Pam and I are now back at home facing a mountain of mail to sort through. Peanut (our cat) and Pam have made up for the separation period and things are getting back to normal.

Here are the stats for the trip….

Total miles traveled: 12,681 miles
Total days on the road: 100 days

Due to the decision to pull the jeep home, we modified our travels on the return leg to arrive home on a more direct route, cutting out nearly 1,000 miles and a few weeks off the original plan. We’ll have to do another travel route to cover the southern US that we missed.

Total number of campsites: 52

35 of these were in National or State Park campsites, which I can say were very enjoyable and a lot less crowded (and less expensive) than the private campgrounds we passed along the way. We did stay at 4 private campgrounds, where the density of folks was greater in these locations. We also stayed with 9 different friends and family along the way, but typically slept in our Roamer since the inside is really comfortable. We only camped 2 nights in the wilderness, driven mostly by our inability to get to a good clearing because of the local tree density along the off-roads we traveled and the lack of local knowledge of good off-road sites. We also spent 2 nights on highway rest areas that were surprisingly restful. Not sure I would stay in a Walmart parking lot yet, but you never know.

We camped in 19 different states and 4 Canadian provinces. Maine and Colorado lead the way with 5 sites each, followed by Montana, South Dakota, Michigan and New York with 4 sites.

Total number of National Parks or National Monuments visited: 25

Total number of micro-breweries visited: 5

The sticker collection in the storage box will give you an idea of the places we visited. Pam’s favorite beer is still Tempe-based Four Peaks Kiltlifter. However, we both enjoyed the Atlantic Blueberry Ale in Maine. I still hold Denver’s Breckenridge Vanilla Porter as the beer for most occasions.

What’s next?

Our future trips are now taking shape, but will include:
1) Death Valley off-road adventures this winter
2) Southern Arizona and New Mexico trek this winter / spring
3) West coast trek up through the redwoods and sand dunes
4) Southern US route to cover the places we missed this trip
5) Alaska and western Canada this summer
6) Newfoundland and Labrador
7) Baja and Yucatan Peninsulas in Mexico

That should keep up busy of the next few years. Tomorrow is sorting the mountain of mail and taking care of household things. Monday, Taylor and I will start working on the ’46 Willy’s to get it street legal.

What a great trip. Stay tuned…….