After leaving Colorado, we spent our longest day on the road driving across Kansas and into Missouri--probably our least favorite part of the entire trip. We didn't take a single picture in Kansas. Wherever the beautiful parts of Kansas are, they are not on I-70. Our impression of the state was not helped by the 105 degree heat wave we drove through. In Missouri, we stopped in St. Louis so Alex could add another Hard Rock Cafe t-shirt to his collection. Then we made camp in Nashville where Alex scored yet another t-shirt, and we had a great breakfast at the Pancake Pantry the next morning before heading home. We had been in St. Louis on our previous "trial RV trip" last November, and had visited Nashville twice before for tours of Vanderbilt University. We like Nashville and the drive from there through the pretty hills of Chatanooga on the way home. We arrived back in Columbus in the mid afternoon to a wonderful welcome sign on our door put up by our neighbors, the Hastys. We spent the rest of the day and evening unpacking and cleaning the RV. The following day, I returned the RV to the rental company in Tuscaloosa--another four hours of driving.
We wound up being on the road for 47 days . . . just shy of 7 weeks. During this time, we visited 19 states outside of Georgia, 10 major cities, and 11 national parks. We travelled 9,749 miles in the RV and also rode on a bus, train, taxi, cable car, horse, ferry boat, house boat, raft, bicycle, ATV, cable gondola, and a borrowed SUV.
It was great family time, and a wonderful opportunity to see so much of the country that we had never experienced. Every day, it seemed, was jam-packed with activities. It was not a "restful" vacation, but resting was not what we had set out to do. We had a couple of close calls--especially with Kirk. But other than a sore wrist, he and everyone else made it home safe and sound with a lifetime's worth of memories.
George 7/22/2011
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