The year in numbers with 2017 values in parentheses:

• 6 (9) = Road trips reported
• 67 (73) = Blog posts
• 66 (66) = Days on the road
• 1941 (1896) = Pictures posted — 473 (284) in the blog and 1468 (1612) in Road Trips

I was on the road for the same number of days this year as last but packed them into three less trips. The three less trips account for half of the drop in blog posts with one less Sunday and two less reviews accounting for the rest. I posted a few less pictures from trip journals but more than made up for it with a significant increase in the number of pictures posted in the blog. There were no new-for-2018 blog posts in the top five but a new-for-2018 trip journal entry crabbed the top slot on the non-blog list.

Top Blog Posts:

1. My Wheels – Chapter 1 1960 J. C. Higgins Flightliner
   After a couple of years in second place, the My Wheels post on my first brand new bicycle recaptures first. Three firsts and three seconds account for the post’s six years of existence.
2. Hats Off to Larry
   This appeared more than a month before the Flightliner post but this is the first time it’s made the top five. The occasion for the post was a retirement party for musician Larry Goshorn. For the most part, Larry has stuck to his decision to retire from performing although he did release a CD of mostly previously recorded material titled I Wish I Could Fly in 2016. Health issues that prompted the decision to retire have continued. I have to note that the post on the passing of Larry’s brother Tim topped last year’s list. I have no guesses as to why this post got increased attention this year.
3. Book Review — How to Visit All 50 States in 12 Trips
   This post ranked third when it first appeared in 2014, but this is the first time it has made it back to the top five since then. The book’s author, Terri Weeks, has begun working as a travel agent which might have something to do with the increased interest.
4. Much Miscellany 2, Sloopy at 50
   Like this year’s number three post, this one made the top five when it first appeared and is just now returning to the list. That first time was in 2015 when the song Hang on Sloopy turned fifty years old.
5. Twenty Mile’s Last Stand
   This ranked number one in 2012, when it was first published and there was still hope of saving the historic Twenty Mile House, and in 2013, when it was demolished (Roadhouse Down). It was still on the list, at number four, in 2014. It dropped off in 2015 but a retrospective article (Twenty Mile Stand Two Years On) took the number four slot that year. I can’t explain its return but would like to think that at least one of those visits was from someone involved in the demolition feeling a little remorse.

Top Non-Blog Posts:

1. JHA 2018 Conference
   It seems like I’m seriously baffled each year by some of the non-blog posts that make the top five but not this year. Every one is the journal of a major trip and that’s what the non-blog part of this website is basically about. It’s true that the eight years of Oddment entries are part of this category although they actually have much more in common with the blog than the trip journal. That observation is supported by the fact that I ceased posting Oddments less than a year and a half after the blog first appeared. But statistics for Oddments and the trip journal are compiled together so I’ll continue to rank them together but it’s kind of nice to see, for only the second time, all five top non-blog slots filled with fairly major road trips. It also feels nice, although I can’t explain exactly why, that the top ranked post is the biggest trip of the year just ending. This twenty-four day trip was named for the conference I attended in the middle of a full length drive of the Jefferson Highway.
2. Alaska
   The journal for my longest — 41 days — trip ever maintains its top five perfection with this second place finish to go along with a fourth (2017) and third (2016).
3. My Fiftieth: Hawaii
   This fairly epic trip didn’t make the cut last year when it took place, but earned a respectable third this year.
4. Sixty-Six: E2E & F2F
   The third of my four full length Route 66 drives has appeared in the top five twice before. It topped the list when it was brand new in 2012 and grabbed the fifth spot in 2015. Its target was a Route 66 festival in Victorville, CA. The cryptic bits of the title stand for End-to-End & Friend-to-Friend.
5. LHA Centennial Tour
   At 35 days, this 2013 coast-to-coast drive of the Lincoln Highway is my second longest. It happened when the road was 100 years old in a car that was 50 years old. Its two previous list appearances were at fourth in 2013 and fifth in 2016.

Both website visits and blog views were down. Website visits went from 138,047 to 100,878. Blog views dropped from 7,485 to 6,757. That may just indicate that the site is becoming increasingly irrelevant although overall page views increased from 578,893 to 658,425. I really have no idea what any of that means.

Four of the trips behind the top five non-blog posts have been or will be covered in book form. The Lincoln Highway Centennial trip is the subject of By Mopar to the Golden Gate. The Alaska and Hawaii trips are a big part of 50 @ 70. A book on the Canadian portion of the Alaska trip, A Canadian Connection, is complete and will be available within days. A not-yet-titled book on last year’s Jefferson Highway trip is in progress and should appear within a few months. Learn more at Trip Mouse Publishing.