HOME AT LAST
We have been home for twelve days and we are finally settled in and back to "life as it was before". The trailer has been unpacked, cleaned and returned to storage. The house has been cleaned, the laundry done and most of the stuff we have unpacked has been put away. However, we still have a back room with stuff all over the bed waiting to be sorted through and put away. Doesn’t everyone have a “back room” where the door always stays closed!? Halloween has passed us by. The days are shorter and the temps are dropping at night. Winter is around the corner.
However, the weather has been gorgeous during the day; sunny and clear. So we have been tending to the yard, clearing the weeds, raking the leaves and just enjoying being outside at our “Home Sweet Home”. We have also been busy visiting friends and family, taking the ferry to the city and enjoying a Wine and Food event. Now it is time to get ready for Thanksgiving and do Christmas shopping and decorate the house. There is Christmas music in the shops already! As we settled back into life in Cotati we have reflected on the last four months.
As usual, we had a wonderful and exciting cross country trip. We have now visited and explored all 50 states (including Hawaii, but not with the trailer). Over the last 6 years we have seen so much of our wonderful country, learned a lot about our US history, saw so many different cultures, styles of living, home styles, small country villages and towns, big cities with towering buildings, animal life, people life, heard many different accents, viewed all kinds of terrain; barren landscapes, deserts, mountains, rolling hills, lush woods and forests, picturesque farms, fields of corn, wheat, potatoes, etc, vineyards, sandy beaches and on and on.
People ask us what our most favorite place is, what is the best city, town, attraction, etc. That is a question that cannot be answered as there are so many.
Even though we have visited and explored all 50 states; we have not seen everything. There is still a lot to see and do and we will continue doing cross country trips. But now we will rest and enjoy being home for the next year. Below is a summary and review of our 2011 trip.
SUMMARY
PART I
We searched for wood quilt patches on historic barns in Oregon, saw a light show on Grand Coulee Dam in Washington, followed parts of the Lewis and Clark trail in Montana and North Dakota, visited the Mississippi Headwaters where the Mississippi River starts and the only place you can walk across the Mississippi. We went shopping at Mall America in Minnesota; the largest mall in the US. Saw the shores of Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, and Lake Huron of the Great Lakes. We took a boat ride through the Dells in Wisconsin and drank cherry wine in Door County, Wisconsin. We drove over the third longest suspension bridge in the world in Michigan and saw where Mackanic Fudge was made famous, also in Michigan.
PART II
We had a great time visiting Canada. In Ontario and Quebec we revisited the wonderful Montreal Botanical Gardens and the historic Quebec City. We had new adventures and saw wonderful sights when we visited the Maritime Provinces of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia for the first time. In New Brunswick we saw mythical creatures in a garden and walked back in time to experience what it was like to live in a 1790’s settlement.
We saw the famous Bay of Fundy where the tides are the world’s highest and walked the sea floor during low tide. And we lived through a crisis with our “escape” kitty, Crystal, when she became gravely ill. We thought we were going to lose her, but she pulled through and today she is better than ever! In Prince Edward Island we were in the “Land of Ann” and saw the beautiful farm land that inspired Lucy Maud Montgomery to write “Ann of Green Gables”. We explored the island and visited the many galleries and studios where local crafters sold their creations. In Nova Scotia we saw spectacular coastal views on the Cabot Trail on Cape Breton Island and again walked back in time at an 18th century French fortified village. We walked the sea floor again at low tide on the Nova Scotia side of the Bay of Fundy.
PART III
We were too early for the full glory of the fall colors in the New England area. We did see a lot of color, but we were out of the area before it reached its peak. We saw signs of fall everywhere with pumpkins, scarecrows and ghosts decorating storefronts and peoples homes. We enjoyed many sights in the area. We saw the rocky shores of Acadia National Park and walked the streets of quaint harbor towns in Maine. We visited Concord, the capital city and home of Christa McAuliffe in New Hampshire. We spent some time visiting with good friends in the Albany area of New York and explored an underground river inside Howe Caverns and shopped at some quaint country stores.
In Massachusetts we visited the Kennedy family home town of Hyannis and explored the Cape Cod area and saw Provincetown, the first stop of the Mayflower. And we saw the “rock” where the Pilgrims made their home in Plymouth in 1620. We stayed in the smallest state of the US and toured some mansions of the rich and famous in Newport, Rhode Island. We went back into history and walked the streets of 19th century Mystic Seaport in Connecticut and we walked the famous boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey. We rode the ferry at Cape May and crossed the Delaware Bay where the Delaware River meets the Atlantic Ocean.
PART IV
We said goodbye to the East Coast and headed west to home. We saw the Amish farmers hard at work on their farms and riding their horse and buggy’s on the roads alongside the cars in the Dutch Country in Pennsylvania. We saw beautiful fall colors in Ohio. We quickly passed through Indiana, Illinois and Iowa because we had no time to explore these states, but have done so during past cross country trips. In Nebraska we had dinner in Ogalala, the “Queen of the Cowtowns” where from 1875 to 1885 this was the “end of the trail” for Texas cattle drives. We drove through the desert landscapes and then the Rocky Mountains in Colorado where we saw Aspen and Cottonwood trees in full color. We relaxed, hiked and viewed gorgeous high cliffs at Zion National Park in Utah. We drove through barren, desert landscapes in Nevada and saw the sparkling lights of Reno. And finally on the 112 day we reached HOME SWEET HOME!
REVIEW
1. Traveled for 112 days
2. We traveled a total of 15,916 miles;
10,935 miles towing the trailer
4,981 miles in the Ford sightseeing
17 miles over water (ferries)
3. Visited 25 states: California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah and Nevada
4. Visited 5 Provinces: Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia.
5. Visited 107 cities, towns, villages
6. Visited 13 National Parks, Monuments, etc
7. Visited 8 Historical Sites
8. Visited 7 Botanical gardens
9. Visited 8 Zoos,
10. Visited 4 Aquariums
11. Visited 12 Museums
12. Attended 10 Events
13. Visited 50 Other Attractions
14. Experienced 3 crisis: Broken Axle on trailer (delayed trip for 6 days), lost cat for 6 days (Crystal), 3 emergency vet visits for Crystal (became critically ill).
15. Experienced 3 “Happy Dances”: Broken axle arrived and was replaced, Crystal came “home”, Crystal recovered from illness and is doing very well.
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