Most Awesome Road Trip Ever – Blog 5, Life on the Road

I could go on and on about the birder’s paradise at Palo Duro; in an effort to keep readership I won’t. But I have to say there is nothing like waking to the Canyon in all its glory early in the morning. Out my right window was a symphony of native song birds; to my left an amazing Canyon rim sunrise. God’s creation decked out in its full beauty.

In stark contrast was the park’s dump station, which was our first stop as we left Palo Duro headed for Colorado. All credit to our co-captains, who gained valuable information from the seasoned RV women in line ahead of us. Craig rated the experience a 6 on a gross scale of 1 to 10. I was glad it was a ‘guy’ chore – if you have guys, and we sure did.

Life on the Road for our bunch was a mixed bag. Being the organized, prepared teacher that she is, Laura had folders with home school work for the girls for each day we’d be on the road. The only challenge was holding on to pens and pencils as Big Truck swayed and swerved down the road. After school work if we weren’t playing games Emily’s nose was in a book while Molly loved looking out her berth window, using her amazing imagination. She saw real and imagined wild horses, unusual cloud shapes, talked about where we were going. “I have a lot of life to live!” she exclaimed. Such enthusiasm and exuberance packed into that 7 year old 40 pound walking party.

Alex was a bit of a cranky pants the first days. He was off schedule, not sleeping through the night. He kept getting himself caught in a tight spot, then persistently asked for help until he got it. The way he asked was hysterical, he always had a pause between his words. You’d hear, “Help .. me. Help .. me.” One of us would get him unstuck, then he wandered zombie like up and down the aisle until the next “Help .. me.” Finally a nap overtook him and he slumped to the floor. Where we left him, sleeping peacefully.

Those of us that didn’t have school work watched the passing scenery. We noted that each town had a restaurant proclaiming it’s “World Famous” burgers or chicken fried steak or chicken. We saw a crop duster flying low, very close, and when the yellow plane took its vertical bank it was so close you could see its wheels in the tight turns. Made me think about my Dad who began his aviation career as a crop duster. Low wages compensated by danger and excitement.

We drove through Raton Pass. We saw Bear Crossing signs. Driving through the mountains in Big Truck can be tricky. For the passengers I mean. You’ve got ear pops, baby poop, and trying to take a nap on the bed in the back while the RV is moving is like the scene in the movie Overboard, where Goldie Hawn gives the yacht a sharp turn and her mother rolls off the bed to the floor. Then the husband turns the yacht back the other way and the mom rolls off the bed to the other side of the floor. You just keep on rolling, getting back up into position, and eventually you catch some Z’s.

After naps (except for the drivers, no naps for them) we began to stir, ready for snacks and potty breaks. Everyone in an RV walks like they are inebriated, adult and child alike; you get used to it after a while. More board games back on the bed, then a session with belly buttons. Alex is a shirt-raising belly button-getting dude. Molly finally turned on her belly so he couldn’t get hers. Turning to Emily he said, “Help .. me.”

As Emily pretty much summed it up, “It’s fun to be in an RV!”