San Miguel de Allende was our last stop in Mexico before the US. However, we still had quite a bit of driving ahead. We left early and for 10 hours with one short lunch break we traveled 570 miles / 910 km separating us from the border in Laredo. Covid restrictions have been lifted since we drove in the opposite direction and the land crossing was reopened to Mexicans. We had to wait a good 30 minutes in the line of cars. We were back in Texas, but before we got in, we found out that we need to pay an import tax for each of the three wine bottles we had in our car. It was not a federal regulation, but a local Texas tax. We got a sticker for each bottle so that when it is open it will be visible that the tax was paid.

While driving north, days and nights were becoming colder and colder. Sleeping in our rooftop tent became to be a challenge. On the way in Tennessee, we went to visit Fort Loudoun. We learned that built in 1756 fort was the first significant British outposts west of the Appalachian Mountains. Its main purpose was to protect the Cherokee families while the men fought for British. Declining relations between the Cherokee and the British resulted in tensions and killings on both sides. Indians attacked Fort Loudoun. In 1760, besieged for seral months British negotiated a surrender.

We still had some time left to see Sequoyah Birthplace Museum near the fort. Sequoyah, Native American of the Cherokee Nation was the person who made reading and writing in the Cherokee language possible. In 1821 he independently created Cherokee syllabary that was widely adopted. Within 10 years about ninety percent of Cherokee could read and write.

After long drive on interstates, we reached home at 7 pm on Wednesday. Our Colonial Heritage expedition came to an end. It was 11,570 miles / 18,620 km journey across 8 countries that required us to cross 16 borders.