There's no place like home--my final posting

So here I am, safe and sound in my own driveway.

Some info about my trip:

Mileage: 

        Total:                         8,326

        Most in a day:               535

Trip length:

         Total:                             52 days

         Days on the road            27

         Days in motels                20

         Days in campground         1

         Days with fam/frnds        29

         Days in hospital                2

Costs:       

          Total cost of gas:        $821.11 for 225.6 gallons

          Cost per gallon:          highest--$3.89/gal, lowest--$3.29/gal, average cost--$3.63/gal

          Motel cost:                  highest--$85.00/night, lowest--$32.89

States traveled through:

           Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri,

           Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming,

           Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and back again through Illinois, Indiana, Ohio,

           Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.

           24 different states, some twice

           When I travel I always play that kid's game, writing down all the license plates I see. 

            I got every state but three--Alaska, Hawaii, and Delaware!

What an adventure I had!!  I am in true awe of the beauty of our country.  Many of us travel to other countries when we vacation; we have so much to see and learn about in our own back yard.  I have new appreciation for the varied landscapes, the different accents I heard, and the kindness of people everywhere I traveled.

I took over 1300 photos, so if you look through this blog, you'll only see a small representation.  I hope I've inspired some of you to get out on the road and go exploring--maybe not for 52 days, but for a couple.

Thank you once more to those of you who followed me along the way.  I always knew there was lots of love and support with me on the road.  

Karin    

                       

        

    

Bismarck, Brothers, Buffalo, and Lake George

It took me a couple of days to get to Bismarck.  At this point I drove hard, and didn't stop to take many photos.  But I couldn't help pulling over once and a while--ours is a beautiful country!


A beautiful double rainbow that I followed for many miles.  This is a close-up of the brighter rainbow.

You can see the storm I drove through, followed by the lighter skies underneath.

More countryside.

A man taking his horses for a walk (out of the trailer) just like we do with our dogs!

Badlands of North Dakota, in the western part of the states, part of the T. Roosevelt National Park.

Finally arrived in Bismarck.  Although my brothers came to Maine for each of our parent's funerals, I hadn't visited them in ND since 2000.  Bismarck has grown by leaps and bounds since that time.  Seeing my brothers was wonderful, and I was grateful to have plenty of time to visit.

We went to a "Buggies and Blues" event, with vintage vehicles lining the streets, and music in the park.

My brother takes aerial photos for the state, which are used to plan out highway changes, new roads, etc.  This is his plane--the airport is a couple minutes away via plane, so they often fly over his home.

After tearful goodbyes--there is always too much time between our visits with each other--I left for Buffalo where I would meet up with Brian (who took the train over) and visit our friends.  Yep, the same ones from the beginning of the trip.  Again, 3 days of just driving, driving, driving.

It was great to see Brian after 6 weeks of being very far apart.  We really only had a day with our friends at this end of the trip, so we went to three wineries and the Anchor Bar!

This is Brian's photo of the outside of the Anchor Bar, home of the original Buffalo wings.  I go every time I visit my friends.  They are the best!  It is a funky place, decorated with license plates and autographed photos of famous people.   Here's the story from the website--and the menu.  "On a Friday night in 1964, Dominic Bellissimo was tending bar at the now famous Anchor Bar Restaurant in Buffalo, NY. Late that evening, a group of Dominic's friends arrived at the bar with ravenous appetites. Dominic asked his mother, Teressa, to prepare something for his friends to eat.  They looked like chicken wings, a part of the chicken that usually went into the stock pot for soup.

Teressa had deep fried the wings and flavored them with a secret sauce. The wings were an instant hit and it didn't take long for people to flock to the bar to experience this new taste sensation. From that evening on, Buffalo Wings became a regular part of the menu at the Anchor Bar.

The phenomenon created in 1964 by Teressa Bellissimo has spread across the globe. Although many have tried to duplicate Buffalo Wings, the closely guarded secret recipe is what makes Frank & Teressa's the proclaimed "Best Wings in the World"."

Then to the last stop--Lake George, New York, a beautiful place that Brian's mom has come to for many years during the summers.  We celebrated her 98th birthday while we were there!

This is where she was staying--a home built by her brother in the mid-sixties, now owned by his son who lives there with his wife.

We first stayed at a cousin's place a couple of doors down.  This was our view.

The cousin came for the weekend, so we moved to another cousin's cottage down the lake a bit.

We visited for 5 days, enough to enjoy family and friends, the cooler weather, the warm lake, and spend time with Brian's mother.  We left for home on August 14th.

I will do one more posting tomorrow with some information and final thoughts about my trip.

Tetons and Yellowstone

Even though I decided not to spend time at the Tetons or Yellowstone, I couldn't resist being so close and not driving through.  Some photos (and reading material!)...

Probably the only photo of me alone on this trip--the rest were with family and friends.  I met and chatted with two young guys, probably in their twenties with a teenage boy along...I think all brothers.  They asked me to take a photo of the 3 of them with their camera, and then asked if I'd like a photo of myself on my camera, so I agreed.  Note the tallest peak, Grand Teton--they had climbed about 10,000 ft of it the day before, and said there was still a good distance to the top!

Just to give you some perspective of the "grandness"

Across the street was a herd of bison--pretty far away--this one walked into the clearing for a moment.

Looking back after driving by...

On to Yellowstone.  I was in Yellowstone in 2000; I had gotten up early in the morning (having camped there) to drive through.  I was almost alone on the road and saw numerous animals, Old Faithful, and beautiful scenery.  This time I arrived around noon, along with a zillion other friends, and saw no animals until the end--you'll see later.  I stopped at Old Faithful, drove around the Old Faithful parking lot for twenty minutes and finally parked in the last row, getting to the geyser minutes after it erupted, meaning a 90 minute wait for the next time.  It was crowded, hot, I had trouble walking (having smacked my toe on a rock in CA), and I wanted to get to my brothers, so I decided to pass on the geyser.  I think time is needed to fully appreciate the beauty of this park--it can't be seen via a quick drive-through.

There was a forest fire in Yellowstone, even before my last trip there...you can see the regrowth.

Some falls...

Another crossing of the Divide.

The geyser between eruptions...staying cool!

In Mammoth Hot Springs, there were elk in two locations, a park area and a circle of grass to the side of the road.  A few of the many photos I took...

The North Entrance/Exit to Yellowstone.

I continued north to stay in Montana for the night.  More to come.

Driving North--Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming

Scenery on the  way to Utah. Because I was on a major highway, most of the photos were taken from my car window.  A beautiful drive...

I continued north on I-15 to I-89 towards the Tetons and Yellowstone.  I drove by Bear Lake, a beautiful body of very blue water that is in Utah and Idaho.

Rt.  66 isn't the only road with abandoned houses.  I saw many on this

 trip--this one made me stop and wonder what happened.

I was in Idaho when I decided to stop for the evening.  My neighbor had encouraged me to consider KOA campground cabins as an alternative to motels.  I came upon this campground in Montpelier, ID, and decided to try it.  It was a lovely setting--my cabin was next to a stream, had WiFi, cable TV, a porch swing, bathrooms close by, and the doors locked.  The only problem was that I didn't have bedding.  I put a small blanket on the bed to lie on, rolled some clothes into a pillow, covered myself with a couple of sweatshirts, and I was good to go!

The morning I left it was 61 degrees outside--felt wonderful!

Continuing north, I crossed into Wyoming.  Again, some beautiful scenery, and authentic western towns.

Many ranches or homes had elaborate gateways over their driveways.

The town of Afton...

Local Ford dealership.

Jackson (Hole), Wyoming is a town I visited on my last 66 trip, and found to be charming.  In the town square is a small park, with arches of elk antlers greeting you at the entrances.  Across the street is the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar.  I wished I had more time to spend here, but I was wanting to get to my brothers in Bismarck.

On to the Tetons and Yellowstone in the next posting!