At Sydney, Nebraska, after the storm, we awoke to a sea of ice across the parking lot.  We shuffled across to the restroom, then made breakfast and coffee and assessed our choices.  Soon, it became obvious that the roads were clear, so we headed north to Scotts Bluff and west into Wyoming, where there was a lot of snow, but not on the road, so we proceeded up I-25, then I-90 into Montana, where there was less snow, but extreme cold. We put in for the night at Harding.

We woke the next morning to 2C/35F temps in the van and -5C/23F temps outside, so we quickly made coffee and headed west on I-90, stopping in Laurel to make breakfast.  We ended the day at our friend Connie’s house in Florence, where we were able to plug in to run our small heaters.

After breakfast at Connie’s and a trip up the Bitterroot for lunch with our friend Theresa, we headed back down the valley to Missoula and west on I-90 into the snowstorm over Lookout Pass, which turned into a downpour from Post Falls through Spokane and down through Ritzville.  Past Ritzville, we were treated to an extended and brilliant sunset peeking under the rain clouds, which faded to deep red as we rolled into Moses Lake for another cold night, after another 560-km long day that didn’t start until mid-afternoon.  Are we anxious to get home?  It does look like it.

Saturday morning, still jet-lagged from driving across three time zones in as many days, we got up in the cold, made breakfast and coffee, and headed west on I-90 for the last leg of our long journey.  Winter found us again at Easton, with slush and snow on the road, but turning to rain.  We expected the usual gloom and rain into the Puget Sound basin, but the skies cleared, the temperature rose into the teens (Celsius, 50s Fahrenheit).  We stopped in Lacey to restock at Costco, one last refueling, and a rare lunch at Starbucks.  We once traveled across country from Starbucks to Starbucks, for breakfast and lunch, but since the Pandemic of 2020, we’ve been frugal, making excellent coffee and our standard breakfasts of banana, dates, and granola in the van as we travel.  We were surprised to find that Starbucks now serves “to stay” drinks in real crockery.  We got the familar bento boxes of cheese, fruit, and eggs, and divided up two different ones for variety.

Home at last!  We rolled into our driveway in early afternoon, after stopping at the post office to collect our six weeks of mail.  Plenty of time to unload the refrigerator, laundry, our computers, and the bicycle.  After catching up on domestic chores and settling in, we took some time to review the statistics:

Statistics:

10243 miles (16481 km) driving, through 28 states: WA, OR, CA, AZ, NM, TX, LA, MS, AL, TN, NC, SC, VA, MD, PA, NJ, DE, NY, OH, IN, IL, MO, KS, CO, NE, WY, MT, ID.

67.6 miles (109 km) bicycling in six states (AZ, TN, SC, NC, OH, MO)

2 ferry trips, (Galveston, TX – Port Bolivar, TX, Cape May, NJ – Lewes, DE)

46 nights, 47 days:

• 18 nights “moochdocking” at relatives and friends houses
• 2 nights in grocery store parking lots (Fred Meyer, Whole Foods)
• 1 night in restaurant parking lot (Cracker Barrel)
• 2 nights at a state park (Goliad, TX)
• 23 nights at truck stop parking lots (Love’s).

3 laundromats + several washings at relatives and friends

2 public libraries for WiFi: Springfield, OH, Boonville, MO.

Total cost of camping and showers: $144

Total cost of fuel and oil, car servicing: $1577

Total cost of tolls and ferry fare: $40 (NJ-DE ferry)

Cost of repairs (bike rack): $10.29

Challenges: High winds, freezing weather, roads in poor repair, toll roads that require transponders to use (we had to take back roads and long detours to avoid). Snow and ice. For the most part, we avoided restaurants, preparing meals and coffee in the van, shopping at supermarkets.

Problems: bike rack broke from bad roads, broken chain on bike cut last ride very short.

Highlights: visits with family and friends in AZ, NM, TX, TN, NC, NJ, and MT. Ferry rides in TX and NJ to DE. Gorgeous sunrises and sunsets. Presque Isle State Park, Erie, PA, Bike trails. Mingling with the Haitians in Springfield, OH, at the laundry. Beautiful people.