As we started out on our last day on the road, Anna and I had a sudden urge for a good breakfast of bacon and eggs. Our choices were limited on the Interstate, so when we spotted a Denny’s sign from the highway we took the exit and found ourselves on an old stretch of Route 66.  “How bad could a Denny’s be?” we asked ourselves.

Pretty bad.  The Denny’s we arrived at smelled odd inside and had a lot of people waiting for tables, so we set off in search of something else. What we found was the funky little restaurant above, where we had some perfectly good eggs and bacon in a joint with a little character.

We continued on and reached Las Vegas before nightfall. Anna braved the horrors of my apartment and continued with her online teaching chores. The next day I gave a her a real treat — driving her to the local T. J. Maxx, so she could buy a new suitcase. Then we had a late lunch at an Irish pub near my place — we were both hammered and felt that some hearty pub food was just what we needed. It hit the mark exactly.

We woke early the next morning and I took Anna to the airport to catch a 6am flight back to North Carolina — and suddenly the epic road trip was over. My body was still vibrating, as though I was still in the car, and my mind was sapped from the swirl of experiences encountered during a month on the road.

I’ve now written blog posts about most of it, and feel partly human again. Time to get back to staying put and writing fiction.

Click on the images to enlarge.