The "More Than Halfway" Data Breakdown

Wednesday (2 Days ago) marked the half way point of our epic cross country journey with each of us longing at least a little bit for home (some because of the lack of underwear and the others for their own reasons):

Total Miles Traveled: 4,609

Total Time in the Car: 83 hours, 38 minutes (many of which in LA bumper to bumper)

Average Speed: 55.1 (thanks LA)

Highest Price for Gasoline: $3.38 (in Oxnard, California - was fooled by a "cash only" price, grrrrr)

Lost hubcap(s): still 1

Best Meal So Far:

• Me: The Crab and Tomato on grilled sourdough bread at Nick's Seafood in Pacifica, California
• Shelly: (tie) The BBQ Grilled Chicken Sandwich at the Wawona Hotel in Yosemite Valley, California / The spinach and cheese ravioli at Kathleen's in Pasadena, California
• Jacob: The Fish and Chips Dinner at Nick's Seafood in Pacifica, California
• Malcolm: The Chocolate Chip Pancakes for dinner at Denny's in Santa Nella, California
• Emma: Spaghetti and meatballs at Wild West Pizza in West Yellowstone, Wyoming

Total Time to Get from LA hotel to Santa Monica Pier leaving at 9:50am (27.1 miles): 58 minutes

Number of Days We Played the "Who is the Best Kid of the Day?" game? 2 (discontinued due to the number of arguments it caused over who was the best or who was winning, or why some one's behavior should put them behind)

Number of Times Emma was the "Best Kid of the Day"?: 2 (duh!)

Number of missing state license plates? 1 (still Hawaii) / we will start the game over tomorrow as we begin our trek West toward home

The Point Farthest From Home: The Shark Tank at the Aquarium of the Pacific, Long Beach, California

Favorite Site Visited So Far:

• Me: the view from Glacier Point in Yosemite
• Shelly: (tie) the area around our hotel in Pacifica, California / driving the Pacific Coast Highway and dreaming of where we could live...
• Jacob: the huge tanks at the Aquarium of the Pacific, Long Beach, California
• Malcolm: visiting Mount Rushmore
• Emma: the sandy beach below the Santa Monica Mountains on the PCH

Number of Pictures Taken: 2,993 (not including Jacob's, Malcolm's or Emma's cameras)

Number of times in Pacific Ocean: 4

Number of times in Pacific Ocean that required a change of clothing: 4

Coolness Ratios:

• Driving the PCH - 10 out of 10
• Seeing Hammerhead Sharks at Aquarium of the Pacific - 8 out of 10
• Touching manta rays at Aquarium of the Pacific - 9 out of 10
• Driving in LA traffic - 3 out of 10
• Getting across 5 lanes of bumper to bumper traffic in 2 tenths of a mile to make the exit while Shelly kept saying "put your blinker on" - 9 out of 10 (if you let them know what you want to do they won't let you in... especially with NYS plates)
• "Getting out of LA" ("Shelly only" category which required significant explaining) - 8 out of 10 (she thinks... she hates the traffic)
• Finding Parking Garages at museums and aquarium with 8 foot clearances - 9 out of 10
• Driving through Beverly Hills to look at "rich people houses" - 4 out of 10 (too depressing, related better to the people working on landscaping - who were the only people we saw)