I’ve listed my first item on eBay for sale … a Minolta battery charger and two batteries. eBay created a widget for this that I can put on my blog (but it doesn’t work!!). Anyhow, I’ve a number of other items to sell and this seems like an easy way to make it happen.

The Big Road Trip is finished. We arrived back at the house at about 6:30 p.m. this evening. By 8 everything was out of the camper and in the house … and mostly put away. We had been gone 23 days had had driven the motorhome 5,204 miles at an average speed of 52.6 mph. I have many more statistics which might come in handy the next time we try to put together a Big Road Trip. The planning worked out pretty well. Over all we drove 305 miles further than I had originally estimated, but at a miles-per-gallon rate better than I had estimated and a price per gallon significantly less that I had expected. The most expensive gasoline was $3.049 per gallon in North Platte, Nebraska (we bypassed North Platte on the way back). The cheapest gasoline was $2.629 in Downingtown, Pennsylvania.

We’re both tired! I’m looking forward to sleeping in my normal bed and I’m not setting an alarm clock. The original plan had us arriving home tomorrow evening. That means tomorrow is a “free” day! Anything that gets done tomorrow is, as Nina says, a “Bonus!”

We’re a day ahead of the original schedule and are safely ensconced in a campground just south of Cheyenne, Wyoming. The WiFi connection is very sketchy and quite frustrating. I’m hoping it’ll stay connected when I post this so I don’t lose it! I’ve already lost one post earlier on the trip.

We left Gretna, Nebraska at about 9:30 a.m. this morning and arrived in Cheyenne about nine hours later but having gained an hour when we moved into Mountain Daylight Time, we actually got here about 5:30 p.m. That doesn’t matter very much … even though the clock says 9 p.m., I’m more than tired enough to be in bed. So I think after posting this, that’s where I’m headed.

For some reason, we’ve gotten back into thundershower country again! As we crossed into Wyoming we were in a huge thunderstorm with some pretty gusty winds. The weather map looks like a line of thunderstorms is headed through this area for the next several hours. We’ve had plenty of rain on this trip!

Tomorrow we’ll drive through to Pocatello, stopping by my favorite brother’s place for about a half-hour and perhaps seeing mother and dad for a few minutes as we blow through Soda Springs. Tomorrow night we’ll be back in our own beds once again. Then we can start planning the next trip! We’ve still got a trip to Seattle and to Chandler to do yet this year. I think the motorhome will get a pretty good workout this fall. It’s been a good trip and it’ll also be very good to get home.

We’ve stopped on the way back at the same KOA campground we stayed at on the way out. The biggest difference is that WiFi is working this time! That is very important because I can now update the blog and, more importantly, Nina can finally download her email! She’s been disconnected for almost two weeks. I’m not sure I could go that long …. I did find WiFi at the public library in Carthage, Illinois and slipped in twice to download email and make one quick blog entry. It’s nice to actually be connected!

The campground we stayed at near Carthage was probably once a very nice campground but those days are long gone. We did see a couple of other campgrounds that weren’t listed in our campground book, both of which looked to be much better than where we stayed. However, it worked and we had a good time in and around Nauvoo. The swimming pool at the campground was OK and the grandkids had two evenings of swimming, which they really enjoyed.

Nauvoo is a wonderful place to visit. Even though we spent two days there, much is still left to be experienced. The highlight, however, was a session at the new Nauvoo Temple. That building is exquisite. The workmanship is magnificent. There are not superlatives enough for the temple! For instance, in one room there is some coping work that goes most of the way around the room. On the coping was a painted design repeated around the room. The design exactly fit the coping … at each corner the precise same position for each repetition of the design. Whomever did that work had to have spent hours planning for everything to come out exactly correct without people being able to see differences in the sizes of the design on each side of the room. All the carpets fit exactly … meaning that they had to have been woven specifically for that place in the temple. It is such a beautiful building. The murals on the walls were spectacular in their color, composition, and detail. What a nice experience, one that we must repeat.

The original plan was to stay through Sunday evening and leave on Monday morning. However, Jim needed to be back at work on Monday and we weren’t interested in spending another (disconnected) night at the Carthage campground. So, after church this morning and having lunch together, Jim and family headed back to Springfield, Missouri, and we headed north to I-80 and then west into Nebraska. If we wish, we could be home on Tuesday evening, a day early. We’ll see what tomorrow brings as we drive westward. The Big Road Trip is almost finished. We’ve now been in the motorhome for three weeks straight and we’ve learned a few things. I’ll probably write about them after we get home. Meanwhile, Nina’s crashed and it’s time for me to make an end to this day as well.

We made it to Carthage last night about 6 p.m. CDT. It was a long day of driving through some very weird weather in Ohio. In fact, we had a major wake up on Tuesday morning as a line of severe thunderstorms moved through the Columbus area at about 5 a.m. Sleeping was finished. The visit with Ralph and family was very nice … including some very good pizza for dinner (finally!). We parked in front of their house (as well as on the side yard of a neighbors. Much of their family arrived during the evening and we had a great visit.

Jim and family were already at the campground in Carthage when we arrived. The thunderstorms continue … some of them quite significant. We’ve spent the day at the Carthage Visitor’s Center and at the Hancock County Museum (well worth the visit). We drove up to Nauvoo and made reservations for temple sessions and then back to the campground. Nina and the grandkids are at the pool swimming while I’ve run back into town to get some lettuce and do a quick check on email. I’d sure vote for it to either cool down or significantly decrease in humidity!

We drove most of the day across Pennsylvania in the rain. Sometimes very hard, occasionally no rain, but mostly rain and more rain. This rain is falling too far east! It needs to be in Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming. It’s actually rather tiring driving in the rain. We are both quite tired this evening. We’re parked in Dawnmarie and Kirk’s driveway. Nina is doing wash (at 11:30 at night). I’m chasing down mosquitoes and I think I’ve found them all. The camper door spent too long open. We’ll leave bright and early tomorrow morning for our drive to Columbus (Pickerington, actually) for the next visit. Hopefully it won’t rain so much tomorrow?

We’re on I-84 west just going through Fishkill, New York. It has already been a small adventure this morning. The plan was to leave about 8 a.m. We actually pulled out of the campground at 8:30 a.m. Nina’s sister Pam was headed one direction and we in another … into New Haven to the Connecticut Limo terminal on Long Wharf. We got to where we could see the place but could go no further. Fire engines and police had the road blocked. We maneuvered around downtown New Haven trying to come at Long Wharf a different direction and were almost successful. This time the policeman gave us some directions on how to get there. A transformer had “blown up” and that was what had the street blocked. A few minutes later Marsha was at her limo stop. Originally she was going to have a lot of time to wait but now she was cutting it pretty close. Since the street going south was closed, we made our way back through New Haven onto the route out of town.

We’re now making our way back home … we’ve reached the furthest east point on our trip. West is a good direction for now.

The visit in Connecticut was nice. The weather was cool … a nice respite from the heat. Everything needful was accomplished. Aunt Jean and Uncle Bob were fun to visit. We saw Chris all three days as she also came out to the beach on Saturday. It is a place we could spend a lot of time and hopefuy will do that some day. Tonight we’ll be in Dawnmarie’s driveway which will give us enough time to do laundry. Life is good!

We’re gathered around a small firepit and the women are trying to make fire. The wood that we purchased from the campground store is definitely not dry wood and is being very recalcitrant about starting. However, Marsha is determined and this wood will definitely burn eventually. Nina and Pam have put their marshmallow sticks into the meager flame bound and determined to burn at least one marshmallow.

We’ve spent the last two days at the beach. Yesterday it was cloudy and cool with occasional rain showers. The water was cold and not many people were at the beach. Later in the evening we had a very nice visit with Aunt Jean and Uncle Bob.

Today it was bright and clear … and cool with a strong breeze. It was even windier at the beach. However, Nina and Pam had “a great day” at the beach. So, this part of the trip has been a success … even though the fire is definitely not cooperating.

Tomorrow we’ll do church at 9:30 a.m., a little more sightseeing in the area, and another visit with Aunt Jean and Uncle Bob. I also understand that “lobster rolls” at a restaurant at the beach where they went in their youth is the menu for Sunday evening. That will conclude our visit to Connecticut and we’ll start our way back west on Monday.