Now we are home and now we are done. A lot of driving, all done by Jenn. I was co-pilot and navagator. The GPS registers 10,901.9 miles.  That means we did about 2,180 miles a month. Ruby got an average of 8 miles to the gallon, so we bought 1,363 gallons of fuel, at an average of $3.70 a gallon for a whopping total of $5,043 for gas. Who knows how much we spent on lodging.... somewhere between $24 and $110 a night for nearly five months.

A long vacation that has, at times, felt like hell. We wanted to make it to New York City, but that will have to wait. Car repairs, vet bills, doctor bills, and the price of fuel and groceries left us knowing that we had to go home early, leaving enough money in the bank to get established again without digging in to the savings. We choose to be grown ups.  Not an easy decision as we will miss not only New York, but Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Thank the stars that there can be a next time and we can see those places on a different kind of road trip.

What I do know is that we had fun, we had grand adventures, we had suck ass days, we had rain, shine, and sometimes something in between. We saw a bunch of different birds, and critters and trees and plants. The Atlantic Ocean, The Pacific Ocean, The Caribbean, and the Gulf of Mexico. We’ve put a ton of money in the economy and had some really great food. All in all, I think I’d call this trip SMASHING, SIMPLY SMASHING! Not sure what Jenn would say, but I think she had a good time.

To those of you who read the pages, and let me know what you thought, I thank you. For those of you who never did write to me to let me know what you thought maybe you got something out of it, maybe not. I hope this pays off in the future when I try to get an assignment for a magazine....

148 days on The Road To A Full Stomach. I’m pretty sure I won’t need to “eat” like that again for awhile. It is getting colder here in the northwest. I am holed up reading about food, putting recipes together, and getting ready to spend the winter fine tuning what I learned this summer. I will spend the cold days in the kitchen cooking and at the computer writing... See what that brings to my professional plate in the spring.  I have a lot to work with, and a lot to work on. I should be ready to teach and find a good culinary story and take food-centric pictures for a living soon. I can’t wait to be a chef/journalist in one of the most diverse culinary regions in the country.