We are Home Sweet Home!!!

We pulled out of Florence on September 3rd and are now just getting home on the 29th! Our cross country road trip was amazing and definitely worth all that we invested into it! The USA is a beautiful place. Thank you for praying for us on our trip and keeping up with our daily stories and photos. Nick and I can now scratch this off of our bucket list and start planning what we will attempt next! We summed up our trip with a Fast Facts list below...

Our Route:
South Carolina
Georgia
Alabama
Mississippi
Louisiana
Texas
New Mexico
Arizona
Nevada
California
Oregon
Idaho
Montana
Wyoming
Colorado
Kansas
Missouri
Illinois
Kentucky
Tennessee
Georgia
Tennessee
Georgia
Tennessee
Georgia (we went back and forth between TN and GA while driving around Lookout Mountain...half of the mountain is in GA and half of it is in TN)
South Carolina

Our Overnight Stops:
Roswell, GA
Cypress, TX
El Paso, TX
Phoenix, AZ
Grand Canyon National Park, AZ
Palmdale, CA
Cupertino, CA
Redwood National Forest, CA
Rock Springs, WY
Idaho Falls, ID
Buena Vista, CO
Lenexa, KS
Lookout Mountain, GA

Our Site Seeing Stops:
Downtown Houston
The Woodlands
The Alamo
Montezuma Castle
Chapel of the Holy Cross
Grand Canyon National Park
Hoover Dam
Hollywood
Santa Monica Pier
Sailing the Pacific coastline
Pier 39
Ghiradelli Square
The most crooked street
Coit Tower
Apple
Golden Gate Bridge
Redwood National Forest
Crater Lake
Yellowstone National Park
Colorado ranches and mountains
St Louis Arch (saw it from the car)
Scenery of half of the country while driving...

Hours of driving: 127 hours 45 minutes
Miles on the road: 7,801.9
Gallons of gas: 270.4
Gas stops: 30
Days on the road: 27
Nights on the road: 26
Nights in hotels: 5
Nights in campgrounds: 4
Nights in car: 1 (our tent site got flooded)
Nights with strangers: 4
Nights with family: 5
Nights with friends: 7
States we drove through: 21
Road trip kick off: aunt Vicki's in GA
Creepiest overnight stay: Rock Springs, WY
Worst traffic: Houston and San Francisco
Longest drive: Atlanta to Houston in one day
Hardest drive: 23 hours in two days
Most deserted: Oregon and Idaho
Laziest afternoon: watching John Wayne movies with our cowboy, Ben Temple
Hottest weather: Houston
Sweetest dog: Holly Hoffart's sister's dog in Kansas
Sunburns: a day by the pool with Holly
Least disappointing: Seeing the Mexican border and not crossing it
Asians site seeing with us: 8,546,976
Best camping: Redwoods
Craziest host: Bob near San Francisco
Coldest weather: Grand Canyon
Never want to go back: Las Vegas
Traffic jams: 3
Grizzlies: 0
Spoiled us rotten: the Hoffart's in TX and my cousins, the Mays, in CA
Best memory: sitting around the campfire in the Redwoods
Snacks: Twizzler Bites and Combos
Caffeine of choice: Starbucks
Injuries: none
Car problems: on the verge of overheating
Handsomest guy: Nick
Best nap: on the beach in Santa Monica with my cousin Carrie
Hours Emily drove: 0
Most surprising moment: Going to church in California and meeting someone from my hometown in Bolivia!
Audio books: 2 1/2
eBooks: 5
Books: 2
Magazines: 1
Sick days: Nick had allergies
Most expensive gas: Northern California $4.39 per gallon
Least expensive gas: South Carolina...never complain again
Hours of silence:...................
Favorite state: Colorado
We didn't get to see, but wanted to: Alcatraz and Yosemite
Lessons learned: Don't camp in the rain
Random: We moved my friend, Kira, from South Carolina to Arizona, then brought my cousin's, Emily, sewing machine back from California to Georgia and finally, dishes for my cousin, Gail, that we brought from California to South Carolina! Road trips apparently help everyone...

Favorite place in the country: home!!!

Most used sentences:
"I can't believe we're here!"
"I hope the car doesn't break down!"

How would we rate this trip on a scale of 1 to 10?: TEN
Would we recommend this trip to a friend?: YES