Thursday April 23: The End

What a fantastic adventure this has all been. And as awesome a time as we've both had, I think we're very happy to finally be home again, to sleep in our own beds tonight. There's something very cathartic about coming home. I'm also very pleased at the time we've made these past couple days. We'd allotted ourselves 4 full days to get home from Vegas, and we've done it in 2.5. These extra couple days are very nice; a time to reintegrate ourselves back into our "real lives" before getting back to work. I suspect that if we had just gotten home the night before I had to return to work I'd end up with a serious case of the bends. We need this depressurization time.

All in all, the last couple of days have seen some heroic driving. From Las Vegas, NV to Fort Morgan, CO totaled 827 miles the first day. Then from there to Chicago was another epic 932 mile hike. So, today, we were kind of let off easy. From Chicago to our home in Cambridge, ON was a mere 456 miles--a leisurely stroll.

Knowing this, we let ourselves sleep in, rolling out of bed at around 10am. We enjoyed a free hot breakfast of eggs, sausage, hash browns for Chris and pancakes for me, and then we hopped in the car for the last time this journey.

There isn't a whole lot to tell about this final whole leg of the trip. Ohio was breathtakingly beautiful. We missed the Rocky Mountains by driving it at night, though there was a feeling of immensity as we drove up, and up, and up, only to plunge all the way back down again. The area in Colorado where we started the next day was very flat, reminding me of Oklahoma, and I found that all the little towns in the area had an unpleasant, peculiar odor.

Nebraska was boring, and though Iowa looked much the same I didn't find it as monotonous. Iowa just gives off good vibes to me; it's a very pleasant atmosphere. I think it would be a very nice place to live. We missed all of Illinois for the same reason we missed the Rocky's--night driving. We did, however, pay homage to the state by listening to Sufjan Steven's album about it as we passed through.

And finally Michigan. I really don't like Michigan. Terrible roads. It felt so good to leave downtown Detroit behind as we took the Tunnel into Ontario. The first thing I did after crossing into Windsor was to make Chris pull over for some Tim Horton's. Oh Tim, how I've missed you! We also paused to take a photo of our licence plate. Bugs from across the Continent and back (from 16 different States) are festooned upon it. It's a work of art.

And so, dear readers, we come to the end of this little blog. I've got to say, having you all along for the ride has made the trip so much more memorable for us. Knowing that we were going to have to write about our experiences made us take in so much more throughout the day, and every morning we'd rush to the computer to read comments on the previous night's post. So much fun.

And I hope that, perhaps, you've gotten to know each other a little better as well, throughout this experiment. Both by meeting the people we met along the way through our eyes, as well as seeing each other's reactions to our posts. I hope that my friends and family members who might not have understood my seemingly unreasonable attraction to a video game can now understand why. It's these amazing people (and we met just some of the awesome folks we play with every day) that keep both Chris and I coming back, day after day.

So many great people met. So many new experiences. So many breathtaking vistas taken in. So many preconceptions about America shattered. Such a great vacation!

Thank you so much to everyone who made this trip possible. Thanks to all the fine folks we've met who have just overwhelmed us with their hospitality and generosity. Celer, Mudslinger, Cali, Nem, Chance, Aly, Ram, Eaden, Eldrik, Dream and Kage: You guys rock! Thanks to Chris' brother Adam, who lent us his laptop and made this blog possible. And thanks to you, dear reader, who's made writing this blog so enjoyable an experience.

Over the next few days, as Chris and I adjust back into normality, I'll be finishing up the photo galleries and posting the links on the side bar of this blog. We included but a fraction of the pictures taken in our posts, so feel free to stop back in to see the full album.

Adieu!

~Pete/Lazz