MOART: By the Numbers~The Final Edition

~Sunset on the first day~

As we traveled from our home in Texas around the right half of the country, I had the best of intentions of updating my blog each week with the miles we had traveled and the places we had visited.  It turns out traveling all the miles and visiting all those places keeps you too busy in the day and too tired at night to really regularly update a blog.  Plus, it seems that I left my typically Type-A personality at home with all my other trappings when we pulled out of the driveway.  Not only did I not really have time to update the blog, I didn’t really care, either.

~Sunset on our last day~

The day we came home, I had rare unscheduled emotional jag (you see, I like to plan for large scale emotion for neatness sake) touched off by the fear that I would return to my regularly scheduled life virtually unchanged.   But, that hasn’t been the case, at least not yet.  My Type-A tendency to get more done in a day than necessary seems to be gone for good, and my blog has certainly not been on the top of the to-do list.  That’s why after a month of being back in our home, I am just now getting around to our final “By the Numbers” post of our epic trip around the country.  Better late than never, I guess.

So without further ado, Our MOART, by the numbers:

10,500: The number of miles traveled.  If you were around at the beginning, you’ll remember that the entire trip was scheduled for 5,500 miles.  That was the total number of miles from point A to point B, but didn’t include any of the side trips.  Apparently, we took a lot of side trips.

2: The number of countries we visited (US and Canada) and the number of hurricanes (Isaac and Sandy) that caused us to change our plans and route.

4: The number of children we brought along on the trip.  Just wanted to throw that in as a reminder before the next number…

175: The number of hours (at minimum) we spent driving.  Seriously, kids are amazing travelers!  I am over the moon proud of my brood for traveling those miles with very little fuss.

80: The official number of days on the road.  We were expecting it to be about nine days longer, but we had to alter our plan due to Superstorm Sandy.

1050: Gallons of gas bought on the trip.  You can do the math and determine the amount of money we spent on gas, but do me a favor and keep it to yourself.  I prefer to live in denial about some things.

19: The number of states we visited-Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana.

2: The number of times we were victims of a crime.  The first time was a car break-in in St Louis.  The second theft was a bicycle at a campsite outside DC.  It was the first time in my life I have ever been a victim of a crime, which is a pretty good track record, all things considered.  I am sad that my kids weren’t able to have the same track record.

8: The number of pounds I gained on the trip.  It turns out there are not a lot of salad and fresh fruit stands at rest stops and theme parks and museums.

0: The number of emergency room visits..  If there were an out of state hospital frequent flyer card we would be platinum. Seriously, we have an uncanny ability to have major medical emergencies while on the road.   Zero visits during a major trip is nothing short of a miracle.

1,345,678: The number of life changing memories that have forever become a part of our family tapestry (give or take a few).

12: The number of hours it took for me to be back home in my own bed before I started planning our next adventure.  What that adventure will be, who knows, but I'm planning for something amazing.