August 13-20 Epilog: The Long Drive Home
Bob: Although refreshed by our visit with my relatives, all of whom are friendly folks, and a visit to a nearby aviation museum where we saw the "Spruce Goose", an absolutely huge wooden airplane built by Howard Hughes, we finally had to leave Portland to drive home. |
Monika: One last airplane museum, where we could see Howard Hughes' "Spruce Goose" the enormous wooden airpland of legend, one more visit with relatives and we were finally on the definitive way home, straight across the United States. |
Bob: As we headed East through Oregon we found that we were utterly exhausted. We had planned to take some side excursions on our route back, but when we actually came to the turn offs for those scenic drives, we just did not have the energy to pursue it anymore. Instead, we pointed the car along the fastest, most direct route back home we could find and "put the pedal to the metal", as much as one can do that in a Prius, anyway. The first day we reached Pendleton, Oregon. |
Monika: Bob had mapped out some "scenic" sideroads, but even he was tired of scenery by now. So we skipped all that and stayed on the interstate. |
Bob: The second day we stopped off at La Grande, Oregon, to visit the son of our friends Neville and Lyn, and briefly meet his really cute three children, which reminded me of my three grandchildren when they were a bit younger. Continuing on, we reached Twin Falls, Idaho by nightfall. |
Monika: In La Grande we did visit with the family of our friends from Oregon for a short time but then we went on. |
Bob: The third day we reached Rawlins, Wyoming. The center part of Wyoming is quite high and not too mountainous, so our Prius was getting 65 miles per gallon at 65 miles per hour for over 100 miles that afternoon! Although we were helped by a convenient westerly tailwind, that is a feat few, if any, other cars could match. |
Monika: We moved on through Idaho and Utah into Wyoming where there was a flat, barren section that was just part of the Divide since no water flowed out either to the east or west. Bob enjoyed getting fantastic gas mileage in the thin air of the rockies. |
Bob: The fourth day we stopped at Kearney, Nebraska. Coincidentally, my sister Lois and niece Beth were driving West to Portland, and with the miracle of modern cell phones we were able to plan to stay in the same motel for the night. It was a welcome break in the days of driving to spend an evening and the next morning with Lois and Beth, who are always fun to talk to. |
Monika: My sister-in-law and niece were traveling west to Portland and we managed to meet in Nebraska. We had a nice meal together before we set out into opposite directions the next day. |
Bob: The fifth day we stopped at Iowa City, Iowa. |
Monika: After Nebraska going into Iowa the scenery truly got boring. |
Bob: The sixth day we finally crossed the Mississippi River on the border between Iowa and Illinois, and ended up stopping for the night at Toledo, Ohio, which is psychologically "almost home" as we often stop there on trips to and from Chicago to see our relatives. |
Monika: Crossing the Mississippi into Illinois gave a feeling of "almost home" and after almost six weeks we were finally on familiar routes. Stopping in Toledo meant we could be home the next day. |
Bob: And the seventh day we finally made it home to Fairfax, Virginia. |
Monika: And we were happy to see the house was still standing and our flowers looked beautiful. And Spatz and Muschi enjoyed resting back home and telling their friends of the wonderful trip that brought them to the "High One", the highest peak in North America. |
Bob and Monika
And as the old saying goes:
"Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home!"
We hope you, the Gentle Reader, have enjoyed this story of our journey as much as we enjoyed our Alaskan Adventure!