Home at Last (for awhile)

We got home Monday, eight days short of six months. Along the way we visited traveled 22,051 miles, and visited 18 states, one Province, 11 National Parks, 13 National Wildlife Refuges, 3 National Seashores, 27 State Parks, and 7 county parks, most of them new for us. It was quite a trip, and a lot of fun.

We stopped at the Badlands, Devils Tower, and Little Big Horn on the way back. It was good to be back “beyond the hundredth meridian” especially after dealing with the humidity in West Virginia. Abby looked like she’d been reborn.

Now we’re cleaning out the trailer (so that’s where that lens went) and adjusting to our HUGE house. I think I have a little editing to do so I’d better get started. I’ll leave the final words to Alice….

Wow, what a trip!  Several times this past six months the theme song for Dirty Dancing has played in my head:  “I have had the time of my life . . . and I owe it all to you”  It was an amazing time . . . the time I spent traveling with Pete, the time spent experiencing amazing places in this country, the time spent visiting with family and friends.   A big thanks goes out to everyone that we stayed with and to those that joined us on this venture.   Thanks everyone who called, texted, and emailed, those links were priceless.   Thanks to Carol, Dan, and Mark for the play-by-play texts of the WVU Final Four Game when we were sitting in the middle of the Okefanokee Swamp.  Thanks to Marty for keeping our mail organized and senting it out.   But the biggest thanks goes to my mom and dad for taking care of  Abby and put up with her “shed factor”.   Would I do it again . . . in a heart beat.   And while I am waiting for the Grand Adventure Part II . . . there is always golf!!!!  :o)

Homeward Bound (I wish I were)

Greetings from beautiful Peoria, Il. We left Alices folks this morning and we’re figuring on a marathon drive back to Dillon. We’ll probably stop at the Badlands and Little Bighorn and then right to Dillon.

The trip to Newfoundland was pretty good. Cape St. Marys, the Gannet colony, is really impressive. Theres lots to photograph as there’s always hundreds of birds in the air, plus the nesting ones. There are always fights going on, and just a lot of activity in general. Murres, razorbills, gullimots, and kittywakes are also nesting on the cliffs. Unfortunately no chicks had hatched, so I guess we’ll have to go back for them. (I got some good stuff, but there was that 8 gig card I deleted before downloading, so only I know how good alll that flight stuff in the fog was). The Puffin place was about four hours to the north on the Bonnavista Penninsula. That’s a little more problamatic for photography as the birds are on an offshore rock that’s about 30′ too far. Puffins don’t do that much other than stand by their burrow, so there’s not as much activity.

Newfoundland was cold and windy most of the time. I had all my stuff for camping, but wimped out. I ended up hainging around St. Johns for a couple days at the end because the rental car had a 2000K limit and I didn’t feel like paying .18/K just to drive around.

As The Great Adventure 2010 winds down, I’ll have to say that the whole thing has been a lot of fun for both of us. We’ve really enjoyed it. The camper was never too small. The campgrounds were never too bad (well almost never). And never a cross word passed between us. I’d like to thank Alice for being unfailingly cheerful and always a great companion. And thanks to all those we visited along the way. 2011 – the west coast.