Sept 9 day 38 OTR

Well, here we are in Bluffton, IN and our last night on the road.  We spent most of today doing some shopping.  Tomorrow night we will spend with a friend.  I thought this would be a good time to reflect on this whole journey, so here goes.

We are truly blessed to be able to travel the way we do. I know some of our friends think we are crazy for camping in a tent but I can't envision a road trip without a tent. You get to be outdoors, you sleep on your own mattress and sheets. What started as a cost saving measure in 1992 on our first cross country trip has become the way we do road trips.

We have met many Germans again on the trip – we always do. The older couple from Hamburg that shared the pool with us on a hot night in Needles; the younger family from the Ruhr that had rented a rather large motor home and would not be able to take it up or down the General's highway; the young man from Tuebingen who was an American Studies major and was hoping for a placement as an exchange student in Berkeley; the Czech photographer who was hoping to win the lottery so he could photograph the Wave. All these people, as well as others along the way – the Colorado professor who survived tongue cancer although his savings were wiped out (he had health care!) and who was doing an unofficial survey with all Canadians he met to see if we like our health care, the father taking his daughter camping who feared for his country, the group discussing “packing” handguns and which states had reciprocal laws to carry concealed.

All these and many more, the smiling faces of the KOA staff at every KOA for example, all these moments make the trip a journey. And you don't get any one of them by staying in a hotel or motel. You do have to contend with train whistles, noise from the highway and occasionally noisy campers like the extended Latino family who invited a Belgian student group to party with them on the Labour Day weekend. I wouldn't miss any of these interactions for the world. A friend of mine says that I can have a good time anywhere because I am not afraid to approach people. And she's right. It is the only way to enjoy the journey that the trip is all about.

Thanks everyone for staying tuned. It has been great fun, even if the internet connections were not always readily available or very fast. But, they were free, well except for coffee. I remember our first cross country trip in 1992 where I was happy to have one hour photo printing which allowed me to have our journey documented by the time we got home. Now my concern is internet connectivity and digital picture downloads so others can follow along in (almost) real time.

I have two more posts after this one. The first is a synopsis, by descriptive adjective, of our trip and the second one is a collection of statistics about the trip. Both may not be posted until Tuesday evening when we are home.

Our next big trip is not planned until September 2013. If you are subscribed to my blog you should get notification when I post again. And I will let you know via email when I will be posting.

Thanks everyone. As Otto always says “Life is good!” and yes, he has the t-shirt.