Day 81, Gee but it's Great to Be Back Home

Home again!


Luckily, Mother Nature saved the most exciting day of driving for the last. The forecast was for gusty winds. When we left Visalia, it was already 20 mph with the forecast reaching 26 mph. The SUV and pod were a bit shaky and so was I. I was willing to spend another night and wait for the winds to die down. A lot of where we drove is very dry and the winds were blowing dust, sometimes making it difficult to see. but Denis was ready to be home and although he spent a lot of energy driving, he never felt unsafe. And, bottom line, we made it safely.


We did see some interesting things along the way. Did you know one of the crops in California is cotton? While California is only the ninth-largest producer of cotton in the United States, it employs 25,000 people in the state. 


Aside from being a major agricultural region, 

the San Joaquin Valley is also the area where the bullet train tracks are under construction (I wasn't quick enough to get a photo). The goal is to connect Anaheim and LA with San Francisco via the Central Valley. When it is complete, it will take just under 3 hours to make the journey at speeds up to 220 mph. Unfortunately, as many Californians know, it is plagued with cost overruns. It is currently scheduled to be completed in 2033.


We are home and looking forward to reconnecting with friends and family. I am especially looking forward to seeing Olivia again. A neighbor kindly left us a rotisserie chicken and asparagus for dinner. That was so much appreciated since I have not yet finished putting everything from the pod back in its at-home place nor have I finished all the laundry.

In the end, we drove nearly 12,000 miles (this link shows the name of the place and the location of each stop). We moved fairly frequently so we felt we were definitely more travelers than campers. 


Our biggest expense, thanks to the many nights we spent with family and friends, ended up being gas. Thanks to my well-stocked pantry (including 4 types of pasta - now that's Italian), we prepared most of our own meals, things might have been different if it wasn't Covid-times, and bought nearly no souvenirs, so managed to keep our expenses down. We did splurge on a tour guide in Yellowstone. We felt it was money well spent since we got to see so many different kinds of animals. If you are thinking about planning a cross-country trip, I'd be happy to share more details with you.

Thanks to everyone who let us visit with them. Denis and I agreed that was the highlight of the trip. Thanks to all the people who offered us help to get comfortable with RV'ing. We benefited from your experience. Thank you to all the people who shared their trips with us and gave us ideas of where to go and what to do. We had some amazing experiences as a result. And, thank you to everyone who read the blog. While I have kept a travel journal, it was fun adding photos and sharing our trip with you.


Comments

  1. TonyOctober 12, 2021 at 8:02 AM

    Welcome back! Hope to see you soon!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mary Fran LynchOctober 13, 2021 at 5:21 PM

      Thanks. And thanks for the comments along the way.

      Delete
  2. PeterOctober 12, 2021 at 3:27 PM

    Thanks for the daily updates. I’m going to miss them. I’m looking forward to your next epic adventure!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mary Fran LynchOctober 13, 2021 at 5:22 PM

      Thanks for following our trip and for hosting us. We really enjoyed our visit.

      Delete

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