Happy Trails

We're the best of friends, insisting that the world keep turning our way. And our way is on the road again.
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It was bittersweet this morning when we woke up and realized that this was the last day of our honeymoon road trip. We’ve been on the road for 83 days now, and this has become our lifestyle. We’re comfortable living out of our car, carrying suitcases and our thermo-electric cooler up and down hotel stairs, pulling over at rest stops to make dinner on our camping stove. It’s going to be strange to sleep in the same bed every night, to know where everything is, to be able to go to the refrigerator and pour a glass of milk if we want to. The things people take for granted every day are the things we’ll have to get used to all over again. What a weird life.

We finished getting ready and had our “goodbye to the road” breakfast at the hotel. We’re really going to miss continental breakfasts! Maybe we should get a cereal dispenser for our apartment, to make us feel more at home… All packed and ready to go, we loaded up the car one last time and started our journey toward Fort Worth. But we had one stop to make on the way.

In Cisco, Texas, we pulled off the highway and drove through the main part of town, where we found the first ever Hilton Hotel. Originally the Mobley Hotel, it was bought by Conrad Hilton in 1919 because it was the only way he could get a place to sleep at the time. The little hotel became the first in the huge Hilton Hotel chain, as Conrad saw a financial opportunity in providing rooms to nearby oil field workers. Thus, rooms were rented for eight-hour shifts, tripling the tiny hotel’s normal income. Now restored to its original charm, the hotel currently serves as the city’s chamber of commerce office and community center and while it features an historical museum, we didn’t stop to visit. It was just kind of neat to see one more thing before we finally went home.

The closer we got to Fort Worth, the more we began to recognize signs and street names – another strange sensation. It wasn’t long before we pulled into our new apartment complex and parked the car in front of our very first home as Mr. and Mrs. Edwards. While it was sad to say goodbye to the highway for now, it was really exciting to begin our new life together here.

It was over a year ago that we first came up with the idea of taking this trip, not knowing then if it would ever become a reality. But we planned and we saved and we worked hard and together, we had done it – we had accomplished one of the biggest goals we had ever set our sights on. We went looking for America, and we found it.

With a total of 25,486 miles, we have traveled a distance further than the equator of the Earth – we can now say we’ve driven around the world together. And what a ride it was!

Tonight, we’ll sleep in our empty apartment using our camping gear from the trip and tomorrow we’ll move all of our belongings out of storage and into our new home. While our road trip may end here, our adventures are only beginning.

Thank you for following along with us. We had the time of our life and we hope that you enjoyed it, too.

Until we meet again,

Ben & Jessica Edwards