Final Thoughts
This trip was as we thought it would be in lots of ways, and not at all in others. We all agree that we learned so much. About the country of course, about each other and ourselves, our tolerance for being out of our comfort zones, about how quickly data gets used up, how small of a space we can reasonably live, bathe, and sleep in, how to cook ramen and breakfast burritos while barreling down the highway, how to maintain and back up 32 feet of RV, what to look for in a campground and truck stop, our individual levels of tolerance for heat and dirt. We allowed for extra time on each leg, but didn’t know how long it would truly take to get places with eight people and a big clumsy vehicle. We were later than we thought we’d be almost always, but only had to skip a couple stops. We laughed at ourselves for bringing scrap books, nail polish, and board games. Those things don’t appeal when your seats are hot and bumpy, and of your things fly off the table at regular intervals. The kids loved Cedar Point Amusement Park, Yellowstone (specifically the Grand Prismatic Springs), and Vegas. The baby loved all the time she wasn’t in her car seat. Kim loved the drive through Clifton on the way out, when we were buried in an avalanche of dish ware from a cabinet above and we were all such newbies, the drive across the north, the Badlands, Yellowstone, all of Wyoming, our Nashville dinner for Harry’s birthday, and our last night of camping when we finally got to sit around a fire. The moment that keeps coming back to me is holding my baby girl as I waded into perfect, wide, gentle Wyoming river on a sunny day in Yellowstone. It wasn’t a main attraction and there were no other cars pulled off. But the water sparkled just so as it ran past me, and the weather was perfect. Everyone was happy. Also being behind the wheel in South Dakota, and when I got to see a Bison in its natural environment. And Grand Teton and a cold Wyoming morning. Real Cowboys at the gas station. Actually all of Wyoming. I agree with Kim on that one. We all wanted more time exploring our stops and less time driving. We left many places before we wanted to. We saw things we couldn’t believe. From the dry hot jagged horizon of the badlands rising from hours of plains, to the magical wonders of Yellowstone, to the lights of Vegas, to the tall red rocks of Zion, to the Grand Canyon, to the sparking Painted Desert and Petrified Forest, the were lots of exclamations and pointing out of the big RV windows. Each state seemed more beautiful than the last. There were also a lot of long bumpy hot miles. We have improved geographical knowledge and a true appreciation for the vastness and variety of the country. Ups and downs, highs and lows, but as these two crazy moms drove along, we found ourselves planning the next big crazy RV trip…
















