We are home!
We are home! We spent the past few days in California with
family and then pointed Goldie north on I-5.
Here are the facts: First, a safe trip. With the exception of a
close-encounter of the canine-kind with a coyote in Yellowstone National
Park the first week, and that nasty DC-sniper business, we arrived home
healthy and damage-free. Well... a little wind shield chip... At this
moment, everything is working in Goldie. We drove an amazing 9,980 miles.
(Mary said DT should have driven around to make it an even 10,000.) Goldie
managed to average just over 10 miles per gallon - diesel. We camped in 38
campgrounds and parked in the driveway of three friends/relatives. Our most
expensive campsite was $47 (Navarre, Florida) and our least expensive was
last night at Seven Feathers Casino - $12 (not including DT's losses). I
rate the campgrounds too, in my RV log book, and on this trip I handed out a
"five trailer" rating to four campgrounds - Outdoor Resort in Hilton Head,
Cape Hatteras on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, the Hacienda RV Resort
in Las Cruces, New Mexico and that parking lot of Beaudry's in Tucson,
Arizona. Hilton Head is the easy winner between the four for facilities,
Cape Hatteras for scenery, Las Cruces for its fab dog walk and campsite
design, and Beaudry's wins for on-site motorhome shopping. All four of these
campgrounds have phone lines at your campsite. The most awful campsite is a
tie between the still-unknown-name campsite in Winfield, West Virginia and
the soggy Jean Lafitte in Lake Charles, Louisiana. I never carried my laptop
into a campground office to use their modem connection - and I only missed
updating one night. Nearly every update was made with my cellular modem. You
Go, Girl!
The best meal of the trip is between Ginger's Lasagna a few nights ago in
Merced and Jean's Apricot Chicken. Or was it our lunch at 82 Queen in
Charleston, a beignet at Cafe du Monde, a Margarita at Margaritaville Cafe,
the tapas at Jaleo, the sea bass at Ten Pehn, fried cod at Mimi's in
Charleston, the hoe cake at Lady & Sons, sushi at Wolfgang's place in
Orlando, anything at El Charro in Tucson or our Thanksgiving Feast in Yuma?
Who knows! (Well, those beignets were divine.) I did not gain a pound on the
trip - probably because of all the dog-walking.
We saw many beautiful sights. LISA! I especially loved Mt. Vernon, and could
have moved into Oak Alley. It was wonderful to see so many friends and
family along the way!
Snickers did okay. (He really just wants to be home, or with me - and
preferably, home with me.) But, now, that old hound dawg has sniffed his way
all around the United States - which is more than most people can say!
America is beautiful – we need to explore more! Of course - there is no
place like home (except your RV) - so until our next adventure, I remain,
your Well-Rounded Correspondent.