After 405 five days in hotels I’m once again in a house. Although I saw lots of wonderful places on my trip, I still wanted to settle back in Western WA.

First, a bit of background. I was born and raised and lived 22 years in Ellensburg, a small town in Central Washington. Then, at 22, got a job and lived in the Seattle area for 36 years, the final 30 years actually within the City of Seattle (West Seattle specifically).

For my retirement years, I’ve decided that I once again wanted to live in a small town. I thought about Ellensburg (for maybe a few seconds), but the cold winters and the constant wind during the spring and summer would just be too much for me. So after a bit of searching and 13 months thinking about it I’ve found my new home – in Mount Vernon, WA.

The house is laid out somewhat similar to my last house in West Seattle. Main floor with kitchen, dining area, living room, two bedrooms and a bathroom. Basement with two more bedrooms, bathroom, a “hobby room” (as described in the listing) and a large open area with a utility sink and the laundry pair. The basement, with a bit of work, will be ideal for beer making, a hobby that I’ve enjoyed for about 20 years. I have a lot that’s about four times the size of what I had in West Seattle and the kitchen, remodeled just a few years ago, is best described as “gourmet” (though I hate that word).

Excellent location – just a few blocks from a wonderful little dive tavern, a little burger shack and a “coming soon” brewery and pub. And only about 3/4 of a mile from the Mount Vernon downtown core, with plenty of bars and restaurants. Gonna be fun exploring, eating and drinking.

And for my friends in West Seattle who remember, I’ll once again be able to hang out at a place called the “Porterhouse Pub”.

The included photos are from the Real Estate listing, I’ll take some more once all my stuff is moved in.

As promised, a summary of my year-long cross country road trip.

Metrics

• Total miles driven: 42,884
• Total miles walked: 2,488
• Miles walked per day: 6.7
• Weight when I left Seattle: 174.6 pounds
• Weight when I returned to Seattle: 173.6 pounds
• Total number of DSLR photos taken: about 25,000
• Total number of iPhone photos taken: about 4,500
• Total number of photos shared on my blog: about 5,700
• National Parks visited: 13
• National Park Service sites visited: 63

Food

• Best food experiences: BBQ. There’s so much more to BBQ than pulled pork sandwiches and smoked ribs. Some favorites were the pulled pork with spicy vinegar in North Carolina and both the beef brisket and cheddar/jalapeño smoked sausages in Texas.
• Most disappointing food experience: Maryland blue crab. Smaller and much blander than west coast Dungeness, which is why they usual are made into crab cakes or steamed with a bunch of Old Bay. Give me Dungenness every time.
• Long Island sound oysters are every bit as good as PNW oysters.
• At lots of bison, which, in a burger or French dip, tastes just like beef. However, I had a bison NY Strip in Denver that was definitely not beef. A bit richer, a hint of gaminess and quite good.

Fridge Magnets

• 49 states (still need Alaska)
• Washington, D.C.
• Canada (Niagara Falls)
• Mexico (Ensenada, via cruise ship)
• Jamaica (via cruise ship)
• Grand Cayman (via cruise ship)
• Disneyworld
• National Parks: 9 of the 13 I visited. Didn’t start collecting these right away. Good excuse to go back!

Favorites

• Favorite city: Charleston, South Carolina. Amazing history and culture, friendly people and fantastic food. I did not have a bad meal in Charleston. Some runner ups are Duluth, Minnesota (lots of smoked fish), Burlington, Vermont (very lively food and craft beer scene), San Antonio, Texas (with its downtown riverwalk is sometimes referred to as the Venice of the US) and the food and culture of New Orleans, Louisiana.
• As expected, the big cities did not disappoint: NYC (Manhattan and Brooklyn), Chicago and Boston. Fabulous all.
• But, by far, my favorite experience of the entire trip, and ironically, my last touristy stop, was Yellowstone National Park. Spent 3 plus days in the park and was fascinated by everything I saw. Definitely a place to visit again (many times, I expect).

Thoughts

• Every preconceived notion I had about places I had never been to before were wrong.
• Every city had some pleasant surprise to offer and I enjoyed everywhere I visited (exceptions: Wichita, Kansas and Cheyenne, Wyoming).
• When traveling back roads instead of interstates, be prepared for long stretches of travel with no food and no restrooms.
• Lots of future travel plans will involve visiting National Park Services sites. There are well over 400 sites, including 58 National Parks.
• Final thought: No regrets, this was absolutely a trip of a lifetime. It’s better to spend money on experiences than on things. I’d do this again in a heartbeat.