North Carolina Five Day Road Trip To Michigan Summary

Fourth of July weekend.... What Fourth of July weekend?

Well another road trip to Michigan from North Carolina is under my belt. Think that is about a dozen or so now but the important thing is daughter Amanda is back home. The weekend blew by like it was not even there and I currently feel like I was run over by a semi. Below is the complete summary and there are several phone-in articles showing mainly my adventures going from NC to Michigan. Coming back home was for the most part tiring, wet and storm drenched. Add in the multitudes of traffic and beyond belief gas prices and you get the gist. Here are the stats:

Days: Friday, Saturday, Sunday July 4 - 6, 2008

Miles: 1874 - including visits to my family on east side of Michigan

Average Price of Gas: $4.19 with highest in Michigan

Hours Coming and Going: 16 hours going to Michigan (add in caching)
15 hours coming back to NC (holiday traffic)



Caching States:
North Carolina
Virginia
West Virginia
Ohio
Michigan

Number of Caches Found: 18

Number of Travel Bugs/Coins Traded: 26

Number of police cars sighted: 48 - no kidding. Including one near my first cache near RDU airport.

Visited:
Four cemeteries including are really cool one from early 1800s in Virginia.
Multitudes of rest areas (some even to use the facilities).
Almost went crashing down two steep, wet, muddy, brier filled hills whilst caching.
Was interrupted by a small herd of hill climbing cattle (did not know they can do steep trails)
Found caching partner in the form of a large black snake who decided to be resting in a bush I was looking in. Did not see the business end but the side of it I did see was like a 1 1/2 inch PVC pipe.
Drove through numerous thunderstorms in West Virginia mountains and near home in Raleigh, North Carolina

Mutant Mantis and my micro GPS travel bugs logged 1095 miles on this trip.

All in all a fun but exhausting trip. Glad now to get back into the caching hunts of home.

Another Michigan Road Trip Coming Up This Weekend!

Just once I would like a holiday where I don't have to travel 800+ miles and can really enjoy a three day weekend. Ahh well, such as life.. Good news is I can add to my out of state scores!!!

Yes I am heading to Michigan this weekend to pick up my caching gal Daughter Geoness. Some school based scheduling difficulties came up and she has to be in town and in school next week or I'm in big doo-doo. Don't you just love year round school systems? NOT!

So I will be heading up to the Great Lake State and back again. The cool thing is daughter can get some out of state claims as well. I don't think there will be many. Trip or so back it turned a 12 hours ride to a 16 hour ride and I don't want to do that again. Though one or two in each state should be enough.

I will also be taking my new Travel Bug "Mutant Mantis" with me. I let my temporary TB go back into the wild and I liked him so much I created one for myself. As seen in the photo he looks quite happy hanging from my rear view mirror.

Stay tuned to all the find, thrills, chills and good time adventures starting this Friday - EARLY!