Okay, I am home which is a wonderful thing.  Chloe and I are adjusting to being back in our surroundings but my house is a mess.  Unpacking from a 45 day trip is daunting.  I did laundry today and am proud to say that I took 23 outfits and wore every single one of them twice so that I didn’t have to do laundry while gone.  Lucky that I own so many clothes.  I also checked my excel spreadsheet (where I listed everything I took with me and kept track of what I had worn) and I did not lose one item despite 35 changes of location in 45 days.  I guess it pays to be organized.  Also, I have reconciled my credit card account and, while I spent a bit more than planned (mostly on some absolutely incredible food), I found that I managed to get 33.8 miles to the gallon for the 5,796.2 miles I drove, so I spent less on gas than I originally estimated.

Some minor yet, to me interesting facts.  Gas was most expensive in Prince Edward Island at $3.69 per gallon.  They try to fool you by quoting prices per liter using Canadian dollars, but I figured out how to convert both liters to gallons and then Canadian dollars to American dollars.  Not much you can do about it when you need gas.  In the USA, Connecticut took the booby prize at $3.179/gallon while South Carolina’s gas was a mere $2.379/gallon!  Woo hoo!  I Calculated that I spent an average of $2.888/gallon.

William Hardy Murfree (the son)

Colonel Hardee Murfree

I saw mail in rural areas in the south being delivered in Jeeps and pickup trucks.  I discovered that I would rather drive near eighteen-wheelers than cars, especially in the rain.  There are cities in both Maine and New Jersey called Trenton and Camden.  There are towns named Murfreesboro in both Tennessee and North Carolina and, by the way, they are each named after different guys named Murfree.  The Tennessee Murfree was the father of the North Carolina Murfree.

Chloe’s favorite dog food, Cesar, was cheaper in Canada but also had many more interesting-looking flavors such as Cheesy chicken pasta with sauce, Scramble with turkey, spinach and cheese in gravy, Meat lasagna in gravy.

I saw “Help Wanted” or “Hiring Now” signs everywhere as I traveled throughout the Eastern United States—on stores, billboards, and trucks.

Boulevard Super Liquor Store in Marmora, NJ, just outside of dry Ocean City, NJ, had a huge sign advertising “Vodka Infused Ice Cream” for sale.

United States Map of Vineyards

Of the nineteen states I visited, all of them produce wine!  Who knew?

All in all, it was a very enjoyable trip but it is good to be back home.