Our transportation, accommodation, food and entertainment cost so far
Nov 23 ~ Day #197
Budget to date
Spent today
Total to date
Daily average
Total
$19700
$15.00
$17041.71
$86.51
Miles by Road
Miles by Sea
Miles by Air
Miles by Train
Total Miles
16084.6
12056.7
7662
196
35999.3
We Did It!
When we began this adventure we set ourselves a challenge. To complete this trip on an average of $100/day or less.
As you can see from the recap of our final totals, we not only met that challenge, we exceeded it.
We traveled for a total of 197 days on an average of $86.51/day. Not bad!
Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!
First we’d like to say a heartfelt thank you to all the friends and family we stayed with along the way. We could not have achieved our goal without your generous hospitality.
We have mentioned all of you in each appropriate blog post but we would like to thank you all once again. We couldn’t have done it without you.
Putting Things in Perspective
When we mention the mileage, the number of days, places visited, etc. sometimes things just become a blur and the true magnitude is not particularly clear. So, here we’re going to recap things and try to bring some perspective.
Mileage
The total miles traveled, including road, train, sea and air, was 35,999.3. Too bad we couldn’t have added just 0.7 of a mile more. That would have pushed us to an even 36,000 miles.
But, to put this mileage in perspective, the circumference of the earth, at the equator, is 24,901.55 miles.
That means we could have traveled around the globe almost one and a half times. Wow!
Days Traveled
I don’t think we actually calculated the number of days we were going to be traveling when we started this adventure.
Oh sure, we knew the day we were going to start. We also knew the day we were going to fly back home. Both were booked before we set out. But we didn’t actually take the time to calculate just how long the time in between those dates was.
Total number of days traveled = 197.
If you apply an average of 30 days to a month, then we traveled for a total of 6.6 months, more than half a year. Again – wow!
Cruises and More Included in the Trip
It seems amazing even to us what we were able to pack into this trip. Here’s a quick recap.
Cruises
Our trip included three cruises:
a two week Alaska cruise
a six day Greek Islands cruise
a two week TransAtlantic cruise
That’s a total of 34 days – more than a month – spent on cruise ships.
Narrowboats in the UK
We were able to spend an entire week on a narrowboat on the Trent/Mersey canal system in the UK.
Orlando and Disney
We spent two weeks in Orlando at two different timeshare resorts and spent time at more than one Disney theme park.
Landmarks Visited
Along the way we were fortunate to visit many landmarks both in North America and Europe.
Here’s a few:
United States
Carlsbad Caverns
Monument Valley
Grand Canyon
Canada
Victoria, British Columbia (a must-see)
Hell’s Gate, British Columbia
Columbia Ice Fields, Alberta
Banff and Jasper, Alberta
Lake Louise, Alberta
Terry Fox Monument, Thunder Bay, Ontario
Reversing Falls, New Brunswick
St. Andrews-By-The-Sea, New Brunswick
Confederation Bridge, between New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island
Birthplace of Canadian Confederation, Charlottetown, PEI
Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia
England
Buckingham Palace
Tower Bridge
Tower of London
British Parliament Buildings
Big Ben
British Museum
Stratford-Upon-Avon, birthplace of Shakespeare
Spain
La Sagrada Familia, Barcelona
Dénia Castle, Dénia
Portugal
Madeira, the home of Madeira wine
Greece
Santorini
Croatia
the old walled city of Dubrovnik
Italy
St. Mark’s Square, Venice
the ruins of Pompeii
the ruins of Paestum
the Amalfi Coast
And, I’m sure there are things we are forgetting. It’s time for us to go back and re-read all the posts we have made along the way and to review all the photos and videos we have as well.
This was the trip of a lifetime for us. We will continue to travel, of course, but it is unlikely that we will ever again take such an extensive trip. It was a great adventure but a very long time to be away from home.
We will continue to have, we hope, many, many more adventures. But, perhaps shorter ones this time.
Thank you to everyone who has followed along with us and to those who have made comments as well. It was a pleasure to share this adventure with you.
We were up for an early start as we had to get to Seattle for reservations we had at the Howard Johnson Hotel in Kent, just outside Seattle.
We’ll be spending a couple of days in the Seattle area as Geoff has a couple of business meetings to attend. I won’t bore you with the details.
Rodeway Inn Hot Breakfast
We were really looking forward to the hot breakfast that was promised in the coupon we had used to stay at the Rodeway Inn. After all, we had paid an extra $10 over the advertised amount because they only had a king bed room, so we were hoping that breakfast would make up for the extra expense.
No such luck – the breakfast was very, very disappointing. I think one of the regular continental breakfasts we’ve had would have been better than this.
So, just what did they think constituted a hot breakfast? There were doughy, warm biscuits; sausage gravy that was also warm but horrible; a crock pot full of oatmeal that was thicker than wallpaper paste; make-your-own waffles with an appliance that really didn’t work very well; coffee and tea; about a half dozen slices of white bread if you wanted to make toast; a few muffins and some juice. We actually ate very little and had a hard time seeing how they could refer to this as a “full hot breakfast.”
Sorry, Rodeway Inn, we not only weren’t impressed, we were really disappointed.
We told Madge (our Magellan GPS) to get us to Seattle via the most use of freeways as we had about 500 miles to cover. She obliged with a good route to get us to our destination.
We actually arrived in Kent fairly early – about 4pm. The fact that the time changed along the way and we gained an hour helped as well.
The drive itself was fairly unremarkable. Just more highway to cover. However, I insisted on doing most of the early driving because I was anticipating that at some point we would have to drive through a mountain pass and I didn’t want to be the one driving when that happened. I get sweaty palms and an elevated heart rate whenever I’m near any unprotected edges. Not good when driving.
As it turned out, there were no perilous passes along the way, so I could have driven it, but better safe than sorry. Geoff is much better at driving on any such roads, like he did for the scenic route from Monument Valley to Salt Lake City.
Howard Johnson’s Hotels Hit a Home Run with Us
When we arrived at the Howard Johnson’s in Kent, we were greeted warmly and our reservation was retrieved quickly. We were told that the queen room we had booked for two nights was not available but they were happy to upgrade us to a king room at no additional charge!
They also told us that our room keys were good for a 10% discount at Denny’s, just across the street, and a 15% discount at a Mexican restaurant right next door.
We opted for Mexican and both had a yummy chicken taco salad. It was nicely presented, tasty and filling.
Another bonus, the WiFi connection was amazing and we were able to retrieve emails and get some other work done, too.
Sure, Vicky gets to talk about the incredible drive from Monument Valley to Salt Lake City – I get Idaho. It’s flat. That’s it. Oh and it’s the end of May and it snowed. Not just a few flakes but stay on the ground, everyone head for the ditch whiteout snow. Don’t believe me, we have pictures.
If you’re one of the morons that questions climate change go back and read the last paragraph again. Notice I said climate change and not global warming. Unfortunately the scientists named the problem after what is actually happening but they didn’t expect all the folks in the short bus to not believe them ‘cause they didn’t get palm trees in their back yards.
Anyway it was snowing so hard we had no choice but to spend the night in Boise. We had picked up one of the highway hotel magazines in McDonald’s when we stopped for coffee so we checked for coupon specials. We found what looked like the best deal which was at the Rodeway Inn for $39.95. They offered a huge hot breakfast, free wifi and pool (which we passed on given the current conditions). Also they are part of the Choice Hotel group and we have one of their loyalty cards so we collected some points.
When we arrived we were informed that all the rooms for the coupon special were gone and we would have to pay $10 more for a king bed. What the hell does the furniture have to do with pricing a room. Does a king bed cost more than the two queen beds in most hotel rooms? So with a king bed and tax our $39.95 room cost $57.51 – ouch.
Hotels tend to frown on anyone firing up a camp stove in the room so it was off to Denny’s for supper. I know old farts like us and Denny’s is such a cliché but it’s hard to find better value. At least in any Denny’s outside of Idaho. For some incomprehensible reason, here they equate meat loaf with hamburger patty. The staff were polite and apologetic but it still tasted awful.
We capped off this unusually expensive day with a $65.40 tank of gas. Every single gas station in Boise we passed was $3.09 a gallon.
While I’m on a rant let’s talk about free wifi. The Rodeway Inn offered free wifi and surprise it actually worked. This has not been our experience as we travel across the country. Usually you are tantalized by the network name appearing in the selection box only to be disappointed as you try to log in and fail because the signal is so weak. Even many of the MacDonald’s we have stopped at have problems. If you are in business and advertise free wifi as an incentive to make the traveller stop please make sure the bloody system works. I really don’t want to hear, “Sorry, the day manager changed the password and I don’t know what it is.” Arhhh!
If you’re from Idaho and want to defend your state please feel free to post a comment below. I’m sure there must be something good to say about it.
Last night was a much more pleasant sleep as it didn’t get nearly as cold here as it did at the Grand Canyon.
Again, Geoff has breaking camp pretty much down to a science now. I help pack up, too, but he really does the bulk of getting the tent packed away.
After a quick breakfast and the essential cup of coffee we were off to view the amazing monoliths of Monument Valley. Geoff has taken lots of photos and video that he will, no doubt, be posting soon.
As we heeded north on highway 163, I checked out a regular, paper map to see if there was a scenic route we could take to Salt Lake City. It seems that Madge (our Magellan GPS) doesn’t have an option for “scenic route”.
As I continue, keep in the that it was ME that chose this route – you’ll understand later.
Gravel Roads and Switchbacks and Cliffs – Oh My!
From 163 we turned onto 261 which was marked on our paper map as a scenic route. It certainly was that. However, it was also a very steep route with a lot of switchbacks and sheer drops from cliffs well above the desert floor. Yes, you guessed it, sweaty palms and elevated heart rate again. I am soooo grateful that Geoff was driving. I would have simply been paralyzed. I would have made it, certainly, if I was the only one available to drive, but I would most likely have done it at 5 miles per hour.
I took some video from the car as Geoff drove. I think I may have had my eyes closed at some points, but hopefully the camera got everything.
If you are traveling with a trailer or in an RV DO NOT take this route. And that’s just not from me. There are signs along the route, before you get to the switchbacks telling you not to do that. Some larger vehicles just wouldn’t be able to make it around some of the switchback turns and the road gets quite narrow in several places.
It was no wonder that when we turned on the road, Madge (our Magellan GPS) kept saying, “As soon as possible, make a Legal U-turn.” Apparently she knew something we didn’t.
But we made it and I’m glad we went that way. It was quite an experience. We have video of parts of the road and of how high we actually were as well, so watch for the posts.
As we continued along the scenic route we saw such places as Glen Canyon and Dirty Devil River to name just a couple. The drive through the canyons was just so spectacular with many different kinds of rock formations and colors. Is it possible to get an overload of beautiful, incredible, awe-inspiring scenery? I don’t know, but if it can happen it would happen here. Every turn brought more oohs and aahs from both of us. One or the other was saying, “Wow! look at this.” or “Oh, my, that is so beautiful.” or even, “Pull over here so we can get a better look.”
We stopped for lunch along the Dirty Devil River. The Utah government has provided washroom facilities in various places as well as honor-system camping in this spots. The rate is pretty cheap – $6.00/night/person or $3.00/night/person for seniors, with a maximum charge per vehicle of $12.00 or $6.00 respectively. Not bad.
Again, it is difficult to describe the beauty of this route so my suggestion again is, go if you can and take the scenic route.
As we approached Salt Lake City the weather turned nasty and I swear I saw snow in the air even though the temperature gauge in the car was telling us it was still in the 60s.
Fortunately, we had planned to stay at a hotel anyway because this was not the kind of weather that either of us wanted to camp in. Even setting up the tent in such conditions would have been miserable and we would have most likely had to pack it up wet – not a good idea.
We picked up some highway hotel coupons along the way and I started searching for a good place to stay. One of the advertised accommodations was Sky Harbor Suites which seemed really reasonable at only $48/night and that included a suite with a full kitchen. I called ahead and mentioned the coupon. They told me that the rate on the coupon was a “walk-in” rate, meaning we couldn’t prebook it. But, they said they did have some available and we were only about a half hour away, so we took the chance and headed for them.
Sky Harbor Suites was a lovely place and very reminiscent of a timeshare resort. We were able to get the coupon rate of $48/night. Their regular rate is $79/night, so it was a really good deal.
The suite was small but lovely, with a queen size bed and a full kitchen as advertised. After checking in we headed to a local grocery store so we could take advantage of having a full kitchen available to us. We had a lovely dinner of boneless pork chops, baked potatoes and sauteed zucchini along with a glass of red wine. Who could ask for more?
As we watched a little TV and let supper digest we looked forward to a good night’s sleep protected from the cold rainy weather outside.
We should have anticipated how cold it would get at night but we didn’t so consequently we spent most of the night cuddling for warmth and not sleeping (OK it wasn’t so bad). The camp sites at Mather are nice but there aren’t any showers so we just applied liberal amounts of deodorant and huddled around our steaming mugs of coffee until the sun started to warm things up a bit.
On our first visit to the Grand Canyon, several years ago, we were absolutely blown away by the size and spectacle of the place. This time we new what to expect so although the vistas are just as grand there is not as much of a wow factor.
We wanted to see some of the views that we did not see the first time but the signs within the park are very poor. Even Madge (our GPS alter ego) couldn’t help. She new the way but the roads she wanted to direct us down were closed. I’m amazed at the amount of data packed into this little GPS unit – it even directed us right to our campsite – amazing technology.
Time was getting on so we decided to call the Grand Canyon done for now. One day we would like to return when we have more time so we can hike some of the trails and take a rafting tour down the Colorado. I guess we will need to book that rafting trip pretty soon as I understand they are booked years in advance.
If you have ever seen a movie where folks are out in the desert and there are rocks sticking out of the ground that look like ice cream cones, chances are that was filmed in Monument Valley. The John Wayne movie Stagecoach was shot here along with many other classic westerns.
It is located on the Arizona, Utah border in Navajo territory.
The route to Monument Valley took us back to Flagstaff and then north east on highways 89, 160 and 163. It’s only about 250 miles so we arrived around 4pm and looked for somewhere to stay the night. After last night’s cold we looked first for a reasonably priced highway hotel but the only vacancy we could find was a $200 a night suite at Goulding’s. Fortunately Goulding’s is a complex with rooms, tours, stores and RV camping. They had a couple of tent sites still available so we grabbed one. It was over 80ºF and we were at a much lower altitude so we hoped it would not get too cold.
The campground is well laid out, clean and they have an indoor swimming pool. After pitching the tent the first thing we did was head to the pool for some relaxation. Then it was supper and a movie I had on the MacBook.
Thankfully it was a very pleasant night and we awoke warm and refreshed ready to explore Monument Valley.
