Made it!
At 8:30 on the evening of July 3rd, after almost 10 weeks on the road,
7250 miles added to the odometer and a CV joint that started complaining
on the way out of Chicago, I was home. Did I park the van and collapse
into my own bed? Think again, O Weary Traveler. It was the long 4th of
July weekend and we had guests. There were three extra
adults, one teenager and two dogs in residence when I arrived. I slept
that night in
a recliner chair. But I was home.
So, it's a bit over
a week later. I've opened all the belated Father's Day and birthday gifts,
there's still a 
big stack of boxes in the living room that I shipped back
from Montana and the office is a mess and likely to get worse before
everything is unpacked and put away. The old brown minivan is 
back in its
usual parking space, the grass needs mowing, I'm still trying to get
caught up on all the other day-to-day tasks that languished for the past
ten weeks and we just learned that my daughter is getting married
at the
end of August and wants to have the ceremony here. In short, things are
back to normal and I've had time to gain a little perspective on my grand
tour.
There are two kinds of tourists: those who
travel to see the sights and those who just sort of knock around and
meet people. I definitely fall into the latter category. The
"classic" tourist would be appalled at all the things I didn't
see when I had the chance. I didn't return with pictures of the Grand Old
Opry or the Miracle Mile or a certain infamous book repository. 
The
Mall of America was just a place to grab some cell phone accessories and a
new magic trick. Mandan was merely a collection of lights in the early morning and a passing thought
about Lewis and Clarke's harsh winter stay. I didn't even take all that
many pictures. But I met lots of wonderful people. A few I'd met before,
others had been just a voice on the telephone or an online presence, some
were new and unexpected acquaintances, but every one of them were good
folks who were each making the world a little better place to live. I am
content. It was a great trip.
All text and photos
Copyright © 2000
by William K. Walker
Last update: 12 July 2000