Big Truck Across America - day 13, home

So we finally got to this point, the final day. We had debated whether to break it up, but since we were just headed home and didn't really have a must-see destination in Nebraska, Iowa, or northern Illinois, we decided we would do a straight shot home. Sounded reasonable at the time.

Leaving Fort Collins, we saw a few weather reports that mentioned wind advisories for eastern CO and all of Nebraska. This time, the weather report was accurate. For the next 6-7hrs, we dealt with 30mph crosswinds, all the while chasing a giant storm system that was working its way through the midwest. At one point the sky looked like a scene from Ghostbusters "There is no Dana, only Zuul".

This was the same storm system that was apparently severe enough to cause both postponements and cancellations of muliple NCAA football games, most notably Michigan's domination of noted MAC power WMU. No word on whether all of the players were given one of these in lieu of an actual win or loss.


One interesting experience in this particular cross country venture was that we happened to be driving through Big Ten country precisely when most of the schools opened up their season. We drove through Lincoln, NE and Iowa City, IA, and Jordan put up just about as much of a fight as each of their opponents did.

Once we got to Illinois, it seemed to make a bit more sense that Blagojevich was only the latest of 4 former governors of this state to go to prison. There were construction barrels literally from one border to the other, and at midnight on a holiday weekend, the speed limit was 45mph with 6 lanes open and no actual construction taking place. Of course, there were plenty of cruisers present to make sure none of the absentee workers were in danger. If not for this, we could have made record time. As it was, the Big Truck appeared to have done pretty well by this point:

You could image achieving that top speed was a bit challenging. As it turns out, that speed was obtained by another vehicle in our garage, one with a slightly more favorable aerodynamic profile. What was challenging, however, was maintaining this position for 18+ hours and 1160 miles.

We did arrive safely just before 4am, and were pleasantly surprised and relieved to see our house still intact. With minimal unpacking, we headed inside and crashed for a few hours. Jordan celebrated our return by climbing into our bed and kicking me in the back for the rest of the night.

Waking up with no sense of day, time, or location, we set out to pick up Reggie, someone that Jordan had been increasingly missing the past few days. There are few antidotes to masculinity more effective than a 3 year old quivering her lip through an "I miss my doggy" meltdown. Within the hour, they were reunited.

Huge thanks to Mike and Carol for taking care of Reggie while we were gone. He got to hang out with his best friend (other than Kimberly) Aspen, and was excited to get home & resume chasing birds away from the feeder on the deck.

All told, it was a very successful trip. No health issues, no mechanical breakdowns (other than the minor valvestem scare), no Johnny Law, and lodging was available at every stop along the way. I realize you may not care, but as an engineer, I tracked our stats and am not going to go through all that trouble without posting them. I'll keep it brief.

Total days - 13
Total miles - 5555.5 (not kidding), avg 427/day
Total hours driving - 97, avg 7.5/day
Total gallons of gas - 617, avg 47.5/day
Average speed (while moving): 57.1mph
Total neckbeards: 1 (not shaving for 2 weeks is about as anti-establishment as I get these days)
Souvenirs: numerous, including rocks, an X-wing, a pink stuffed fish, and a lizard made of rebar and rocker arms)

5 National Parks, 2 State Parks, 4 RV parks, and 1 home (Thanks again, Whitlocks!) served as destinations. We averaged a shade over 9mpg, which is pretty impressive given all the mountain driving and the winds on the return trip. Can't say enough about the Big Truck, no issues, handled great, and although we plan to make a few minor modifications, it met our needs very well.

We'd like to thank our family & friends for checking in on us, offering support/prayers/encouragement, and helping out while we were gone. This has been an incredible experience, and if any of you are thinking about taking the leap and heading across the country, I can't recommend it enough, especially as a family. As a closing shot, the most fitting one I could find comes from our furthest point from home, and it sums up the experience rather nicely - somewhat unplanned, a bit off center, but amazing scenery and 3 smiles.