Tuesday, July 8, 2008

58 degrees when we woke up…it won’t be this cool again in Kansas until October!  If only there was a way to bottle up this cool weather and bring it with us.

 

We got on the road at 8:15 Topeka time and began the final push home.  It was a beautiful day, but the miles seemed to roll by very slowly.  We passed through Casper and had some Burger King at Cheyenne and entered the very wide state of Nebraska. 

 

Chris drove a large portion today, and did a great job.  The traffic on Highway 80 was pretty heavy, and Chris found an 18-wheeler that he followed for nearly 300 miles, drafting off him for the best gas mileage of the trip!

 

By this time of the trip, everyone was very anxious to get home.  We had cell phone coverage, so we made some calls home. Travis is the Youth Minister at our church, and he had been staying at our house while we were gone, so we called him to warn him we were heading his direction (just in case he needed to do any last minute cleaning).

 

Supper was Wendy’s, and it feels like all we have done the last several days is sit and eat fast food.  YUM! 

 

Lincoln is a frustrating city to get through, because you have to drive through city streets even though you are supposedly on interstate.  We pulled into Lincoln a little after 9, hoping we could make it home around midnight.

 

Many have asked us what portion of the trip was the roughest driving, and I would have to say it was the last 30 miles from Holton to Topeka.  Tuesday night it had rained, and the fog was thick!

 

We pulled into our driveway at 12:15; overjoyed with the realization we would be sleeping in our own beds.

 

Total Mileage:  8, 530 miles.  That computes to about 170 hours of driving at various speeds.  In other words, we spent over 4 work weeks just driving!

 

Mileage for the day: 970

Temperature high: 80’s

Camping fee: $0

Price for gasoline: $3.95/gallon

 

Final Word:  We thank God for an amazing adventure.  He was with us every mile of our journey, and we pray we will never forget all the amazing things His Son created for us to enjoy.