Day 14 – Home

Thursday, Aug 25, 2016

When I got up, the ground was still wet and Braeden had evacuated the hammock during the night in an attempt to sleep in the tent.

We packed up the tents and were back on the road by 8 am. We drove for a couple of hours before we stopped for some brunch and then continued on our way.

There has been a lot of road construction going on during our travels. On the 100 km ( 60 mile ) section of Interstate 69 from Flint to Port Huron, there were 5 construction sites within a 20 mi (32 km ) stretch and another 2 being set up further on.

We had no issues at the border and we got through customs, 20 minutes after we reached the lineup. We continued our drive home, only stopping at the On-route for a short break. There was heavy rain in London and Hamilton. The rain and rush hour traffic slowed us down a bit but we safely arrived at the Miller residence at 5:30 pm. By 6 pm I was at home unpacking.

So after 2 weeks, 8000 km ( 5000 miles ) and 541 litres ( 143 US gal ) of gas, costing $520 ( $400 US ) and a fuel efficiency of 6.76 L/100 km (35 mpg) we finally arrived home.

It has been a great adventure. The work was very good, Spencer and Braeden were excellent work and travel companions and the sights were wonderful. Spencer, Braeden and I had many discussions about theology, politics, business and current events, plus we listened to thousands of different music from different generations and styles.

As you may have noticed, during the trip home, Spencer tried to find as many different poses he could think of for the pictures he was taking but this one was purely by accident. I call it the ” Weekend at Bernie’s ” imitation, or should I say ” Weekend at Ralf’s “.

So, although this adventure has ended, another one has begun.

While I was in Kamiah, I was asked if I would be willing to go to Saipan to help build houses that were destroyed by a Typhoon. I couldn’t think of any reason not to go and help and so I said ” Yes ” and then the ball started rolling down the hill. While we were travelling home, the emails, calls and paperwork was on the go. What I didn’t realize is that they wanted me to leave on September 1 because that is when they needed help. Two days ago, I received an email from FEMA ( Federal Emergency Management Agency ) inviting me to travel to the Commonwealth of Northern Marianna Island Saipan, MP for 3 weeks and participate in the repair/rebuild project from damages caused by Typhoon Soudelor in Saipan, so I am in the process of booking my flights. I am not sure what the conditions are there for internet, but I will try to start a new blog for this adventure, however, if I don’t have internet access, I may end up publishing the blog when I get back.

Stay tuned.