The Trip Home - Final Entry

For those looking for the posts about my ride cross country, the last post was "Day 69."  What continues here is the documentations of our trip home.  You are welcome to follow along though it likely won't be as exciting. 

A lot has happened since we left the RV Park off the highway about 150 miles outside Denver.  I just haven't taken the time to write it down so this will be a lengthy entry.  It will be the FINAL entry too as we arrived home!

We had lunch scheduled with Cheryl’s aunt Loretta, uncle Rudy, and cousins Terry and Emily at 1 pm in Golden CO (think Coors beer) near Denver so we had to get up and out early.  I got a little workout in before we left.  Peloton strength workouts are my go to as there isn’t a lot of cardio so it keeps my heart rate down (still got the A fib thing).  The challenge is finding a place to do it so I’m not on display for all the other RVers or passers by.  

We made it to Golden a little early and spent some time walking around Golden.  It is a very nice town with a beautiful walking trail along the river that goes through town.  Lunch with Cheryl’s relatives was really fun.  So much catching up to do.  We were so engrossed in the conversation we forgot to take a picture!  We couldn’t stay too long because there was rain in the forecast and apparently there are mud slides on I70 near Canyonville and they close the freeway so we needed to get through there to avoid a 2 hour detour.  The drive was beautiful.  Even with the clouds it was gorgeous.  We cut through the Rockies and were at 9500 ft.  the RV kept chugging along.  18 wheelers were passing us, but we were still moving!

Our goal was to get to Moab and Arches National Park tomorrow so we spent the night at a Walmart so we could get up and out again in the morning.  Long but easy drive to Moab.  Cheryl and I both being big Jerky fans, the highlight of the drive was the stop at a roadside Jerky store.  Unbelievable selection.  We shied away from the exotic flavors like snake and kangaroo and stayed with beef.  There was prime rib, pepper, sweet/spicy.  It was awesome.  

Arches was only 20 miles down the road and we were there before we could even get through one package of jerky.  The day was perfect to see the beauty of the Arches.  Kenzie would have been proud of us as we did quite a bit of hiking.  A little frustrating that dogs were no allowed on any trails so Zuri had to stay in the RV.

Loved Moab.  Found Canyonlands RV Park in town which was convenient.  Stumbled on Spitfire BBQ for a late lunch.  It was a really good place with excellent beer and delicious food.  I especially liked the vibe.   We met a lady who was traveling across the country with her dog.  She was from Jersey and on her way back home. We shared stories about our favorite places and experiences as we both traveled across the country.  Fun time.  

We were undecided on how we spent the last 10 days of our trip.  We heard wonderful things about Zion National Park and the beautiful drive there but it would take us further south and we felt we needed to continue heading towards home.  We decided on Sun Valley for a couple days.  As we were finalizing our plans we got a phone call that a good friend of ours had passed away from pancreatic cancer.  Such terrible news and we are so sad by her passing.  Ugh.  She lived in Richland WA and the funeral would be Friday so we altered our plans to head that direction.  

On our way to Boise we decided to stay one more night is a small town so we picked Snowville ID (pop 139).  Of course there was only one restaurant called Ranch House.  Classic small town café just like we like.  Each table had a little wooden house with a small door that just screamed to be opened and of course Cheryl could not resist the temptation.  There was a loaded mouse trap inside that was triggered when the door was open.  Boom, the house exploded.  It was hilarious!  Throughout our dinner you could hear wooden houses exploding throughout the café.  

The next morning we headed to Boise.  We had a space at Rivers Edge RV park on the Snake River just out side of town but decided to spend some time in town.  We hear about an amazing dog park and of course that was tops on Cheryl's list.  We were there about 15 minutes (of course Zuri didn't want to play) when a dog came up to me.  I'm thinking the dog wants for me to pet it or play with it and next thing you know, it's peeing on my leg.  Seriously?  I'm getting peed on at a dog park in Boise?  Well, that dampened my enthusiasm for hanging out at the dog park so we headed downtown to Guido's for some New York style pizza and a beer before heading to the RV park.

Rivers Edge RV park was located as the name suggests, right on the Snake River and our spot had a gorgeous view.  It was just outside of town with some great scenery so I decided to get up early and go for a bike ride.  Yes first time on the bike since Portland ME.  I must admit it felt great to be back in the saddle, even if it was only for a few hours.  

We made it to the Tri-Cities Wednesday so decided to go to Prosser for some wine tasting and and also catch up with some friends we have in the area.  Of course we had to have lunch with John and Vickiy.  They met us in Walla Walla early in the journey and then again at the end.  We went to Porters BBQ which was terrific.  John and I had "The Jonny Sandwich" which includes brisket, pulled pork and bacon.  Though it wasn't great for my arteries, wow it was good.  

Following a touching service for our friend, it was time to make the final leg down The Gorge back to Portland.  There were mixed emotions as we pulled into the driveway.  The end of a trip of a lifetime had arrived.  It seemed like only yesterday we were on HWY 26 driving to Fort Stevens not knowing what was to come and now we are back in the driveway with unbelievable memories that we will never forget.   88 days, 3800 miles on the bike and 10,400 total miles and 29 states.  What a summer!

What's next?