The Final Day: Indianapolis, IN -- Fillmore, NY

We spent last night in Indianapolis with my old LeTourneau/Western PA buddy Jim White (of Apple Pie fame) Jim is such a great guy and went out of his way to accommodate us - he had Apple Pie and Chocolate chip cookies ready when we got there (I was in hog heaven obviously!) Sadly we got in too late to visit as much as we'd have liked to, but still we had a really nice time. Then this morning Jim left for work, early and we left for New York, late...just in time to drive into another huge thunderstorm! We left in a thunderstorm 25 days ago, and then never saw another drop of rain until today! Sigh....back to the rainy Great Lakes region. So we drove hard to try to 1) get ahead of the storm and 2) get Anthony home in time to go to Molly's soccer game. The trip back was uneventful other than some impressive lightning and hail. We finally pulled into our driveway a little before 9pm, tired, satisfied, glad to get out of the van, and happy to see the pets. Even as happy as I am to be back, I'd gladly climb back into the van if it meant that we could have more time with every friend along the trip.

Tonight I uploaded some more trip pictures onto facebook and the kids, who until about four days ago were on Pacific time are having trouble winding down and getting to sleep, so they are still upstairs talking and planning a slumber party! Perhaps the sweetest part of the day was Anthony thanking me tonight for the trip and saying "It did turn out to be a good idea after all Dad." That really meant a lot as I know he was missing Molly a lot on the whole trip but he still enjoyed the experience, which was what I was hoping for. I was asking them tonight about their favorite aspects of the trip and while they all had particular favorites a few themes emerged: they all mentioned Glacier National Park as being the best sight, playing with their Spokane cousins, the Mall of America, deep-dish pizza & Tyler LeVan, Pete Sbanotto's eggplant parmesan, and they all loved Oregon. But the longer we talked, the more apparent it became that they'd really enjoyed all the different segments of the trip, if not the long car rides in between! I'm so, so grateful for this experience of a lifetime and thought I would conclude with a few last thank yous and reflections: Think of it as my Oscar acceptance speech!

Thanks to GOD - we prayed for safety and we had it in abundance!
Thanks to our old van - Eight years old, 145,000 miles, and not a speck of trouble on the whole trip, even driving over the Rocky Mountains and through the 115 degree desert!
Accomodations courtesy: The Ninakapolis, The Trudeau Hacienda, the White Trash of Charles IL: the LeVans, the Fabulous Foley Farm, the Judberger Ranch, the ERBoretum of Spokane, the Goodfellow-Goodcabin, the Sbanotto -Mussino Casino, and the White Inn of Indianapolis.
Trip made possible in part by grant from the Gail-Nichols-Peoples Foundation

Trip by the Numbers:
Miles on the van: 8191
States visited: 27
Number of new states for me: 5 bringing my total to 48!
Number of new states for the kids: 16 for Anthony - bringing his total to 43! 17 for Samantha and JonDavid
License Plates spotted: 48 - We still have not found Delaware or Rhode Island - TWO cars from Hawaii made it, but no one from Delaware or Rhode Island can even make it to Ohio?! Obviously I'm still bitter! I'm extending the deadline until the end of August!)
Calories Consumed/"Hey guys! Look at that!"/Vacation-Griswold Family References: Too Many to Count!

Even though I goaded the kids into picking favorites, I really loved every moment of the trip so much, that I don't know that I can narrow it down to any specific favorite. I did have these thoughts:

Things I’ll miss most about the trip:
Renewing old friendships
The Open Road
Having the kids always within five feet
Hotel Jacuzzis
Stopping for 64 oz. Diet Cokes

Things I won’t miss about the trip:
Stopping at every rest stop in America because of my addiction to 64 oz diet cokes
The smell from the back of the van (“Anthony?! Was that you?! No! It was JonDavid! No! I wasn’t me…”)
Goodbyes

Things I want to be sure and include on our next Western Trip: (I'm going to open this up for suggestions on facebook)
1) Bring Sabrina along!
2) Stay LONGER everywhere we went this time: Especially MN, Chicago, MT, OR, and AR!)
3) Add Yosemite and Sedona
4) Spend a full week in Glacier!
5) Always stay at Red Lion Inns!
6) Spend a full week in California visiting friends
7) Get a classic car and cruise Old Rte. 66

But if I did have to pick a broad category for my favorite experiences on the trip it would be this - watching all of these dear friends throughout all the chapters of my life interacting with my kids and being so sweet to them - whether it was watching them so comfortable and at home at the Trudeaus, or listening to Leslie LeVan laughing with them, or Dan Foley treating them to the rides and aquarium at MOA, or Ann Snowberger instructing them on the finer points of marriage, rafting, and rattlesnake hunting, or Sara Hall fixing blizzards for them on a hot afternoon, or perhaps my favorite: Pete Sbanotto hosting a Texas Hold'Em tournament for them while Elaine toured Olga and me around town! It has all been such a great reminder about what wonderful friends I have and how much I love all of them.

Now somehow I have to come back down to earth and resume my regularly scheduled program which this year isn't particularly one of my favorite episodes: "In Which Tim turns 50, loses his job, finds his first issue of the AARP magazine in the mailbox when he gets home from the trip, and has to go on a big fat diet to make up for a month of unbridled eating!"

Years ago Mindy sent me a greeting card that said "I've woven the memories of our times together into a patchwork quilt and when life gets hard or lonely or cold, I wrap up in that quilt to keep warm." That is what this trip has provided for me - a wonderful quilt of new memories with old friends. Thank you all...See you on facebook....