Home again

Tuesday, July 22
We've been back home for a couple of days now (got here Sunday), got the accumulation of bugs and grime scrubbed off the camper, so I suppose it's time to wrap up the blog and post our last thoughts. Nothing of interest happened after we left Mt. Rushmore last Thursday, except that we got separated from the Krupps outside of Rapid City and never quite got back together again. When we discovered they were no longer behind us we'd already covered some miles down I-90, so we pulled over at an exit and waited... and waited... and waited. We didn't know whether to go back and try to find them (in case they'd broken down or something), or keep waiting, or if they might even have gotten ahead of us. Finally after we sat there for over an hour Connie called us from a pay phone and it turns out they'd taken a different road and were about fifty miles down the road ahead of us. So we each went our separate ways home after that. We stayed on I-90 through South Dakota, Minnesota and into Wisconsin, crossed that state on one of those rural two-lane roads that seem to make time stand still, and hit U.S. 41 at Oshkosh. We spent Saturday night at a sweet little campground on the shore of Lake Michigan near Menominee, Michigan, and drove on home from there Sunday. Got here at about 2 o'clock and found our home-sweet-home in fine shape. The lawn was mowed, the house was clean and our house guest had even changed the sheets on the bed and left us a nice "Welcome Home" note. Everything but a complimentary mint on the bedspread.
So even though we only took five weeks to make what we'd originally thought might be a seven-week trip, we accompished what we set out to do: We drove to Alaska and back, 9800 miles total, in our little camper, saw so much incredibly beautiful country, wildlife and magnificent scenery, that it still hasn't all sunk in. Looking back through the pictures we took (between 1,500 and 1,600 of them) brings back the memories of all the great places we've been to, and I'm sure it will continue to do so in the years to come. Denise and I want to thank all of you who've been following our blog and especially to those of you who've posted comments and made such kind remarks. We're glad that our words and photos made it interesting for you. And finally, if you've never made a trip like this, but have harbored thoughts about doing so, we'd strongly urge you to go. Just do it, and don't wait too long. You never know what life's going to hand out.