The halfway through the trip data update!

Greetings!



We are officially past the halfway mark of our journey and it is time for a bit of data reporting.

Number of miles traveled = 3588.6

Number of states = 12

Number of "new" states = 3 (North Dakota, Washington, Oregon) 4 for Emma (Michigan)

Number of license plates spotted = 55 (including 7 Canadian provinces - there are 10 total according to Google)

Number of U.S. license plates still needed to complete game = 3 (Louisiana, West Virginia and Rhode Island)

Number of Hawaii plates spotted in Glacier National Park = 3 (seriously)

Total Amount spent on gas = $590.52

Highest Price Paid = $4.19 (Chicago)

Lowest Price Paid = $3.55 (Minnesota)

Best Hotel (by family vote) = Best Western Forest Grove (2 votes Jacob and Malcolm liked that it had two TVs), Best Western Lincoln City "ocean" (2 votes), Quality Inn Dickinson ND "waterslide" (1 vote)

Best Restaurant = West Glacier Pizzeria and Grill (3 kids votes)

Things we left behind (that we know of) = Jacob's sleeping pad (Wisconsin), $5 bottle of face wash and $4 bottle of shampoo (Washington) - all have since been replaced...

Number of different wildlife creatures seen = (too many to count but...) marmots, pica, mountain goats, big horn sheep, bobcat, sea anemone, bald eagles and lots of other birds, deer, maybe an elk (or at least a really big deer, etc. 

Coolness Ratios: 

• The knowledge that we are halfway through our trip = 4 out of 10
• Nearly daily picture updates of Cali = 9 out of 10
• The discovery that Cali chewed and swallowed a dental retainer (for the 2nd year in a row) from her host family = 1 out of 10 (the 1 instead of 0 is for the small bit of entertainment value that you are getting from reading this...)
• The ocean view from our current hotel = 9 out of 10
• The sound of the ocean right this minute = 10 out of 10
• The sound of children... disagreeing on a completely irrelevant point that has no bearing on anything, ever = 0 out of 10
• The Highline trail hike, hundreds of feet above our sure deaths should we plummet onto the Going to the Sun road below = 9 out of 10
• Same coolness ratio from Shelly's perspective only = 2 out of 10
• The joy of finding wifi in order to update the Getting Lost in America 2010 blog = 8 out of 10 
• The discovery that I have 10 page views from Russia = 9 out of 10 (and 4 from China!)