Home

What a bittersweet moment!  We were home.

Here are some facts about the trip-

We started on Sunday, June 26, 2011 and finished on Thursday, August 18, 2011.  The whole trip took 52 days.  We went through 28 states plus DC, 2 countries, and stayed at 23 hotels and 3 campsites.

N and the kids were really happy to be home.  I was happy to be settled (living out of a car has its problems), but missed the excitement of the road.

I had now been to all 48 connected states in the USA, but it had been a decade where I hadn't left the country (well almost never), and I was ready to see more of the world.

School would soon start, and N and I had to start thinking about what we would do next.

I really enjoyed getting to see the country with my wife and kids, and I think the boys learned a lot about our nation that they never understood flying across it so quickly.  And we have this blog as a reminder of the moment by moment excitement of an adventure that I will remember for the rest of my life.  I don't know who will read this blog, but at the very least I suspect that Z and S will pass it on to their kids and grandchildren someday, and someday when they are old they can show the upcoming generations what a fun time we had on a journey to see as much as possible on a journey we took across our country.

Anderson's Pea Soup

We had one last lunch before returning.  Anderson's Pea Soup is sort of a route 5 staple.  Although it isn't as great as many of our Bay Area places, it shines above almost anything else on the SF-LA route.  I guess we have made it a sort of "must stop place" on this stretch.

The kids love getting themselves photo'ed in this sign.

Visions of California

We drove through the night, eager to get back to our home.  Basically, we didn't sleep from the last photo of the border to these beautiful daytime photos.

Unlike the second post of this blog, where I showed a lush photo of California as we left it, we drove in and up the desert.

California

We are home!  Well, sort of home.

OS Boot

I don't know why this amused me, but it did so you are going to see it, so there.

We stopped for gas (one last time, or something like that....  I guess everything is going to be one last time at this point but I can keep saying it).  One of the pumps was just a computer with an OS booting up.  Here it is.

I guess these thing need OSes also.

Beautiful Arizona

We headed west, only getting a few hours of sunlight on our last night on the road.

There are a lot of beautiful places in the country, but the Southwest is really one of my favorite for scenery.  Some of the prettiest views were just west of Prescott.

We had decided to get home this day, and had committed to driving through the night.

It was to be a long drive.