home sweet home

The Journey by the numbers…
52 days
7617 miles
24 states plus Ontario

We traveled with six suitcases, two tote bags and two briefcases.
What we packed and did not use...
Beach towels 
Bike helmets
Picnic blanket
Scrabble
Camp chairs – just once and not really needed then
Checkbook
 

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What we neglected to pack...
Laura: Warm clothes (thank you Amazon and Target)
Ed: EpiPens (thank you Cathy)
Sweat pants

​We saw 14 family members and 10 friends...
and met 6 new dogs.
 
We stayed at hotels, motels, cabins, inns, B&Bs, an Airbnb, and friends’ guest rooms. 
 
The only meals we prepared were sandwiches for lunch on the trail.
We drank more beer than wine and almost completely eliminated our daily consumption of seltzer.
Best meals: New Orleans 
Worst meals: some of the free hotel breakfasts
We get on the scale tomorrow! And Ed gets his hair cut.

We acquired one new work of art in Marfa, seven T shirts and five spoon rests.

​We kept up our puzzle habits (Laura may have even spent more time in the quest for Queen Bee) but consumed far less news. Libby and Hoopla kept us supplied with ebooks and audio books. Netflix filled several evenings, but fewer than we’d have guessed.

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We began our day in Seneca Falls at the Women's Rights National Historical Park, where we had mixed emotions about progress and backsliding.

Some advice about a road trip. Support your favorite museum with a membership at a high enough level to get NARM reciprocal privileges. Ditto an American Horticultural Society member garden if that's your thing. Get a National Park pass when you turn 62. It’s so easy to make the decision to explore new places when you don't have to think about the cost!