Feeling a bit blue about no longer being on the road, I was searching for a quick fix of inspiration and came across this quote:

“Never make your home in a place. Make a home for yourself inside your own head. You’ll find what you need to furnish it – memory, friends you can trust, love of learning, and other such things. That way it will go with you wherever you journey.” ~ Tad Williams

I think I have read it about 18 23 times already, and I’m sure there are more readings to come.  Read each word and take it in, it’s a lovely place to go in your head for those of us who love to wander; especially for those such as myself who never quite seem ready to settle back into “normal” life again.

Home Again

We are in fact home again.  We drove something like 8,000 +/- miles through 16 states, (we had to do some backtracking due to weather) stayed at 25 hotels and ate ourselves silly across this vast country.  We visited numerous National Parks and we only forget 1 time that we had a lifetime pass with us.  Duh!  We had to have the car tires rotated and the oil changed while in Washington, D.C. and for good measure it was time to replace the brake pads as well.  Hazel the Honda Hybrid did herself proud!

Hazel at Arches National Park

Polar Vortex

We managed to be on the road during a polar vortex.  Ha!  How many people can say that?  It should be noted though that we never once had to put on chains nor did the weather delay us.  We managed to either stay in front of, or follow behind, the worst of the weather.

It wasn’t all gray and cold though, we definitely saw the sun and embraced its warmth at every opportunity.

Under the Tucson sun

But hey, we were traveling in the middle of winter after all, one just doesn’t expect to find ice fountains in Charleston; quite truthfully the locals didn’t know what to do with themselves!  One of the hotel clerks said to us, “I hope it doesn’t snow because we don’t do snow, we can’t drive in it!”  It was actually pretty funny as she pleaded to Mother Nature to keep the snow to herself.

Frozen fountain in Charleston, SC – so typifies the cold and one of my favorite photos from the trip

Two Months on the Road

We returned home just two days shy of two full months on the road.  Two months!  We were a bit ahead of schedule because a storm front moved into Moab, UT while we were there.  We were lucky enough to visit Arches National Park with just a beautiful dusting of snow flurries, but the next day we hit the road and skedaddled outta there!

Driving across Utah

We’ve never been gone – from anywhere – for two months but I gotta tell ya it was epic!  The places, the people, the sites, the time on the road, the quiet comfort of driving in silence and getting lost in one’s thoughts. Being on the road offers so much if you open your mind to the possibilities.

I have a boat car load of stories to share with you and more photos than you can imagine.  I think between the two of us, probably 1,000 photos were taken.  I’m just trying to decide if I should tell our stories from the end, and work my way back to the beginning, or start at the beginning and work my way to the end.  What do you think?

And the sunsets – the glorious sunsets

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