We drove from Grand Teton NP to Bonnie's hometown of Wooster, Ohio, obviously not straight through, then spent a few days there before returning home.
We had an indescribably great time seeing all sorts of sights and wildlife not available to us at home, driving as much or as little as we wanted in a day, staying where ever we wanted, eating when ever we wanted and doing as much or as little as we wanted. It is hard to put into words how much fun it was to put the clock away and do what ever we wanted when ever we wanted. Conquering Alaska in this style was on my bucket list and I am thrilled we were able to complete the journey. I have been asked by a few of the blog readers if I want to do it again. I don't, but not because it was a bad experience or anything like that, it's just that I have other things I want to do as well. I ABSOLUTELY would encourage anyone who has an interest in exploring Alaska this way to go for it! If you do and if you have any questions, just ask me.
I was also asked by some readers if I would have an interest in buying a place in Alaska as a summertime place to go. After careful and honest consideration, I have to say I would not. If I was going to look for a summertime place to go, it would be western Montana. While both states are rugged with redeeming qualities, I would select Montana due to its more diverse forest species, clearer skies, similar abundant wildlife, convenience of goods, and lower prices. But that's just me so don't let me talk you out of buying your vacation home in Alaska. :-)
Here are some stats for those of you who asked:
- TOTAL NUMBER OF MILES DRIVEN 11,219.8
- NUMBER OF GALLONS OF GAS 1,342.3
- AVERAGE MILES PER GALLON 8.4
- HIGH AND LOW OF GAS PRICES/gallon HIGH $5.75 LOW $3.10
- GALLONS OF PROPANE 26.61
- SLOWEST SPEED DRIVEN to stay on the road 15 mph
- FASTEST SPEED DRIVEN 70 mph (but don't tell Bonnie)
- NUMBER OF STATES TRAVELED THRU 17
- NUMBER OF CANADIAN PROVINCES 3
Without exaggerating, I think nearly half of the visitors to Yellowstone and Grand Teton were international visitors from Germany, France, Japan or Korea. So here in the U.S. we have these wonderful parks right in our own back yard, by comparison, yet a good share of the visitors were from other countries.
I received great comments from many of you and we thank you for the positive feedback. It was great hearing from you.
Thanks for coming along with us!
