Be it ever so humble....

We have been home 10 days and today I removed the last of my belongings from the RV. I was surprised how much it hurt to do so. I looked around at the space that had been our home for 5 weeks and was so sad that it was over. All along I knew that although this was a trip of a lifetime, I was not hooked on RV'ing and would encourage Emily to sell it when we returned home. In so many ways it was the perfect way to see the country. Taking our "home" comforts with us had advantages. Queen sized bed with thermafoam topper, AC/ heat (used both), real refrigerator and freezer, stove, microwave, oven (though I never used it) along with my coffee pot and veggie steamer made it perfect.

We also had the best of camping with campfires, s'mores, grilled food, animals and sunsets and stars.

We saw tree farms with rows and rows of tall trees and wind farms with windmills so tall that one blade needed a super sized trailer to deliver it. (yes we saw that, too) From the highway I saw corn growing in every state, but had a hard time finding some fit to eat. Found out potatoes only grow in the narrow west strip of Idaho. Some of Idaho looks like the moon. Two crops never seen before were sugar beets and hops.

We touched the Mississippi at flood stage in St. Louis and walked in the headwaters in Minnesota where it was little more than a stream. Saw all the Great Lakes except Ontario and touched them.

There were places that were so dry nothing but creosote and mesquite would grow there and areas so wet there was moss growing on the trunks of trees all the way around! Saw tall snow capped mountains, painted canyons of the Badlands deserts and prairies and every terrain in between.

Everywhere we went we searched for a ripe tomato, found none until we got home. Finally got some sugar corn in Minnesota. Ate bison and elk, river trout and walleye and a lot of peanut butter.

Tried local beer and wine every chance we got. Amused to find Rolling Rock listed as an import at one restaurant. When buying beer in Wisconsin a clerk asked about Yuengling when he heard I was from PA. I laughed and said it was my "hometown favorite"

We did a lot, missed a lot, could probably find a month of things to do in each place we went. It was hard to leave each of them.

Some days, especially on the way home, I couldn't remember which state I slept in the night before. I know I touched the Pacific Ocean in Oregon and made it home. I know we laughed and had a blast. We survived, no, thrived, for 24/7 in 32 feet for over 5 weeks, 21 states, 8474 miles in the RV and 1800 in rental cars.... Trip of a lifetime... priceless.