Day 19, May 26th, 2011

Day 19, May 26^th, 2011

Wow, the last day!

 We made it home, so this is the final ship’s log entry for The Tour of California mission.

We got on the road from Grand Island, NE, about 8:00.  Most of the driving was uneventful.  We had some congestion around Omaha and Des Moines.  Enough to get Paula nervous.  Stopped at a rest stop north of Des Moines for lunch.  Weather was great so we got to sit at a picnic table and Buck could sniff around the area.  We pulled into St. Paul about 6:30 pm.  Worked on unloading for awhile and visiting with the neighbors.  James & Annie made a nice dinner for Paula.  (We crashed after that so I’m actually writing this on Day 20)

Some of the vital statistics.  We drove 4,812 miles. We fueled up 8 times, average 600 miles per tank. The lowest fuel price we paid was $4.03/gallon, in Grand Island, Nebraska.  Highest was $4.79/gallon, in Truckee, California (near Tahoe).  Lowest fuel miles per gallon was 8.5.  High was 11.3.  Overall average mpg was 9.8.  Fuel cost was $2,130.  Some readers might think 9.8 mpg is not good.  You’ve got to remember, we were driving a house.  And we cruise at 72-74 mph.  We didn’t have any airline tickets, rental cars, or hotel/motel costs.  We bought our food at the grocery store (except for the times we went out with friends).  We cruise down the highway in total comfort.  And we didn’t have to worry about bed bugs or who sat on that toilet seat last night. 

Going through Vail Pass we encountered wet dirty roads due to snow melt.  The rig looked like we had been off-roading with it.  Paula and I spent a few hours cleaning it up before putting it away.  The rig performed flawlessly. 

So, we had a wonderful time, got to get together with great old friends and meet great new friends.  We are so lucky for everything and everybody in our lives.  Thanks everybody for joining us.