TRIP TRIVIA

The purpose of this trip was to take care of some business and visit friends and family in Washington, Idaho, South Dakota, take our motor home to the factory where it was built in Alabama for some warranty work that, (in my opinion, could only be done correctly there), and while we're at it, escape the oppressive summertime high desert heat.  We accomplished all of the above.

• From the time we left Las Vegas until we returned we were gone four months
• We touched on 19 States: Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Washington, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona
• We crossed five major rivers: Colorado Once, Columbia twice, Snake Twice, Mississippi twice, Missouri at least twice.
• We crossed the Continental Divide in Montana and New Mexico.
• We drove the motorhome 6,388 miles and the Jeep at least another 500 miles on side trips and errands and ended the lives of millions of bugs while at it.
• We used 872 gallons of diesel fuel for an average .36 cents per mile dragging our house with us.
• We visited the Corn Belt and the Bible Belt.
• We had the opportunity to dine on Catfish and passed.
• We learned more about the heat and humidity in the south than we really cared to.
• We rode out some impressive Thunder and Lightening storms but no Tornados.
• We laid my Dad's ashes to rest at a cemetery in Bellingham, WA and mourned the loss of an fellow sailor and friend.
• We visited the only cemetery in the world dedicated to coon dogs and celebrated our 46th anniversary in Tupelo, Mississippi before visiting the birthplace of Elvis Presley in a part of the country where it is not unusual to see a Confederate Flag proudly hanging on the front porch.
• We suffered only one mechanical break down but because of fortunate timing and great service from Cummins Northwest we were only delayed about one hour from our planned schedule.
• We visited Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, the South Dakota Badlands for the first time, Capitol Reef National Park for the second time and the Grand Canyon for the fourth time.

We had a great time and we are still speaking to each other.  The coach performed wonderfully but it was a very long drive and we are happy to be back in the "dry heat" of Las Vegas where it is still in the triple digits.  We are looking forward to a fall and winter where we don't need to "raise the jacks and bring in the slides" for a while.