And we have a winner

The photo contest has come to a close (finally), and the winner is Deb, with a total of 20 points. First runner-up is Mike, with a total of 18.

I’ll be sending Deb the fabulous first prize of $50 tomorrow. For everybody else, I can award second prize right now: A big thank-you for playing along. I had a lot of fun doing it, although it did involve a little more time than I first envisioned. If I had it to do over again, I’d probably make sure I had all the photos assembled beforehand, then post them on a more regular schedule than I was able to pull off this time. Then again, the laptop with which I started the trip broke down halfway through, so maybe it was best not to have all the eggs in one basket.

Anyway, I’m back in Florida now after an outing of two months and about 8,000 miles. I wasn’t able to stay off the interstates entirely, but I’d say the great majority of those miles were on state highways and secondary roads. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: The less-traveled routes aren’t just the best way to see America, they’re the only way. Some states are more scenic than others, but each has its own kind of beauty — from the mountains of Montana, to the coal trains of Nebraska, to the infinity of Todd Akin signs in Missouri. Once you get west of the Mississippi, it’s a great big country out there.

And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming. What that will be, I have no idea. At the moment, my interests don’t extend much past doing some long-delayed maintenance on the house and grounds. But no doubt something more interesting will present itself.