RV Road Trip To The Midwest – Part 1

How does one begin to share a two-week experience of a lifetime? Where do I start and how do I describe 14 days of incredible moments? So many people asked me if I had fun and I wasn’t sure how to respond because “fun” was not an adjective I would have used. It was an adventure, an escape from my suburban reality, and a chance to get out of and expand my comfort zone. I kept a journal to the best of my ability, took 1,000 pictures that don’t do justice to the beauty seen with my eyes, and there are no words adequate enough to describe. But I am going to do my best to take you on this road trip with me!

The landscape of this country …

is different everywhere you go. At one point you see mountain ranges driving alongside you to the left or right and the next you are looking at prairies of cows, horses, or less frequently, sheep, grazing aimlessly without a homestead insight. I questioned whether they roamed wildly because I couldn’t see a blip of anything resembling a roof or house.

The mountains may be dotted with trees, or covered with tall cedars or pines depending on the climate of the state. Some resembled tall peaks or bluffs of rock and could be seen in a variety of colors; ie; purple, grassy green, red, tan, or a grey-clay color.  

In the prairies, the grass may be a lighter green with large rolls of hay mixed with grass or dry and dotted with sagebrush the animals were eating. They adapt to what is in front of them. Many times, you would only see one cow or horse and wonder if it was lost or did she run away? Where the heck could she have come from if that’s the only living thing you see for 50 – 100 miles?  

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The wonderment made it so even the times we were driving for 8 or 9 hours straight, I never tired of the awe-inspiring scenery and surprises around every corner.  

The roads themselves were mostly 75-80 mph speed limits with yellow-dotted lines between the two lanes with one going north and the other south. Why? Because the option to pass is almost always and the road may be so straight, and flat you can see miles and miles ahead. 

Once in a while, there would be a random mailbox next to a dirt road. You can’t see any homes, but you have to assume somewhere, beyond the scope of your vision, is a house, especially when you see livestock of some sort eating along the road – I’d like to think somebody is taking care of these beautiful creatures.

With every twist and turn on this road trip, I felt like I was seeing the world for the first time. I was in awe and taking in the beauty and feeling the tranquility of it all.  

There’s gold in them thar hills … 

but not in a monetary way. The gold you find in the mountains is fresh air, the sound of water running over rocks, and the beauty of our natural resources in all their forms. All of those things being priceless. The mountains are where I find my peace of mind, body, and spirit and you can not put a value on that.  

Another priceless aspect of this trip is the quality time you have with your family in a 28-foot vehicle and no place to go to escape each other. This is our version of an MTV Cribs tour …

There may have been a few times during the driving that the zen gained on the mountains disappeared for a bit, but another big part of this trip was forcing me to get out of my comfort zone. Trust me when I say this happened ALOT! But that’s growth, and my friends, life is about growing and learning.  

I am a girl who likes a good road trip.

There can be lots of bonding done when you spend hours in a car with nowhere to escape. You don’t have a choice but to learn to get along with people and compromise. Take for instance when it comes to music; who likes classic rock, or heavy metal, I am a little bit country or prefer a mix. In my family, the rule is if you are driving, you choose the music. Thankfully, Bella wasn’t allowed to drive. I personally have a threshold of maybe 5 – 10 minutes when listening to electronic dance music. After that, I want to bang my head into a wall.

Communication and patience are key and if you don’t have them, you will learn to – especially when 4 people have to cook, eat, shower, shit, and dress in 100 square feet. If you don’t figure it out, somebody may accidentally be hit in the head by a flying water bottle and the perpetrator can easily blame it on the bump in the road. Believe me when I tell you stuff flies all over if it isn’t tied down. Have you ever tried to cook in a moving vehicle? Although convenient to not make bathroom stops while driving, we did have a few laughs every time Joe yelled at Freddy to stop driving while he was trying to pee.

It occured to me on this vacation that every couple needs to survive a road trip before they get married.

I was so grateful when we were approaching West Glacier at 9:00 pm in the pouring rain and pitch dark, Freddy slowed it down to about 40 mph in a 60 mph zone. Every curve has a foot-high guardrail and the tippy tops of the very tall spruce trees sporadically peek above the metal. This was a moment when I was totally out of my comfort zone and if you don’t have trust in your partner/driver then you shouldn’t be there.  

Since we’ve already been married for 23 years, I know we will be ok, but in that 15 minute period, it felt like hours. I was laying on the couch with my eyes closed, saying my Hail Mary’s and Our Father’s. And apparently, I was making noises because Bella asked me to please stop sighing. My husband was taking my near hysteria all in stride …. not telling me to relax … because that would have caused world war 3.  

Maybe to you, it sounds as though I was being overly dramatic, but when it’s daylight, you see the roads are all sprinkled with little white crosses. Some sites were just one, while others had bunches of 3 or even 6 crosses. I wondered if it was a family in an RV like ours … my imagination was not helping.  

And FYI, it wasn’t the only time I was in that position.

Another time, the Xanax in my toiletry bag was screaming for me, but I chose the more holistic way and bounced my way to get my copaiba (cannabinoid oil).  

There was also the time I had just been driving for a few hours in the rain through some really strong Montana winds. I should mention it was my very first time driving this 28 foot monster. But hey, what better way to learn than throwing yourself right into it under the worst circumstances! After about 3 hours I was done and needed to relax as fast as possible. The poor guy drove the other 10 hours that day and didn’t complain once.  

I am posting this picture assuming it is legal to drink in an RV since it’s also a home? Going to have to google that …

BUT we survived! Not just the trip, but the marriage is also still doing well.  

Plus, you know it’s love when not just once, but twice, you find yourself spoon-feeding your husband ramen while he is driving. Yup – I have a pretty cool family. xoxo

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Coming next week the road trip continues: First stop – Black Hills, South Dakota! I am going to do my best to make you feel like you are there!

Happy Labor Day and Much Love,

Sandy