Afterglow

Benz: My motor didn't even get started either Monday or Tuesday. Of course, that's pretty usual for Mark who has never driven me around town very much but instead bicycles to work routinely. But the past month was so wonderful for me to be able cruise for hours on end. I was born for days like that! Our two longest days ended up being back to back; 715 miles one day then 785 miles the next day. Nine other days exceeded 400 miles. Only one day did we not actually advance forward on our route; that was when my humans weren't feeling well.
I know that some view me as being only a collection of steel, rubber, leather, and wood and that some say I'm only just a machine, or only car. But some of you understand that being real isn't easy to define or to understand. This trip meant so much to me and to Mark and Julie. And we all loved sharing the adventure with all of you who were interested. We've enjoyed having so many of you involved in all kinds of different ways and being a part of our adventure.

Mark: Monday and Tuesday have now come and gone following our return home on Sunday. It has felt really weird to be staying in one place rather than travelling. I love being home, but I also miss the adventure of the open road and the unknown discoveries of each day. Numerous people have asked if the trip was good. This was a fantastic journey! Julie and I keep talking and reminiscing about things that we saw and experienced. We had many hours together and loved travelling together. During the journey there were lots of decisions to make regarding where to stay, how far to continue each day, how late to sleep each morning, and where we would spend our precious time. We worked as a team to sort out priorities and figure things out. We also shared our deeper thoughts and emotions, some prompted by Benz and her connections to the past, and those are incredible precious memories for me.
Julie certainly shares my wanderlust. It was incredible to sample this country from sea to shining sea. I have a new sense of how large our nation is. Yet wherever we went we talked with people who have done long road trips to see the country. One family that we met at Yellowstone was on a quest to visit all 48 states, but over a span of several summers' road trips. This summer they visited 18 states, bringing along a cousin visiting from Germany. There is a widespread wish to spread wings and see parts of the country far from home. It seems to be a common outlook that, no matter where in the USA we call home, we all share the nation. We are all Americans who cherish this nation and its multitude of marvelous things.
This journey was challenging because of its pace. We knew that it would be but still we're amazed at how little sitting still we were able to do. (yes, we sat in the car seats a lot; but that's not sitting still!) For example, usually our coffee shop stops included Internet time to get things posted or articles written. We knew we needed to average around 400 miles per day to be home for the start of marching band camp, so we had to pay attention to pace and distance ahead. For me, who typically chooses to see fewer places but to immerse in those few, this was a different pattern of travel. But I cherish it for the adventure that it provided and the challenge that we met in making it happen.
Here are a few factoids that some of you have been interested to hear about. Benz told you above some distance statistics. Fuel: We spent $2,244.89 for 548.7 gallons of gasoline. Since we travelled 9,979 miles, that calculates to an overall 18.1 miles per gallon. I'm pleased with that, because I wasn't sure we'd get over 15 miles per gallon. The highest price we paid for fuel was $4.64 along I-5 in California. The lowest amount we paid was $3.78 in Springfield, MO. From Colorado to Minnesota we never paid under $4.00. In the East, prices were really scattered depending on the taxes in each state, so we paid over $4 sometimes but well under $4 other times. The highest price we saw anywhere was just outside Death Valley National Park where Regular gasoline was $5.91 per gallon. I talked with the station owner there, and they have virtually no mark up. Only one fuel transporter will even make a delivery to them because it's a four hour trip one way so it takes a driver a full day to make that one delivery. Julie and I discussed buying a gallon just for bragging rights, but chose not to! That station owner says that their price sign is the most photographed item at their Panamint Valley Resort.
Our lodging bill totals $1,086 for 26 overnights. Friends and family helped keep that total down (THANKS!), as did one night of camping.
One fascinating aspect of our trip was the number of Europeans that we interacted with. The Euro is its strongest ever, as is the Swiss franc, and Europeans are benefitting from their favorable exchange rate. Instead of travelling to Europe to practice my French, I just travelled the USA! I spoke French with travellers in Durango, at Death Valley, and at Yellowstone. The family at Death Valley was even from Strasbourg! I dabbled with German when we met a Swiss family at the Golden Gate Bridge. We gave a photo of Benz and ourselves to each of those families, with our blog address included, and we hope to hear back from them in the weeks ahead.