CONCLUSION

We put the finishing touches on our journey last night as we arrived home, finally, after 21 days on the road. We had a long drive yesterday, coming all the way from Rapid City, South Dakota, to Kansas City. We decided it would be better to sleep in our own bed so we just kept driving past Souix Falls, SD, Souix City, IA and Omaha, NE. It is good to be back.

We traveled 5,477 miles since leaving on September 7. Counting Missouri and Kansas, we crossed 11 states—and came within a few miles of two others— and visited five national parks and lord only knows how many national forests. By my count we crossed five major mountain ranges and a bunch of others, including a lot of prairies and deserts.

Traveling in the fall was spectacular because the fall colors were out almost everywhere. With all the kids back in school, there really weren't any big crowds at all the sites, but Orange Barrels became our constant companion on nearly all the highways and byways.

It is difficult to select a best but both of us agreed that Jackson Hole and The Tetons would probably be our top pick with the drive down the Mendocino Coast finishing a close second.

We'll save the rest for "The Slide Show!"