Journeys End

It was a bit odd arriving home after 24 weeks on the road, visiting 33 states ( and 3 Canadian Provinces ) and covering over 21,000 miles. Our house looked bigger and somehow a bit unfamiliar. After living out of a pickup for almost 6 months, everything seemed huge, spacious, excessive. We had learned to live in a tiny space with few belongings, I never lost anything, I could usually find things even in the dark, by feel. Walking back into our lives at home seemed a bit overwhelming, we had so much “stuff”. Our life on the road was simple, purposeful, orderly, interesting, and almost stress free. We learned to not worry about tomorrow, next week, next month. Life developed into a smooth transition of exploring new places, meeting new people, soaking in America’s seemingly endless beauty as we wandered serendipitously across the countryside. We never knew where we would sleep at night till late in the day . Next week always seemed a distant future, who knows where we would end up. Adjusting to our new sedentary life at home is a challenge.

If you look at our travel map, you can see we did a giant figure eight across North America. The two “ears ” in Alaska show our trips to the Arctic Circle. Once we escaped the Eastern Urban Sprawl and entered the Appalachian Mountains on our way south, traffic thinned out, tailgating disappeared, the pace of life slowed down. As we wound our way down the Appalachian chain for over a thousand miles, into the Deep South, people were more friendly, the food got better ( and the tap water got worse ). I loved the way older Southern women working in stores called me “Hon”. I enjoyed our stay on that Kentucky farm, our visit to the beautiful Smoky Mountains, our stay in the moss draped Louisiana bayous, the lively streets of New Orleans, ( and some of the best food of our trip ).

Our springtime wandering through the Desert Southwest was a favorite, the almost botanical garden like Sonoran Desert was a special time. New Mexico was one of our favorite places too, the endless dramatic scenery and the Spanish/Native America culture was a treat to experience. As the Desert heated up, we slowly headed north up the Rockies. As far as the myth about dry desert heat goes, yes, a lack of any humidity does make it more comfortable, BUT, when the temperature gets over the 100 degrees mark, hot is hot , and we gladly turned north to escape the searing desert blast furnace baking those dry Desert states. We finally reached a cooler climate as we approached the tree covered mountains in Northern Arizona near Flagstaff, a really nice small city we enjoyed visiting.

If I had to pick a favorite place in the lower 48 states, it would have to be Utah.

Utah has the best National parks in the country. Although some have been ruined ( loved to death) , others have few visitors and breathtaking scenery to enjoy. I loved our stay at the Larsen Ranch in Ephraim Utah. The kind, generous, soft spoken rancher , John, was a pleasure to visit, I’ll never forget his gorgeous ranch in the mile high Sanpete valley surrounded by the snow capped Wasatch Range. I learned to respect the honest, hardworking, open and friendly Mormon culture, they made us feel at home. Despite being portrayed by the media as a weird ” Cult”, we found the Later Day Saints to never be preachy or pushy, just open, friendly, and diligent workers. Our world travels have taught us to not to be judgmental of those cultures with different values and beliefs than ours.

I loved the winding drive up through the Canadian Rockies, British Columbia is probably the most scenic part of North America. Entering the Yukon, you could sense the difference, this was the true Last Frontier. With a population of only 35,000, ( including the Native people) , the hands of humans haven’t yet spoiled this wilderness paradise. Visiting the Arctic Tundra in The Yukon and Alaska was a high point on the trip.

Alaska is such a huge place, it’s hard to pinpoint a favorite place there. From the glacier wrapped coastline to the magnificent Alaskan Range crowned with Denali, Alaska was a true adventure. We traveled most of the state’s paved highway system ( and many unpaved miles too ) and hardly saw a fraction of what the state has to offer, we will return.

The trip back East to Vermont was delightful , I savored the countless beautiful farms we passed across those Northern Tier states. As the trip wound down, I reflected on the past 6 months. Although it’s going to take a while to mentally digest all we did and saw, I think I can make a few generalizations about what I experienced across Heartland America. Despite the media portrayal of “Flyover America” as ignorant, boring, bigoted, racist, xenophobic, overly religious and poverty stricken, I experienced none of the above. From the 100% black neighborhood we stayed in in New Orleans, to the small ranching communities dotting the Great Plains and the mountains to the small fishing villages in the Alaskan coast, America is prosperous and the people are optimistic. The people of the Heartland are baffled by the us coastal dwellers willingness to live amidst the chaos of Urban Sprawl with its accompanying pollution, crime, and high cost of living. No, the Rural People don’t feel culturally deprived, isolated, backwards, poor. They do feel misunderstood and sometimes maligned by the media, I often heard the “fake news” commentary, but politics was almost never mentioned. These people hold traditional values and don’t quite understand the “Progressive Movement” . I witnessed a huge cultural divide between the Heartland and the coasts but I ended the trip with a new sense of optimism for the future of America.

Thanks to all for following us on our journey, we had a wonderful trip. Join us on our next adventure .