I know that I could write an organized, sequential, stop by stop, report of our journey. It could carefully document (for all time) the details of our trip. Although that appeals to me, there is just so much else going on right now (as always) that I can't take the time to be that thorough. So, lest I raise expectations, I'll begin in a much more spontaneous, off-the-cuff style.

What was all that driving like? I did expect that driving all those 5100 miles (and I figured out that we went through 22 states) I'd be too sore and stiff upon arrival at our various destinations to do more than huddle in a rocking chair or corner of a sofa and let folks talk and children play in range of my camera. Truly, that's what I thought I'd be able to do: recover. I expected my back to ache terribly. I expected my digestive system to shut down totally. I recommend setting out on journeys with low expectations.

Kevin drove 4800 of the 5100 miles. I was actually rather pleased with myself for managing to drive 7 hours of the first leg (which was 2000 miles long). It continues to awe me that he can concentrate for hours like that. I'm more grateful than ever for his ability to do it. People asked often, knowing what distances we were covering, "so, do you two share the driving?" Sensible idea, but not possible for us. Half of us just isn't capable of holding up her end. The other half is capable of shouldering what she can't. So much for 5o/50. In the case of highway driving we share 95/5.

Then there are those who were apprehensive at the thought of us covering all those miles in the midst of winter. I'm putting up these pictures as an analogy. Study 'em. For me they symbolically express how we approached the whole trip. This is the way I like to speak to people who think abstractly. Visually.