Reflections on a Road Trip

We've been back for a week, but a week in real life has so much more going on. It has given some time to reflect on the summer and look back over things. Overall, this was an amazing summer and fantastic trip. We had a ton of fun, saw SO many people, got to do really cool stuff (paragliding, mystery houses, big cities, and national parks), and spend an incredible amount of time together.

Other than when Mitch was flying, we were together 24/7 for a total of 42 days. Thats a lot of time. And a lot of bad jokes. We laughed, I cried (mostly when my back hurt really badly), we listened to music and podcasts, we had deep conversations, and read a lot of Laffy Taffy jokes. And I couldn't have asked for a better person to do it with. I think Mitch is truly the only person I can spend that much time with and not want to murder at some point. There were a few tense moments, but they were rare and typically centered on traffic and scheduling. Mushy alert: I departed on this trip totally in love with this guy, and I returned even more in love with him.

On another note, here are a few things I learned along the way:

-We didn't camp as much as anticipated because setting up camp takes a long time and its so much quicker to find a cheap motel
- Packing for 6 weeks is hard. I over packed. I did not get invited to tea with the queen, or any other dignitaries for that matter, so packing more than one "nice" outfit was unnecessary.
- Leggings are the best. Ok, I already knew this, but it bears repeating.
- Traffic sucks and is impossible to predict when you're 400 miles away.
- Weather is also tricky when you plan to traverse the majority of the country.
- I overestimate how cold I'll get. I would have been fine with one warm thing and layers. But I fear the cold!
- Car snacks are imperative; hanger is real.
- Fast food is just that- fast. And trying to shop and pack a cooler is way more hassle.
- Friends and family are awesome to visit, but I think for our next trip we'll go it alone.
- We are both incredibly lucky to have so many people who love us enough to let us crash on their couches and spare rooms (hooray for friends with guest rooms!), feed us, let us wash our clothes, entertain us (some of you need to work on your juggling, but we'll let it go this time), and just take time out of their lives to spend some of it with us. So thank you to every!!

No trip would be complete without a "By The Numbers", right?

So here it is:

42 Days on the road
8,290 Miles Driven
267 Hours spent driving
39.5 MPG averaged (thanks Hybrid!)
99 Friends and family members seen
29 Pets, belonging to those friends and family
5 Nights Spent camping
7 Nights spent in hotels (2 in Canada, 1 in Oregon, 1 in Idaho, 1 in Wyoming, 2 in Wisconsin)
3 Hotel nights that were unplanned (not bad!)
14 States visited
3 More states driven though
5 National Parks
4 Time Zones
2 Countries (Hey, Canada!- our first trip together abroad)
3 Roadkills (1 more if a swarm of locusts counts)
2 People who still love each other!

 

Day 1 vs Day 42