A Final Word from Jeff

The trip has sadly come to an end, but before I let it rest in peace, I wanted to offer a few things so that posterity can pay tribute to our 2013 adventure.  While we had the normal occurrences of too much togetherness, there were infinitely more times that we were laughing at each other’s oddities or otherwise having a great time seeing all the places that we visited.  We covered approximately 5,000 miles in the RV and another 2,500 in the Jeep over the five weeks.  I know that sounds like quite a bit, but it honestly didn’t feel that bad.

My favorite spots were….

  

10. Red Lodge, MT

9.  Estes Park/Rocky Mountain NP, CO,

8.  Flaming Gorge, WY

7.  Sheep Loop Drive in UT

6.  Bayfield, WI (Apostle Islands)

5.  Beartooth Highway, MT

4.  Yellowstone - Lamar Valley, WY

3.  Mackinac Island, MI

2.  Harbor Springs, MI 1.  Jackson Hole/Grand Tetons, WY

The best day for me was the day we floated down the Snake River in WY when we saw something around 18 bald eagles.

The award for the best moment was in Yellowstone when Henry and I spotted a bald eagle about 700 yards away, and while we were watching, it took off and dove into the river for a fish.  No way to get a photo of that since we were so far away but it was incredible.  Incredible doesn’t describe the two black bears that jumped out in front of the RV on consecutive days in MN and WI.  The one near Duluth was on the small side but the one near Iron Lake, MN was enormous. Ruth was my co-pilot that day, and I think she was in shock since she wasn’t able to pull the trigger with the camera.

The biggest dud of the trip was our very brief stay in Deer Lake, MN.  The camp’s website was glowing with beautiful pictures and using the term resort.  My definition of resort and theirs are obviously a little different.  The Deer River stop turned out to be a very short one since we ate the cost of the 2^nd night and quickly moved on to the Duluth area the next morning.  While the Duluth area was an audible, it was very nice and the City of Two Harbors along Lake Superior turned out to be a gem of a place so all was not lost in Minnesota.

Best surprise was Michigan.  Can’t begin to describe just how fantastic northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula areas were.  I’ll be checking the price of houses in the Harbor Springs area from this point forward.  I would have bet the farm five weeks ago that I would have hated every last second of being in Michigan, but it turned out to be exactly opposite.  It’s going on the short list of Saratoga Springs, N; Estes Park, CO; and Jackson Hole, WY for those places that I’d like to live.

Regardless of the jibber jabber of what we did or how we liked this or that, the main point of all these trips are for us to spend as much time together as possible. Henry and Ruth will surely move on in a few years, and they will be missed immensely.  It’s my highest hope that Henry and Ruth will remember these trips long after they’ve grown and gone on their way and find time to do the same for their kids.