Years since we started this adventure: 1
Miles we’ve traveled in the van: 25,659
Miles we traveled in an AWD car (to do a couple of quick interviews in mountain states in the middle of winter): 2,419
Average miles per gallon in the van: 15.9
Hours spent in the van with the engine running: 649
Number of states we’ve visited: 44 (and the District of Columbia)
Number of states we’ve been in more than once: 15
Nights we’ve slept in the van: 203
Nights we’ve spent in borrowed spaces offered by friends and generous hosts we met along the way: 153
Nights we’ve spent in hotels: 9
Number of full dog poop bags we were carrying when Stephen King drove by in his Tesla and waved at us: 2
Miles of trail we walked on in Florida’s Torreya State Park, after we were warned about snakes, alligators, and bears in the area: 3.4
Number of days we were trapped in our van in Torreya State Park, not by snakes, alligators, or bears, but by swarming mosquitoes: 2
Number of days before the shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School that we left the Parkland, Florida area: 2
Length of the tow truck winch used to pull us out of the friend’s muddy yard in mid-Missouri: 50
Number of regular people we’ve talked to: 712
Number of current or former governors we’ve talked to: 8
Current or former senators: 4
People who debated President Trump during the primaries: 2
Baptist preachers: 7
Astrophysicists: 1
Number of times I was interviewed on KSWV (Que Suave), Spanish-speaking radio: 1
Percent pleased I was that the interview was conducted in English, since my Spanish is limited to getting food, water, lodging, beer, a bathroom, and a bus…finding a church, and counting to 40: 100
Number of conservative Christian apologetics podcasts I’ve been interviewed for: 1
Percent pleased I was the interview was conducted civilly and focused on what we could learn from each other, rather than as an adversarial knock-down-drag-out about ontology and hermeneutics: 100
Years since the Santa Clara Pueblo we visited near Santa Fe, NM was formally established as native tribal land: 468
Years since the U.S. was established by declaring its independence from Great Britain: 242
Word count of notes compiled so far for this book project: 119,334
Dog hairs we clean up, carry around on our clothes, or swallow each day: 119,334
Oil changes in the van: 6
Number of times our electric awning has spontaneously deployed or retracted on its own, as if powered by a ghost: 2
Awning ghosts we have located and caught: 0
Percentage chance President Trump’s tariffs and their downstream effects will combine with housing market and economic variables to put the budget for our Rountree house building project out of our reach: 78
Days until our youngest daughter gets married: 7
Days until we may possibly hit the road again: 9
Percent chance a far left liberal is as big an asshole as a far right conservative, regardless of whether or not they are more right: 98
Number of times Betsy has been able to bake her famous desserts: 3
Ovens we have in the van: 0
Number of times Betsy baked cupcakes and cookies in a friend’s apartment for a potluck in New York City, where every other person there brought takeout: 1
Amount of dragon energy we have in reserve: All the dragon energy.
Number of days I’m grateful to be on this journey with my best friend: Every day.
The number of times we have sat outside the van with drinks in our hands, looking at a beautiful moon, talking about the people we love all over the country who were probably looking at that same moon: Many. Many moons.
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