I kept track of a lot of things over the course of this trip! Here are some of the numbers!
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| hotel keys from the trip |
Total Miles / Our Own Car: 10,260
Total Miles / Alaska Rental Car: 1,118
Total Miles / Arctic Circle Rental Car: 407
Total Driving Miles: 11,785
Total Miles / Flights to and from Alaska: 2,888
Total Miles for the Entire Trip: 14,673
Total Number of Interstates: 32
Total Number of Alaskan State Highways: 4
Total Number of U.S. Highways: 10
Total Hotel Nights: 29
Number of Different Hotels: 23
Number of Different Hotel Chains: 13
High Temperature / Real Feel: 111°F
Low Temperature / Real Feel: 38°F
Lowest Gas Price: $2.69/gallon
Highest Gas Price: $5.49/gallon
Number of Gas Fill Ups: 52
"New" States for our 2021 Quest: 30
Total Number of States: 38
Final Thoughts:
It was surprisingly difficult to find post cards in some places! I was trying to send my niece and nephew a post card from every place we visited and I fell far short of that goal (although I did send them as many as I could!)! One time, I asked about post cards in a gift shop and the lady told me, "We don't sell those; you can only get them at the post office." What?!? I was sure travel centers like Pilot, Love's, and Flying J would sell post cards, and while some of them did, many of them did not!
I have two huge thank yous that made this trip possible! The first is for my mom, who took care of Ginny for us for the entire month. While we think Ginny is a complete delight, it's still a lot of work to take care of her for such a long period of time. There is no one else we'd trust with this task, and we don't take for granted how wonderful my mom is for always being willing to care for Ginny while we travel! The second thank you is for our fabulous neighbors, who watched our house the whole time we were away! Knowing they were keeping an eye on things and would call us if there were any problems was so reassuring!
Do you see that "driving miles" total for our car plus the two car rentals in Alaska? C DROVE EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THOSE 11,785 MILES. I did not drive at all on this trip! He is amazing! Not only did he plan the entire trip, but he drove the whole time! The amount of work that went into organizing a trip of this size is beyond unbelievable and it was a smashing success because of all of that work C did ahead of time. I am soooooooooooo lucky!!!
Throughout the trip, I got some messages jokingly asking if C and I were sick of each other yet. My response was always the same...are you kidding me? How could I get sick of him? He is my favorite person on the planet and we had 30 days of each other's company for uninterrupted conversation without the distractions of real life, so it was a dream come true! He was as hilarious on the last day of the trip as he was on the first day and I choose to believe I'm an outstanding dj and snack manager!
We repeatedly made this reference from The Bourne Identity:
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| Yes, we do think we're pretty funny! |
I would do this same trip again in a heartbeat! We created so many awesome memories that we'll be recalling for many years! As usual, we spent the final days of the trip discussing and planning upcoming travel, and we spent today unpacking, doing laundry, and booking hotels for our next trip. One incredible adventure completed, with more on the horizon!
Happy Tails to you!
