Let’s just say it’s been amazing from beginning to end (and it isn’t over yet!).
| Months on the road | 5 |
| Miles | 40,000 |
| States visited | 34 |
| National Parks and Monuments visited | 27 |
| State Parks and Campgrounds visited | 46 |
| Nights spent at Camp WalMart, Rest Areas or Truck Stops | 21 |
| Total appearances | 56 |
| Appearances at L.L. Bean stores | 32 |
| Van repairs | 3 |
| Best repair shop | Walt’s VW Repair, Columbia, MO |
| Worst roads in the country | Connecticut. (Imagine the sound of two large boulders in a commercial dryer and you get the idea.) |
| Best roads in the country | Kansas |
| Friendliest state | Oklahoma |
| Business cards handed out | 1,000 |
| Longest day of driving | 16 hours |
| Most 18 wheelers per highway mile | Pennsylvania |
| Number of times I had to drive in the rain | 3 |
| Number of floods | 1 (Detroit) |
| Greatest pet peeve | Talking gas pumps |
| Greatest gift | Complete solitude (desert hiking) |
| Best meal | Church Street Cafe, Albuquerque |
| Best gas price | $1.79 (Oklahoma City) |
| Best hiking venue | Sedona, AZ |
| Most unlikely book sale | Gas station attendant on NJ Turnpike |
| Friends reconnected with | 14 (My deepest gratitude to all of you!) |
| Longest time since I had seen an old friend | 36 years |
| Best name encountered | Genesis Aurora Santiago |
| Favorite place to drive | Anywhere in the wide open west. |
| Best “better than I remembered” moment | Driving across the Texas panhandle. (When I did it in my 20s I was bored. This time, I was enchanted.) |
| Best impromptu decision | Exploring New Mexico’s El Malpais National Monument for the day. |
| Second best impromptu decision | Visiting the site of the 1969 Woodstock Music and Art Fair in NY (and its great museum). |
| Best campground appearing just when I was about to fall asleep moment | Homolovi State Park, AZ |
| Worst Google Maps moment | Attempting to find Canyon De Shelly National Monument, Google maps sent me on a 60-mile road trip of despair on dirt roads that almost made my teeth fall out. (I gave up.) |
| Most unexpected reasons for hope |
1. Businessman in Fort Collins, CO in hotel lobby acknowledging black TV screen. “Thank god it’s off. Television is poison.” 2. Man in Danbury, CT picking up a discarded fast food bag in the parking lot and throwing it away just as I was walking over to do the same. |
| Best food shopping discovery | Wegmans – There is no shopping experience like it on earth. They are merchandising geniuses. |
| Best impromptu blogging location | Blue Ridge Parkway. I stopped to make a sandwich at a scenic overlook. The next thing you know, I was writing with a spectacular mountain view. |
| What I thought I couldn’t live without and did | Music. (I barely listened to any.) |
| What I almost didn’t buy and was really glad I did | Collapsable sink (for washing dishes in campsites) |
| Best “helped by stranger” moment | Danny in Sedona helping me solve my van stalling problem. |
| Best “pay it forward” moment | Stopping to help couple change tire in upstate NY. |
| Best take away | There are great people everywhere in this country. If you travel with an open mind and a generous perspective, you will be consistently amazed. |
Love this! Great snap shots of a tremendous journey.
Thank you, Janie. What an amazing adventure. I am still writing about it while everything is so fresh.
The writing is phenomenal. Very rare combination of style, color and design flow a reader cannot help but enjoy. Interesting contextual choices in which both author and reader can find mutually shared joy.