July 9th to 19th Heading Home

I wish I'd had a video camera on the roof of the motorhome
so you could have seen every beautiful mile driven.

After finishing the research I planned to do in the south, my original plan for this genealogy journey was to then switch to a different family line. My Vetter great grandfather George owned a saloon on 21^st Street in Chicago and I wanted to go to that location and photograph whatever is there today. I also hoped to possibly find the grave his wife Katherine Newmeyer Vetter. But, at some point on the trip I realized I did not have it in me to tackle Chicago. So, after concluding my research at the Library of Virginia, it was time to head home.

Driving through Utah

I left Richmond, Virginia the morning of July 9^th and arrived home midday on July 19^th. I spent 2+ days in Laramie with Tia and Roy, so the travel time was eight days. The entire trip took two and a half months and during that time I:

·         Drove 9123 miles

·         Lived in a 75 square foot home for 84 days

·         Lived alone for longer than I ever have before

·         Saw 2 black bears up close

·         Heard and saw cicadas for the first time

·         Experienced a miracle when Steve Harris appeared to lead me to my 2^nd great grandmother’s grave.

·         Spent time in 19 states of which 7 I’d never been in before including Kentucky, West Virginia, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas and South Carolina

·         Listened to 16 audio books that I was able to magically upload to my iPhone from my Hoopla Account at the Oakland Public Library, for free.

·         Watched 4 or 5 movies on Amazon Prime

·         Saw fireflies for the first time

·         Took 3070 photos

·         Wrote 58 blog posts including this last post.

·         Met several wonderful and generous people who helped me find what I was looking for.

·         Never felt unsafe.

·         Spent $1761 on camping fees - he per night average cost came to $25.16.

·         Never misplaced the car keys

·         Only got lost a couple of times and not for very long.

·         Made the entire trip with only one medium size mishap – the tree branch incident.

Thanks for the feedback and nice comments on the blog. I enjoyed creating it and was glad to be able to share the stories and a few photos with you.

Little Beaver State Park dam in West Virginia

Atwood Lions RV Park, Kansas 

Dusk at Atwood RV Park

A ground cover plant I've never seen anything like. It looks
like a conifer. Seen at Little Beaver campground.

Storm clouds over Cave Lake campground, Ely, Nevada

Cave Lake SP, my second to last campsite for $7

Evening light on one of the stone formations at Cave Lake

Cave Lake, Ely, Nevada

Visitor Center at Dinosaur National Monument - a place
to return to.

Driving through Utah

Still in Utah

Morrison Charcoal Ovens, 1882, Wood Canyon, Utah. Charcoal
was used by smelters to make steel.

Driving through Kansas which was still quite green. Once in
Colorado the landscape quickly shifted to being dry.

Visitor Center at New River Gorge in West Virginia - another
place to go back to

Starvation Lake, Duchesne, Utah

Sunset at Starvation Lake, Utah

My last campsite at San Pedro Reservoir, west side of
Yosemite. The next morning the campground was filled
with smoke from the fire in Mariposa County.