Journey's End

Left Colorado Springs on the 29th and decided to take a different way home. We went south on I25 thru Colorado and into New Mexico. At the border between CO and NM was a town named Raton.

This was a surprisingly scenic area with road signs warning of bear and elk crossings. We didn't see any animals, but this was the first time on this entire trip that we saw crossing signs that were for anything but deer. Northern New Mexico was more scenic than we had expected.

We ended the day in Oklahoma, drove past Little Rock, AR on the 30th, and made it home to Nashville on the 31st of July.

We drove 5500 miles in the car, went 3090 miles on the cruises, and went 970 miles by bus and train in Alaska (not counting our excursions) for a total of 9560 miles and 17 states and Canada. We averaged 27.7 mpg.

We were amazed by the changing landscapes in the "Lower 48," and by the enormous wilderness of Alaska. It was the trip of a lifetime. Approximately 750,000 people in an area twice as big as Texas with 300,000 of those living in Anchorage, and 100,000 in the Fairbanks area. Leaves lots of room for the other 350,000!!!

We don't know if we'll ever make it back, but if we do it will be by car so we can see more places at our own pace. As I keep telling friends, go before all the glaciers melt.

Will let you know about our future adventures.