Back to real life...

Well, the trip is over.

We are home.

Looking back and thinking about how long we were gone; realizing that we are finally home is a funny feeling. After awhile, being on the road becomes normal and you don't even really think about how long you have been gone. You just look ahead to the next destination and you keep going.

In any case...the drive home from Jackson Hole was not easy. We ran into weather problems right away and one particular storm followed us the entire 2500 miles home. The first day, we left Jackson about 10:30am, made it about 100 miles in 3 hours, due to very difficult driving conditions rolling through the national forest. As soon as we hit good pavement, I met a very nice Wyoming State Trooper who decided going 73 in a 65 was unacceptable. We made it to Rock Spring, Wyoming only to find out that I-80 had been closed for the next 2 hours. After two failed attempts to try other routes, we got back onto a very slick Interstate 80 and made it as far as Laramie, Wyoming. The next morning, we made a quick stop at Enterprise, drove through 100 miles of crummy weather and eventually hit dry pavement and sunny skies in Nebraska. We drove a total of 800 miles on that Monday to make it all the way to Iowa City, Iowa.

Mike was hellbent on getting home the next day and we had a good play at it. We left our hotel at 9am, flew through Chicago and made it to South Bend, Indiana at 2pm. We stopped for a burger near the Notre Dame campus. Once we got back on the road and having realized the time zones changed and it was really like a 2 hour stop, we put the hammer down trying to get home.

We turned south in Pittsburgh to get onto the PA turnpike. Mike and I finally pulled into my parents driveway in Villanova at 1:30am. We unpacked my stuff faster than a NASCAR pit crew and Mike tore off. On the power of a Starbucks, a 5 hour energy and a Mountain Dew, Mike headed back to Ridgewood arriving at 3:30am. The two of us drove 1000 miles in 1 day.

So the trip was 8500 miles total. We visited 23 different states, played 21 different golf courses, skied 6 days and saw countless friends, club members and characters along the way.

A few friends of mine have asked me what my favorite stop was and a few other people told me to do a "top ten plays" kind of thing. Well...how about a top 5 places?!

#5: Clemson - As an alumni...how could I not have made this a part of my trip?!

#4: San Francisco Golf Club - SFGC was my second favorite course that we played after Cypress. The night before (details excluded) out in downtown San Fran gives San Fran a leg up on some of the other big cities we visited. And it was a Monday!

#3: LA - I referred to it as la la land. And it was, LA is like no place I have ever been to before. We played Riviera, Bel Air and LACC all in 36 hours. Downtown LA, Santa Monica and Studio city were all awesome.

#2: Jackson Hole - I have said this before (after my first visit 2 years ago) but I will continue to visit Jackson Hole for the rest of my life. That's how awesome I think the town and resort is. Best skiing in North America and the Mangy Moose might be my favorite pub in North America (sorry Tiger Town tavern).

#1: Cypress Point - Trying to determine a number 1 wasn't really that difficult. Cypress Point was by far and away the most beautiful place I have ever seen, this trip or any other time for that matter. The golf course is spectacular and the scenery is unbeatable.

So now to return to the real world. How does that work again?

I have another ten days or so before I return to work. Time to start writing thank you notes I guess.

And thanks for reading all this time. It was cool to hear from people who I don't normally speak to that much tell me how much they enjoyed reading about the trip. I also had a few people tell me that "your Facebook posts have made me want to strangle you recently!"

Thanks for all the help from people who hosted us or helped us get on different courses. It was absolutely amazing.

If you ever get the chance to do a trip like this, do it. We live in the greatest country on earth.

So ends the trip of a lifetime...