August 10, Green River UT to home

Up before 6:00 to pack the car for the final time and eat breakfast.  Tonight we will sleep in our own bed.

The morning drive through Utah was such a contract to what we had seen in Colorado.  Rather than sharp peaks, the landscape was filled with canyons and large colorful, rock formations.  There were many view points to look at the beatify and we stopped at a couple of them. The formation pictured is called Ghost Rock. We hope to get back to this area next year.  It is stunning.

One of the areas that we always look forward to seeing when traveling on Highway 15 is the Virgin River Gorge, in the upper corner of Arizona. Over about 20 miles, the interstate drops about 4,000 feet and exits through a narrow portal from the Utah plateau unto the flat desert of Nevada.  The temperature jumped to well over 100 degrees by the time we exited the canyon.

Then it is just putting in the miles unto reaching Las Vegas.  There were stopped at our all time favorite Vegas Buffet at Main Street Station.  A great final meal for a great trip.  It is the number 1 rated value buffet in Vegas.  We always are pleased with our meals there.

Then, only 300  more miles to home.  It was with a happy cheer that Dick said, “Welcome to California”.  It is good to be headed home.

We arrived home at 6:30, having driven over 11,000 miles in 43 days, passed through 30 states and two Canadian provinces, and visited so many historic and natural sites.   We both have now been to all 50 states. We love this country!!!  We now have a mile zero sticker from Key West (this is from US Highway 1 which runs from Key West to Maine) to balance our Alaskan Highway sticker on the back of the car.  We had previously visited Maine and we live in San Diego.  We have been to the extremes of the country.

As we drove those last miles home, we reviewed our trip, day-by-day.   We feel so blessed and fortunate that we could experience such an unbelievable trip.  Of course, a continuing highlight was that we were hosted by many friends and family during the trip.  Their gracious hospitality was very special. We learned so much about the history and geography of this country.  Our brains and spirits are  feeling a bit full right now.


Finally, we unloaded the car, and were happy to be safe and sound at home as we began to really think about reentering our normal lives. 

Thanks for following our travels and adventures   May you have some great adventures of your own.