Final odometer reading: 96816. Total distance covered: 9,327 miles. Total number of pictures taken on the trip: over 2,400.

I'd like to thank all the people who followed the site, kept in touch and helped out along the way (and on the home front).

<end>

Afterword They say that on a trip like this, you really need to be on the road for at least three months to derive a more comprehensive experience. There's a lot more that I could have put in; a lot that I left out; and a lot that I never got around to saying. So I'll close by saying a little bit here. People from all over the world come to see the places I've just been to. They come to see the majestic beauty of this land and the uniquely American culture that surrounds it. The Western parks abound with cowboy themes, although few real cowboys might exist in those parts any more -- replaced by 9-to-5 corporate workers living in subdivisions and driving SUVs. It's easy to forget that at one time, the beautiful scenery of the West may have just as likely been an imposing, life-or-death challenge for the early pioneers who didn't have the convenience of cars, roads, utility companies and supermarkets. There's a very masculine ethos running through the heart of the collective American subconscious: a desire to achieve; to conquer; to have power and win. The heroes and icons that Americans were taught to admire were rugged explorers, pioneers, military heroes and independent thinkers; and raised on a pop-culture diet of Westerns, rock stars, astronauts and sports figures. American mythology is steeped in stories of pioneers overcoming all odds; of taming the wilderness; conquest; acquisition and the "manifest destiny" of the European settlers -- and, although "manifest destiny" is seen as unfair and politically incorrect, its echoes are still with us in the form of our current world policy. Despite our comfortable modern lifestyle, the American script still reads as trying to achieve, acquire and win. The rugged land which posed an obstacle for prior generations became a pretty backdrop for movies and TV shows that the post- WWII generations were raised on -- becoming just as famous as the actors playing in them; becoming an abstraction for an indominatable spirit whose destiny is to come out on top. However, today's modern generations never had to endure the hardships of those who live in past centuries; that achievement was often just simply knowing how to survive. Generations today are largely relieved of the expectation to assist the family with the farm or trade, instead living a life of relative indulgence... and they've come to expect that indulgence as part of the script, extending into adulthood. It's become the American prerogative to be #1; but now that means having all the nicest toys on the block. That's what America is about -- or at least, that's what we've made it about. But how long can we afford to indulge ourselves? I hope our innovators and inventors can come up with a workable solution, soon.