The Last Song

This will be my last blog on this Independence Tour. I may write some of my thoughts from time to time in the future and will post like I have been doing.  I will at bare minimum blog my next trips (Cuba-Dec, Argentina-Feb, Greece-June).  I hope you all enjoyed it and I loved the feedback I heard.

Out trip seems to have come to an abrupt end as we pull into Harrisonburg Walmart at 11 PM.  It is bitter sweet because we are excited to go home and see our kids and 30 of our closest family members for 5 long days living in our house next week (lol or crying out loud) but have also found that we can and will do this RV thing again.  We already want to plan our next trip but with the following guidelines.

200 miles per day, 2 night minimum stay and get to the campground by 2pm.  We learned this from some of our RV friends.  Remember Jen's friend she met in blog 22?  Neither does she!  

I guess our last night would not be fitting if it wasn't parked in a Walmart in the town where we started, Harrisonburg.  The only thing that didn't work out was going to dinner with Abby because she had a test and had to go to bed early and we did not get here until late.  She did ask if they could go to dinner without us to Outback on us (just kidding).   The best part is how comfortable we are in the parking lot, actually sleeping in until 9 am with our slides out and cars now parked all around us.  Not that we are now in a rush, we are making our breakfast before we leave for home.    

Shout out to Jake for selling a 28 Chris Craft and collecting the money (thats when we count it sold, after receiving all the money!),

The time change really f us up.  It was great heading west because the surprise of having an extra hour was fantastic.  Coming home it was again a surprise and really screwed us up.   We will be glad to be back on the Atlantic Side of the world in good old EST.  A lot of people ask us why we have to get back so soon and our response isn't, well we have 30 family members and our kids coming to stay with us for thanksgiving, or we have to get back to work but we have to be back by Tuesday to let Zulady in to clean the house for the 4th time since we were away.  I may see if she can clean the rv instead.  

By the way, we really liked Tennessee, especially Nashville.  The people were really nice and it was fun.  We are going to list the places we want to come back to.  

Trip Summary

• 
  
• Days gone 37
• Traveled 8700 Miles
• Percentage of driving-John 75% Jen 25%
• Days without Hot Water-14
• Days smoke alarm went off while Jen cooked breakfast in morning (even with warning from me) -Everyday
• Soda Spills-14 (that I know about)
• Days we hiked or walked at least 5 miles-Everyday less 3
• Dog fights-6
• Days without headlights-14
• Days I had to pick up Arky and all the things Jen left on her nightstand like we were in a stable house-Everyday
• Number of bikes we brought with us-2
• Number of bikes we brought home-1
• Number of times we rode bikes-0
• Days something broke on the RV-22
• Days we had arguments 7
• Days I received a D or worse Grade 1
• Times Zulady cleaned our house when no one was there-3
• Beers drank-a lot
• Soda drank-more
• Jens Favorite part--Tahoe to Arches
• Johns Favorite Place-NAPA hands down
• Weirdest place-Salt LakA City
• Days it rained during the day- ZERO
• Days it rained or sprinkled at night-2
• Days below 30 degrees-2
• Highest elevation-8500 (hike)
• Most expensive Campground-$110
• Least expensive Campground besides Walmart-$20
• Gallons of Diesel bought-A lot
• Number of times Jen tried to sneak a summer sausage heel to me-4
• Number of times I kicked the water or food bowl and spilled all over camper-5
• Soda left in arsenal-8 12 packs
• Days my toe nails look FABULOUS -37

So a lot of times, Jen and I finish each others sentences.  It is weird but happens a lot.  For example, yesterday Jen said, "The first thing I am going to do when I get home is..."  she said-go to work, I said take a bath.  This time we were not on the same page but most of the time we are.  

Anyway, I hope our last leg home will be uneventful and traffic free and I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving.   Since my accident with Julian in August and Arky Passing away, I have decided life is too short and no one can know when things will happen.  We are going to live the rest of our life with this in mind and enjoy the ride as long as we can.  I hope everyone I know will adopt the same plan.  In the words of one of my favorite singers,"There's always gonna be another mountain...I'm always gonna want to make it move....always gonna be an uphill battle... sometimes I'm gonna have to lose...Ain't about how fast I get there..Ain't about whats waiting on the other side... 

IT"S the Climb.....