The drive home was fairly uneventful except when Rodney saw a roadrunner actually running across the road. We stopped at Subway in Jacksboro for lunch. Overall, we've done well with our picnic lunches almost every day, but by the end we are now sick of picnics.
I am not usually ready to go home at the end of a vacation, but this time I am looking forward to being home. This has been a great trip, but I am tired. We talked this morning about what kind of vacations we all like. We all decided that we really enjoy these vacations where we do a lot of traveling and see lots of different places, but we also really enjoy just going to the beach and relaxing. I think balance is the key. I don't know that we could keep up this kind of vacation every single year, but they are great to experience every now and then. Maybe a slightly less ambitious one next time, though. ;-)
Rodney has once again done a great job driving. He logged 3,403 miles and I drove 10 (he had a problem with his eyes at one point and had to pull over). We visited 5 states, 7 national parks (sorry Mesa Verde), 2 Navajo tribal parks, and 1 state park. We hiked for miles and went up and down in elevation over and over. Our ears popped and our chips popped. We traveled to the tops of mountains and the bottoms of canyons. We got soaked while white water rafting and then dried out in the hot, sandy desert. We hiked in hoodoos, ate fruit straight off the tree, walked into the crater of a volcano, stood on the edge of an Island in the Sky, and marched straight into the "beautiful city of God". We made memories to last a lifetime.
As far as favorites, Colorado was our favorite state (besides Texas, of course!). Our favorite place where we stayed was the tiny house in Escalante. Rocky Mountain tops the list of national parks, with Zion a very, very close second.
After staying in 12 different places over 15 days, I am proud to report that we only lost one item: Rodney's baseball hat. We also had what we needed when we needed it and not much more. It would have been good to go ahead and pack those sneakers, but we managed just fine. And I don't have a single sock to wash after a long trip. We used up all the sunscreen and I still came home with weird tan lines on my feet from the Keens.
I can't wrap up this trip without at least mentioning my planning notebook. Remember, I am a professional organizer now. ;-) In case you ever want to repeat our exact trip, it's all planned out in this inch thick binder! All those hours of planning paid off, though, and it was great to have all the info we needed right at our fingertips.
We finally arrived home just before 3:00 and unloaded the car. It was good to be home! After mostly unpacking and starting the laundry, we went to Ryan's house to collect our sweet Annie. She was excited to see us.
With all of us finally home, it was now time for bed. Did I mention I am tired? I slept like a log in my own bed for TEN hours and woke up feeling much better. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to Maui.
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