Back Home in Ashland, Oregon

"Welcome Home," compliments of friend and neighbor, Kim

Lil' Red tucked safely back in her parking place

Sorry for dropping the ball on the blog. As Erin and I had completed our journey, I didn't believe any more entries were necessary . . . and yet I don't want to tell an incomplete tale. What is a story, after all, without a beginning, middle and end? (I'm keenly aware of this immutable construction, as I try to finish my book, "Under One Roof.")

After five months and over 10,000 miles, we have reoccupied our little mountain home here in Ashland, Oregon. I did a count a few days ago and determined that we slept in over 27 different beds, ranging in comfort from the divine to the borderline criminal. Some were full-sized beds, many were queens and we even a partook in a king bed at Erin's folk's house. I am happy to report we avoided the scourge of bed bugs, although the tiny no-see-ums in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, which were smaller than the screening on our West Coast tent, did subject savage cruelty on my person (I counted over thirty bites on my right calf alone).

While on the subject of camping, we slept in our tent (using a queen-sized air mattress and nifty two-person sleeping bag) for almost a combined month, ranging from single night stays, particularly while on the move from one destination to another, and stays from four nights upwards of a week in the Northern Cascades, Acadia National Park and on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Our greatest accomplishment, I believe, is that not only are we still talking to each other, but Erin and I as happy together as we've ever been.

Maybe I'll post another blog or two about favorites of the trip (favorite campsite, favorite meal, etc.) and the lessons learned, particularly for those who may be entertaining thoughts of a similar trip. But for the time being, now that we're back home, I've mostly been thinking about what it is I love about where we live. This is a natural question to ask oneself after seeing so much beauty throughout this country. Here's a few pictures of our town and surrounding area, by way of explaining why we love living here:

Dropping down from the Siskiyou Summit into the Rogue Valley on Interstate #5

The view of the Cascade Mountains from Scene Drive, a few blocks above our house

A view of the Siskiyou Mountains on the other side of the Rogue Valley

A picture I took from the ski-lift of Mount Ashland a few winters back (yes it is that beautiful)

Also, here's a few pictures on the road from Boulder, Colorado to Oregon:

Driving through Utah

And back on our old friend in Nevada - The Loneliest Road in America

And our lonely campsite at the Petroglyphs - our last day on the road