Today marks the official end of "The Summer of DeFeo". It is officially autumn now and I start my new job on Monday morning.
I spent the last 2 weeks of the summer of DeFeo in decompression mode. No...seriously, I slept for like 7 days straight. I've spent the rest of my time getting myself ready for starting work again and taking care of stupid errands. I also hit another 2 Diners, Drive-ins and Dives spots in NYC.
Nevertheless...Without further ado...
The Awards
Favorite large city - San Francisco*
*Excluding NYC and Chicago of course
Favorite Small city - Nashville
Favorite State - California
Favorite small town - Polsen, MT
Least Favorite large city - LA
Least Favorite small city - Kansas City
Least Favorite State - Ohio
Best Drivers - NYC...followed closely by Minneapolis.
Worst Drivers - Ohio
Best meal - Park Tavern in San Fran
Worst meal - Island Restaurant during boat trip in Spain (I didn't even eat anything...mostly because I was a "little" sea sick. It just looked gross though.)
Best DD&D spot - The Redhead in NYC...this place only recently unseated Rendezvous in Memphis and Martin's BBQ outside Nashville (They were tied for 1st prior to last weekend)
Worst DD&D spot - Pizza Palace in Knoxville, TN
Best Bar - The Beachcomber in Wellfleet on the Cape
Worst Bar - Cozy Corner dive bar in Montana. It seriously reminded me of the bar from the movie "From Dusk Till dawn"
Top 3 Favorite Moments
1) Chartering the Yacht off the Coast of Spain
2) Racing the Bonneville Speedway on the Salt Flats
3) Climbing Mt. Elbert
Top 3 Least Favorite Moments
1) The hangovers (This spot has been collectively awarded to all the brutal hangovers that I encountered at various points this summer. They hurt so much more and lasted so much longer than they did 10 years ago and they sadly reminded me that I'm not in college anymore).
2) Lightning Storm on the ridge of Humphrey's Peak.
3) Getting lost for 3 hours in the labyrinth of logging roads surrounding Mt Arvon in Michigan.
Top 3 "Close calls"
1) Not going to Yosemite...I had reserved one of the cabins where the Hunta virus broke out, but Nick and I decided to cancel our trip and I went to Spain instead. Talk about dodging a bullet.
2) Losing my way back to the car in Wisconsin and using my car's Onstar system and my GPS watch to navigate my way back to the car.
3) I am really serious when I say that I think I was a few seconds away from being car jacked in Kansas City.
Top 3 Craziest Stunts
1) Climbing the Cell phone tower in Wisconsin
2) Forging the waiver to climb Black Mountain in Kentucky.
3) Trying to drive up the Colorado jeep trail in a BMW 328i. At 10,400 feet we almost lost my muffler.
Top 3 favorite places*
1) Mackinac Island
2) Pacific Coast Highway
3) Napa Valley
*These are like the all around winners that had everything...food, drink, sights, experiences, etc.
The Numbers
Below are some fun statistics from my trip.
It's been pretty amazing, but I have literally been around the world in 80 days.
80 Days (6/15/2012 to 9/3/2012)
I've traveled...
31,160+ miles traveled
16,500 by car
14,500 by air (Jet)
85 miles by foot
24 miles by single prop bi-plane
10 miles by twin turbo prop plane
17 miles by horse
12 miles by boat
6 miles by jet ski
4 miles by bicycle
1 mile by gondola
I've visited...
5 countries
43 states
23 Capitol cities
6 time zones
I've climbed...
39 mountains and
28 State High points
120,000+ vertical feet ascended (Total feet of all the mountains)
140,000+ vertical feet exchanged (Feet actually climbed and descended)
Highest point reached by foot...14,344 feet
30 Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives locations
I've been to...
5 BMW dealerships
and gone through
1 Oil Change
1 set of rear brake pads
1 Oxygen Sensor replacement
675+ gallons of gas
Top speed attained 140mph
Driving terrains...
Paved Roads
Dirt roads
Gravel roads
Brick roads
Overgrown logging roads
On the Rocky Mountain jeep trail
On Grass
On a Cornfield
On the Salt flats
And on the Beach
21 nights in hotel rooms
27 nights sleeping at camp grounds
17 nights staying with friends or relatives
15 nights of sleeping in my car
2 nights without sleeping
2 nights sleeping on a plane
1 night sleeping on the beach
I visited 10 National Parks (I skipped Yosemite to go to Spain...looks like I picked the winning horse on that one!)
I visited only 7 Casinos
I Gambled a total of $150
I Won a total of $1000
I've spent $????? (Let's just say it's bigger than a breadbasket).
It rained a total of 4 times during my whole trip (aside from in the mountains where we were pounded with relentless rain for several hours on end).
2 of the 4 rain storms I was in occurred in the desert. The 2nd time it rained all year in the Mojave was the night I drove through it.
It snowed once while I was on Mt Elbert. It hailed once while I was in Yellowstone.
12 racks of ribs
40+ Hamburgers
32+ Wendy's Spicy Chicken Sandwiches
Only 4 pizzas!!!
I've eaten...
Cow
Rabbit
Elk
Buffalo
Moose
Goat
Pig
Lamb
Deer
Reindeer
Duck
Goose
Turtle
And let's not even start on all the seafood...
I picked up 1 hitch hiker
I was pulled over by police...twice
I received zero tickets
I took 3,000+ pictures
I bought close to 150 pounds of gifts
I spent approx 90 hours talking on the phone (Many of you are probably sick of me calling by now...what else are you going to do when your driving 16,000 miles?)
I've been smiling for the last 110 days
I have a 1,000,000+ memories
I have 0 regrets
I couldn't imagine doing it any differently.
I was planning on extending this blog thing further, but the reality is "living the dream" is a full time job. Plus, "The Fall of DeFeo" doesn't have quite the same ring to it.
I have been working on writing down some of my observations from the trip. They are really random and not very blog worthy just yet. I've really just kept a log of them for my own enjoyment years down the line.
Every time I think about my trip, I can't help but smile and be grateful that I had such an amazing opportunity.
Stay thirsty my friends.
