Home Sweet Home (for a while)

Okay, okay, I know it's been a few days now but it's taken me that long to get all straightened away!
I think I still have things in the Equinox that I haven't found yet.
Sheeesh!

I got back to Southampton on Thursday November 3rd after 8,901 km of touring west, then south then east, then north east.
I've seen snow, desert, hail, thunderstorms, rain and dust storms. Sometimes all in the same day (New Mexico was weird that way.)
I've been warned of: moose, elk, deer, rattlesnakes, big horned sheep, rocks, slides, avalanches, tsunamis, turtles, bears, flooding, high tides, rip tides, sneaker waves, drifting sand, flash floods, road dips, smoke on the road and that dust may obscure the road.

I've spent nearly $1300 in fuel.
The accommodations ranged from the spectacular to the "never again".
I've met people from every state in the union and every province.
I've travelled over mountains, through mountains, over bridges, under bridges, through forests, over deserts, down canyons, up switchbacks, over 14 statelines and through 3 time zones and back again.
I've been in some of the busiest places (think Vancouver after a BC Lions game) and some of the most desolate (the desert around Andrews Airforce Base in Nevada).
It's been something of an amazing tour I think.

So my "best and worst" list goes like this....

• Best accommodation: Adobe Village Graham Inn, Sedona Arizona
• Worst accommodation: Days Inn, Gallup New Mexico
• Most beautiful place: Lake Louise, Alberta and the Chateau Lake Louise
• Most desolate: Williams, Nevada
• Most fun: 3 Bars Guest Ranch Cranbrook, British Columbia
• Most fun and relaxing: Surrey, British Columbia staying with my cousins
• Most lonely: Crescent City, California
• Place where I said,"I can't believe I'm here": Whistler, BC; Las Vegas, NV; Chateau Lake Louise, AB; Alcatraz Island, San Francisco, California; Pebble Beach Golf Course, California
• Best meal: the Thai place in Pacific Grove, California that my friend J-A and her friend took me to.
• Worst meal:the complimentary continental breakfast at the Super 8 in Greenfield, Illinois (blech! Stale everything...)
• Craziest place: Las Vegas, Nevada (need I say more???)
• Nicest people: 3 Bars Guest Ranch in Cranbrooke British Columbia and the Adobe Village Graham Inn, Sedona Arizona
• Best experience: oh dear....3 Bars Guest Ranch (the whole thing), canoeing on Lake Louise, walking the trails near Sedona, Arizona, watching the surfers in Santa Cruz, driving through the Big Red Forest.....I could go on....
• Longest drive (it seemed): Auburn, Indiana to Southampton, Ontario
• Places I'm glad I didn't miss: Lake Louise, Grand Canyon and all of Arizona
• Best museum experience: The Charles M. Shultz (think Charlie Brown) in Santa Rosa, California
• Craziest midway/boardwalk: Santa Cruz, California (a truly Americana thing)
• Most tedious drive: Branson Missouri to Port Huron, Michigan
• Wildest drives: Sea to Sky highway, Vancouver to Whistler and Oak Creek Canyon road, Sedona, Arizona

There is so much more to think about but that kind of sums it all up in a nutshell.

I was so glad to come home to a nice big hug and comfy home of The Man and I haven't even driven the Equinox since I drove it in the driveway a few days back. It's been awesome to be home and I find myself remembering quite clearly where I was 2 weeks ago or even a few days ago on my travels.
It's been an amazing experience and so inspiring too. I have truly enjoyed my time away and have so many memories of it all. I will never forget this opportunity to travel and grow.

So as I weed through my masses of pictures I hope to add another post here and there as I find ones folks might like to see.

After some down time I'm sure the planning will start for the next phase! For now, it's just taking some quality time out for friends and family.

Cheers all!