4200 miles, some details

Days away: 98
Ride days: 68
Highest miles in a day: 99
Lowest miles in a ride day: 10
Average miles per day (all): 43
Average miles per ride day: 62
Total pedal strokes: 1,470,000
Total calories burned: 96,600
Rest days: 30, including Vermont wedding time and Connecticut babysitting
Different places stayed: 72

States visited: 10, including Ontario
Days per state:
Washington, 10
Idaho, 1
Montana, 22
North Dakota, 12
Vermont (no riding), 5
Minnesota, 6
Wisconsin, 5
Michigan, 14
Ontario, 4
New York, 10
Massachusetts, 6
Connecticut, 3 (no riding)

Named passes climbed:
Rainy & Washington, 5477'
Loup-Loup, 4020'
Wauconda, 4310'
Marias, 5213'
Kings Hill, 7385' (highest altitude reached)

Bike issues:
3 new tires, 2 flats (Winnie), 2 new tires, 4 flats (Bruce)
2 tune-ups & chain replacements each, one new big ring (Winnie)
No big problems on the road

Weather issues:
3 days of mostly rain, 4 with significant showers, several with minor showers
2 days when thunderstorms took us off the road
Extreme heat & humidity in parts of North Dakota & Minnesota
1 tornado siren
1 tropical storm

Health issues:
Almost none. 1 minor cold, 1 brief episode of conjunctivitis, occasional mild tingly hands, plenty of saddle sores (went away as soon as weather cooled down), plenty of sore muscles, although they, too, had pretty much disappeared by the end. No falls.

Best food: Whitefish, Minneapolis, Blue Mountain Lake, Natick (not much in the most rural areas)

Places we'll want to see again: eastern Washington, Montana, especially the areas near Glacier and Choteau, Michigan upper peninsula & Lake Michigan shore, Minnesota, especially near Xanadu & Minneapolis, Wisconsin, the Adirondacks, western Massachusetts. In other words, almost everywhere we went.

Favorite hotels, motels, B&Bs: The Listening Inn, Horse Creek B&B, Bullfrog B&B, DelMonte Lodge, Freestone Inn, Lodge at Sand Point, Pine Butte Guest Ranch, Bunkhouse B&B, Hemlock Hall, Xanadu Island B&B, Great Northern Motel, Edgewater Inn, Garden Gate B&B, Inn on the Harbour, and there are lots more we would be happy to see again.

Best birds: eagles, bald and golden, ospreys, evening grosbeaks, lazuli buntings, Wilson's phalaropes, pileated woodpeckers, sandhill cranes.

Best views: Northern Cascades, parts of Montana, Great Lakes where shoreline was accessible, Highway 12 between Miles City & Baker, Montana.

Interesting people: the Glacier waiter who planned to sail & paddle a kayak from there to his Florida home; the quietly amazing couple at the Listening Inn who know their land & its creatures incredibly well, the 82-year-old woman who runs a B&B alone & made us breakfast on the wood stove, the guy in the Cascades who spends much of his year wandering on his Bike Friday, stealth-camping & doing an occasional Couch-Surfing night, and so many others.

Best people out there: Aline & Jim, Willie, Kitty, Stephanie & Ben, Liz & Raven. Without them we would have struggled far more to get comfortable with the trip, would have eaten far less well, would have feared the weather more, would have so missed the chance to have their company!