Saturday, August 7, 2010

We're Back - A Triumph of the Human Spirit!






Howard here,
The boys and I returned home late Friday afternoon to a happy reunion with Eve, Maryrose, Ben, Marci, three dogs, four cats and Maryrose's guinea pig. You can tell by the blurring of the tails in the dogs' pictures that they were particularly happy to see us.

Below are a few of the statistics of our trip:

Total distance traveled: 8672 miles
Vertical distance traveled: From 280 below sea level in Death
Valley to 10,850 feet above sea level in the Great
Continental Divide.
States visited: 20; not including some additional that Eve and
Maryrose passed through on the train.
Temperature range: From a high of 121 degrees in Death Valley
to a low of 46 degrees in Yellowstone.
Tires expended: Five; two on the car and three on the camper
including two within an hour of one another.
Road Kills: Sadly, 1 squirrel in Yellowstone National Park
Gallons of gas used: 495.5 not including what we used since the last fill up yesterday.
Most gallons put into the tank at one time: 20.3 gallons into a 20 gallon tank. We passed three
closed gas stations on the way into Columbus, Georgia before we found one selling gas. The
rum tasted very good that evening.
Ships visited: Eight; two battleships, one aircraft carrier, two destroyers, two submarines and
an LST. We saw significant pieces of three others in museums.
Battlefields visited: Two; the Alamo and Chalmette (we didn't visit any forts other than Fort
Leavenworth)
Campgrounds visited: 21
Campgrounds stayed in: 19 (two campgrounds didn't pass muster)
Military bases stayed in: Four; Davis-Montham AFB, NAB Coronado, Nellis AFB and the
U.S. Air Force Academy
Bears seen: Two; one in Yellowstone and Mr. Bear.
Close encounters with bison: One in Yellowstone crossing the road right behind our car.
Sightings of Aliens, Bigfoots and the Lock Ness Monster: Several, look closely at the picture
below and others in previous blogs. You may have to zoom in.
Cans of pasta and Dinty Moore beef stew eaten by the boys: At least 26, they're sick of them.

1 comment:

  1. I'm glad to see everyone safe at home on Jasper Boulevard and all who stayed home safe and happy to greet you all. I loved the statistics and Eve's musings and pictures. Thank you, Eve, for another perspective.
    I saw three strange things in the picture - and no, two of them were not Theodore and Nathaniel - Big Foot?, Nessie, and something smallish in the tree. Am I warm? Olga

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