Vernon, CT

Is very strange. I have been in the revenge business so long, now that it's over, I don't know what to do with the rest of my life.

Have you ever considered piracy? You'd make a wonderful Dread Pirate Roberts.

Thank you all for reading! And thanks especially for your blog comments, phone calls, emails, and text messages along the way. I know this must have looked like a great long vacation, but there were a few (mostly unblogged) tough times out there, and communications back from the real world really helped keep me going.

Another big thanks to those I met up with along the way: Mike, Mayor Mike, Dan and Laurel, Glen, and Alice. These were amazing times, and were honestly the highlights of this whole adventure.

Here is the final Trip Computer:

Miles driven: 15,855
States visited: 39
National Parks visited: 32
Geocaches found: 26
Number of days gone: 43
Oil changes: 2
Last MPG check: 28.4
Live rattlesnakes seen: 0
Dead rattlesnakes seen: 1
Scorpions seen: 0
Giant squirrels seen: 3
Big Wallnuts seen: 2
Chocolate-covered walnuts eaten: 1
Tarantulas seen: 1
Amount won in Reno and Las Vegas: $975
Amount won in Tunica: -$60
WRX top speed: 135 mph
Cost of National Park Pass: $85
Total entry fees of National Parks visited: $334
Photos taken: 1392
Movies recorded: 54
Police cars seen while driving through ND, SD, WY, MT, ID: 2
Weight lost: 16 lbs

And here are some lessons learned:

• You can get great sushi in Boulder, CO
• Blue states have the worst drivers. For that matter, the bluer the state, the worse the drivers.
• Red states have more ADULT superstores.
• The earth is about 6,000 years old, unless you believe in that wacky collection of theories known as "Science."
• Padding is a great idea when in a tent.
• "Camping" means RVing to the rest of the world.
• I hate RVs.
• They might have to rename Glacier national park soon due to global warming.
• The Kum and Go stores aren't what they sound like.
• Northern Idaho is Aryan Nation territory.
• Dry heat is much more tolerable than wet heat.
• Unless you're in Death Valley.
• It's just too hot there.
• Panera Bread is great. Come for the mediocre food, stay for the free wireless internet.
• Illinois is made up of two things: Chicago and corn.
• There are no real killer 40-foot dairy cows.
• Massachussetts is the only state in the union that disables those things on gas pumps that enable you to pump the gas hands-free.
  

Lastly, here are some photos that didn't make it in the blog:

Acadia:

Badlands:

Yellowstone:

Glacier:

Mount Rainier:

Olympic:

Rocky Mountains:

Thanks again! I hope to see all of you soon.