Interesting(?) stats from TMOART: 2011 Edition

Total miles: 3276.8

Total cost in gas: $616.03
Highest gas price: $3.799 (Frederick, MD)
Lowest gas price: $3.429 (Shelbyville, KY)
Total gallons of gasoline: 171.784
Average MPG: 20.53





States travelled through: 10 (+DC)
Construction zones: 85,175,201, give or take a few.
Moments of panic when passing a cop a little too quickly: 5
Times I seriously thought that I was getting pulled over: 1
Near-death experiences while driving: 1
Times I had to pull this van over and threaten the kids with horrible consequences if they didn't straighten up: 1

Friends who I met in real life for the first time: 6
Places we spent the night: 5 (including 3 houses, an RV, and a hotel)
Relatives we saw: 15

Approximate total cost of trip: $1300.00
Value of the memories, both for me and the kids: PRICELESS

I can't even begin to thank everyone who helped out in any way with this trip. From friends opening their homes (or someone else's) for a place to stay, feeding us a meal or two, arranging get-togethers and parties, changing my oil.....I couldn't have done it without all of you! It was amazing on so many levels - seeing friends and family, taking the kids to see some pretty incredible sights, and being able to relax with friends and adult conversation (and an adult beverage or two) made the entire trip one that I will never forget!

I wish that I had gotten pictures of all of my hosts along the way, but here are the ones that I have:

My friend Tom, who lives in Kentucky. We hadn't seen each other in close to 6 years so it was great to catch up with him.

Cindy...

...Bill....

...and Bruce (and Lee-Ann, who escaped my camera). This is the Virginia crew. Bill and Cindy opened their home to us, not knowing what they were getting themselves into! They were wonderful, and the kids have voted this stop as the best one of the trip! Bruce acted as co-host, helping to keep everything running smoothly. I'm disappointed that I didn't get to spend more time with his wife, Lee-Ann, but it was pretty much constant chaos while we were there! This was actually the first time that I had met any of these people, so it made the weekened even more fun!

My parents, of course. :)













Now, somehow, Jeremy and Marci both managed to escape my camera - probably because they were both too busy running around trying to get things organized for the HUGE party that they had while I was there. I can't even begin to thank them enough for that - having the chance to stay with them there in my hometown and see people that I grew up and went to school with was amazing. They put a lot of time and effort into it, and I truly do appreciate it!

Last but not least, my friend Stacey who hooked us up with a wonderful room in Indianapolis, complete with the jacuzzi tub! This was the first time that I had met her in real life too, and she was just as sweet and wonderful as I expected her to be!





I still have many many more pictures to post and stories to tell (I've been told that I *have* to tell the story about the metal detector in the Arch, but I'll save that for another day) so those will be coming in the near future.

Until then, I have to get everything unpacked (still) and try to get the kids back into a normal routine - school starts in less than 2 weeks. :)