Day 25: Moorhead, MN, to home

311 miles
8:30 AM - 3:30 PM

Thank you, Lord, 
for an incredible time
an awesome view of your world
kind and helpful people along the way
everyone getting along so well
no car trouble (once we took care of that tire bulge)
keeping home safe while we were gone
a beautiful place to come home to (even if it doesn't have mountains)

Last day. The world looks much more like summer than when we left mid-May. Everything is lush and green. More vehicles. More dead deer along the road.

We've been gone long enough that the bridge that has been under construction in Cambridge for a year is now open ... and they have started construction on another section of Hwy 95 through town.

We took Mom out to lunch at Culver's in Cambridge so Steve could claim his free birthday sundae--our first fast food in three weeks. Steve passed his sundae around--a habit of the road. I did a quick trip to Cub Foods to stock up on fresh stuff for both Mom and us. Katie brought granddaughter Bella to meet us and come to the lake for a few days. Number to be determined. Her brother will be at camp this week. He will get his time later.

We have to detour home for the rest of the summer because of construction on Hwy 70. There are only so many places you can cross the St. Croix River. Unfortunately the detour does NOT take us past Burnett Dairy. Steve and Bella made a stop at DQ in Hinkley instead. The dairy is better.

Home has no mountains, but it is still a pretty nice place to be even if today is cloudy.

We arrived home with:
1 butterscotch pudding
2 chocolate puddings
1 applesauce
1/2 c peanut butter
about that of jam
maybe an ounce of cream cheese
a half dozen American cheese slices
and ... you get the picture.

We had plenty of crackers and granola bars left over because we went through a couple loaves of bread instead. Steve calculated that we spent a $13/person/day on food by bringing groceries from home and eating out every other day. Not bad for such an expensive destination.

Somewhere along the way we lost:
a paring knife
small cutting board that fits in the picnic basket
the last of a roll of paper towels
lens cap from the camera
1 pair of reading glasses
1 sock

Some of those might show up as we unpack, but none are irreplaceable.

We have driven 9,280 miles, not counting the boat from Wittier to Valdez or the wilderness tour in Denali. That is further than Minneapolis to Boston to Miami to Los Angeles to Seattle back to Minneapolis, a mere 8,422 miles. We have enjoyed every mile. Well, almost every mile. Creation is a new surprise around every corner. But for now it is time to unpack, do the wash, catch up with e-mail, organize photos and enjoy our own home.

We have meetings in Turkey in November and plan to add a few days visiting ancient ruins. I'll be back to blogging here then. Until then, God bless, and may you see his craftsmanship all around you.

Afghan update: I started casting off somewhere between Princeton and Cambridge. Bella is thrilled with the result.