State Count

East Bound: California, Nevada, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ontario (Canada), New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, District of Columbia.

West Bound: Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, California

From Arkansas in May: Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California (this doesn't count as part of this trip, but we did it in May, so we can say that within the last six months, we have traveled, with the trailer, through over half the US).

Just over 10, 000 miles. Three oil changes, one seriously cracked windshield, a little damage to the trailer ladder due to an encounter with a stubborn tree, and one very dirty white pickup truck. Not bad, considering.

We had a wonderful time, but if we were planning this trip knowing what we know now, we wouldn't have done so much driving. I may have mentioned earlier in the blog that we originally planned to take 3 months. But with the price of everything, and a couple of things we wanted to do in September here in California, we cut a month off our trip and accomplished the same itinerary.

We talked to a guy in the Tetons who said he always stays at least two weeks at each destination, and another who said he never drives more than 200 miles in one day. That sounds better, doesn't it? On the plus side, we were able to see some family and a lot of old friends, re-visit some favorite places, and see some things we have always wanted to see.

You may wonder how anyone can drive 300-400 miles day after day, especially because there isn't a lot of good radio in large sections of the country. And let's face it, even though we have been married for over 40 years, that's a lot of togetherness. The one and only way we could do it is through the magic of books on CD. We put a light mystery or novel in the player and listen to it talk. It's very entertaining and the miles go by. I pack a lunch and make a thermos of coffee, but we stop about every 1 1/2 to 2 hours to give all of us a break, walk Doogie, and change drivers. We love a road trip! The United States of America is truly a beautiful country. It's worth seeing.