Here we are, 6 months to the day of having only a camper to sleep in! Full disclosure, we arrived to Jesse’s parent’s lake cabin earlier this week and are now moved into the back cabin. So the lonely camper sits in the back 40, cleaned out but ready to take on another trip any time. I like the familiarity of being here, we all do, and the weather so far has been favorable.

I’d like to remind everyone that I had never been in a camper 7 months ago, so we were complete newbies at this. We spent our first night in a Walmart parking lot and on day #2 Jesse’s F150 stopped working in the middle of the interstate in Joplin, MO. None of this worried us, we made the best of hooking our camper up to the side of the Joplin Ford dealership, and the rest is history.

I honestly can’t believe we did this for 6 months. Originally we thought we’d only be on the road 2-3 months. But now that I think of that, it wouldn’t have been nearly long enough to be happy travelers! Jesse has been so close to landing a couple of great jobs, and again he’s so close to another good one. But even if he doesn’t get this one, I know another one coming will be worth the wait. Yes it’s nerve-racking not knowing where his next career will be, but man we have a good time waiting for it!

A friend recently compared our trip to settlers packing up the wagon and hitting the road in search for a better life. I couldn’t think of a better way to spend Jesse’s mid-career sabbatical . Our family has grown because of it, and we have seen amazing sights.

Total confession and in all honesty, we all had a fun and easy 6 months. We saw so many fun things, ate fun regional foods, and genuinely got along very well with each other. Every trip was a one-way trip, and the next stop was only ever 3-4 hours away. We did mountains, deserts, night driving and day driving. We stopped at almost 60 national park stops(parks, monuments, historic sites, etc…) 6 presidential libraries, about 15 air museums, all the states west of the Mississippi (except Hawaii – yes we got Alaska in!) about 7 state Capitol buildings and about 10 Diners, Dives and Drive-Ins(from the food network)

Woody finish his schooling in Moab, Utah around the end of April, and Andy finished in Poulsbo, Washington the beginning of May. I’m so very proud of them for finishing their work with high grades and just being confident learners. I can honestly say that I literally never taught them anything with their school work. I played the part of manager(momager!) and if they needed math help they contacted their dad. When we were near libraries or wifi, I would have them get schoolwork done. If we weren’t, they didn’t have to! Usually when we were at National Parks, all electronics had to be put away and eyes were focused out to the beauty of everything.

We met so may friends and family along the way. People who we may go years without seeing! Quite honestly that was my favorite part of it all. And we were greeted with open arms from everyone as well.

Couple of things I learned from the trip: be nice to those with campers in the parking lot of Walmart. Anyone is always welcomed to park their RV in front of my (future) house. You can do your laundry at my house, eat at my house and let your dog poop in my backyard. A huge thank you to all of those who let us do exactly that!

My top 5 experiences of the trip are as follows:

1. Seeing the tulip field near Mt. Rainier. It was unexpected, amazing and not only did I love it, my kids and Jesse genuinely were happy for me because they knew I was in heaven. Jesse didn’t stop to turn around for much on this trip, but he wins several brownie points for this time!
2. Our Alaskan cruise. To be honest, I loved the break from cooking and cleaning and planning. I loved putting makeup on again. I loved dressing up everynight with the boys and enjoyed good food and good service. And I enjoyed the shows and all the things to do on the cruise ship. Seeing Alaska was great too, but we know we didn’t see nearly enough so you bet we’ll be back someday!
3. Driving border to border on the coast in Oregon. It was so cool to watch Gunner run on the beaches and see the boys pull up a trap full of crab. We stayed at state parks that looked like rainforests. We had tasty craft beer and regional ciders. Plus the goonies you know!
4. Big Bend National Park in Texas. Perhaps it is my favorite because it was the first big Park we visited on this trip and the amazement of beauty was still fresh and new. But honestly, it was just so neat, so in the middle of no-where, and the rock walls were huge on the Rio Grande. Our mini-visit from there onto a row boat to cross the Rio Grande, then ride a burro into a tiny Mexican village for lunch and some Mexican candy and then back – telephoning the boarder patrol in El Paso to be let back into the country was one of the most unique things we did on the trip. Almost like it was just a dream.
5. Being with my husband, kids and dog 24-7. We went to bed when we were tired and woke up when we’d had a good nights sleep. We saw all the sights together. We had all these experiences together. The boys didn’t ask for much and went along with the flow for everything. They never complained about the traveling time between stops. We played board games and card games. We hiked together and watched Wheel of Fortune together. We shared our meals with each other when we went out to eat. We told really funny inside jokes and we always laughed over funny things Gunner would do. When Gunner got sick (which he did a couple of times) we had the serious talk that this might be “his time” but we always helped nurse him back to health. Everyone needs a Gunner in their life.

I certainly hope Jesse gets a job soon, but if the time just isn’t right this time around, I’ve got a couple east coast road trips in mind for the fall – haha! (MT)

We had a great time visiting Jesse’s former boss in Rapid City – Rick and Susan Giesel and their dog Koda. We pulled the camper up to their front door but they insisted we stay inside their house! I’m not going to lie, the air conditioning felt great on the crazy hot summer days we got into! Gunner and Koda played like brothers – close and then territorial! Gunner appreciates running on nice green grass, it makes him so happy! Jesse has always admired Rick and really looked forward to our visit with them.

We tried to go into the Jewel Cave National Park outside of Rapid City, but they were booked pretty solid, and here’s the kicker, you have to book your ticket in person and they book up by 9am and you can only entire with a ticket. Jesse and I haven’t been too worried about things we miss out on, we say that we need to leave things for the “next trip” but it was disapointing.  We were able to hit up the Wind Cave National Park the next day and we got a cave tour in! The Black Hills are gorgeous and we were able to see a lot of buffalo in Custer State Park. We went on a great hike to Little Devils Tower that left from Sylvan Lake. Gunner loved it and there were great vistas and lots of rock scrambling. The boys and I had hiked this path a couple years ago and we were excited to take Jesse. And of course, we checked out Mount Rushmore, which we have done a handful of times, but it truly is splendid and makes me feel patriotic being there.

Susan had taken us on special “locals” hike to the Stratobowl, an area where one of the first hot manned high altitude balloons capable of stratospheric flight was launched. It was pretty surreal in its gorgeousness and historical significance and the dogs loved it as well. We came back and had a wonderful steak dinner with one of Rick and Susan’s friends as we talked late into the night!

Upon leaving Rapid City, we made a stop at the South Dakota Air and Space Museum on the Ellsworth Air Force Base. It was yet another great plane museum, they had a lot of airplanes on display outdoors so Gunner could see a bunch with us too. The guys were able to go on a Base tour and also tour the inside of a Minuteman II missile silo. Here at the end of our trip, in our own state, was one of the best tours!

On the long stretch of interstate highway that will lead us back to Sioux Falls, I begged Jesse to drive through the Bandlands National Park. Yes we have already visited it and it does make the drive even longer to get home but I would urge everyone to drive through it if they could! Around every turn is another beautiful view that you’d have no idea would be in South Dakota. The western side of South Dakota is breathtaking.

Our full circle road trip was just 2 days shy of 6 months. It truly started and ended at my cousin Janson Exner’s house outside of Sioux Falls. Janson, Cory and the girls were very helpful to us after we sold our house but before we left of the trip, and it was fitting that we ended back at their driveway. So many stories to tell, it was crazy to see much their girls had grown as well!

From here, a quick stop in Watertown, SD for another interview and then off to the Ottertail Lake to set up the camper for the summer. Hopefully something comes along for Jesse yet this summer, but if not, I have the fall itinerary already planned out. East Coast Baby! (MT)

We have made the decision to travel back to the MN lakes for the summer. Originally, we thought we’d go up through Vancouver, to Whistler and then to Banff, but when we started looking at timing and a couple of National Parks we still had to visit out west, we decided to come back through the US. Our first stop leaving Kristi and Bruce’s in Poulsbo was to get on a ferry – trailer and all! Doing this meant we would have to pay a little bit of money but we passed up on all the traffic in Seattle and Tacoma which was fine and dandy with us!

The North Cascades National Park is on the northern border of Washington. It is a huge mountain range with lots of lakes and dams that supply energy to much of Seattle. The colors were so pretty of the water and trees. We walked across a bridge with Gunner that had metal grates that you could see through, and it was very funny watching Gunner carefully cross. Not sure if it was the feeling of the metal or the fact that he could see directly down that he didn’t like!

I know we’ve said this before, but National Parks are not very dog friendly. What was unique about North Cascades, is that in the main Cascade Highway that intersects the park, the area around it is actually a National Recreation Area, not the National Park. So, a lot of the trails along the road are dog friendly! We took a big 3-mile hike up to a viewing area of Diablo Lake, and it was nice to see other pups using the trail responsibly as well!

This park must have amazing camping as well, because we’ve never seen so many campers leaving the park as they were today (it was Monday of Memorial Day)! We were amazed that they just kept coming and coming!

We kept driving east out of the park, enroute to Spokane/Coeur d’Alene. We passed many small towns, and even stopped at a cidery for supper (thanks Jesse!). At one point, we started going though Washington Apple Land! There were not only a ton of orchards, but a literal ton of apple boxes/bins. It was very pretty land, we followed rolling hills and the Columbia river for a while. It would be fun to go back in the fall and pick some ourselves!

Our eventual stop was earlier then we’d like it after we discovered a busted fuse that led to the trailer’s running lights not working. But we found a rest stop that worked perfect for us and was right in line with our challenge to not pay for any overnight stays on the way home. BLM land, rest stops, and friends and family’s houses are our goal! Onward Tischers! (MT)

Super fun week on our last minute Alaskan cruise! A couple of takeaways: Alaska is huge and beautiful and total wilderness. But that’s what makes it so amazing! Thinking about those following the gold rush in the cold desolate areas for 100’s of miles is crazy. Thinking about those who made the railroads up there is crazy. Seeing glaciers and then watching a huge iceberg chunk fall off is truly amazing. Watching whales swimming by your ship was unreal. And visiting Victoria, BC on a sunny spring day with float planes coming in and out of the bay, water taxis driving from stop to stop and seeing Andy in a glorious mood in V’s Chinatown was top.

Jesse and I have always been a bit leery to go on a cruise. A couple days (1 1/2) of big waves made me extremely nervous that I’d be sick the whole time, but being prepared helped(I have a great nausea/shocker bracelet!) and calm seas helped too. Customer service on the ship was top notch. Seems like these employees work for 7 month cycles with no days off, only a couple hours off at ports. The boys were in awe that our waiters and stateroom attendant knew our names and figured out what we needed before we knew we needed it.

5 months and counting on this roadtrip, and there were lots of firsts this week. First time I wore makeup in like forever and I wore it 7 nights in a row! The boys dressed up every night (read:no t-shirts or shorts or athletic shorts! They looked so different with collared shirts and khakis on!) and we all enjoyed the 4-course suppers every night without any technology. Lots of good conversation and discovery of new and über fancy foods! Andy’s only gripe was that we finish our suppers with enough time for him to race upstairs to the buffet for a 2nd supper. This teenager totally got his money worth! Among other things, we played trivia a ton this week and even won once, and Woody won a wii bowling tournament. The boys used the “flowrider” and all the pools and hot tubs this week, a couple times watching a whole movie in the hot tub! Jesse and I hopped in a couple times too, the heated water felt quite nice! We can all say we ice skated on the Pacific too!

There are so many ways to spend $ on a cruise ship. They really pushed(like hard push) for you to buy jewelry both on and off the ship, there were like 3 art auctions, paying more for different dining experiences-we had amazing food in the main dining room so why would we?! And buying excursions through them was so overpriced versus right off the dock. We’re very happy we didn’t get any drink packages. We’d be hanging our head by the toilet for the week if we did, I already felt loopy with the wave action!

Our room was small but the bathroom was actually bigger then our campers so jackpot!🎰 The boys’ bunks were bigger and more spacious then theirs in the camper too so that made them happy. We had an interior room which I always wondered why people would get, but now I know they get it bc it’s cheaper-haha, but no worries you really are not in it very long. Plus a pitch dark room helps everyone get a good night’s sleep.

Speaking of jackpot, there was a casino with tons of gambling going on, plus lots of smoking so with our bad luck and aversion to smoke we tried to steer clear of there. But we did overhear someone say he earns about 2 free cruises a year just by gambling thousands and thousands of dollars on slots(!) on cruise ships and that scares the crap out of us.

All in all it was a very exciting week with practically no down time. I didn’t open a book once but didn’t feel overworked either. A perfect break from our on the road lifestyle! (MT)