Day 17: Jerfferson, Mo to Yellow Springs, OH

'Our final long day in the car would bring some memorable moments.  After spending the night nice and chilled in the air conditioning, we packed up once more and hit the road bright and early--knowing that we had a long day ahead of us.

We spent the night just around the corner from where Mark Twain was born, and so when a detour on the road we were traveling along took us directly to the town where e grew up (Hannibal, MO), we had to stop.  Well...I had to stop (I am a Language Arts Teacher after all).  Kevin was a good sport and agreed to tag along with me.

Visitors can pay for a tour of the home and other related sites, but we were crunched for time so we just walked around the town reading the historical markers and checking out the notable buildings.  We saw: Mark Twain's boyhood home, his fathers law office across the street, Becky Thatchers home, the home of the boy who inspired the character Huck Finn, and the picket fence Tom Sawyer convinced his gang to pay to have the privilege of painting.

The Mississippi River flowed just yards from Twain's home, so it is no wonder so much of his writing centered on it!  I was in my glory exploring the town--especially since it was an unplanned pit stop.  We discovered the Mark Twain Brewery just around the corner from Twain's home, so before we piled back into the truck we decided to stop in for a taste and a quick lunch.  We found a few brews we liked, so we bought a few varieties and loaded them up in the cooler before getting back on the road.... and I got to be a total nerd!

Unfortunately, our pit stop meant we would be arriving at our campsite an hour or two later than we originally planned, but it was totally worth it!  Kevin drove every single mile of the trip, so he suffered the most on our final long driving day, but he got us to our final campsite--John Bryan State Park in Yellow Springs, OH.

Yep, we decided to end our trip how we started it.  With a nice hot pizza from HaHa's Pizza and our favorite camping spot in Ohio.  After picking up our pizza around 8:30pm and heading to the campground we chose a site and after struggling to find level ground (our favorite spot was taken), we finally sat down to some dinner as the sky darkened and evening fell.

It was a long day in the car, but the memories made in Mark Twain's hometown already stand more vivid than the drive itself.  As the skies darkened, I couldn't believe it was already the last night of our Telluride Road Trip Adventure.

I was exhausted from a long day in the car, so before long I reluctantly headed to bed to read for a bit and spend one more night in Carmen--Our Scamp.'