Colorado, UTAH!

After a 3 course in-room meal (Oranges and Popcorn as our appetizer; PB&J as our main course; and Fudge as our dessert) and a restful night’s sleep at the Blue Lake Ranch, we woke up this beautiful Sabbath morning to enjoy a nice home cooked meal before traveling the last 6-8 hours back home to Heber City, UT!

Breakfast was delicious!  It was the first home cooked meal I had had in over 30 plus days… and I hate to admit it… yet this 45 year old grown man had something come over him that made him get teary eyed while he was eating the food.   It was the first real cooked eggs (carton eggs gets old); real bacon; homemade apple and peach upside down French toast; etc meal I had had in over 30 plus days!   The best breakfast I’ve had in quite some time!

The drive back seemed to go pretty quick and short… Tracie driving most of it…and I just contemplating what I had just accomplished and enjoying the scenery of beautiful red rock as we drove thru Moab; Arches National Park; and the Wasatch mountain ranges back home.

I thought it would be fun to list a few stats that I collected along the way, after all, my profession deals with numbers, so here you go:

14,989 Miles Driven

356 Gallons of gas (based on avg. 42 miles/gallon)

56 Total Days to complete the Ultimate Road Trip

48 Plus Ultimate Cross Country Sites visited and explored

45 Plus Gas Stations visited

34 Total Days driving in Leo, 2017 Fiat

14 Close Call Car Accidents (I consider myself lucky!)

2 Jiffy Lube Oil Changes

1 Stay-cation in Utah after first leg of road trip

1 Vacation in Florida before last leg of road trip

0 Speeding Tickets (top speed was 103, Leo can go!)

0 Rock Chips

0 Flat Tires

0 Fender Benders (the week after I get home, my son backs up into Leo, putting a dent in its bumper!)  : – )

It has been said that “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”  And in my case “A journey of thousand(s) of miles begins with a tank of gas!”   I am again so grateful to all who supported me on this journey that I accomplished.   It is something I will always remember and never forget.   I had some amazing ‘UnPlugged’ moments during my journey… During this time of introspection, I learned about myself… I learned about my God and my country… yet most of all, I learned that we all can accomplish hard things… begin with the end in mind, work hard, don’t give up, and no matter the outcome, don’t have any regrets.   Life is a journey of a thousand miles… and Life begins with one single step… so step forward and while traveling thru your own journey, don’t forget to live; love; and laugh along the way, it’s worth it!  

Texas, New Mexico, Colorado

We were planning on sleeping in this morning… our bodies told us differently… I was up around 5:30ish to use the toilet, I mean ‘restroom’, then again at 6:00… then again at almost 7:00ish… then again at 7:30ish!   Tracie and I decided that we might as well just get up; get some breakfast; then get ready and start driving, which is exactly what we did.

We had two destination points.   First one was Aztec National Monument in New Mexico (It was the closest national monument via the route back home) and the Second one was Durango, the mid-point between our point A where we left and point B, our final destination, Heber City, UT!

The drive seemed to go pretty quick, we took the usual pit stops to fuel up Leo as well as get fuel for ourselves.   New Mexico for sure is stuck in the past with all stores, restrooms, and everything else we visited not updated for what seemed like 30 plus years.   We wondered if local residents just don’t care, or if they’re just not economically able to improve things.   Nicest area of the drive thru New Mexico was for sure Albuquerque where we found a Chick-fil-a for lunch and a delicious smoothie store.

We checked in to the Blue Lake Ranch just outside of Durango.   The place is in a super remote area of Southwest CO and we were both excited for the room amenities which include a nice king bed; fireplace; private back porch (where we sat and watched the sun set) and last but not least, a bathtub for Tracie to soak in!

Blue Lake Ranch Bed and Breakfast, Durango, CO

Arkansas, Oklahoma,Texas

Tracie and I have had good momentum the past couple of days!  I’m so thankful to all who have supported us as we finish up the last leg of this Ultimate US Road Trip!  It’s been so much fun, challenging, and rewarding and I couldn’t have done it without all of your support back home.  Three more states to go and I’ll have checked off 48 states driven!  Mission almost accomplished!

We had a fun morning in North Little Rock.   Thanks to the best Travel companion on the planet for finding an Ultimate Awesome Attraction called ‘Old Mill’… SO Much better than what I had planned!  Check out https://www.instagram.com/ldsunplugged/ for some cool pics and videos of this place.

It’s Friday, the start of a long three day weekend, Monday being Veterans Day.  Today, I had the chance to visit Oklahoma City National Memorial,  where The Outdoor Symbolic Memorial stands on the now-sacred ground where the events of April 19, 1995, unfolded. What was once the footprint of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, Fifth Street, the Athenian Building and Oklahoma Water Resources Board are now the Field of Empty Chairs, Reflecting Pool and Rescuer’s Orchard.  I spent some time reflecting on the tragedy that occurred that day and was reminded yet again how grateful I am to the Men and Women have risked and in many cases given their lives to protect our freedoms.

May we all remember those who have died before us and those who have survived and changed forever to give us this great land of Liberty.   Amidst all of the turmoil that exists in our country,  we still have the opportunity to do what is right and sacrifice what we must in order to make this country what it has been and will continue to be… The Land of the Free!  Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And this be our motto: “In God is our trust.”  And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

 

Special Place to Visit

 

Each Chair Represents one of the 168 who died on April 19, 1995 and each chair is unique, larger chairs representing adults, smaller chairs representing children

And Jesus Wept

 

 

 

 

Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Arkansas

NOLA Means… “New Orleans, Louisiana”!   And the visit thru the French Quarter, specifically Jazz brunch at ‘Court Of The Two Sisters’, was our highlight of the day.   We traveled quite a bit today and are grateful for the time spent relaxing and enjoying brunch outside on the patio of this cool place in the French Quarter of New Orleans.  Great food, great atmosphere, and great music played by the local live Jazz band.

It’s crazy to think that we started our day in Mississippi and ended it in Arkansas!  We traveled quite a bit today and are pretty tired.   We did enjoy dinner at the famous ‘Marlowes BBQ Pit’ on Elvis Presley Blvd before driving the last couple of hours into Arkansas.   Good Road Trip day and it’s time to rest up as tomorrow we likely will try and keep the traveling momentum going as we officially have 3 states to go until we’re back home to Utah!

 

French Quarter

 

Elvis Lives!

 

YUM!

 

 

 

Florida, Alabama, Mississippi

After over a week break in Florida, I (WE) Woke up at 4AM today, left Satellite Beach, FL to begin the journey back home to Utah!  As WE (Have I mentioned that my soul mate; better half; best friend; travel companion; co-captain; person I couldn’t imagine living life without is with me?!) left, I was having a battle with my Google Maps App as it wanted to take me a certain route and I wanted to go a different route… It kept saying the known words… ‘re-routing’.

In case you didn’t know… google says this about getting directions and showing routes – “Some directions in Google Maps are in beta, and may have limited availability. Always be cautious when using directions on Google Maps, remain aware of your surroundings at all times, and take necessary means to ensure safety of yourself and those around you. When in doubt, follow signage from the road or path that you are on when using directions.”   (Good life advice… be cautious… remain aware… when in doubt, follow signage)  In my case today,  I wasn’t worried about safety or the path google was taking me on…  I was more concerned about how bored I would be taking a route I had already been on and wanted to make my own journey, not a google journey!

Just remember, Google doesn’t always have the best path to follow…  Sometimes you need to think for yourself to find the best path…  In my case, it’s been 40 plus states thus far of Awesome side-trips, I’ve seen so much and today was no exception from being able to drive thru where Hurricane Michael left it’s mark in the panhandle to being able to walk thru the USS Alabama Warship (Thank YOU Paul, for letting me on the ship even though I arrived 15 minutes after you closed) it was a good, great, awesome day!

Panama City Beach, Florida

 

American Pride!

USS Alabama

Sunset from the Top Deck of the USS Alabama