Howdy all! We're coming to you from Pagosa Springs, Colorado.

Our ride arrived in Silverton around lunch, and we headed for Durango, CO. I had made an appointment with an orthopedic doctor in Durango for the afternoon.

Several x-rays later, we found out that there were no broken bones, just some pulled ligaments and tendons. She is still in quite a bit of pain, and we can't see her getting better quickly.

At the moment, we are headed back towards home. We plan on riding the tram in Albuquerque and stopping at Balhmorhea State Park in West Texas, before coming back home for a few days.

All in all, we can't complain about the ending to our trip. It's been a wonderful trip. We've seen many sights.

We've been looking back over all of the 455 pictures we've taken and it's amazing what we've seen.

When we try to make some conclusions from what we've seen, here's what stuck out in our mind.

-Tennessee is completely settled. There was only one time while we were crossing the entire state that we felt as if there was no settlement for up to five miles, and that was a state wildlife refuge. As we went, I always expected to get out of civilization, but we never did. Almost all roads are paved, and I don't mean oil dirt like our county roads. They are paved with highway asphalt.

-Driving through Tennessee is like driving through an outdoor Cracker Barrel. I'm not sure if Cracker Barrel is mimicking Tennessee or vice versa. At first, it's a little charming, but the "down homesy-ness" quickly gets old.

-Eastern Tennessee is gorgeous.

-I never realized how convenient our convenient stores at home are. Twice on the first day, we stopped to get gas and the store had no running water. All they had, practically, was gas. This trend would continue until Arkansas.

-Mississippi is still a state where the racial divide is large. We drove through the town of Crenshaw. We came into town from the east with nice, manicured lawns, owned by white middle-class families. The railroad tracks ran north-south. When we crossed the tracks, it was as if somebody had flipped a switch and the town changed to a lower economic class.

-Mississippi looks alot like home, and then, all of a sudden, you run up on a swamp with cypress trees and it's a whole different world.

-Arkansas looks alot like home. The Ozarks are beautiful.

-Oklahoma is an intersting mix, landscapes and people. The eastern half of the state looks like the Ozarks in Arkansas. The western half is rolling prairie, turning to fields of wheat in the panhandle. The people are either very uptight anglos or very uptight Native Americans, and I'm not sure why.

- Riding in snow is very cold.

-Colorado is an amazing state to look at.

-Someone could spend years riding all the jeep trails and mountain roads that Colorado has to offer.

-Sam Correro, the Trans-Am trail creator is a man who has done an amazing amount of work. There wasn't a day that Meredith and I weren't amazed at the detail that Sam has put into all of the roll-charts and maps. Over 4000 miles of road have been mapped, and I can use one hand to count how many mistakes I found with either the roll-charts or maps. Sam, if you're reading this, we are forever thankful for doing the hard work for our trip.

-In terms of gear, there are several items that we wouldn't want to leave home without. Helmet microphones are a must. I got a short in mine somewhere in Oklahoma. It didn't work for a an hour and the ride was horrible. We had come to rely on talking to each other. Roko Goggle Quik Straps are the only way to go as far as goggles go. Your goggles are always with the helmet, and you can put your goggles on(or take them off) even while riding. Ortlieb Saddle Bags really are waterproof. MSR Windproof gloves really are windproof.

-Every person we met in Silverton, CO was the nicest person I'd ever met. Andy, at the Prospector Motel, gave us a discount in the height of summer tourist season. Mark, immediately volunteered to drive me to pick up Meredith's bike. The EMT was free. There was never a time when I walked down the street when I didn't feel at home. Thank you everybody in Silverton.

- Meredith and I are the luckiest people alive(well, that hasn't won the lottery).

It's been alot of fun. See you for our next adventure.

Day by Day Mileage