An Epilogue: The World Awaits

Unexpected, unlikely events like walking barefoot on a beach on Thanksgiving Day or seeing orchids on a raw afternoon in February, marked our serendipitous journey. Every day was different, unusual, special. All 33 states offered beautiful places, friendly people, interesting activities.

Our travels covered 25,228 miles in 165 days, an average of 153 miles a day in a huge circle around the United States.

The vehicle, our 16-year old Little Red Saturn, turned over 104,000 miles before we got home.

We planned ahead and stayed impromptu. We arranged visits with friends and improvised. The National Parks Golden Age pass was our admission ticket and rangers, our friends. We visited people we had not seen in 40 years and kept in touch with family daily, thanks to email and blogging on a laptop and texting and calling on a cell phone. We felt that age-old exploring spirit and utilized that modern technology.

We spent an average of $95.27 a day for a total of 165 days. That average included all costs: food, motels, gasoline, oil changes. souvenirs, supplies, admissions and treats.
In addition, we saved more than $530 in admission fees by clipping coupons, using the National Parks Golden Age pass and doing some careful planning.

Do we have regrets? The four days of rain.

Would we do it again? In a heartbeat.

The world awaits. And we are ready to go.