Trip Trivia:

Total car miles: 6636
Average MPG 24.4
Total states visited: 13 (Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, Plus the 5 1st time states below)
Total states visited for first time: 5 (N. Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon)
Number of days in Montana: 10
Total states visited on all trips: 50
Total countries visited this trip: 4
Total air miles: 10000+
Total river miles: Unknown
Total locks on river passed thru: 6
Total passengers on boat: 171 Plus 150 crew
Total days on Viking boat: 6
Total days in China: 14
Total number of Chinese seen: Countless
Total Chinese Pregnant Women seen:1
Total vehicles seen: Countless
Total pickups seen: 1
Total days for the whole trip: 43
Number in our China bus group: Daniel plus 33 of us. A very good group with many that made the
experience even more enjoyable and we hope we can keep in contact with.
Total National Parks visited: 6 (Theodore Roosevelt, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Glacier, Mt. Rainier, Rocky Mountain)
Total National Forests visited: Unknown, but more than days in National Parks
Total Weight gain: Not telling, but the last segment from Seattle to home was the
problem because of very little exercise
Number of memories: Countless & very memorable!!

September 24, 2010 – Day 43 (271 Miles).
Today we made home. We unpacked. Jan did laundry, got groceries, got the cable restarted, and later went to the high school homecoming parade (a couple of floats had family on them). I got the mail restarted, mowed the front lawn, and got a haircut (the first one in 7 weeks).

September 23, 2010 – Day 42 (402 Miles).
Though today was a travel day, it was a good & interesting day. Along the way we stopped in Winterset, IA to visit with Alan & Diana. Unfortunately Diana wasn’t available. If Alan decides to give up his day job he would be a very good tour guide & Chamber of Commerce ambassador for his community. He showed one of seven cover bridges of the Madison County and showed us some the locations where the movie was made. Also on the tour was John Wayne’s birthplace and related sites. He then showed other sites including homes (etc.) of the Underground Railroad. There was even a peacock. After good lunch with him at a sport bar, he finished the tour at their beautiful home. We continue our trip east stopping at a few rest stops. The last one was near Tiffin, IA. This is one of the most unique & pretty rest stop with each of the 9 picnic had a backstop having an unique quote. The inside & outside of the building was also attractive & unique. We saw a peacock, a Pamida (a small town Wal-Mart; Iowa people understand) and there was more. We finally saw the first car with Tennessee plates, leaving only Hawaii that we didn’t see. It’s seems fitting that we stayed at the same motel as the first 2 nights of this trip and we walked the Southpark Mall. A little trivia: it’s 455+ miles across NE & 300+ miles across IA.

September 22, 2010 – Day 41 (449 Miles).
Today was a travel day to Lincoln, NE and basically nothing much to report again. By the way it’s 402.78 miles across WY. Today we were in our 12th state of the trip with 3 repeat states to go. The wind was quite strong driving, but it felt good not driving in mountains. The last couple of days in CO & NE we saw oil rigs (some working & some not). We didn’t see energy windmills but saw several working old fashioned water windmills filling stock tanks for cattle and some horses. We also saw some llamas. After an evening bite, we did a little socializing with a couple from Wisconsin at the pool. Our room was on the top floor and we had a balcony which we used soon.

September 21, 2010 – Day 39 (274 Miles).
Today we headed south to Broomfield near Denver and spent time with Janet (friend & dinner mate from our first World Cruise). She gave us a tour of her home and around the Del Webb retirement center where her home is, including the community center (very nice). She took us to a very nice & enjoyable restaurant. We enjoy socializing and could have visited more. The one stop missing is to see Fannette (another friend & dinner mate from our first World Cruise), but she is in the Dallas area. We then headed north and west to a short visit in Rocky Mountain National Park. The routes to and from the park were as beautiful as the park. Then back to Wyoming to spend the night in Cheyenne.

September 20, 2010 – Day 38 (384 Miles).
Today was another travel day to Laramie, WY and basically very similar to yesterday trip (more mountains and different terrain). We did have a great Fairfield Inn waiting for us at our stop, with pool and all.