Epilogue

Miles 527 (11, 504)
Two Lanes 412 (8,341) 72.5%
Top Down 527 (9,488) 82.5%

What an adventure. 11,500 miles. 9500 with the top down. At 65 mph that's 150 hours of the wind blowing in our hair. And 8300 miles off the freeways.

We saw America and Canada. We tasted them. We heard them. We touched them. And we smelled them.

Driving with the top down changes all of the senses. You don't just see forward, you see up and out. It is like an IMAX on wheels. And you are exposed to smells you never get in a car with the windows up and A/C on. These smells ranged from the sea in New Brunswick to the cattle trucks in Kansas to the flowering sagebrush in Nevada.

We live in on a very diverse continent. The extremes are remarkable. Here are a few that come to mind:

The smallest midwest farming towns to the streets of New York City.
I-95 from New York to Philly to US 50 across western Utah and Nevada.
The glacial carved mountains and lakes of Glacier to the flat fields of North Dakota and Kansas.
The English speaking Americans to the French speaking Quebecois to the Old French speaking Acadians to the Gaelic speakers of Cape Breton.
The Philly Cheese Steaks on South Street in the City of Brotherly Love to the fresh lobster on the wharf at Parlee Beack, New Brunswick.
The gardens of Grand Metis to the desert flowers of Nevada.
The Basilica of Notre Dame to the rising spires of the San Juans.
The towering buildings of Manhattan to the steep cliffs of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison.
The rain dripping from the saturated sky in Appalachia to the rain evaporating before it hit the ground in Utah.
And the animals we saw: moose, grizzlies, deer, antelope, bison, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, cardinals, countless birds and butterflies, lizards, puffins, murres, gulls, and more.

Everywhere we ran into hard working. caring, kind, respectful people. While at times our views of the world, its problems and solutions, differed, it was clear that we all shared common goals.

This is a great land. It is a very different land than we see portrayed on CNN or Fox News. It is a good land. It has its problems, but it is a good land with good people.

We were fortunate to be able to see much of it up close and personal. While many cannot take the time to do it our way, I strongly recommend that it be pursued in pieces, It is eye-opening, rewarding, humbling, powerful, enlightening and inspiring. It creates tolerance in a time when all of the media tells us to think otherwise.

Thanks for joining us, and I hope that we have moved you at times. As for us, remain in awe.


And now for the credits and top places and photos:

Our gracious hosts:
Elissa and Jonathan Kappel; Diane and Frank Biondello; Brigitte LaPresto and Steve Anderson; and Lanette and Randy Doty.

Our house and pet caregivers:
Marissa, Greg, and Amy Chin; and Annabel, John, Tess, Emma and Jack Hurlburt

Our car (Box- star-babe), that never let us down is some very, very remote places.

Our Magellan GPS that only steered us wrong some of the time but found our way when we needed it most.
Our XM radio for the ability to find a variety of music that fit our mood and scenery.
The US Space program that made both of the above possible!


Top Lists:

Best hotels:
The Prince George. Hailfax, NS
Hyatt Regency, Phildelphia, PA
Many Glacier Hotel, Many Glacier, MT
Le Chateau Frontenac, Quebec City, QC

Best Inns and Cabins:
Gros Morne Cabins, Rocky Harbour, NL
Blue Jay Lodge, Placerville, CO
Auberge des San Soucy, Montreal, QC
Reflections Inn, Clearwater River near Kooskia, ID
Inn at Blackberry Creek, Walla Walla, WA
The Willows, Rossport, ON

Best meals:
Kansas City BBQ, Fiorela's Jack Stack BBQ, Overland Park, KS (OMG it was good!)
Lobster at Parlee Beach, NB
Halibut Stew at Pipa in Hailfax, NS
Chicken Skewers in the rain along the Clearwater River, ID
Sole along the Matapedia River, QC
Salmon and Turbot in Gros Morne, NL
Sushi at Akiyama, College Point, NY
Everything at Lot 30, Charlottetown, PEI
Philly Cheese Steak with everything on it (including the traditional Cheez Whiz) at Jim's Steaks, Philadelphia, PA
Sonic Burgers and Freezes
Just being at the restaurant at the Nevada Hotel, Ely, NV

Best drives:
Through northeastern California, seeing snow-capped Lassen and Shasta simultaneously
Along the Clearwater and Lachsa Rivers, ID
Along the north shore of Lake Superior, MN and ON
Through the Acadian Peninsula, NB
Around PEI
Onto and off any ferry!
Through Lancaster County, PA
Into the San Juans, CO
Across US 50 in UT and NV

Most inspiring places:
Glacier National Park, MT
The Lewis and Clark Trail, WA, ID, MT, ND, MO
Knife River Indian Villages, ND
Lake Itasca, headwaters of the Mississippi
The Basilica of Notre Dame, QC
Place Dufferin, overlooking the St. Lawrence, Quebec, QC
The Matapedia River, QC (fly fisherman and covered bridges)
Hiking to Green Gardens, Gros Morne National Park, NL
The Bay of Fundy, NB
The Fireworks over the Hudson River, NY
The vistas along Highway 50, UT and NV
Lake Tahoe, NV and CA
Seeing old friends after many years and having time and space melt away instantly

Best treats on the road:
McCabe's Famous Ice Cream, Cambridge , NB
Any cheese shop
Dry Apple cider wine, St. Lawrence Valley, QC

Best photos:

Day 39: The Road Home

Day 39

Miles 527 (11, 504)
Two Lanes 412 (8,341) 72.5%
Top Down 527 (9,488) 82.5%



The last day, but we were unwilling to make home the goal. The journey would remain the destination, so we had a full day starting with the working railroad in Ely, and ending with a beer and pizza at the Brewery at Lake Tahoe before we did the last and most familiar leg home. Kristin had driven home from Sacramento to greet us, and the doggies were waiting.

Stay tuned...one more blog, the Epilogue that summaries and reflects on our travels in these great lands we call America. It will be accompanied by the "Best of ...." lists and the Top Photos.



The Bristlecone Pine Motel



Ely Station, Nevada Northern Railway





Driving #40



Ten foot diameter classic western railroad rotary snow plow



Highway 50: The Lonliest Road



And it doesn't get lonelier than this!



And 50 is part of the first transcontinental highway, "The Lincoln Road". Started in 1991, it was not completed until 1923. It was a collection of country roads and tracks. 50 followed Fremont's trail of 1845.

When the road was completed, one of these concrete markers stood every 100 yards so people could find and follow. Look closely. In the top center was a medallion of the face of Lincoln. All but a few of these have been stolen over the years by treasure hunters.




The Pony Express went this way during its brief run from 1860-61. It lasted 18 months and was put out of business by the telegraph. 80 riders took turns from Missouri to San Francisco. The ads called for young wirey men who were good riders to do this daring but adventurous work. The ads concluded with "orphans preferred". They could move the mail west from the MIssissippi to the Bay in 2-3 days, cutting by 90 % the time it took to move mail.



Eureka, Nevada



Native petroglyphs: Hickison Pass. These represented requests for spiritual assistance with fertility or hunting.



The upside down "U" with the line in it is thought to represent the pregnant uterus




This represents animals for the hunt. There is evidence that these natives set up walls or fencing to funnel the animals through the pass to assist with the hunt. The Hickison site dates back to 10,000 BC.



The following petroglyphs are from the Grimes Point Area just east of Fallon, NV. This site was occupied between 5000 BC and 700 AD. It was along the shore of a large lake (Lake Lahontan) which slowly evaporated over the centuries.





The former lakebed is now the home of the Fallon Naval Air Station



I was struck by irony. Here next to where the natives used petroglyphs to call to the gods to help ensure a successful hunt, the navy jet fighters (look into the sky to the right) practice so they can be successful if called upon for a different kind of hunt.



Ah, Lake Tahoe.



"California here we come,
Right back where we started from,
Open up your golden gate,
California, here we come!"



Our greeting party.