Permanent Hiatus - The Long Trip Home

The First Trip Home

We got this?

Permanent Hiatus - Racing Home in the New RV

View of traffic in the construction zone.

The interstates near the dealership were under construction. We knew that going in to pick up our RV, but it was super easy getting through it in our Spark tow car so we didn’t even notice it really. Once we were trapped in the RV with said Spark in tow, we realized it was not regular, hey we’re adding some lanes so you should consider slowing down a bit construction, it was more of the you can’t get off and there’s only one lane and its tiny and everyone wants to do 70 through it and cut right in front of you and slam on their brakes.

At the first restricted width sign, Boyd sounded the alarm – “OMG, how wide is this thing?” Kaylee and I began frantically trying to find the answer the massive file box of product information the dealer had given us. I even thought to check the handy-dandy checklist in the closet that lists the vehicle weights (needed about an hour after the width incident) and appliance manufacturers. the closet and finally found it online after we made it through. All eyes forward and everyone holding their breath. Of course we also turned down the radio so we could see better, too. 🙂

After that first panicky 1/2 hour on the road in our new RV, we had developed a completely new respect for not only Boyd’s mad driving skills, but also RV drivers in general. Then it started to rain and we discovered we hadn’t been shown how to use the windshield wipers. Seems like something you should be able to figure out between 2 adults with over 60 years driving experience between them. It was not. I actually had to look it up on the internet while we were pulled over.

We got this.

We stayed in Wyoming the first night and discovered the hard way that perfecting the balance between heat/AC is an art form. The A/C was on all day and we left the windows open that night. When we got up this morning, Kaylee had taken all of the pillows from our bed and covered herself because she was cold and we didn’t have any extra blankets – it was quite the sight. Never mind closing the windows. Or turning on the electric 1 button to push fireplace next to her bed.

We toured through the Badlands on our way back to Iowa. It was awesome and amazing even though we had seen it all before. Most of the rest of the trip home was uneventful, however I think there was one corner near Mt. Rushmore where Boyd, who is always infuriatingly calm, cool and collected, took a curve a bit too fast and there was a little hitch in our giddyup. I remember feeling it and just repeating “We got this, we got this, we got this”. And we did.

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