Epilogue

Day 58, the Last Day of School

          “Good Morning Class!”

          “Good Morning Mr. Hall!”

          Well, I hope that you have enjoyed our Fifty-eight Day Field Trip for this year. Now that we have arrived back in New Jersey and it is Memorial Day weekend, I have some good news for you.”

          (Pause for dramatic effect and wait for the class’s rapt attention)

          Your Studies for this semester have come to a close! I know that we said back in the beginning that we would be ending this Voyage of Discovery probably in Mid-June, but that’s it!

          We’re Kaput!

          Finished!

          Toast!

          Hasta la Vista, baby!

          And the best part is that, even though ‘Pat from Lafayette’ is begging me to assign some homework for over the summer break, I am, in fact, NOT going to do this!”

          There will be however, some short ventures into the wilds of New England and the Jersey Shore that you may attend for extra credit. To that end, I will pass along some advice for making it easy to follow along at home if you cannot attend in person.

          Go to the end of this Post and at the bottom you will find two little boxes to check. Read both of them and check off at least the one about being notified of Future Posts (if you haven’t done this already) Make sure  that you provide your email address so that this very intelligent computer program knows who to send messages to when I post something new.

          Before we dismiss for the weekend, lets review what we’ve seen over the past two months.

          The first leg of our Journey saw us at Tomboy Farm in Durango, Colorado where we participated in a ‘Gate Building’ project and we collected fresh eggs and bluebird skies to go along with a side trip to Chaco Canyon, the Ancestral Puebloans mecca of sorts.

          We then forayed into the wilds of Las Vegas, where basically as non-drinkers, non-gamblers, and definitely non-smokers, we found the most interesting things were the ‘Lights of the Strip’ at night and the mighty Hoover Dam. I know that we almost lost several of you to some over-imbibing whilst at the Tables, but we were happy to see you all  on board the next morning.

          Hey! Who can forget that wild forty-mile an hour windy area we traversed on our way to Los Angeles? Crazy wasn’t it? It was a good thing that all of you galley-slaves had your oars out the windows helping us keep steady in that tempest!”

          In the Los Angeles area, we visited my old haunts on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, i.e., the Tide Pools and the all -glass Wayfarers Chapel. The trip to Catalina Island was sublime and definitely one of the highlights of the entire trip. An early Easter Dinner at the home of Travis’s parents, Linda and Dan, was a much-needed taste of home.

          Heading north out of Tinseltown, we meandered up though the San Joachim Valley trying to identify all of the crops that we passed along the way to Sequoia National Park. We won’t get into the physiology of giant trees again, but I think that you’ll agree that they are about as majestic as they get!

          Over to the Paso Robles growing region we went after that. A short trip up the coast to witness the Elephant Seals in their rookery was just fascinating, and so close! We did go to a Winery while there and discovered an unfortunate fact. As satisfied as one is with less-expensive wines, once you develop a palate for some of the finer (read  expensive) vintages, well, let’s just sat that the “Two-Buck Chuck” (which is really three bucks now) at Trader Joes leaves something to be desired. Oh well. At least I have found that my Cold Winter Milk only varies slightly from area to area and always has the same taste no matter where we procure it!

          Off to Monterey we went after that. From that cute town we ventured down the coast to the storied Big Sur area and were not disappointed one iota with anything along the way. It was as iconic as everyone describes it. We even had one of the most memorable meals of lifetime at Nepenthe, overlooking the Pacific Ocean and the incredible cliffs of this area.

          Back in the bus we climbed for the trip a little further north to the San Francisco environs. Here the Hills, Bridge, Cable Cars, and other sites paled in comparison to what we encountered in Muir Woods National Monument, one of the homes of the Coastal Redwood trees.

          Back across the state we zoomed. Another perfect day was in the offing for our visit to the incomparable Yosemite National Park. Our visit was timed perfectly as the kids were still in school and the waters were flowing nicely with the spring run-off that produces those dramatic waterfalls!

          I wonder if I should schedule a pop-quiz directly after this review to see if you all are paying attention? (Pat from Lafayette!)

          After that we visited the unlikely town of Eugene, Oregon where we met up with one of Paula’s old classmates, Deb and had a great tour of the downtown area.

          It was then time for our next homestay and that was with Liz and Beth on the coast of Oregon. While the Motorhome stayed safely tucked away in the Sysco of Portland parking lot, we ventured over to the coast for four great days of hiking, exploring, wine drinking, (not me!) and visiting. It was quite memorable!

          Our next leg brought us to the Olympic Peninsula home of Olympic National Park and a bunch of Orcas. To those of you who thought that it was a good idea to swim with the Orcas….. well,  I’m still not sure that all of you made it back on board! But that’s why we get those signed permission slips from your parents absolving us of any semblance of responsibility!

          Another homestay was waiting for us in Spokane, with Kim and Greg, old family friends of Paula and her family. Greg served two tours of duty with Dan in Iraq and have been close ever since.

          Down to Yellowstone we went, and this is where the obvious miscalculations of Seasonal Events reared their ugly heads. While not crazy bad, it wasn’t that good either, so we elected to make that Big Right Turn and head south towards Utah and places warmer. This was a GREAT decision as both Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks were not on our original itinerary. As it turns out, they both became highlights of our trip as they are both magnificent and we found some new friends in Sherry and Scott!

          By now we could taste the eventual end of this two-month long jaunt so a slip into Durango to visit Lorelyn and Travis again was just the medicine we needed to push through the Mid-West fields, try to find the St. Louis Gateway Arch, visit the Air Force Museum in Dayton, and then book it for New Jersey.

          This writing finds us sitting safely in the back of Yetter’s Diner in Sussex County.

          Home at last!

          Well that about sums up the past few months, thanks for tagging along with us, be sure to check the appropriate box at the end of this so you don’t go crazy over the summer trying to see if anything has posted lately!

          Now get ready for the quiz!!!

          That means you too Pat!