It was three years ago today, that we officially hit the road and spent our first night in the 5th wheel. It’s been three years of adventures, both expected and unexpected, but I think we feel as excited for day one of year four as we did for day one of year one. We have a lot more earned experience now, but it feels like we’re just getting started and there is still so much out there to explore.
As for 2025, we finally made it back to Oregon and took another swing through Montana keeping an eye out for that perfect mountain property.
Above is our 2025 route and all the stops we made along the way. We left our property in Texas at the end of February and spent most of March and April in Tucson waiting for truck hail damage repairs that never happened. After Tucson we spent a week in Las Vegas on our way up to Lassen Volcanic National Park in northern California.
From there we spent most of June and July in Oregon, splitting time between Bend and Portland. We then spent a week in Spokane before making our way back to Missoula. We were in Montana for most of August before making our way back south and into Colorado. We spent all of September at our usual spot just outside of Denver and then made our way down through New Mexico and into Texas. After spending a week in late October at the RV park in Terlingua, we moved the 5th wheel back over to the property to settle in for the winter.
We traveled a total of 4,695 miles and spent time in 10 states during 2025 (although only one was new to us – Washington). Combined with our travels in 2023 and 2024, that brings us up to 14,369 miles traveled and 12 states visited. Below are yearly maps of our travels.
Repairs & Maintenance
In 2025 we only had one set of expenses for the truck – a regular oil change, the 90k mile maintenance, and six new tires. All of that was taken care of at one stop at a Ram dealership in Wyoming near the end of the summer. The oil change and 90k service were expected but needing a full set of new tires was a little surprising. We had new tires put on the truck before we hit the road, so they were just barely two years old. But those rocky roads near our property are like driving over razorblades and do a number on the tires. It may have been an unexpected need, but the difference was noticeable immediately. The truck drove much more smoothly with the new tires, and we were glad we replaced them. The cost for everything was $4,136.
As for the 5th wheel, we had three major repairs in 2025, although none of them were super expensive. In Oregon we had the slide issue that broke a few teeth off the gear mechanism ($588). In Wyoming we had to call out a mobile tech to get a leaking tire replaced, which cost a bunch since it was after hours and on a weekend ($649). And we had the wheel housing issue on our way down to Terlingua that required another mobile tech to come save us ($652). All told, we only spent $1,889 on 5th wheel repairs in 2025, bringing the total for both the truck and 5th wheel to $6,024. This was the least amount we have spent on repairs and maintenance in a year, by far.
Gas (Diesel)
During 2025 we spent a total of $3,556.19 on diesel for the truck, about $500 less than we did in 2024. We used 953.8 gallons of fuel with an average price of $3.79 per gallon (pretty close to the $3.82 per gallon in 2024). The most we spent on gas, per gallon, was $5.38 in California during May, while the cheapest price we paid was $2.89 in New Mexico during October.
Propane
It was pretty cold in January and February out on the property and we spent a bit more on propane in 2025 to keep us warm. We filled up our tanks eight times with seven of those happening while on our property. Still, even with the increased use in 2025, we only spent a total of $249 on propane.
Lodging
During 2024 we spent a total of $14,437.71 on campground and RV park fees. We had 236 nights in campgrounds and RV parks and 129 nights boondocking (including time spent on our property).
Year by Year Comparison
Our spending in the categories above was a bit lower in 2025, mostly due to fewer repair and maintenance costs. If you divide the total spending by the number of days spent on the road each year, you get $87 in 2023, $82 in 2024, and $67 in 2025.
Below is a more detailed breakdown of our lodging costs over all three years.
In 2025 the split between the number of nights spent at KOAs versus other campgrounds flipped compared to where we stayed in 2024. It’s not that we like KOAs more than other campgrounds, but they are familiar and we know what to expect at each one. With other campgrounds it’s always hit or miss – it could be an amazing hidden gem or a dump. But I think we’re both hoping to balance things out more in 2026 and mix in a few more non-KOA stops.
One other thing to note, we have now spent more nights boondocking or on the property (309 – roughly a third of our nights) than we have at any other type of lodging over the full course of our travels.
Overall, 2025 felt a little too similar to 2024 (minus one hail tornado, which was appreciated). It was great to swing through the west coast and reconnect with friends and family, but we didn’t really explore that many new places or visit a bunch of new national parks. That’s something we were determined to change this year and 2026 already feels much more like 2023 than either of the last two years.