Day 23: HOME

Sunday, June 29

Fast Facts
Starting: Florida
Ending: Florida (HOME!!)
Today's Mileage/Total Mileage: 298 mi /5378 mi

As we coasted towards home, I began mulling over all the things I'd learned on this trip:

* I always knew there was a McDonalds in every town. What I did not realize was that Pizza Hut has similar ambitions - they were everywhere!

* Cooking outside in major heat just plain stinks! We were really good about eating the food we'd packed for breakfast & lunch, but there were only a few places that we even wanted to cook dinner. So yes, we did eat at a few of those Pizza Huts.

Continuing in the cooking vein...
* Spaghetti with honey on it is actually pretty tasty.
* Since the kids are big milk drinkers & we did pack cereal, I thought dry milk was the way to go. Except, the kids wouldn't drink it. However, dry milk + Nesquik = 'chocolate milk', and they couldn't get enough!

Moving on...

* Surprisingly, for the first two weeks of the trip, it was rather chilly at night! We really didn't expect that - temperatures regularly fell as low as 50F (10C). It did make me sad that I had forgotten to pack my pajama pants!! (never, NEVER get distracted while packing your own suitcase!)

* We figured we'd run into quite a few people who were regular campers, and sure enough we did. What we hadn't expected was how many of them were heavy smokers! It just didn't seem to fit with the great outdoors.

* That whole debate between dry heat & wet heat? Pure, unadulterated trash. Yes, the West has a dry heat. It is no less hot than the humidity over here in the East. Over there, it feels like you've just walked into an oven. It's HOT.

* I really CAN drive in the mountains. I was terrified, and I slept really well those nights, but we survived!

* We did spend a lot of time in the car. And no, the kids were not perfect angels the entire time. However, one of the funniest 'games' we played did not even start that way.
Bug: Mommy, I want to get out!
Jaime: (having heard this far too many times in the last 5 minutes): Okay, get out!
Bug: (staring at the back of my seat like lobsters are crawling out of my ears
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Repeat whenever the road gets rough. He & Bird would even say it to each other.

In the end, I'm glad we took this trip. We saw all kinds of new things, met some old friends and have a bazillion pictures to remind us of it all when we're old & senile.