We knew the day would come... but it was still sad when it came.Time to load up the truck, tighten the wire holding up the muffler, and head for home!
That trailer is alot more full than when we came...
And here is Wyoming in the rear-view mirror. Soon we were in Montana and the sky got alot bigger.
Alot more snow in Montana than what we had gotten.It was beautiful out, and the clear, dry roads were especially pretty!
On the way out, 55 mph were the best we could do with only 5 of our 8 cylinders working...Mean Green Van hit 70 mph without effort and purr'ed right along. Belching fumes, that is.
Bozeman MT had 2 feet of snow fall on them just before we got there! Pretty to see as we flew through.
We got to Missoula in record time. We stopped to fuel up and get dinner before heading to the hotel, and the kids got a real kick out of some guy dancing on the street in just a Toga.
They couldn't stop laughing! Too long in a van...
...maybe exhaust fumes?
And finally to the hotel! Grab your blankey and hit the pool!Wait... where did your shoes go?
After a nice waffle for breakfast, we were back racing along the Blackfoot and Clark's Fork rivers. Beautiful in the slanted morning sun.
Heading over Lookout pass, we crossed into Idaho. Most of Idaho seems downhill from MT. Good thing!
Finally, early in the afternoon, we hit Oregon and the land-of-windmills. Man, there sure are alot of them!More were loaded on trucks that we passed by, too.
We got better than 12 miles-per-gallon heading back to home. Hurray! That gave us more than $260 savings from the trip out... enough to pay for the engine work.
" And this is how our vacation ended - not with a bang, but with a wimper. "The best way to end the trip! The muffler hung on like a champ - even when we drove over a curb at the Ritzville WA gas station.
The kids were great, and Dad's bum went numb. Only 1 big pillow-fight...
The perfect roadtrip home.
