The rest of the drive to Rochester from Cleveland was uneventful and even anticlimactic.  The thumping from the out of round front tires became annoying and both us kept both hands on the wheel while under way.  The audio book we were listening to took over from the route and the scenery.  We agreed that this last stretch felt like 250 miles too much.  We rolled along US 20 through Ohio to the Pennsylvania border where we picked up I 90 to avoid Erie.  As we approached NY we got back onto US 20 and managed to stay with it, detours and all to I 390.  By this point the GPS was off and we were driving from memory.

We decided not to stop at Graycliff which we will leave for another trip, it is a Frank Lloyd Wright compound on Lake Erie.  It was plain that we would not arrive in time for the extended tour and abbreviated tour did not seem to warrant the deviation from US 20.  Not to mention the idea that I could not get in touch with anyone to be sure they even had room for us.  That will have to be a car trip from Rochester.  Anyone for a day trip?

Home in the stick house.  It feels strange to have so much indoor space.  It seems strange to have unlimited water and no worry about sewage.  It is strange not to face the limits of 30 amps of electricity.  We miss those limits.  When we stand in our enormous five headed shower for two we feel sinful in the waste of water, but we love it.

It is good to see friends we haven’t seen in either 9 or 4 months.  We miss our road friends.  We miss the road, already.  We will be back on it in November.

Some statistics for those who are interested.  we drove 16,695 miles in the coach since last November 18.  We burned 2,504.547 gallons of gasoline which makes the average miles per gallon 6.666.  We spent just under $5,000 for campsites in 267 days on the road (I took out the 20 days we spent in Rochester in May) or an average of $18.49 per night.  60 of those nights were free.  From Okotoks AB to Okotoks AB was 6,186 miles.  Okotok is about 3,000 miles from Rochester on the route we took.

Other thoughts a week after settling in to 1482 East Ave for a while.  We entertained 46 friends at our 3rd Annual Labor Day “Picnic”.  Not sure we could pull that off in a campground.  We became far more aware of waste of resources having lived with the limits I cited above for nine months.  Is it really necessary to let the sink run when there is no immediate need for water?  Not only does it waste fresh water, it taxes the sewage system as well.  Try living with 100 gallons of fresh water and gray water capacity of 60 gallons for a week.  We do when we are in the desert.  Try limiting your use of electricity to what can be contained in 2 deep cycle 6 volt batteries plus whatever the sun chooses to give you through photovoltaic cells on the roof.  Or watch the volt meter drop if you try to run the microwave and any heater when you are limited to 30 amp service, in case you don’t know your house has at least 200 amp service.  Oh and consider that to run the gasoline generator to make up for excess need costs at least half a gallon of gasoline per hour, just a couple of bucks an hour!

These are not complaints, we never felt that we wanted or needed more.  We learned to live within the limits and be grateful when we could hook up in a full service campground and take advantage of full flowing water.  We choose to limit ourselves for the pleasure of being away from everyday services, we do not consider it a hardship.  If we, did we would drive down the road to a place that offered all the amenities.

I am blathering.  I am not ready to close this piece because it will signify the end of a glorious nine month adventure that is really just a small piece of the glorious 47 years of our marriage.  We look forward to resuming the road in November.  Who knows where it will take us?