Peoria, IL to Edgewood, WA

This blog covers our trip home. as we crossed our tracks.

Tuesday, August 27. After taking the boat out of the water, Darth pressure washed the bottom for the upcoming invasive species checks we would come across as we drove back home. This day was 98 degrees with a ‘feels like’ 10 degrees more. It felt every bit of the 10 degrees more and perhaps a little more. When he finished pressure washing, I packed the cave. It was unbearable for both of us to think about crawling into our bed on the boat. Even though Darth pulled the boat out, pressure washed, secured the boat to the trailer—he thought driving in an air conditioned truck would be more comfortable than staying in the boat club’s parking lot.

We left around 7:15 and had a light show all the way to Davenport, IA --100 miles away. After fueling and feasting on McD's burgers and chocolate shakes, the rain came and cooled off the inside enough to sleep.

Wednesday, August 28. We stopped to ensure the new spare tire purchased on the trip over was on a rim---just in case. FYI--Discount Tire did this in less then 1/2 hour. : )

We traveled 574 miles and spent the night at a rest stop near Maxwell, NE. It was hot--but a pretty sunset on the way.

Thursday, August 29. The semis with loud generators left before us so it looks like we had a quiet night. We did not.

The dinghy was not cooperating with staying put, so Darth added straps--it worked.

We drove 86 miles then stopped for fuel and a nice breakfast. Wyoming greeted us with the invasive species check. They found teeny tiny, and itsy bitsy muscles that clinged on— despite the pressure wash. This meant they would pressure wash with hot water, AND Darth had to start the engine so they could also run hot water through the pump to kill any species that might be hanging on. We did not have to pay for this service, and we received a certificate in case another state had an inspection. This ended up to be our only check—ah well.

It was a sunny day and pretty drive on this part of our trip.

We stopped at the Lincoln Highway Monument--its quite impressive and his eyes are not dark as the photo shows.

Probably my last historical narrative: The Wyoming Parks Commission dedicated the Lincoln Monument in 1959 to commemorate Lincoln's 150th birthday. Originally the bust was located at the highest point on the Lincoln highway from New York to San Francisco. The bust was transferred to its present location beside interstate 80 after that highway was finished in 1969.

Right after our stop we started to see the smoke from fires up north. We traveled 534 miles to Little America, WY and stayed in a truck stop. This would be our last night in the boat---for awhile.

Friday, August 30. We traveled a total of 500 miles, stopping in Nampa, ID and New Plymouth, ID to visit with family. We stayed a few days in a much appreciated comfortable bed, yummy food and enjoyed our visit.

One more blog with stats will be coming shortly.

In the meantime, we thank you all for the encouragement and emails we have received along the way. We enjoyed the questions and interest from everyone, there is a part of unbelief this adventure is over.

For me—since I am the writer, my special thankfulness goes out to both of my brothers. I received constant texts, first from Chris (oldest) that would say, ‘I see you are on the move today’. And I would say —-’you are up really early’. Chris is in the Pacific Time Zone and we were in Eastern for most of this adventure. We would text back and forth and I would give him our destination. He would text later if we deviated from the plan. Then—not long after Chris and sometimes almost exactly the same time, Greg would text and we would go back and forth as well. I absolutely loved getting the texts and calls. Chris said he was cheering us on and I couldn’t be more thankful especially when I shared how ‘sporty’ it was sometimes. Greg picked up our mail and would call with the important pieces. We never worried that we missed anything. : )

Joliet, IL to Peoria, IL

The Great Loop