Home Again

Happy to be home. Sad to end adventure. Expectations exceeded. Plus a flamingo flew over us crossing the FL Tpke. A good welcome.

Home to crazy drivers, traffic, noise, heat, crowds. And still, it’s home.

By the numbers -

53 Days 

6 parks (Badlands, Grant Teton, Yellowstone, Olympic, Rocky Mountain, and we slipped in a national preserve - Craters of the Moon).

13 gardens - Atlanta, Gilbert-Smith, Massey Lane.  Cheekwood, MaryJo Wagner, McCory, Bloedel, Butchart, Oregon, Boyd, Leach, Sawtooth, Santa Fe.

6 visits with friends - Pat and Barb (Bellingham), Hugh (Portland), Jeanette and kids (Salt Lake City), Judy and Ed (Castle Rock, CO), Susan and Dan (Santa Fe), Sherry and David (Austin).

Mileage - 10,500

Lodgings - 30 (and yes, I brought along my own pillow)

60 stops for gas (often just to keep a full tank in the middle of nowhere). A gallon of gas varied by more than $1/ over the course of the trip.

States - 20 + Vancouver Island

On the water - 1 canoe, 2 floats, 4 ferries

On land - 7 bike rides, 1 jeep, 1 bus, 1 pickup truck

Blog posts - 31

Books read - 24

Items lost - 3 (water bottle, earring, cap), not too bad

COVID infections - 0, thankfully (although at least 1 known exposure) 

Elevation change - 12,300’

New birds - western bluebird, stellar jay, cedar waxwing, crested myna bird, yellow-billed magpie, black-billed magpie, roadrunner, white pelicans, grouse, sandhill crane, common merganser, white-crowned sparrow

Park Animals - bear (!), fox, marmot, chipmunk, mule deer, bighorn sheep, elk, bison, moose (!), pronghorn antelope, jack rabbits, coyote, bald eagles, hawks, osprey, bull snake, dolphins, black-tailed deer, hummingbirds, whale

Temperature change in one day - 40 degrees (32 > 72)

One new tire, two windshield cracks (fortunately on last 2 days), 1 crocheted blanket (Susan), 4 beaches, 20 perfect sand dollars, Milky Way, ranger talks, snow, crop dusters, books on tape, hikes to lakes and waterfalls, scenic views, dams, fireworks, picnics, 1 rainy day (Victoria), many great meals, 1 near miss of a homeless man in the street (Seattle), largest Sitka Spruce and Western Red Cedar, trucks transporting wind turbine blades, 3 laundries, 1 food poisoning, 1 massage, 1 pottery lesson (3 pots), 1 cattle drive, ranches, dark skies, 5 climates, 3 timed entry passes, 1 lifetime national park pass (love that).

Overall experience - priceless. This was a trip of a lifetime, with so many wonderful memories. Now off to sort all the photos. Thanks for coming along!