Six Weeks and 8800 Miles--Back in Eden

Lunch in lovely Quebec

We’re home, back in Eden, the beautiful land of gas station attendants, good wine, and coffee kiosks everywhere.  Like many trips, it seems like we left a lifetime ago, yet it seems like we just left last week.  And like nearly every trip, it’s exciting to leave and nice to be home.  We logged over 8,800 miles, and only 500 of them were without the trailer. 

One mile at a time, one day at a time

This cross-continent trip was even better than our 2016 trip.  We’re now fully retired without a lot of emails, payroll, and other business issues to worry about.  We got to experience the Canadian Rockies and the Trans Canada Highway (in all its boring beauty through the prairie) and we took new routes and mostly avoided the Interstates, taking two-lane country roads. We got to see some amazing scenery and historic sites.  Above all, we enjoyed our time together and a week in the Berkshires of western MA with daughters Skyler and Feruza and their constellation of friends.

We traveled in a universe different from living in our downtown six-story condo where we walk and bicycle nearly everywhere.  We were in a world of truck stops, semis, gigantic RVs, other people on vacation, cross country motorcycles and bicyclists, small towns, large cities, and campgrounds.  Behind the windshield, we were in an air-conditioned cocoon of Sirius Radio and audio books, but always mindful of the changing scenery, wind, potholes, trucks, route changes, hills, and sometimes intense traffic.  Happy hour took on a whole new meaning once we arrived and set up camp.  (It was often the happy hour for mosquitoes, too!)

Wind River Basin near the Tetons

Our Airstream friends will want to know about technical and towing issues, as well as good camping spots.  Other than some spilled sesame oil smelling of skunk, some leaking lighter fluid that wreaked of an impending explosion, a refrigerator that would only work on propane, and a grey water valve that wouldn’t completely close, we had no problems.  The Jeep performed like a champ, but we avoided the long 10% grades of Teton Pass, outside Jackson, WY.  We were wary of tailwinds throughout the trip with passing trucks and especially after a frightening fishtailing episode in the Columbia Gorge our first day. 

As viewers of our Facebook posts could tell, we had some pretty amazing camping spots mostly in wineries and national, county, city, and provincial parks. But we also had some forgettable ones in places where RV parks are the permanent homes of many in sad-looking ‘Cousin Eddie’ Winnebagos, gigantic motorhomes and 5^th wheels.

Our last campground--Sisters City Park in Oregon.  

Wind River mountains, WY

Once we hit Wyoming, we felt almost home—it wasn’t flat and humid anymore.  But it was arid, rocky, littered, and populated with drilling rigs, coal trains, and mine tailings.  We liked the silos and combines of Indiana, Iowa, and Nebraska better.  Southern Idaho still retains our award for the most boring and ugly stretch of road in the US.  We took the back road US 20 from Ontario to Burns and Bend.  Very desolate, but beautiful.

A beautiful ocean of foam-colored sagebrush between
Burns and Bend, OR.  150 miles of beautiful desolation.

North America, east to west, is huge, varied, and beautiful.  We come back with more appreciation for this great land, the First Nation tribes that initially lived in it, the pioneers who settled it, and the people who inhabit it today.  No matter where we were, people (except for the East-Coast and ‘Mass-hole’ drivers) were friendly, especially the Canadians.

It’s good to be home in an expansive kitchen, queen bed, and fast internet.  I tweaked my back the morning of our last day and have trouble walking upright without occasional spasms.  But as Kathy says, “Even when we are unlucky, we are lucky.”  This could have happened days or weeks ago. We’re optimistic that I’ll be back to normal before we leave on August 9 for our walking safaris in Tanzania, followed by our 300-mile walk along the Camino de Santiago in Portugal. 

Here's a LINK to our best shots that summarize the trip.  Enjoy!

At Snake River overlook, Grand Teton National Park, WY

"WHAT WE CAN, WHILE WE CAN!"