Day 38 - Home again, home again, Jiggety Jig

Woke up to a warm, sunny day in Spokane at Tom & Deb's. After a large evening, no one was moving particularly fast but a stroll to the local coffee shop was in order. It is always nice to get in a few steps before a day in the car. This time, the walk was well worth it.

The Grain Shed is a Perry neighborhood bakery and brewery that uses locally grown Landrace grains. In the morning, it is a great place to find a cup of coffee and pastries and breads for breakfast. If you get there between nine o'clock and eleven, you will be serenaded by a group of local musicians who just like to hang out there. A terrific start to what would be the last day of everything. The last breakfast, the last time we lugged the cooler and bags to the car, the last time we set the navigation on the system to our next destination. This time we just punched "Home". 

Saying farewell to Deb and Tom, we drove out to I90 and the navigator said there were 273 miles to go. The road was familiar, so we didn't need to worry about what route to take or what lane to be in. We just enjoyed the drive. After miles of farmland, we began to see hints of the Coast Mountains in the distance.

After crossing the Columbia River and passing Vantage, WA, we were both watching for it - the big bowl of ice cream on the horizon. Finally, there was Mount Rainier beckoning us home. It has been 38 days of kicks and we are glad that many of you came along for the ride. 

280 miles today, 6671 miles in total - that would be 66 hundred miles, get it? Still missing a couple of license plates. We saw lots of trucks with Maine plates but no cars - maybe they just drive transport trucks there. We saw no sign of Delaware - maybe they all take the train like Joe. Here is the final tally:

Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arizona Navajo Nation, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oklahoma Caddo Nation, Oklahoma Cherokee Nation, Oklahoma Chocktaw Nation, Oklahoma Osage Nation, Oklahoma Peoria Nation, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee. Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Washington DC, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and the US Government. And from Oh Canada - British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and Saskatchewan. And from Mexico - Ciudad de Mexico, Sonora.

Our last book comes from the wonderful Marilynne Robinson. Home is one of her Gilead books. It is a story about families, the passing of generations, love, death, and faith. What more is there? And now that we are home, it is time to catch up with our families and friends. Thanks for coming on this journey with us.

Our final song is from John Fogerty. 'We just got home from Illinois ... doo, doo, doo, lookin' out my back door.'

Here is Lookin Out My Back Door, while you look at our back door. 

Creedence Clearwater Revival - Lookin' Out My Back Door - YouTube

The Route 66 travels are over, and we need to take a week or so to settle back into a stationary lifestyle. But we have a few themes that we want to write about before we wrap up this blog. So, check back in a couple of weeks.

To date, we have had over 2000 views of our pokey little blog and nearly 70 comments. Whoda thunk!?!? Thanks, dear ones.