Day 15: Final Leg Home

Even though this is the last day of our trip, it doesn't feel as much like a vacation. That's because the only thing on the itinerary is to drive home. Still, it beats driving home from NY or even PA, which is just the way we designed it.

We slept in as late as we could and still manage to make check out. On the downside, we missed the complimentary breakfast. But thankfully there was a McDonalds just around the corner.

A quick side note about McDonald's all-day breakfast: as awesome as it is (the greatest thing since TiVo), the menu really varies from restaurant to restaurant. Some locations (like the one down the street from us) have multiple selections (including biscuits), where others just have a few items (mostly Egg McMuffins). So when we put up, I have to ask for first and second choice. And then we all get Egg McMuffins. Makes me appreciate my local McD even more.

We hit the road just after Noon and took 81 most of the way home. Luckily, traffic was pretty good. We had a few small traffic jams, but nothing major. The Virginia State Police were out in droves. I was constantly spotting them hiding in the trees. Unfortunately, they missed the most aggressive driver we saw all day. A guy in a black pickup was speeding, didn't slow down for a traffic jam, and almost hit a guy pulling a boat. We thought for sure he was going to impact. We were so close to the boat that I was worried that we'd get hit, too. He passed the boat in the emergency lane and then whipped it back into the road. We saw a State Trooper moments later, but was just far enough away that he missed the whole thing. Such a shame. I kept hoping for the next several miles that I'd see that guy get pulled over, but no such luck.

We keep ourselves entertained and relive the magic of the Big Apple ("the greatest city in the world"), we listened to the soundtracks of Hamilton (for which we couldn't get tickets, sadly) and Something Rotten! Interesting thing about the latter: two performers from the original cast (main character Nick and the Narrator) had moved on. Nick was originally played by Brian d'Arcy James (who we knew from Smash). But we actually liked the current Nick better. We'd never seen him before (his name is Rob McClure and apparently starred in the short-lived Chaplin), but he's edgier than his predecessor and really exuded the "mad at the world" quality the role requires.

Listening to Hamilton (which is really long, by the way, since the entire show is sung) really made me want to learn more about Alexander Hamilton (mission accomplished, Lin-Manuel Miranda). And since the show mostly takes place in NYC, it also made me wish that we had visited some of the historic locations while we were there. For example, Hamilton, his wife Eliza, and her sister Angelica, are all buried at Trinity Church, which we walked by a couple of times while we were in lower Manhattan.

We made it home just fine, though it finally started raining just before we got here. Got a little damp unloading the car, but still nothing like the deluge we had in NYC. Once we got the laundry sorted ( and started), we were able to settle in a bit. John and Katie had dropped off their dogs for the night while they went out of town. But that means we get to spend the day with them tomorrow before we have to go back to work on Monday.

Great ending to an awesome trip!

Day 16: 18 Days, 20 States, 28 Destinations

Today is the last and final leg. It feels a bit like we're on The Amazing Race, 

except that we're not racing anyone. We're all just ready to get home.

Got up this morning, loaded the car for the very last time (Madison learned the packing order early on and has been a big help there), and left the Gaylord.

Marsha tried to surprise us with a taste of home for breakfast, but the GPS took us to a Krispy Kreme warehouse instead of an actual store. That was a bummer. So, we went to Dunkin Donuts instead. That works, too, because even though Winston-Salem is the World HQ of Krispy Kreme, there are three times as many Dunkin Donuts here (six DD to two KK). Don't get me started on that. Don't get me wrong, though, either. I like DD and we certainly eat our fair share whenever we visit Boston.

We ran into road construction again (wouldn't be the last time, either) as soon as we left Nashville, but luckily it didn't slow us down any. Before long, though, we were in the Tennessee mountains, and from there throughout the rest of the trip it was all familiar territory. The Great Smoky Mountains look a lot like the Blue Ridge Mountains, especially since they're right next door to each other.

Somewhere along the way we encountered our very last time zone change, and for the very first time on the whole trip we knew it was coming and were actually prepared for it. At least we caught on eventually. Still never saw a sign for it, though.

Marsha spent yesterday and today calculating miles traveled, number of states and destinations (cities and National Parks) visited, and how much we spent on everything. Here is the official recap: 18 days, 20 states, 28 destinations, 4 time zones, and 6300 miles driven. AWESOME! 

Surprisingly, we also came in under budget. We were actually over budget in every category except food, which was the real shocker, as much as we love to eat. Either we just spent less than planned on food or she grossly over-estimated that one. I think the latter is probably true, even though for every expensive meal out like Mesa Grill or Lola, there were a lot of breakfasts at McDonalds and lunches of M&Ms and Fritos.

It's always interesting to see how fast food chains differ around the country. You only see In-and-Out Burger and Taco John's out west, and you don't even have to cross the Mississippi before Hardee's turns into Carl's Jr. You may find McDonalds from one side of the country to the other, but I actually think Dairy Queen (or DQ, as they're know now) has them beat on market penetration. In just about every tiny little town through which we passed, there may not have been a McDonalds, but there was always a DQ. Hence, we ate there a couple of times. 

The other thing that didn't go as anticipated was relaxing in the hotel at night. I took plenty to read, but spent all my free time on the blog. It was a bigger time commitment than expected, especially since I did most of the driving and could only write at night or in the morning. Definitely worth it though, to share our adventure and to be able to read back through it in the future.

Once we made it to Asheville it was home free all the way. We go to Asheville a lot, so I can drive that in my sleep (not that I would actually try it). After just a couple more hours on the road, we made it home with the chocolate intact and lots and lots and lots of laundry.

We picked up the mail, and started sorting it and the dirty clothes. Unfortunately, the downstairs AC wasn't working so the house was a little warm. Luckily, though, the upstairs unit was. We called our repairman and, thankfully, he told me how to get it working again until he can come over. It's a good thing we have two floors, or we'd be back in another hotel for the night. We still had take-out, though, so it will be another night before we have a home-cooked meal.

Tonight we get to sleep in our own beds again, get relaxed, get caught up on Food Network. And think back over the last two weeks as we travelled across America and back.

That was one incredible adventure!