After being back home for almost a month, we all agree, we had a great cross country trip together this summer! Not as many "grumpy bugs" were experienced by any of us as we all thought would occur. And none of us killed another one despite spending excessive hours together in a car and doing things outside of the car together!
As I mentioned in the very first post, this was an opportunity that just ended up making sense for our family to partake in the summer of 2017. We are fortunate that we felt we could step away in the manner we did, and not have it be detrimental to our family. It was a great opportunity to see a lot of the US, and to spend quality time with family and friends, as well as together!
Below are a few statistics on our trip, and also a few pics that may, or may not have made it into a previous post.
Stats
Over-under on Andy getting grumped up - 3.5 - I won the under with maybe 2!!! :-)
Days gone from home - 37
Temperature when we got home - 119!
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| Welcome home - 119!!! |
Total miles driven - 7700
Miles driven while traveling - 7208
Total hours driving - ~ 110-115
Miles Bish drove - ~ 225?
Max Speed - 96!!!!
Average speed - 59
# states visited on trip - 23
# states visited total
Andy - 49
Bish - 42
Darby - 32
Danica - 32
Days spent in each time zone
- Pacific - 1.5
- Mountain - 6.5
- Central - 6.5
- Eastern - 22.5
Different beers drank in 5 weeks - 94!!
Nights in a hotel - 9
Nights in a tent - 3
Nights in a tee pee - 1
Nights at the beach - 12
Nights staying with friends - 4
Nights staying with family - 7
Family members seen - Mary & Mike, Peter, Stephen, Ita, Mary Therese, Bev & Bob, Jen & Stan, Emily, Adam, Rachel & Cody & Presley, Mary Lane & Jim
Friends seen - Becky (Reiff) & Mike, John & Whitney, Mick & Kristin, Clover & Mark, Pat, Greg, Robin & Clay, Little brother DP, Kathy, Troy & Joy & Taylor & Jordan, Tim, Jon & Griffin, Clark
New tires - 4
Flat tires - 1
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| My weenie flat in Park City |
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| The Law! |
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| Notre Dame hair! |
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| Moose antlers in Yellowstone! |
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| Winter hat at Gander Mountain in Fargo! |
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| Hunting cap with lights at Gander Mountain! |
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| Breaded tenderloin mustache in Huntington, IN! |
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| Cowboy hats at Buc-ees in Texas! |
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| Feather masks in New Orleans! |
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| Bug armor at Insectarium in New Orleans! |
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| Hook em Horns in Austin! |
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| Danica Dinosaur chasing Darby in Theodore Roosevelt NP! |
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| Chili cheese dog with chef hat at The Varsity in Atlanta! |
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| Go Jankees at South of the Border in South Carolina! |
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| Mexican hat dance at South of teh border! |
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| The O'Donnell branch of the family in SLC! |
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| Leaving Grandma's house in Indiana. |
- Although I hate to admit it, there was a left over hippie I dealt with some in the construction management office of the VA while with the NCA. After each major project, he always asked for input and put together a document he referred to as "Lessons Learned" on that specific project. I initially found it to be kind of annoying, but have to say, in hindsight, I think it was a good idea to look back and reflect.
- In the words of Tom Cruise in Risky Business, "Sometimes you've got to say What the F!"
- Take advantage of the opportunities when they arise.
- It's always fun to see and spend quality time with old friends and family.
- Some people never change, so just try to accept who they are.
- You can't make everyone else happy, so make yourself happy.
- When riding in a car for extended periods with multiple people, try to avoid eating Mexican food and refried beans! :-)
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| All the bird crap in our driveway after getting home! |
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| What happens to your garden hose when you're gone for 5 weeks and the Bermuda is growing! |
If you ever have the opportunity to do something like we were able to do this summer, I would highly recommend it! Our friends, the Friends, who took a full 8-9 month sabbatical with their family a few years back told us to not be afraid to hit up your friends for places to stay, a shower, and laundry facilities! It was a lot of fun, and I hope we can do something similar on the West Coast in the future.
Thanks for reading!
