Chapter Forty-Eight
Home Sweet (and Foggy) Home
June 2, 2009—Gold Hill to Home: We had an uneventful final day of driving, and when we encountered the coastal fog we knew we were almost home.
It felt great to pull into our garage after our big circle of driving around the western U.S.
What did we learn from the trip? Wait a second, we were supposed learn things? Nobody told me that. I think it’s enough that we made it there and back, didn’t leave the oven on, and didn’t spend five days stuck in the bottom of a raven. Also, how many couples can be within a few feet of one another 24/7 for over a month and not end up as a crime statistic?
But let’s see, what did we learn? Put a blanket under the airbed. Carry a spare credit card. Buy a roof rack for the bikes. Don’t chew crunchy apples near national monuments. I guess the short answer is that we didn’t learn much, but we had a great time. We’ve been on a few similar trips since (in Idaho, Oregon, and Utah), and if you’re lucky, I won’t write any books about them.
One of my reviewers read the first draft of this book, and said, “But Al, where is the romance?” So I called out to Lena, who was in the other room knitting, “Did we have romance on the St. Louis trip?” and she said, “Yes, about ten times.” So now you know that (TMI?).
How many miles did we travel? How much weight did we gain? How much money did we spend?
Find out all these things in the next and final chapter.