Day 21 Home!

It’s hard to believe our adventure will come to an end today. It’s been a fun three weeks with:

• too many hours spent in the car to count
• two oil changes at 5000 miles intervals-it was changed just before she left as well
• six books on CD--more for Kira
• six national parks for me--twelve for Kira
• five stops to visit family--six for Kira
• three stops to visit friends--five for Kira
• lots and lots of breweries-I’ll count them later
• passing through seventeen states for me--twenty-five for Kira 
• about 2000 pictures, which seems low for me-edited and posted 600 on Flickr.
• two car problems-a heat shield that came loose and needed to be removed in OR and this morning a rock dinged the windshield in PA
• an unexpected trip to NASA
• sightings of: elk, bison, desert big horn ram, deer, pelican, dead armadillos, a very cool black and white bird but never got a pic of it, walking stick, longhorns, so many swallowtails while driving through Mammoth Cave Park
• no rainy washout days for me-Chicago was for Kira, although it didn't slow them down.
• no actual books read
• no school work-ok on the last day I continued reading Learn Like a Pirate-excellent book
• so many blown tires along the roadways
• states that have speed limits of 80 mph and 70 on backroads
• according to receipts-cheapest gas: $2.49 in Texas-most expensive gas: $3.04 in Ontario, OR 
• one state without construction-Mississippi
• one state with no open brewery-Mississippi
• one state with continual tollroads-NY
• five coffee shops-should have done more!
• one winery
• one new t-shirt, hat, one bottle of wine and two tasting glasses, 
• many new coasters, stickers and patches that Kira picked up for Duane-Happy Father’s Day!
• no brewery tours-well until we returned home and drove straight to Saranac to meet Duane and end our trip with a brewery in NY
• three nights camping for me--nine for Kira
• twelve nights spent with family/friends for me--sixteen for Kira
• six nights in a hotel
• no hitchhikers being picked up
• only three ice cream stops
• one crepe
• learning to identify a magnolia tree
• Kira learning that Cabela’s is a sporting goods store not an Italian restaurant
• Kira seeing everyone on my side of the family. I missed Julia, Josh and Isaac in IL
• seeing all my siblings and mom at the same time
• a realization that I should probably get my hearing checked-many misunderstood comments to each other-good for laughs though

My favorites: 

• seeing my family and visiting friends
• Park: Grand Canyon
• Brewery: Odd Otter in WA-good beer, adorable logo, friendly bartender
• Beer: Milk Chocolate Stout at Old Rail Brewery in LA
• Places I want to return to with Duane: Arches and Zion and the parks I missed-Grand Tetons-Glacier
• Least favorite part: driving through Texas
• If I could have changed one thing: more time at the parks to hike and look for animals

Kira’s Favorites:

• Seeing friends and family
• Park: Grand Tetons
• Brewery: Firehouse in Rapid City SD
• Beer: Milk Chocolate Stout at Old Rail Brewery in LA
• Places she most wants to revisit: Grand Tetons
• Least favorite part: driving through Texas and New Mexico
• If I could have changed one thing: more time! (Whew, she didn’t say leave mom at home!)

When we got home we grabbed Duane and headed down to Saranac Brewery just so we could say we did a brewery in NY too! We had a couple others in mind but they were both closed on Monday. 

No pictures today....but if you followed our journey, thank you!

Click here to see all the pictures from our journey. (Not all pictures are posted yet.)