Home Sweet Home

We made it home last night at about 10pm.

We woke up on Saturday morning and said goodbye to the family that was headed east to their home.  We puttered around, enjoying the company of Tresa's cousin and her family.  Some went for a walk. I got a much needed haircut.  By noon, we were ready to go, so we headed for home.

It is a beautiful drive over the Rocky Mountains on I70 out of Denver.  There was some sort of bike race going up and down the mountain, so the roads were packed and slow until we got to the west side.  Then we had smooth sailing the rest of the way home.

It was a great trip.  All goals achieved.  Lots of good memories.  Many places visited.  More family hugged.  Both halves of the trip were great.  The first half was mostly places and things and was fun in its own way.  The second half of the trip was all about reconnecting with family and we had great visits at every stop.  The drive, while nuts long, was handled well.  We had a good daily devotional in the car and had fun being together - even if we didn't do enough singing!

I will be touching the blog over the next weeks, updating with more details and more pictures.


Final Stats:

6243.8 miles traveled.
425.3 gallons of gas purchased (the final 147.7 miles home is unaccounted for in this total.)
$3.62 average price per gallon with $4.159 in Queens as the max and $3.219 in Yukon, OK as the min.
$1538.62 spent on gas total (again missing the final 147.7 miles to home.)

Mountains!

As we approached Denver this evening, we could see the mountains emerge from under the thunder clouds.  It was soon comforting to see mountains again.  They are a sign of home.

We got on the road at 9:30 this morning and headed for Denver.  We took a over the river and through the woods route, hoping to meet Tresa's cousin who was traveling in the reverse direction.  We met up in Lamar, CO and had early dinner together.  We had a fun time catching up with Johnna, Mario and their kids in a Pizza Hut.  After that break, we continued on to Denver.  We encountered more thunder storms on our way into the Denver area, but really minor compared to what we had seen up to this point.

Tonight we are enjoying the hospitality of another of Tresa's cousins, Robin.  Tresa's aunt and uncle are here also.  We were glad to be out of the car.



615.5 miles traveled today
14.5 MPG
$3.599 per gallon

North by Northwest

We took a serious step in the North direction today  We started at my sister's house, playing games and enjoying the cousins.  At lunchtime, we broke away and headed for the Dallas area.  There we stopped at Meredith's home.  He is a friend of Tresa from high school.  Two other high school friends joined us there as well as Jimmy Dowell and his family.  We had a dinner and played in the pool and generally enjoyed being together and reconnecting.

Then it was in the car to get a start on the trip to Denver.  We made it to Yukon, OK.

516.6 miles traveled
13.48 MPG
$3.219 per gallon.

Everything is Bigger in Texas

It was off to Texas today.  We enjoyed the drive through Mississippi and Louisiana and Texas today.  Near Baton Rouge, we encountered thunder storms.  We spent about 30 minutes in heavy rain.  We would have been more impressed by the storm, but after that Day One storm in Nebraska, this wasn't as impressive.

When we crossed the border into Texas, the sign said "El Paso, 895 miles."  Even with our adventures, that seemed like a long way and we hadn't yet encountered a state that we couldn't get across in one day.

In any case, we made it to my sisters house in Houston.  There we were warmly (and noisily) welcomed.  They fed us our favorite food that they had introduced us to years ago:  Sloopies.  They are a tostada like meal that has Bean and Bacon soup mixed with sausage as the base.  It is really tasty.  We had great visit and left three of the kids to spend the night, while the rest of us retreated to a hotel.  We will be back in the morning for more fun and visiting.

435 miles
$3.49 per gallon.

Mississippi Cousins and Beach

The first half of the trip of full of places and things.  The final half is full of family and today was another great family day.  But first, we drove 466 miles to get to Gulf Port, MS.

We arrived the Biancamano's in the late afternoon.  They have a daughter that is Heather's friend, so we are staying with them.  We went to the Christine and Leo Labat home in Long Beach, MS for dinner.  Much of the local extend family join us for dinner - it was a great time.

Then we went to the beach.  The locals had been apologetic about their beach, but we thought it was great.  It had sand and water and gulls and a breeze and volleyball nets and a snowball shak - everything you need at a beach.  We enjoyed walking on the beach and collecting hermit crabs and playing volleyball.

It was a great day.

484.6 miles today.
13.775 MPG
$3.499 per gallon.

Heading West

We wrapped up our visit at the Virginia Hamsons this morning.  We really enjoyed our time in Virginia.  We hit the road and headed west.  It was a very green drive through Virginia and into Tennessee.  We are in a hotel tonight in Chattanooga and are resting up for tomorrow.  It was a fairly long drive today, we were traveling quite comfortably - but are always glad to get out of the van!

532.6 miles traveled
13.4 MPG
$3.439 per gallon

A Day Afloat

Today was a restful day.  We got up leisurely at 10am and had a great breakfast with the two families.  We then packed a lunch and drinks in a big cooler and headed for the James River.  We rented inner tubes and floated a four mile stretch of the river.  It is a broad, slow, shallow river and we enjoyed the time to talk and play and be together.

Later we had dinner and dessert and enjoyed a quiet evening with family.  It was a nice, slow day.

About 120 miles today.