Lincoln, California, October 16, 2009

We’re Home!!!

We woke up Friday morning to a cool 45 degrees in Mammoth Lakes, CA. I wanted to go see Devil’s Post pile so we packed up Bart and headed out. We got to the Mammoth Lakes Ski Resort where there were millions of annoying kids with skis and snowboards parking, walking and milling about. Bc and I wondered if they weren’t supposed to be in school! Harrumph! We are getting old! In any case, you can’t get to Devil’s Post pile as the road is closed due to snow. Sure wish we’d known that before we drove up there. Oh well.





However, the Devils’ Post pile jaunt provided us with a nice scenic shortcut back to Hwy 395 to Yosemite. We drove through Yosemite and once again, the sights are so beautiful that we made a smilebox for you. At one point in Yosemite the elevation was over 9500 feet. The weather was perfect, we had Andrea Bocelli serenading us on the IPod and we had each other. Nice. (see the Yosemite pictures in the smilebox below)







We drove all the way through Yosemite coming out the west side. We drove Hwy 120 going through Buck Meadows, Groveland, Chinese Camp and Copperopolis. We took Hwy 4 to Hwy 49, through the old gold rush towns of Angel’s Camp, San Andreas, Mokelumne Hill, Jackson, Sutter Creek and Dry Town.





Here’s a picture of downtown Sacramento going west on Hwy 50. Welcome(?) home!



We arrived home at 5:10pm having driven 8,530 miles in 40 days. Wow! What an adventure! We unloaded Bart,



sat in our comfy chairs, had a drink and marveled at what we had seen, where we had been and all the wonderful people we had visited with. We are truly blessed to have friends and family who made our trip a lifetime adventure. Thank you to all of you who put us up and put up with us! We love you and will cherish the memories. And, amazingly enough we are still friends, lovers and soul mates.



“You're still the one that makes me laugh
Still the one that's my better half
We're still having fun, and you're still the one

You're still the one that makes me strong
Still the one I want to take along
We're still having fun, and you're still the one

Changing, our love is going gold
Even though we grow old, it grows new”

Orleans

Here’s the finalized travel quilt. Thank you to everyone for your signatures, notes and wishes to complete our trip memories.



Here are a few end-of-travels thoughts:

• Cruise control is awesome except when hydroplaning through a Texas rainstorm.

• Bugs must be removed from Bart via hand waxing.

• All high speed Internet is NOT created equal.

• Not all “queen” sized beds are…..

• We wish we had purchased a year pass for the National Parks system.

• You can’t see everything you want in 6 weeks.

• Most Americans don’t pay attention to Hollywood or Washington DC. They are just living, loving and getting through each day with their loved ones just like us.

• Most of the United States is unpopulated which may account in some way for its beauty.

• BC: “but not again by driving a motor vehicle.” Fly and drive is nice.

• Natural resources abound, as do corn and soybeans.

• There is great poverty in much of the rural US yet the people still smile and get by, day to day, somehow...

• We saw large numbers of people who will never be able to afford health insurance…..I don’t have a good solution for them. BC

• If you ever think the problems of this country and our population are out of control and insurmountable, get out a take a drive for a few weeks and realize the strength of our nation and resources and be grateful for all those who support and defend its freedom.

• We thank you for joining us. We looked forward to your comments on our blog and you made our trip that much more fun!

• We have seen a great part of “AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL” and may God bless her!

Take care and Thank you!!! Bc and Gc.

Foot(e)note: On a somewhat sad note, we did not find the Big Ball of Yarn and are beginning to suspect it may be co-located with the Sasquatch and winning lottery ticket for which millions have similarly searched and none have found.