DAYS 27-30...THE FINAL FOUR!

Well ladies and gentlemen, it's come at last.  At last it's come.  The time we knew would come at last, has come at last.  (Bonus points if you can name the movie that quote is from...without googling it!)  The road has finally come to an end!  *Cue tears and sappy exit music*  Thirty days.  8,600 miles.  Twenty states.  And countless cups of coffee.

The final four days have been something of a blur, so we just chose to do a single final blogpost summarizing them all.  And actually, our road trip was supposed to be thirty one days total, but we ended up cutting out the last day out and driving straight through Ohio to get back to Pennsylvania.  To be honest, since leaving the Black Hills area of South Dakota, there wasn't a whole lot to see in the way of tourist attractions.  We stuck mostly to the highways, and got off to get gas, eat, and pee when needed.

Wall Drug Store in South Dakota

On day 27 on the way out of Rapid City, per Nancy's request, we stopped at the very touristy area known as Wall Drug.  Nancy remembers stopping here as a kid on a family vacation, lured in by the dozens of billboards along the highway offering such things as "free ice water" and "5 cent coffee".  What was once a single tourist stop surrounded by dirt for miles around back some 40 years ago has now turned into a small town with a whole business block dedicated to little gift shops and restaurants.  We took about an hour to do some shopping and take a breather from driving.  This actually turned out to be quite a nice area, and we took advantage of some of the bargain shops.  Then, just as we were leaving, we witnessed an unfortunate event- an older woman was walking to her car when she tripped and fell over a curb, landing face-first onto the pavement.  Her husband was there to assist her, but it was clear that she had taken a pretty hard hit and needed some more help.  Dan and Andy rushed to her side being the good samaritans that we are.  She had some bad cuts on her head and arm, but thankfully was going to be alright.  We stayed with her until a nurse arrived to give her proper care, then left after making sure everything was okay.  She took quite a fall, but we're sure glad she is going to be alright.

Our mascot for the last week, 'RT' the buffalo

After having done our good deed for the day, we felt like it was time for a little gambling.  We were, however, in South Dakota where casinos and lottery tickets were quite frequent.  At one point we looked for a casino that was supposedly right off the highway.  When we realized it was actually over thirty miles away through desolate farm country, we decided to stick to the gas station lottery tickets.  We didn't win any big money, and after spending over half an hour at a single gas station where the attendant seemed to be getting quite a kick out of our new found addiction, we decided it was time to give up and get back on the road before we did any more damage to our already near empty wallets.

The last exciting stop of our trip was in the bustling windy city of Chicago, which took up most of day 29.  Upon arrival, and keeping with our plans of sticking to a cheaper budget, we grabbed lunch at Panera Bread, which never lets us down.  Then we took a stroll around the beautiful Millenium Park and the downtown business/shopping district.  The park is filled with beautiful gardens and unique art sculptures.  We really liked the vibe and people here, who all seemed fashionable and smart, but a little more laid back and friendly than New Yorkers.  From the downtown, we took a taxi over to the famous Navy Pier.  The weather was simply gorgeous, and we just couldn't pass up a ride on the 100-foot-tall ferris wheel which dominated the skyline of the pier.  After this, the only logical thing to do was to find a cute outdoor restaurant on the pier and split a bottle of Pinot Noir, of course.  We sat and enjoyed the lovely breeze off of Lake Michigan while sipping our deliciously smooth wine and reminiscing over how wonderful the last 29 days have been.  Chicago was a very inviting city and we hope to get back here soon to spend some more time!

Neat sculpture in downtown Chicago's Millenium Park

Day 30 got off to a late start, as we continued our new habit of sleeping in until at least 10 or 11am.  Mind you, we continued to lose an hour every couple days of our journey back east.  Once we got our Starbucks and got on the road it was about noon.  We checked out our ever-so-handy RoadTrip USA book and consulted our maps checking out what fun things there were to see on our route today.  We were somewhat disappointed.  With the only somewhat interesting thing between here and our final stop in Pennsylvania being the city of Cleveland, we all came to a mutual decision to just plow through the final 10 hours of our drive and make it home a day early.  Sorry, Ohio, but you just didn't look too appealing...and the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame will always be there.  Plus, we all agreed it would be a good way to save some money, and we were definitely excited for some much needed rest.

The ferris wheel at Chicago's Navy Pier 

So, at 10:55pm, on Thursday, May 24, 2012, we drove into the driveway of the Martin residence in Ephrata, PA, bringing our massive adventure to an end.  We did it.  Somehow, we all managed to make it home in one piece, with our car about to burst from the massive mound of souvenirs, tabloids, and half empty water bottles piling up in the backseat.  I'm surprised that mound didn't grow a mouth and decide to eat the unfortunate unsuspecting victim who just happened to sit beside it.

Like looking back on any chapter in one's life, it seems both like an eternity and only a split second at the same time.  When thought about as a whole, a month doesn't seem like too long, but when you stop to consider all the incredible things we got to see and do, it almost seems like a month isn't nearly enough time to fit it all in!  But, we somehow did.  And it turned out to be the trip of a lifetime.  We hiked through the Grand Canyon, walked along the sandy beaches of California, and saw the famous geysers of Yellowstone National Park.  We slept in luxurious rooms at Shutters in Santa Monica, a cave in New Mexico, a concrete teepee in Arizona, and some of the kitschiest Route 66 motels you can imagine.  We ate probably over 16 different burgers (some delicious and some...ehh, not so much), chili hot dogs in Cincinnati, fried lamb testicles in Oklahoma, pepperoni rolls in West Virginia, and probably more iced coffees than Rachel Zoe on her period.  We walked the golden gate bridge, canoed through an under ground river in Illinois, and got a close up of sea lion life in a Pacific Ocean cliff cave.  We defied gravity at the mind intriguing Mystery Spot, drove through a giant redwood tree, and came face to face with more buffalo than old Buffalo Bill himself probably saw....and of course, made memories to last a lifetime.

We're so glad that we took a leap and went through with the road trip.  It was a big commitment of both time and money, and to just pick up and leave for a month takes a lot of guts.  It's something that most people dream of doing but only a few actually are lucky enough to be able to do.  Nancy is happy to be back at home with her husband, daughter, and dog, Otis, but already missing the adventure and freedom of the road.  Dan and Andy are anxious to get back to New York City where they live and continue on to the next chapter which awaits them there.  We've taken advantage of our time on the road to gather a lot of inspiration.  The peacefulness and free time has also been nice, and we've been able to write a lot of music for our upcoming EP for our pop duo, KICH.  KICH is an exciting new venture for us, and we can't wait to bring our music to New York City and eventually the world.  Be sure to look for our pages on facebook and twitter to follow our pop duo and what we're up to.  Who knows, you may be witnessing the birth of the music industry's next breakthrough pop stars!      

We're so grateful to everyone who has read our blog, and followed our posts on facebook and twitter.  It was so nice to be able to share our journey with everyone while it was happening.  Yay technology!  And to anyone who might read this in the future, we hope that our stories will maybe inspire you to want to take a trip of your own someday.  Feel free to contact us with anymore questions, or if you just want to share an adventure of your own!  We are blessed to live in one of the most culturally and scenically diverse countries in the world, and you'd be a fool not to take advantage of the beauty which lies right outside your doorstep.

So, who knows, maybe in a few years we'll get the itch again to pack our bags and head out the door for another ultimate road trip, but for now, we bid our goodbyes and thank you again for following our story.

So long!

-The Roadtrippers: Andy, Dan, and Nancy