Let's see... First, we bought our house for the summer. A used, but practically new motor home we've named HaRVey. Clever, I know. Sleeps 6, has two slide outs for extra room, a decent sized kitchen, and seatbelts. What more could we ask for? Well, for starters, I'd like a little more storage space, a dishwasher, and some way to keep the sand out. Not going to happen, but still, a girl can dream.
Next, we bought TOAD. Yup, a Jeep Wrangler that we'll be towing behind HaRVey. We are seriously creative with the names, don't you think? Toad? Get it? I only had two requests when it came to buying this car - it needed automatic transmission and air conditioning. So, you guessed it. Manual transmission and a roof that comes off. In my spare time, I'm now learning how to drive a stick. When I say that Toad is made of duct tape and aluminum foil, I'm not joking. It's cute, but a little scary. Not even sure I want to post a picture of it!
The 4-foot map of the United States that resides in our family room is now covered in sticky notes and arrows pointing to all the places we want to go. 99 arrows. 70 days. Something's got to give. When we hit Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah, we may have to cut out a few national park excursions. I'm afraid Thing 1 and Thing 2 will only be able to handle so many rock formations before we have a mutiny. The good thing is - we're playing it all by ear. If we show up somewhere and decide to stay a few days, we can. No pressure to get anywhere except Yosemite at the end of June and San Francisco for the 4th of July. Other than that, we're winging it.
Our living room has turned into Trip Central. That's where you'll find two dozen travel books, the Camelbaks, clothesline, RV toilet paper, hobo pie makers, flashlights, and about 500 other things that may or may not be useful. Pinterest is as helpful as it is a curse. I get sucked in to every "camping hack" site that's posted and convince myself that I'm being so organized and ahead of the game. HA!
But truly, this trip is just around the corner and my nerves are on edge. The "What Ifs" keep me up at night - what if we see a bear? what if HaRVey gets a crack in its engine block? what if our phones don't work? what if my children hate every minute? what if my husband really does want us to eliminate all processed food from our diet? what if all this togetherness backfires? what if I have to empty the black water tank? what if the volcanos under Yellowstone decide to erupt while we're basking in the glory of Old Faithful? There is no shortage of worries. As a Mom, I'm entitled.
So, if you'd like to see if any of my "What ifs" come true, or just want to live vicariously through our misadventures, I mean, adventures, go ahead and sign up to get this blog automatically emailed to you. I think there's something over on the right hand side that lets you do that. Maybe I should have had Jack show you how to do it. Ah well. Thanks for reading!
