6500 miles and counting

It’s July 18, 2005.

We’ve now been on the road one month (since June 14) and it feels like it has flown by. We have only about 2 weeks left until we “dock” in Philadelphia and begin the next adventure of buying and moving into our new home in South Philadelphia and the beginning of Mike’s new job with the EPA. We’re trying hard not to get caught up in what’s next and instead to savor every last minute of this trip, even the weird moments.

 

Most crowded National Park =Yosemite National Park in July:

Last night we stayed in a motel near Yosemite, and then drove in to the park this morning. Yosemite was crowded beyond belief. Parking lots were completely full and the heat was unbelievable. All the campsites were full so after a few short hikes, we left Yosemite Valley and drive through the park using 120, heading East. It was a pretty drive. We crossed into Nevada at about 5:30 p.m. and now we are on our way to Tonopah where we will probably stay for the night. Camping is almost out of the question given the high temperatures, so we’ll be looking for a motel or something. As I write, it is still 103 degrees and it’s 6:40 p.m. Pacific Time.

 

Next:

We were going to head to Las Vegas for a renewal of vows at the Elvis Chapel, but have decided instead to use tomorrow (Tuesday) to head through Nevada and towards Utah and Bryce Canyon National Park where we can do some more hiking.

 

Car milestone:

Today we passed the 36,000 mile mark on the Subaru (which ends our warranty period, so we are crossing our fingers!) and we celebrated the milestone by testing the speedometer in Nevada while we were driving on Highway 6.  In only about 15 months of owning this Subaru we have put almost 30,000 miles on it. Amazing. Next year we will undoubtedly see a marked difference in mileage since we will be city-dwellers again and will be using our feet and public transportation much more often.

 

Thanks to all of you who have sent us notes and left comments for us on the blog or who have called our cell phone to catch us up (215-880-1519). We really enjoy getting all the good news – babies born, babies on the way, weddings, birthdays, moves, new jobs and new adventures – and each day we are away makes us so much more aware of how lucky and fortunate we are to have such good friends, such loving family and more good news than bad.