Naperville, IL

August 8, 2017

Weather: 74 and sunny driving through Wyoming, 81 Naperville

Hours Driving: 7 hours 18 min

States Drive Thru: Nebraska Iowa and Illinois

Miles: 496

Restaurants:

Movies: Dumb and Dumber

Games:

Books: Dunkirk (Matt), Bow Wow (Bee)

Hotel: Mike and Marne's bed and breakfast

Well, we had a choice today to drive all the way home and get home around 10 pm or stop through Naperville to see Mike and Marne and the kids. We would spend the night if we were welcome. We contacted them to see if it would be too much trouble since they are getting Emily ready to go to University of Missouri on Saturday. And, Mike just had shoulder surgery and it might be a hassle to have us. We get it. I don't think they'd ever say no. We have not told the kids we are going. Another surprise. We like doing that. I think they will be very happy.

We are uneventfully driving through the fields of Iowa. It feels like a long day. I'm glad we are stopping in Naperville. I am done. I am spent. Once again eating out gets tedious.For everyone. Fortunately, we had a good couple of home cooked meals in Park City. We packed lunches in the car the past couple of days. The thought of eating out makes me ill. As it always does.

We stopped at Mike and Marnes for the night. The kids were happily surprised. It made for a great ending to our trip. We had a great night eating and over endulging in spirits. It was a stop that felt like home. We are back on the road for home. It couldn't come faster. Apparently, our house should be complete including painting the whole downstairs. Our doors and trim should be all white. It is going to be weird. i hope we like it. When I left for the trip, my back was in pain. For months, I've struggled with it and right at the start of our trip was at its worst. Two days into the trip, gone. No pain. What the heck. I wonder if it was stress from the house. Always having people in house and making decisions and spending money. Gone. My pain was gone for the whole trip. Crazy.

We are only a few hours from home. We are driving over a hill and the clouds on the horizon resemble the mountain ranges out west in Seattle. A little melancholy feeling of where we've been and where we are going. A fleeting memory. Now we look forward to our next trip next year. Our plan is to do the southeast, Savanna, Georgia, Charleston, South Carolina, North Carolina, DC and the Virginias. Our plan is to do it over Spring break. We'd like to do another RV trip over the summer in Michigan. I've already started looking for places to stay in the Carolinas.

With so many things happening on our trips, it's fun to compile it into numbers to see everything we've done, seen or experienced. The next post will be It's All Numbers. Thanks for following along.Read more