Epilog

Epilog

There were several things that we have learned on this trip. One is that, no matter where you are going or what time of the year it is, you cannot count on the weather. A corollary to that is that when the weather is bad for any time at all, a Volkswagon camper van becomes very, very small. There just isn't any place to go to get out of each others way.

No matter how much you like your pet, we also found that traveling with a pet puts a damper on much of the activity. We knew that there would be many things that we would like to do that do not accept pets, but we mistakenly assumed that there would be "doggy daycare" centers throughout the country, just as there are in the Portland area. When there is any sun at all, it is dangerous to leave a pet in the car, so, even sometimes when it is cool out, there is just nothing to do but to either skip an attraction or see it in shifts. Neither of these options is good.

It is impossible for there to be a recession in this country. We encountered enough road construction on this trip to account for jobs for every man, woman and child in the country. Therefore, with full employment, there cannot be a recession.

Our major conclusion from this trip is that we will probably not do any more road trips like this in the future. We can envision flying to a location, renting a car and touring for a week or two while Lili is in a kennel, and we can envision driving someplace (like Arizona) to spend a few weeks to a few months in the dreary winter months, and having a "home" in which Lili, as well as Linda and I, can relax and feel at home, but we cannot envision traveling day after day in a crowded car with a dog. It just isn't as relaxing as we thought it would be.