Back Home to Aus

Like all good things, our second six-month USA RV trip has come to an end. We have stored our RV in Kansas City for the next six months are now in the Dallas Fort Worth Airport en route to our Los Angeles for our 14 hour non-stop flight to Brisbane, Australia. After enjoying stunning weather for the past week, lightning, thunder and torrential rain escorted us to the airport this morning! We stayed at a Holiday Inn Express hotel last night and they provided a free shuttle to the airport and also to any shopping or restaurant within a 5 mile radius. In fact, we were very impressed with the hotel – apart from the free shuttle services, our room had two queen beds, they had free hot breakfast with bacon, scrambled eggs, sausages, muffins, toast, yoghurt, fruit, cinnabons and cereals. There was a heated indoor pool and a gym that fortunately had a set of scales so that we could weigh our suitcases and ensure they were each under the 23kg (50lb) limit. We knew American Airlines have started charging $15 for the first checked bag, and $25 for the second, so we had our money ready to pay, but because we were linking in with an international flight, we didn’t have to pay anything which was a pleasant bonus. Not only that, but our bags were checked all the way through to Brisbane, so we don’t see them again until we arrive home. Fantastic. Traversing from Terminal 4 at LAX to the Tom Bradley terminal toting 3 large suitcases, a laptop, a backpack and a carry on bag has been quite a pain in the past – so not having the large suitcases to check in again will be great.

This year we traveled a total of 12,080 miles (19,440 km) compared to our 2007 six month distance of 13,319 miles (21,435 km). Having a lovely 3 weeks stopover in North Dakota kept our miles lower, and given the higher fuel prices, that worked in our favour. On this trip our cheapest fuel was $3.21/gallon and the highest was $4.36/gallon.

During this trip we caught up with many friends from last year and made some special new ones. Murray also got to enjoy some great fishing outings once again, especially in North Dakota and Missouri. The map shows our routes for each trip, red for 2007 and blue for 2008. Next year we plan to cover the north east corner of the US, plus the New Brunswick and Nova Scotia areas of Canada (after Arkansas, North Carolina & Maryland and before we visit North Dakota). We have a rough plot to build in a side trip to Spain and return via San Francisco so we can visit with friends in Sacramento. Time will tell.

Thanks to all of you in USA and Australia who have kept in touch via emails and phone calls during our 6 month travels, and I hope the blog has provided a good synopsis of our travel adventures for those interested. Keep in touch.