The Toll of an RV

3,636 Miles

On the road again ... Can you hear it? It's impossible to start driving and not hear that song! We just drove through Rifle, Colorado, which seemed noteworthy, for no other reason than it's a town called Rifle. Also, there were actually guys on the side of the road shooting AK47s into a field. It seemed ironic. "At least they're not shooting the other way," James said. True fact.

I'm so happy that many of you are enjoying our travels in the comfort of your own homes. Some of you seem enamored by the concept of traveling across the country in an RV. After 14 days, I'll tell you that, after a while it does lose some of its charm. Together we have 17 bumps and bruises from either hitting our heads or having something fall on us. For Millie, the worst was the Instapot crashing down on her while reading in our bed. For James, it was a jar of tomato sauce falling on his head when I made a turn. Maddy has tripped on the entry steps more than once, and I have hit my head on the overhang above the stove at least 5 times while cooking something. We haven't cleaned clothes ever and the bag is getting overstuffed. There is water entering from somewhere when we hook it up at the parks. The door is slightly broken, so on a number of occasions it has flung open while flying down the road. The fridge is sometimes not closed entirely, and on two occasions, beers have fallen out and crashed onto the ground, breaking (why's it gotta be the beer?). James and I got into a throw down last night and I can't even remember what it was about (though, much to our surprise, it was the first real throw down of the trip). There are crumbs in our bed and I don't know why, and there is stuff everywhere despite our constant cleanups. I would do this again in a heartbeat but ... just know before you go.

Before leaving the Grand Tetons, the girls and I took a sunrise wildlife tour while James worked. On the lookout list were bears, moose and wolves. I have a thing for moose, so that was going to tick a "life goals" box. It was early when we left but no more than 15 minutes into the drive, there she was: Melody Moose. She was soon followed by her cousin and niece, Matilda and Marcy. It was so exciting! No males, so James will have to keep taking me to Maine. Later on in the trip, there he was - the biggest grizzly bear our guide had ever seen, a whopping 600 pounds, at least. And the piece de resistance, 7 wolves from a 17 wolf pack waaaayyyy in the distance. It was so exciting and we learned a ton.

We were on the road again after that, and hours later found our way into Utah after an insane switchback drive up a mountain without a railing. On the way, Millie finally got to see Paris, a lifelong dream. We landed at the American West Heritage Center, which I think may have been my favorite lodging locale to date. The guy literally pointed to a field and told us to pick a spot on his 60 acres. The spot was solitary, overlooking cows and mountains. I almost put on my yoga pants and did some sun salutations, but alas I didn't want to break my no-workout streak (something I ACTUALLY thought I would do on this trip). The next day was a major school day. Maddy had a math test that we didn't want her to miss, so she had to get up in real time. Don't forget we are 2 hours behind Eastern time, so that was 6:30am. I think she took the test in her sleep, but she killed it nonetheless, thanksforasking.

We made it to Arches National Park for sunset, and that definitely hits my top 3 moments so far. We climbed up to a spot to see Delicate Arch, and finally stopped moving. We took a breath. It was quiet (when the girls took a breath). And it was beautiful. We left afterwards and headed to Moab where we were parking for the night. What we didn't know was that

there is MAJOR construction happening on the streets around there, so what should have been a 5 minute drive turned into an hour. It was getting super late, so I did what any Mama would do - I made my family traffic jam spaghetti. James drove and I made my sauce, and by the time we got there, dinner was ready to be served. And it was awesome thankyouverymuch.

The next day started with a sunrise tour of Canyonlands National Park in a Jeep. Lots of bumps and climbs. We found Waldo. We saw Aladdin. We went to the spot where Thelma & Louise drove their car off the cliff. James nearly had his 4th heart attack of the trip (he's

heights averse). After that, we took a rafting trip down the Colorado River. Everyone loved that, even though this time of year the rapids are ripples. James and Millie jumped in the freezing river and our daredevil girls are now ready for more serious rapids after I told them about my first real rafting trip with Amy Liebmann and the boyscouts (it was killer).

We woke this morning for one final Moab adventure. It was a "family friendly" hike that would take us to the largest land bridge in the country and was recommended numerous times. James has gotten annoyed with the amount of time it takes for us to leave the RV, so off we went without water or hats and, just to make a point, him in his Berkinstock sandals. Well. There we were in the desert, climbing up and down a mountain, through sand, wading in a stream, in and out of the hot sun. It was a super fun hike, but longer and harder than expected. Ollie was the biggest rockstar - his furry self running and climbing all the way on his little legs. FOUR hours later, we completed the hike, ready to drink gallons of water and head out to Colorado. Do these days get any less monster now? Doubtful, but Colorado is a place filled with friends, so we're really looking forward to refilling our hearts.