Not sure where we will be when we publish this, but likely we will be mowing or weeding or painting or cleaning, or any one of a thousand things we need to get done now that we are back in Florida.
After two months of almost no human presence, and an unbelievably rainy spring, the little five acre farm has been taken over by flora and fauna. The wild hogs have rooted up any flat ground we had managed to smooth out over the last few years, the line between the gravel driveway and the grassy yard, once crisp and sharply delineated, is now a blur of weeds and crabgrass with an occasional piece of gravel hiding deep within. We have some catching up to do.
The Airstream is washed free of all of the bug butts that have been splattered across its broad glass and aluminum front end, having earned every smear and smack as it proudly gritted its teeth into the wind across (nearly) ten thousand miles of roads. The interior has been cleaned, all linens washed and put away, and the camper is sleeping quietly in the garage, waiting for the next adventure.
The oil has been changed again in the truck, it has also been washed and waxed after a hard-working two months on the road, the interior and bed emptied of all of the temporary pantry and storage goods that had been stored there, and it is back to hardware store runs and trips back and forth to the farm.
All we have left to do is finish this blog and go through the thousands of pictures we took on this trip.
What an absolutely amazing trip to have been fortunate enough to plan, enjoy, and share! With each other and with family and friends along the journey.
Would absolutely do another long-ish trip again. Perhaps not quiiiiiite this long. That was a long stretch without the dogs haha.
We thought about how best to summarize the experience.
Do we convert all 2500 photos into slides, invite everyone over for fondue, and see how long it takes for everyone to sneak off to use the bathroom and never return?
Do we come up with a list of superlatives, like in high school for the senior year yearbook? Best scenic views? Best wildlife sighting? Best hike? Best park to poop in?
Or, perhaps, do we write a blog and try to capture memories as we went?
As you already know, we went with the blog option.
Thanks for reading and following along as we went on this grand adventure!
We will have the slides ready whenever you stop by, but the fondue will most likely be chips and dip. Or guacamole! That sounds good. Either way, we’ll be ready. 😉
For those of you out there like Ben, here are the totals:
National Parks Visited: 7 (Hot Springs, Grand Teton, Yellowstone, Glacier, Zion NP, Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon)
Pictures Taken: 10,000+
Pictures Retained after the Evening Sorting and Deleting: 2,966
Total Roadtrip Miles: 9,202
MPG Average: 13.4
Engine Hours on trip: 207
Gallons of Diesel: 687
Highest Price Paid for Diesel: $3.81
Total Price of Fuel: ~$2,400
Highest price we saw for diesel at a place that left travelers no options, that is, travelers that do not have a 60 gallon fuel tank and the ability to look at a map and determine that there will not be fuel out there, and if there is, it will not be cheap: $5.99
Refills of Highly Annoying DEF: 15
Gallons of Windshield Washer Fluid: 4
Oil Changes: 1 (Weatherford, TX)
Bags of Ice for the Drink Cooler (a very efficient way to keep a lot of drinks cold): 53
Highest Price Paid for a Bag of Regular Old Ice: $7
Memories Made on this Adventure: Countless
TaterTotTales 