7/1/17 Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania

Today we drove into the great Smokey Mountains. We passed through the awesome town of Helen, Georgia. 

And had a beautiful drive through the blue ridge mountains. 

We finally had our moment. We were sitting outside the park mid day trying to figure out where to go/camp for the night and realized there was only one place we wanted to camp. We were only 9 hours from home and suddenly just wanted to be home. Guess we were spoiled from the West. 

We got home around 2am and it felt great. Our house felt huge! To anyone who has been to our town house you can appreciate the irony. We slept in, and for once didn't have to plan out the day and figure out a place to camp 😊 As much as I love to travel and don't want to return to reality, it felt really good to be home. 

All in all we are very happy with how our trip went. Due to the AC problems we skipped Zion, Bryce, and Canyonlands. We plan to do a designated trip to them sometime. There's an overnight hike there anyway we want to do and didn't have backpacking gear along. May also have to hit Yosemite area sometime when it's not snowed in. Even so our trip was filled with so many beautiful views and hikes and lasting memories. Old smokey never let us sitting and climbed some massive mountains and terrible roads with no complaints. Maya was a champ and was extremely well behaved. 

Total weeks: 6

Total miles traveled: 11,200

Most expensive Diesel: $5.00/gallon in middle of dessert (we did not stop there) (PA has overall most expensive fuel)

Cheapest Diesel: $ 2.06/gallon, Louisiana and Texas

Total states visited: 26

Total National Parks Visited: 15 

Favorite National Park: Kyle: 1. Big Bend, 2. Mt. Rainier 3. North Cascades; Mattie: 1. North Cascades 2. Big Bend 3. Olympic

Favorite National Forest: Kyle: 1. Olympic 2. Mt. hood, 3. Bighorn; Mattie: 1. Bighorn 2. Mt. Hood, 3. Olympic

Favorite Hike: Kyle: Mt. Mueller loop, Olympic NF Mattie: Lost Mine Trail, Big Bend NP

Least favorite area: Tuskegee, Alabama

Least favorite national park: Kyle: Glacier ("there's no trees on the mountains...it's just a big rock...it looks like Afghanistan") Mattie: Lassen

Most crowded national park: Crater Lake

Least crowded National Park: Big Bend

Favorite campspot: 1) Mammoth NF, CA 2) Kaniksu NF, Idaho 3) Bighorn NF, WY (note these were also all free) 

Least favorite campspot: Southern part of Olympic on our way out, we went to a dead end dirt road and there were bones and clam shells everywhere

Most expensive campsite: $30 Lost Ranch RV Park (full hookups, outside of San Antonio)

If we could live anywhere we visited we would live: Cody, WY  

In the future I hope to spend time exploring: Kyle: climbing mount rainier Mattie: Backpacking North Cascades

Where I felt the safest: Cody, WY

Where I felt the least safest: Tuskegee, AL (to the point where Kyle sat the pistol on the center console) 

Best lake: Lake Tahoe

Favorite memory: white water rafting, grand tetons

Worst witnessed accident: camper rolled and lifted trucks rear end off ground 

Craziest person we met: old lady in Pahrump that told us that they are poisoning the grass so the dogs eat it 

Hottest place: Death Valley 121 degrees

Coldest place: Mount Hood, 32 degrees 

Times Kyle rolled coal on hippies in compact cars that were tailgating: endless 

Tanks of diesel: 26

Worst road we drove: Santa Fe NF

Best switchback road: Northern CA

Nicest locals: Teralingua, Texas (big Bend)

Rudest locals: Whitefish, Montana

Best drive: Bighorn to Yellowstone to Tetons

Most boring drive: Ohio