Wanderlust: The wild and crazy adventures of Vic and Perk
The Year in Review
Trip 2002 Stats| Total Miles Driven | 16,800 (26,880 km) |
| States and Provinces Visited | 32 States, 3 Provinces |
| Days Spent Traveling | 132 |
| Days Spent in Aspen | 126 |
| National Parks Visited | 19 |
| Nights in Tent | 33 |
| Nights in Camper | 39 |
| Nights spent with Family and Friends
(not including Vicky's parents) |
48 |
| Number of Time Zones Traversed | 5 |
| Seasons Experienced | 5: Winter, Summer(NZ), Spring, Summer(US), Fall |
Vic and Perk's Best and Worst List for the Trip 2002
| Category | Winner | Comment |
| Best National Park | tie: Grand Canyon in Arizona and Olympic in Washington | Too close to call |
| Best State Park | Lake Havasu State Park, AZ | Spent 10 nights camping there |
| Best Shower | Flagstaff, AZ | In our hotel after emerging from 7 days in the Grand Canyon |
| Cheapest Shower | -$3.50: Mt. Rainier National Park, Washington | The shower ate my money so the ranger gave me a whole handful of quarters |
| Best Campsite | #39, Lake Havasu State Park | Right on the beach |
| Best Place for a Run | Hood River, Oregon | But the hills were a killer! |
| Best Place to Play Tennis | Cape Cod, Massachusetts | Beautiful courts, pristine weather |
| Best Driving Road | Rte 50 across Nevada | No enforced speed limit. We averaged 100 mph (160 kph) |
| Worst Driving Road | I-84 across Idaho | Like riding a horse |
| Longest Driving Day | 15 hours | From Lake Tahoe, CA to Aspen, CO on Feb 11th |
| Best Mode of Transportation
(other than car) |
Sailboat | Overnight sailing trip to St. Michaels via the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland |
| Longest Meal | 90 minutes | Soft shell crab feast in St. Michaels, MD |
| Most Luxurious Meal | Bar Harbor, Maine | Eating fresh lobster on buddy Ben's 30-foot wooden sailboat in Somes Sound |
| Coldest Swim | 39 F (4 C) | Moraine Lake at Lake Louise, Alberta |
| Worst Parking Situation | Boston, Massachusetts | Gave up in despair and left the city |
| Worst Traffic Jam | Chicago, Illinois | Spent 60 minutes sitting in traffic |
| Most Helpful Strangers | Queens, New York! | No that isn't a typo, we were asked time and time again whether we needed help finding our way |
| Rainiest Place | Olympic National Park | Sat in the camper and drank wine all day (going to the loo from the camper was a sight to see) |
| Best Hideaway | Parry Sound, Ontario | A few days in a lake cottage in autumn with good friend Anneke |
| Most Luxurious Accomodation | Cape Cod | Our timeshare gift from Anne and Martin Perkinson |
| Scariest Night's Sleep | Jensen, Utah | Dodgy individual sitting in his car in the rest area at 1am kept driving around in circles - we think he was awaiting a drug pickup |
| Most Miserable Night's Sleep | Canyonlands National Park, Utah | The night our tent blew to pieces in the fierce windstorm in April |
| Most Anxious Moment | Canadian Customs in Victoria | 6 customs officers searched our camper from top to bottom and somehow missed our 12-bottle stash of hard liquor |
| Sketchiest Drivers | New York City | Vic had to take over at this point because Perk was too busy biting his fingernails |
| Most Crowded Place | Banff National Park, Alberta | Endless stream of tour busses |
| Highest Altitude Meal | 14,433 ft (4811 m) | Lunch atop Mt. Elbert, CO - also our highest altitude reached |