stroll, you’re going to see beautiful, historic homes and a cemetery. Magazine Street is a very cool street packed with galleries and eclectic stores. Read more here.

32. White Sands National Park, New Mexico

The gypsum dunes that rise from the Tularosa Basin are one of the great natural wonders of the world. The dunes encompass 275 square miles of desert, creating the world’s largest gypsum dunefield. Read more here.

33. This is the Place, Utah

Have you ever wondered how the Mormon Pioneers lived? Perhaps not, and that’s ok. This is the Place lets you walk through old-timey towns, dwellings and shops, and get hands on experience washing linens, riding horses, panning for gold, carding wool, and many others pioneer activities.

34. Hoover Dam, Nevada

We had done every last thing in Vegas except the Hoover Dam. The views from the bridge and atop the dam were epic. Water level was super low. RIP Pat Tillman.

35. Pensacola Naval Museum

This is the Graceland for military plane aficionados. Blue Angels practice here all summer long.

36. Park City Balloon Festival

Park City is a terrific place to walkabout in the summertime. . Our favorite visit was during the Autumn Aloft balloon Festival, but it sounds as if we caught the final ascent in 2022.

37. Fort Morgan, Alabama

Since 1834 Fort Morgan has stood as the guardian of Mobile Bay, seeing significant action in the Civil War. It also sits on a beach and has some majestic resident herons. We spent a few hours exploring the tunnels and manning the turrets. Read more here.

38. Nelson-Atkins Art Museum, KC

Considered the best art museum in Kansas City, the Nelson-Atkins has an large collection of modern and historical art pieces. The sculpture garden is home to the largest shuttlecocks in the world. Weird, huh?

39. Worlds of Fun / Oceans of Fun

Worlds of Fun is one of two large fun parks in Missouri. Our favorite rides were the Mamba, Prowler, and the Patriot.

40. Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah

The Bonneville Salt Flats are a 30K acre expanse of hard, white salt crust on the edge of the Great Salt Lake basin. I walked across the flats for about 3 miles to try to see what the objects in the photo were. It was too hot to continue any further. I still have no idea what they are. Could be this?

41. Timpanogas Cave, Utah

The hike to Timpanogos Cave is arduous and gains 1,100 feet of elevation in 1.5 miles. Views are spectacular in the upper portion of the trail. The cave is small but beautiful and the history is interesting.

42. Seville Hist. Dist. and Palafox Street, Pensacola

Pensacola has some cool historical homes in the Seville Historic District. Palafox Street in downtown Pensacola is only a few blocks away.

43. Flora-Bama, Alabama-Florida State Line

Flora-Bama is a quintessential music venue in The South, made even more famous by musicians like Kenny Chesney and Jimmy Buffett. They have multiple stages showcasing local musicians all throughout the day.

44. Downtown Salt Lake City

Downtown Salt Lake is clean, under-crowded, and safe enough for high school kids to use pay-to-ride scooters around town. Lots to see here — beautiful buildings and mountains on all sides.

45. Veteran’s Memorial Park, Pensacola

A small, but meaningful Veteran park a half-mile from Palafox St. We love these kind of places. The memorials were beautiful.

46. Pensacola Beach

If you had never experienced Destin or Miramar Beach you would think Pensacola Beach was the greatest beach around. Pretty blue water and white sand with a formidable crowd.

47. Pinball Museum, Las Vegas

The biggest video-game and pinball arcade in Las Vegas is a warehouse-type building near Mandalay Bay. Parker and I went nuts for a few hours during our father-son visit to Vegas. Now the question remains, Should you take your kids to Las Vegas? (link)

48. Loose Park, KC

We had the most wonderful day eating Joe’s BBQ and smelling the roses amongst some of the most beautiful houses we’ve seen. If we lived in KC, it would be right here.

49. Fort Barrancas, Florida

We sure visit a lot of military parks and museums. And I’m not even a veteran! But I’ll tell you what: If I’m going to man a cannon and die defending a fortress, I would want it to be right here beside a teal blue ocean and some palm trees. Maybe a little moco-loco for lunch. And a foot rub.

50. Cimmeron Canyon State Park, New Mexico

I bet no one has heard of this place. At the tippy top of New Mexico is a brilliant valley and heavenly lake. Also found there are people living in their cars. We listened to the Fall 2022 General Conference here.

Our Favorite Restaurants

So, if you weren’t aware, the Ketogenic diet is a bit of a killjoy when it comes to eating out (every delicious thing has carbs, dang-it). Also, we spent most of the past year in Salt Lake City, which is not exactly a foodie mecca.

This is a convoluted way of saying we didn’t eat out a lot in our second year on the road. Regardless, we ate at a few memorable places and we’ll mention them here.

Mumbai House, Salt Lake City

Food seldom tastes as good as at Mumbai House on Foothills Drive. The only problem is conversation gets dull when everyone gushes about the meal after every bite. We would be regulars if we lived in Salt Lake City.

Joe’s BBQ

Joe’s runs a line out the door every dang day. Phenomenal BBQ.

Q-39 BBQ

Is Q39 better than Joe’s? Probably. Arguably the best we’ve ever eaten.

The Gulf

Located on the sand at Perdido Pass, Alabama, The Gulf is artfully constructed from blue shipping containers. The vibe is fantastic with seating like a backyard beach-party.

An Honest Conclusion

A lot of wonderful things happened in our second year on the road. We got to spend time with our oldest son, Bryce, while living in SLC, as well as Monica’s brothers and their families. Reconnecting with old friends in San Antonio was a warm, welcomed feeling, and I made some really great new friends at the Salt Lake City VA.

Getting our motorhome back from the fields of Nebraska was a relief, up until the point the microwave/oven, refrigerator, and air conditioner went out ($4000 in repairs).

We also reserved a Princess Cruise to Martinique, St. Lucia, and a few other south Caribbean Islands with my parents. Next January we shove off from Fort Lauderdale. Pretty excited about that.

The best thing that happened in 2022/23 was Bryce met our dream girl, Lizzy, in Provo, Utah. She’s the most lovely person and absolutely perfect for Bryce. We wish them the greatest love story this lifetime will allow. Monica and I simply couldn’t be happier with the direction Bryce’s life has taken.

How blessed are we to live in this country?

The people are amazing all over — generous, thoughtful, and kind — especially in middle-America and the south. The geography and geology across the United States never ceases to amaze us (even in Kansas). And the history we’re learning from one region to the next helps our hearts pump red, white, and blue that much more.

What a treat it is to call the United States of America home. And to lap our nation’s roads and experience all her glory and goodness is an incredible gift to our family. We thank God for our lives and our blessings. May God continue to bless America!

Thank you for stopping by our website! We are the Hoffmann family, a full-time RV family that has split residence in Seattle, Washington and San Antonio, Texas. We have special needs children that we homeschool, and work travel assignments for the Veteran Affairs Hospital. If you would like to learn more about us, check out our Start Here and Biography pages. In the meantime, God bless and travel happy!