John promised Mary an adventure and he was true to his word. We spent 42 days “on the road”; 26 of those nights we slept in Tillie, the rest with friends; traveled 8,132 miles in Tillie (plus a few more on/in a tow truck) with only 2 new starters & 2 flat tires – not bad Tillie!; touched foot in 21 states & 4 Canadian provinces; had only a couple of showers (that’s rain, not baths if that was what you were thinking) the entire trip (a ray of sunshine must follow Tillie around); saw 52 “on the road” VW camper buses Tillie’s age or older; but the most staggering number is 1,980. Can you guess what that is? It’s the number of photos Mary has taken thus far on the trip. Thank heavens for digital, otherwise she might not be able to afford to return to college in the fall!
We saw old friends & met new ones along the way who all went out of their way to share their homes with us and show us a great time. If it hadn’t been for them we would have missed seeing the beautiful city of St. Charles; learning about and appreciating the Kansas prairie; seeing Sarah & Kenny & friends arrive in a ’67 convertible with horns & trumpet blaring & Sarah standing up & waving as befits a Mrs. Honker (she married a “Honker” from Kemare, N.D., doncha know); watching all the bald eagles soaring over Whitbey Island; and seeing the old Dutch Mill in North Dakota.
Tillie was a wonderful vehicle to see it all in (in spite of no air conditioning and an “unusual” sound system). She slowed us down so we didn’t miss seeing (as opposed to hearing) too much. And she was friendly. Strangers who might never have said more than “hello” came over just to chat and/or share a VW story of their own.
Now Tillie is back home for a much needed rest. On Sunday, July 30, Charlie the Chrysler takes over the adventure to “do” the northeast. Tillie is a laid back, open road type of gal. Charlie is keen for traffic, cities & road challenges – we’ll see how that goes…. If you’re interested in following the rest of our adventure, tune in next Sunday – same blog site.