Re-entry into California is always a let-down. The Sierras are pretty and the forest looked healthy, but once you hit the valley, the scenery along the freeway is all outskirts of towns and dry hills. The suburbs are so built up that the only place we could find for lunch was deep in some shopping center.
We arrived home at 3:30 under a sunny sky. It's not like I was panting to get home; I could travel indefinitely. We were relieved to see our house intact, and the yard didn't look too bad.
But the feeling of triumphant homecoming was cool. There should have been a brass band and welcoming speeches, but the experience was entirely internal. Dan noted that our odometer read 24,682 which meant that we drove a total of 11,134 miles on our trip. We had set a pretty big challenge for ourselves, but we took it slowly, and we achieved all our aims without breaking a sweat. We toured full-out for 72 days without a day off, and maintained our health throughout, thanks to very careful monitoring of diet and wine. We stuck to our schedule without any changes. We met all of our objectives, weather permitting, and added a few unplanned activities. We didn't have any major losses or injuries. Every day had some interesting activity. Most days were filled with art, fun, and good food. It's an incredible privilege to get to spend so much time just enjoying what the world has to offer.
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| Captain Dan and Blogger Jan at the Duke of Edinburgh, Cupertino May, 2014 |
