Day 3 - Exactly why we came

Posted from: Estes Park, CO

Miles driven: 41 (We are back on speaking terms with the truck.)
Total Trip Miles: 789

Miles hiked: 2.5

Well this is it. This was what we pictured. This is exactly why we came. 

We relaxed a bit in the morning and Matt made pancakes. I don't know if it is the altitude or what, but they were the best pancakes. Ever. In the history of ever. Apparently certain articles of clothing were optional at today's breakfast table. 

We then took Highway 36 into Rocky Mountain National Park. On the way, we stopped to get a picture as we drove into Estes Park.

We drove to Bear Lake and fortunately found a parking spot. This where we ate lunch. Wow. 

Then we saw snow. Caleb was amazed that it was summer and warm and he was wearing a Tshirt while holding snow. 

Then the camera man got serious... Or passed out. It was actually hard to tell which. 

But we got some great pictures.

We walked around Bear Lake and had lunch. Then walked to Alberta Falls. 

Why take the bridge when there are perfectly good rocks?

All in all, the day was a success. Though Cameron seems to really be struggling with the high altitude. We will likely change our plans for tomorrow and relax a bit more. The climb we were planning is probably not a good idea at this point. We might try on Tuesday. This trip is about having a good time. It isn't about sticking to an agenda no matter what. And besides, the campground has mini golf... With an amazing view of the mountains. How can we go wrong?!

Day 2 - Long haul to breathtaking beauty

Posted from: Estes Park, CO

Elevation change: 6,500 increase

Miles driven today: 452

Total miles: 748

Total spent on diesel fuel: Ha! Like I'm going to add that up as we go...total joy killer. 

First things first, Matt found some coffee this morning. For a while there, we thought we might need to have another EMT call to Walmart. #walmartstatistic #peopleofwalmart

Second, we saw the Nebraska Mountains. They were kinda nice. Matt was mumbling something about a concrete factory, but whatever. 

When presented with a fork in the road, you should pick up the fork so no one pops their tire. Today we chose to take I80 to Cheyenne rather than 76 through Denver. Was it the better route? We will never know if those who know never tell us. Ignorance can sometimes be bliss and we got where we were going in the end. 

But the single lane construction on that route went on forever...and for our set up, when we saw a gas station we stopped because they were very few and far between.

We read that you should carb load if you climb a significant amount in one day, so we found a DQ in Cheyenne, WY and enjoyed. (Caleb had quite the debonair chocolate mustache going.) 

While finding a place to park at DQ, we had to pull out onto a street with quite a hump where they had black topped it a few too many times. Our spare tire hit and the little butterfly's that hold it on were bent almost all of the way out. This is a picture of Matt finishing up the repairs while we ate our ice cream. In our defense, it was 95 degrees out and the ice cream was melting. He drank his. Oops. 

We filled up one more time and started our final climb to Estes (approx 1600 ft), when it felt like we suddenly turned a corner and saw amazing beauty. Unfortunately, the sun was not my friend in this picture and the awesomeness is a bit lost. 

Matt did a great job driving the camper along the twisty roads. (Was there ever any doubt?) We arrived safely at our campground in Estes Park. (More on the campground in a later post.)

We got set up, ate dinner, took showers, and put the state stickers on our camper map. As you can see, a very serious and heartfelt ceremony ensued. (Grace stopped crossing her eyes right before I took this pic.) What's funny is the I didn't tell them to be silly. I told them to smile and they all made rediculous faces. Wait... Maybe that isn't funny. I have no control. Oh well. 

And for those of you who are wondering, we decided to put a sticker on every state the camper has been in, even if we didn't stay overnight in that state. By the end of our trip the only state we will drive in but not spend overnight, is New Mexico. 

Vacations are a time for taking risks and living a little, so here are the risks we took today:

1) We woke up in a Walmart parking lot sandwiched between two truckers. 

2) We let Matt drive 1.2 miles pulling the camper before he had his first sip of coffee.

3) We ate produce without washing first. Twice.

Day 1 - Why Walmarts Rock

Posted From: Walmart, middle of Nebraska somewhere (aka Grand Island, NE)
Miles Driven: 296
Total Trip Miles: 296

I am a planner by nature. It's just what I do. But this was the one night I didn't plan. I figured, how hard can it be to find a campground right off the interstate in Nebraska?? All we need to do is sleep. We weren't even going to unhitch. Well, the answer is that it is really easy, but the part about any of these campgrounds having availability on a Friday night in June...that didn't really go so well.

So Matt and I quickly added "Camping in a Wal-Mart Parking Lot" to our bucket list (oddly we did not previously have this line item), and set out to find a Walmart...Okay, that was sort of a joke because the darn things are everywhere. 

So here we are.

And here is what we learned: 

1) It is true that law enforcement and the fire dept are called to Walmarts at an unusually high frequency. (Yes those are flashing lights up by the door.)  

2) Yes a lot of people really camp in Walmart parking lots. We had about 20 neighbors...Fellow campers and truckers boon docking at Wally World. 

3) Trains can sometimes sound like helicopters landing in the parking lot. (I can't seem to find the tracks, but let me assure you that they are VERY near.) 

4) When dry camping (no hookups), the outlets in the camper don't work. (I honestly feel a little dumb about this one). Never mind the fact that you can't charge devices, plug in fans, etc...you can't make coffee in the morning!!!! (Which is a basic component of survival for our driver out here in the Wild West.) I'm serious kids; the trip just about ended before it really began. 

5) The beauty of parking at a 24 hour Walmart is that you can get up at 5:00 am and purchase an adapter that allows you to plug the coffee maker into your truck cig lighter. But it couldn't power the coffee maker...

6) Lets talk about heat advisories. When dry camping you have no air conditioning and no plug ins for fans. And when the "feels like" temperature is 90 at 10:30pm you know sleeping will be hard. So this is my advertisement for the Fantastic Fan which Matt recently installed. It is a vent fan the will run off our batteries, and it really pulls air through the camper. Whew! Don't get me wrong. 90 is 90, but to have air flow was very nice. 

7) It was a very nice parking lot; the street cleaner machine made sure of that around 5:00 this morning. Awesome. 

8) The best thing we learned is that there are still really decent people in this world that would go to great lengths to help a complete stranger. Our parking lot neighbors were pulling a brand new camper from Illinois to Oregon to deliver it to an Alaskan State Trooper and his family (7 kids) after their truck broke down on their way home from Ohio where they picked the camper up from the factory. The state trooper had to get back home for work, so this couple who lived in the town where it broke down (complete strangers) offered to park it in their driveway and haul it out to Oregon to meet them. The good Samaritans even pulled it with their own truck (the state trooper's is still broke down in Illinois.) Well done fellow Midwesterners. 

This morning at breakfast Cameron said. "This is the longest I've ever been at a Walmart." I asked if he wanted to do it again sometime and he thought about it and said, "No. I'm good." Me too buddy. 

Let me back up to earlier in the day. We planned to leave at 4:00 pm and actually left at 5:00 pm, which we thought was pretty good. 

I did one last sweep of the house to make sure we didn't forget anything. I met Matt at the door and as I was walking out the door I told him I felt good that I got everything. He looked down at my feet and said, "So you weren't planning to wear shoes?" Oops. Put shoes on and walked out the door. Whew! 

Overall the trip went very well. Matt adjusted to reduce the bumpiness, but other than that it was smooth. Gas stations love us. We had a healthy side wind (look at the flag in the first picture.) And it only took 30 miles before someone had to go potty "really bad"...sounds about right. 

The Final Countdown

So this showed up on my phone screen today:

Whoa! How did that happen?! 

Overall this week has been great and full of fun. 

We had dinner with our neighbors (thanks neighbors!!!):

We packed the camper and ate pizza on the floor because there was stuff everywhere.

We suffered through the last day of school (oh the hardships!). 

We spent lots of time with friends and family. 

And we packed some more...

And finally got the map put on the camper (thanks Steve!). We will fill in the states as we visit them. It is on the side of the slide out, so you can only see it when the slide is out, but it was the only smooth surface, so there we have it! (By the way, that is my hand holding the flashlight, so I feel that I did my part.)

The kids hanging out.

I can't really tell what E.T. thinks about all of this. 

On the road in a few hours! Day 1 here we come!

Camping by the Lake

This weekend we traveled to Clear Lake State Park. The main goal of this trip was to get used to pulling the camper down the interstate. We also enjoyed camping with my grandparents, dad and stepmom. :)

As for the trip to the campground:

First, let me say that it was windy. Really windy. A head wind.

Second, we quickly realized we didn't have the right hitch set-up. 

Third, our gas mileage was between 6 and 7 mpg. Ouch. 

We arrived at the campground safely, and spent some time over the weekend getting the hitch set up right. The trip home was MUCH better. 

The kids and grandma had a great time making crafts out of things they found in nature. 

The outside kitchen is sooooo handy!

The kids met my parent's new puppy, "Uncle Baxter". The love was mutual! 

30 days! (Not that we're counting)

Truth: Planning a 2 month trip takes a lot of time....and leaves very little time for blogging about it.

What we have been up to since November/December:

• November: Bought a 2013 30ft RV trailer (ahh!)
• December: Researched and laid out a calendar of where we will be and when.
• Early January - May: Worked on reserving campsites
• March - April: Prepared the camper for the trip
• April: Went on our first camping trip with the camper (trial run close to home) 
• May: Leaving for our second camping trip two hours away this weekend (getting used to pulling the camper a longer distance)

Other things that we needed (or will need) to address due to the length of our trip...This is not sexy stuff folks. It is just a very practical list of things to remember.

• Set up bills on auto recurring payments (not all of them were set up this way...I know, we live in the dark ages.) 
• Find a sitter for my son's little pet corn snake (Maisey cannot come along)
• Stop mail for 30 days....then stop again for another 30 days. Find someone to pick up the mail after the first 30 days. 
• Wrap up projects at work. Yikes!
• Hire someone to mow the lawn (and pray for a drought so they don't have to mow much),
• Fill prescriptions (we only have one among the 5 of us, but still...)
• Make sure the kids have enough underwear for 2 weeks. Hey, I'm on vacation, so I make no promises on the frequency of "feeling" like doing laundry. We will be lucky if the mood strikes and a laundry facility is available at the same time. Welcome to camping life!
• Eat all of the food in the house. OY!  (Okay, not all, but the perishables at least.)
• Buy a new swimsuit (mom)....Double OY! And can I point out the conflict with the item above?? Good grief, I am plotting against myself.
• Clean the house. Who wants to come home to a mess after being gone for two months?
• As we are walking out the door: Turn off water; re-program the thermostat
• And about one hundred other little details that I may or may not remember until we get halfway across Nebraska. Doh! 

It's getting close and we are getting very excited!!

Rainy Wet Camping - First time using the camper

We spent the past weekend at a campground close to home...and it rained... and rained...and rained. Oh and it was cold and windy. Woot! 

This was our first time camping in the camper we bought in November. All in all it went well! And by "went well" I mean that we all came out alive after spending the entire weekend mostly in the camper or swished up tightly under the awning together. To be honest, we actually had quite a bit of fun! 

The boys played a lot of Legos. Grace read and spent time coloring. Notice the space heater. Did I mention that it was really cold? Frost warnings. Brr. 

We made "camping doughnuts". 

These kids are experts, but this is a process better performed outside. We wiped up powdered sugar for quite awhile.

Let's just say that we made way to many!!

This weekend was a good learning experience. We tried things out we might not have if it hadn't been raining. I learned how to put out the awning by myself (though small ears maybe should not be around until I really get the hang of it). We learned that the bathroom door is squeaky and REALLY loud at night when someone uses it. And finally, we learned that spending a weekend in close quarters isn't too bad. Hopefully we feel the same way about 2 months!!