We're Home (At Last)

We're (finally) back in NH to our apt home.

Our cross country road trip from New Hampshire to Oregon covered some 7,676 miles through 20 states. In response to those who have asked us which place we liked "best" we have said "many of them." That said, we didn't find any place we would rather live than here in New England. we came home to clear and smoke-free skies, unlike many of the states we toured.

BIG THANKS to everyone who followed our adventures and for ALL your comments too. We know that many others, like some friends and relatives, followed along but didn't comment. That's OK. It was fun to share and learn new things about where we'd been.

Daily blogging was a challenge. We started our road trip on Sat, July 14, but I first posted week later we'd been been through several states. Afterwards. I created a post nightly, although the blog was never current with our location. We would often be in a couple of places in one day.

Grenville was the designated driver. He did a terrific job keeping us safe on Interstates in the southwest where the speed limit was between 70-80 mph, many folks went even faster.

I was the designated navigator, even though we have a GPS unit, "Richard." I referred to paper maps (courtesy of AAA ). Using these wasn't a duplication. A few times, the paper maps showed side-trips we might not otherwise have taken. There were also a couple of few times when "Richard" routed us off a main road onto rather desolate side routes. We ignored the route when the paper map showed otherwise, even if it meant a longer ride.

Seeing so much of the USA was a wonderful experience and one we're glad to have experienced together. This was a double celebratory trip — we celebrated our 19th wedding anniversary on August 21 in Denver, CO at the famous Brown Palace Hotel. It was also to mark being "houseless" as of February when our VA home finally got a new owner.

Weather-wise, we escaped delay-causing weather, aside from prolonged rain in South Bend, IN. There were some hot days. While we were away many East coast states had even hotter days and a lot of rain. 

We traveled the entire route in our 2007 Jeep Liberty, which celebrated a milestone of its own as it reached 100,000 miles in CA. It's now a couple of thousand miles past that number and good to go for the next 100,000 miles (we hope). 

Renting a car was an option, but the $1600-$1700 cost for a 30-day timeframe was a downer. It didn't include "extras" like the GPS we own or Sirius satellite radio (extra costs). After weighing pros and (more) cons, we used the "newer" of our vehicles, a 2007 Jeep Liberty (the other one is a 2004 Jeep) . We had it serviced before leaving and it performed flawlessly despite high speed driving and daily a/c use. 

The only "casualties" were the insects and butterflies that committed suicide by crashing into the windshield, front of the car and into the radiator grill. We went through 2 gallons of windshield-bug washer fluid plus 3 car washes with another one set for this week.

Renting a car was considered, but the $1600-$1700 cost for 30-days didn't include "extras" like the GPS we own or Sirius satellite radio (already in our Jeeps). After weighing the pros and more cons, we opted to use the "newer" of our vehicles (the other one is a 2004 Jeep) and had it serviced first. The Jeep performed flawlessly despite high speed driving and daily a/c use. The only "casualties" were the countless insects and yellow sulpher butterflies that committed suicide by crash landing on the windshield, car front, and into the radiator grill. We used 2 gallons of windshield washer fluid plus 3 car washes with another one set for this week.

The Jeep will go for follow-up servicing next week as we look forward to the next (shorter) road trips. In early October we're going to our home state of NJ for a family wedding; in November we'll spend Thanksgiving week in Lancaster, PA.

The next LONG road trip could come after the holidays. We're considering another US road trip to visit family and friends who live in parts of the southern US. We'll keep folks posted.

The photo on the right is for John of The AC is On. We stopped at one of his favorite places traveling through New York state on the way back to NH.

It's the final U.S. summer holiday of Labor Day . We wish fellow bloggers a restful and happy weekend as summer activities start to wind down. Best wishes to ALL. 

We'll be enjoying some R&R as well and catching up on sleep too!

After taking a blog break to catch up on all YOUR blogs, I'll be back in a few days. There's more road trip adventures to post about.