EPILOGUE - The Days After

Well, it's been 10 days after returning home that I'm writing this. Lots of reflecting (and cleaning!) since then. Where do I begin summarizing it all? I guess I'll continue where I left off.

We came into our home after midnight after having driven all day from Ohio. We took just a few steps inside and were overwhelmed by the smell. A strong distinct urine odor. Definitely not the way we had left it. The culprit was there in the living room eyeing us all suspiciously. After the initial shock wore off, Lila was very happy to see all of us. It was obvious how she had felt about us leaving her. Even though she had Erin here feeding and petting her almost every day, I'm sure she felt abandoned. Being gone for six weeks is a long time, especially for a cat who thrives on attention from her main owner (me).
We brought in our suitcases and the cooler and left the rest of the things in the van for the next day. We  were too exhausted to do anything more. We unpacked the essentials and checked out the rest of the house. Ali's ferret, Mido, and our hamster, Honey, were both well. We took them out of their cages and checked them over. They didn't seem to be any worse for the wear. Erin took good care of them.
We decided to face the messes the next day. We all were happy to get to sleep in our own beds again. I had put new sheets on our bed the day before we left and had the boys do the same, so we'd have clean sheets to come home to. Unfortunately, Cameron's comforter was a mess since Lila claimed the bed to be hers while we were away.  He slept without it for the night. I think we were all asleep just minutes after our heads hit our pillows.  

We slept in that next morning, but then the cleaning frenzy began. Coming downstairs and getting another whiff of the dried puddles that Lila left for us was overpowering. We discovered the odor on living room chairs and pillows as well as the futon and pillows in the basement. So, every cushion and pillow that could be washed was. The futon and matching pillows had a removable cover so off they came to get washed. One living room chair has a foam seat and pillow with fabric covers that zip off. While we were able to wash the covers, the foam interiors could not. Off I went to JoAnn Fabrics to buy a thick piece of foam and batting to cover it all to make new ones. I used a serrated knife to cut exact pieces to match the old ones. The leather chair was sprayed down and aired out. After the carpets and rugs were thoroughly vaccumed, I used our carpet cleaner to clean the major rooms in the house. Lila had hairballs and had vomitted the first couple of weeks we were gone. Poor thing; she must have really been devastated. It was finally starting to smell like our home again.

In the midst of all of this, we needed to stop and see what we could make to eat. Ed discovered that the pot of coffee that he made the morning that we left still had the coffee filter in it and it was molded. Eww. We soaked the filter holder in bleach and used our Keurig in the meanwhile. I then opened up our food pantry and found little moths flying all around. That was a nice surprise. I guess they found an open Ziploc that had been storing nuts I use for cooking to make a nest in. It was filled with moth worms. It just keeps getting better. Just about everything came out of that pantry and tossed out if it looked suspicious. I even found the larvae in a package of paper napkins! Really?

Next was the refrigerator. Not too many surprises in there; thank goodness. The potato salad and some cheese were tossed out, but it just needed a thorough cleaning before getting filled up again. Ed cleaned all the shelves and drawers so it would be ready when I returned from the grocery store.  We ate cereal that we had brought with us to tide us over. 

The van and camper were emptied out. Ali and I went and had the van washed and then we vaccumed it. I'm glad that I had tried keeping up with it during the the trip so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. We then went to the grocery store to stock up on our normal supplies. While we were gone, Ed worked on trimming and hedging the yard. Later, he and the boys cleaned the entire deck and hottub. The outside areas were filthy from such a rainy summer.

The plants in our kitchen bay window needed desperate attention. The aloe plant was so large it had to be repotted. I spent at least an hour replanting, feeding, and watering all of them and cleaning the messes I made from doing so.

All of the cleaning and reupholstering that I just mentioned was done the first two days after returning. I think we did 9 loads of laundry, but lost count along the way. We also sorted through the mail- most of it junk, unpacked the rest of our suitcases, dusted, and made meals. Since then we have slowly tried getting back into a routine. Cameron started Band Camp the day after we got back and has attended every day this past week from 1:00-9:00pm.

We've also encountered another problem: more bugs. While there were a few cockroaches to deal with, it wasn't  anything that we would not normally see in a typical summer here in the south. But, we've had an ant invasion. They're little black ants that don't bite. There were a steady stream of them marching along the backsplash on the edge of one countertop two days ago and another army in another section of the kitchen tonight. Out came the Raid can. Ali also discovered them attacking Mido's food bag stored in her bedroom. We have a friendly bug man who comes once a month whom we need to call to see if he can make an earlier-than-normal visit this week. I have a feeling that all the rain we've had have forced them to find shelter indoors.

With all of the camper woes and messes needing to be cleaned, I'm still very happy that we went on this summer road trip across the country. There may have been some things we would have done differently if we had the hindsight, but overall I believe that it went quite well. Our main objective was to see our vast country, visiting national parks, amusement parks, roadside attractions, as well as family and friends. Each one of us got to do and or see something of our own choosing. There were unexpected sights that surprised us and others that didn't live up to the expectation. Seeing the country this way has given us a new appreciation for what an amazing and diverse country we live in. It fulfilled a dream on Ed's and my bucket lists; we found a way to make it happen. All of the planning and preparation paid off. I don't know how many families of 5 could have handled traipsing across the country in a 12 foot pop-up camper with no running water or restrooms inside. We handled the hardships; our adaptability was tested. Many things needed to be shared, our belongings and our space. Because of this I think our family unit became even stronger. We relied on each other for most of the day-to-day necessities. And, without our busy home routines we found more time to communicate with each other more thoroughly. Ed and I also hope that we've instilled a deeper love of travel in our kids. We both have adventurous natures, wanting to see what's on the other side. (As I write this, Ed is on a short motorcycle trip to North Carolina in the Blue Ridge Mountains with some riding buddies.)

But, I am also thankful that we had technology to rely on, especially our GPS, even if we didn't follow where she told us to go each time. She got us to where we needed to go hundreds of times. Purchasing a HotSpot for the trip worked out well, too. Although we couldn't always get a signal, it sure came in handy in many places. The kids and I all had our laptops with us, so Ali and I could write our journals, the kids could watch movies and play games, we could look up more information about our travel destinations, find out about the weather, and keep in touch with friends back home. We did not miss our TV. With the exception of a short amount of time in Olympia, we didn't watch television for most of the 6 weeks we were gone.

For now, the camper is parked on the side of our house. Ed and I have not decided for sure what is to come of it. We will probably bring it back to where we had it originally serviced to see how they can help repair it, since they were the ones who should have replaced the crank mechanism at the same time they replaced our cables, according to the repair shop in Billings. Once we know more we will decide if it's worth repairing or just try to sell it As Is. We can be grateful that it was a good Home Away from Home for a large portion of the trip. I don't want the issues we had with it to cloud all of the good memories we made. I am working on creating a Photo Book so we can continue to fondly look back at the places we traveled and our time together to keep these memories alive.

And, here are some of our numbers:

Days spent on trip: 42

States traveled through: 24

National Parks: 11

Total miles traveled: 8968

Total driving hours: 178 hours

Cheapest gas price: $3.24 in Louisianna

Most expensive gas price: $4.19 in Oregon

Trips to a gas station: 39

Total cost of gas: $1873

Total cost of lodging (campgrounds and hotels): $1447

Total cost of food (groceries and restaurants): $1971

Memories made: unlimited, lifelong, and priceless

*Didn't include entertainment costs or van/camper repairs, both big expenses.