Day 51 - Finally Home

Well, we finally made it home on Friday, October 16, after 51 days and 8-1/2 hours on the roads of America. All in all, we had one of the best times of our lives, but we are definitely worn out and need a vacation from our vacation.

Listening to the weather reports from across the country and hitting rain in Georgia, we decided to shorten our trip and head for home from Savannah. We missed seeing Charleston, SC, and the Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway that had been part of our initial trip plans, but common sense prevailed, and we're glad to be safe at home and in our own bed again. Our Vette adventures aren't over yet though.

The last two days of travel were filled with rain and traffic as we drove up I95 toward home. The rain finally quit as we were driving through New York City. I know New York City is known for pot holes, but I hit one pot hole that almost swallowed the poor Vette. I now have a rattle in the dash that will take a while to locate and fix. Now I have something to look forward to next Spring after I pull it out of storage. After this trip, the Vette is definitely ready for "a long Winter's Nap". It will go into storage this next week or so.

We arrived home and managed to get the Vette unpacked, for the most part, and settled down to relax for a while to unwind from the day's travel when the power went out in our neighborhood. Decided since we were both so tired and it was already dark, we may just as well go to bed, and so we did, at 7:45 in the evening.

Thought I had shut all the lights off, just in case the power came back on, but missed a couple things - especially the TV set, which came on at almost full volume about 10:30. Sheila woke me and asked who in the heck was making all the noise next door, and with both of us thinking we were in a motel somewhere, I told her I didn't know and to go back to sleep. I finally realized we were home and shut everything off and crashed for the rest of the night. Think we arrived home just in time. We had snow on Sunday, but no accumulation.

The trip has been much more exciting than we ever thought it could be. We have had so many laughs and good times and have done so many things together. From seeing Niagara Falls from the Maid of the Mist, shopping at the Mall of America, spending time with family and old friends, riding in an air boat, a 1949 Ryan Navion, a Model T Ford, seeing Mt. Rushmore, flying in a helicopter around Sedona, flying to the Grand Canyon in a Cessna and then taking a helicopter to the bottom of the canyon for a ride on the Colorado River on a pontoon boat.

This trip was what memories are made from. And of course, we can't forget going out on the Sky Walk at the Grand Canyon with nothing but 1-1/2 inches of glass between you and the floor of the canyon 4000 feet below you.



Motels ran from a high of about $150 per day in Niagara Falls, $95 per day in New Orleans, and the rest of the motels averaged from $65 to $75 per day. We watched our meals, not wanting to gain weight on this trip, and stopped for salads at Wendy's and McDonalds most days. (I never want to see another Southwestern Salad again!) The worst meal was at a Taco Bell in Lake Charles, LA. The best meals were, naturally, at Irene's in New Orleans.

The trip computer in the Vette indicated that we averaged 58.2 mph over the entire trip. We traveled a total of 8223 miles from start to finish. The best gas milage was in Canada when we got 34.3 mpg. The Vette averaged about 26.5 mpg over the entire trip. The gas milage dropped when we left Newnan, GA, and remained lower than normal, probably due to the rainy conditions for the rest of the way home. We paid a low of $2.17 per gallon in Des Moines, Iowa, to a high of $3.01 in Arizona for 89 octane fuel (they didn't have anything above 89 octane available).

We hit road construction in every state we drove through and only saw three accidents during the entire trip, thank God. Saw relatively few state police on the highways, and never received a single traffic ticket. I almost always drive the posted speed limit and Interstate speeds, not counting construction areas, ranged from 55 to 80 mph. I did pass several trucks in Nebraska or South Dakota that were slowing us down on the hills, and realized later that the GPS indicated we had passed them at 102 mph. They must have wondered what that red streak was that went past them.

Only Texas had a stretch of highway with an 80 mph speed limit, and on that strip of highway, we still managed to average over 28 mpg. South Dakota was the only state with 65 mph speed limits with lanes for bicycles on the highways, and we actually saw quite a few bicycle riders on the road.

Packing the Vette was a challenge every morning. Not that we accumulated much extra during the trip - We did ship some things home from Sedona. After arriving home and looking at clothing I took, but never wore, I would re-think what I would pack for another trip. Not just saving space, but saving weight when I had to lift the two big duffle bags over the rear bumper. Most days, I had about 4 inches of space for rear visibility between the luggage and the roof of the car.

When I packed the Vette each morning, there was no extra space to be found under the hatch. Storage compartments in the rear of the Vette were packed with maps, spare tools, and whatever else I could cram into them. It was so nice to take everything out of the Vette for the last time when we got home. K

Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home!!!  Our trip was amazing, but almost 8 weeks away from home is a long time.  Presently doing laundry in our own cranky washer and drier, no complaints though,clothes now clean and matching.  Ken and I have proven we vacation well together, now to decide if we live well together on a 24/7 basis, as it's our first week not traveling..  No plans for any drives for awhile, foliage enjoyed out our living room window.  Hope you've enjoyed our blog, hope we haven't bored you too much.   S