We have officially been back in South Carolina for about 2 weeks now. It’s a mighty good feeling, but the road to this point (literally to this very moment that I am just now sitting down to write this) has been stressful and frustrating and yet so, so necessary and good.
Captain Skaggs. Can we give it up for this stellar man who drove 3,000+ miles to get us home?!
Oh boy. Where to begin? I suppose the beginning would be a good place. (And just a fair warning, this is a loooooong post with maaaaaaaany pictures. You have been warned.) We packed up our “house” early on the morning of March 22nd and hit the road without a hitch. The only moving difficulty we had faced at that point was that Josh’s car had not been picked up to be shipped yet. It wasn’t really a big deal since he has a good friend there who let us park it at his house. So, really, at this point no hitches.
The first day was long and uneventful (which is always good while moving). We were continually blown away at how gorgeous Washington is. People, if you have never been, do yourself a favor and go! You really can’t find a prettier place in the U.S. While passing through Missoula, MT, Josh realized that he had an old rugby friend who lived there. So, we pulled our house over on the side of the road and met him for a nice chat over dinner. We didn’t stay as long as we should have, because we were trying to make it to Bozeman, MT by that night. It turns out that RVs are slow machines, meaning that we didn’t make it there until 1 or 2 in the morning.
I’m going to miss those Washington montanas.
Old rugby pals, minus the black eyes
On our way there something really strange happened. The window on the passenger side shattered. Thank goodness it was a double-pane window otherwise we would be quite chilly. It was strange, because we were driving down the highway at night and it shattered on the side. The only thing we could think to make sense of it is that it was a ricochet bullet (like from a BB or a weaker gun). Whatever it was, thank goodness for that extra window layer, because if it hadn’t been there, whatever the object was would have hit me square in the back as I was facing Josh when it happened. With that extra bit of excitement and the long drive, we were tired puppies when we got to Bozeman. We allowed ourselves to sleep in a bit before we heading out to meet some good old American buffalo in Yellowstone!
Shattered window. You can’t see it, but the second pane has a dent where the mystery object hit.
We decided to visit 3 national parks, since they were on our route back to South Carolina anyway. The first was Yellowstone, and boy was it phenomenal! March is still technically winter there, so about 3/4 of the park was closed due to snow. We didn’t see Old Faithful on this trip, but we got our fair share of bison, elk, sheep, and moose! I remember going as a kid and seeing the bison walk right along the road, but I forgot how fun it was! If I wasn’t afraid that it would ram me (and if it wasn’t severely frowned upon) I would have pet the darn things! It was awesome to get so close to such epic creatures. I think Josh and I were excited the whole day, and every time we saw more bison, we’d get giddy all over again. The only animals on our list that we wanted to see but didn’t were a wolf and a bear. (Apparently there was a bear roaming around in the area, but we didn’t see him).
Look at all that snow piled on there!
Burnt trees from a forest fire. Baby trees taking their place.
We call him Buffalo Bill.
Me taking a picture of….
….this guy!!! Seriously, if I had stepped out of the car, I would have touched him!
Traffic jam Yellowstone style
Because doesn’t everybody hang out on the side of the road?
Just your typical elk herd on the playground…
gazelle
Something wasn’t so lucky.
Because most of Yellowstone was closed, we got to see all that was open in a day, which fit nicely into our moving trip. So the next morning, we hit the road to head to Jackson, Wyoming to gawk at the Grand Tetons. On our way there we had to go through a pass that had a 10% grade. In a regular car, that’s not a problem, but there are only 4 or 5 places in the U.S. that have such a steep grade, and as a result, it is illegal to tow a trailer on said passes. We saw the sign that said “No trailers beyond this point,” but for reals, how do you expect an RV towing a car to turn around on a 2 lane mountain road? So we didn’t. And we were totally fine going through that pass towing our car until we were less than 1/4 mile from the end of the pass when a cop saw us. We don’t really have good timing. Once we got our exorbitant ticket, we were off to find our RV park and forget our woes by exploring the Tetons.
Going into that fateful 10% grade
First, we went to the National Elk Refuge. This was neat, because they take you on a horse-drawn carriage into a herd of elk on the refuge. It was so interesting to be able to watch these massive deer-like creatures joust each other and graze together in the Spring sun.
‘Ello, Mr. Moose!
the Tetons!
A cowboy! Or elkboy!
Practicing for mating season
Just some coyotes hanging around the elk herd waiting to pick off one or two.
The noble steeds that pulled our carriage.
Once that was done, we drove around the Grand Tetons for the rest of the afternoon. They say not to go to the Grand Canyon if you want to feel important. Same goes for the Tetons. It amazes me that there are such beautiful structures as these. And still people say there is no God?
Stud.
That is really how high the snow was! And that’s also why I live in South Carolina!
On a hike to find some natural hot springs that we never found :(
Again, most of the park was closed due to snow, so we only needed that afternoon to see all that we could of that place. And we woke up early the next morning to get a move on our journey….except it was a rough start. We didn’t really have any problems getting into the RV park where we stayed, but getting out was an adventure. Folks, it’s 40 feet long plus another 15 with the car and tow dolley. Josh deserves an award for best RV driver, because I sincerely thought we were going to have to unhook everything so that Josh could do a 20-point turn to get out of that narrow park. Thank goodness we didn’t have to! With a little teamwork, we made it out without a scratch (which is really saying a lot about that place!). We were on narrow mountain roads for most of the morning, which means 2 things: difficulty driving the RV and wildlife. The sun was still rising so the visibility was not great, and all of a sudden, an elk decided to mosey across the road. I closed my eyes and clutched the seat, because we were going to hit it. Truly. There was no way for us to stop in time. Then at the last moment, Mr. Elk realized a huge machine was coming at him and he leapt out of the way! Josh and I both breathed a loud sigh of relief.
Bessie hanging out with the trucks
We were making excellent time and had mentioned how nice it was going to be to get to Colorado earlier than 7pm so we could have time to relax that night. Spoken too soon. Somewhere in the desert of Utah, where people and cell phone reception are scarce, the RV began to overheat. You know how in old Western movies they have a scene of tumbleweeds blowing across the dirt with that Western music howling in the background? That’s exactly what it was like. We pulled over on the side of the road and hung our heads, because we knew it wasn’t good. Neither of us had cell phone reception, but we saw a house on a hill a little further down the road from where we had pulled off. We walked up to it to see if we could use their phone, but they did not have reception either. My car was on “E” and had been for awhile, but we didn’t really have another choice. So, we unhooked it and hoped that a gas station and cell reception was close. And it was! Never in my life has a gas station been more exciting. We sat there for about 2 hours while our insurance company contacted a mechanic to come help with the RV.
Bo, the mechanic, diagnosed that we had bad coolant, and said that he had to take it to the shop in order to fix it, which was about 40 miles away. He followed us to his shop in case it overheated again, and once we got there, he pulled out his tools and got to work. Five hours later, our RV was set and we were anxious to hit the road. Needless to say, we did not make it to Colorado by 7. More like 1am. And wouldn’t you know, we ended the day the way it began. Except, this time it was a herd of elk instead of just one! Thankfully, they dodged us again otherwise I would have started to cry from frustration. Finally, though, we made it to Mesa Verde, Colorado!
Mesa Verde National Park is by far one of my favorite places we have been. My family went when I was a kid, and I remember being so awed by the ruins. For those of you who are unfamiliar, Native Americans built villages along the cliff faces, which date back to about 2,000 years ago. It’s really incredible to see and totally worth the venture.
The Cliff Palace
It isn’t a big park compared to the others, so once we were finished, we got back on the road. We hadn’t been driving for an hour when our “low coolant” light flashed up on the dashboard. Are you kidding me?! Once again, we pulled over on the side of the road. Apparently, Bo hadn’t tightened a bolt back all the way the day before. When we looked underneath old Bessie, coolant was gushing out. So Josh, in all his manliness, climbed underneath and fixed that darn bolt. We refilled the coolant (which was not an easy feat since we did not have the proper tools with us), and got back on the road as quickly as we could, keeping a cautious eye on that light.
We had checked the forecast that day and were thankful for sunshine but faced another kind of beast instead. Wind. Of 40mph. In a car, that’s rough. In an RV, that’s dangerous. Josh was careful and was doing a good job. Then, all of a sudden, he quickly pulled over on the shoulder. In the back of the RV, there is an emergency exit window that flew open. I don’t know how it wasn’t ripped from the entire RV with winds as gusty as they were! The only thing we could do was duck tape it from the outside and clamp it down from the inside. We keep things classy around here.
Windy, but at least the scenery was nice.
With the last 24 hours going the way they had, I told God that I would be ok if nothing else exciting happened during the rest of our trip. And from then on, nothing too terribly exciting happened. Phew!
We passed through the land of the nothingness, aka New Mexico, north Texas and Oklahoma, and stopped in Little Rock, Arkansas, Memphis, and Nashville to visit some friends. Then we finally hit South Carolina! And boy, I can’t describe the feeling of crossing over the state line. I actually teared up a bit. Mostly because it had been a long week, but also because I had dearly missed this state. This is my place, where my people live. This is where my memories start, where I learned how to be me, and where I want to spend my days. In short, it’s home.
Can’t contain the excitement!
House in front of the house.
We were pleased to find that our furry child missed us as much as we missed him!
So, even though we haven’t stopped cleaning the house since we’ve been back, and we took a quick trip to Chicago for Josh’s boards, we are incredibly thankful to be in Columbia again. Many people have asked me what it’s like being back after being gone for so long. Well, it’s amazing. It’s restful and it’s peaceful, which is exactly what the doctor ordered after 9 months of adventure. Hello, SC! We missed you!
3 fantastic doctors preparing to take their oral boards in Chicago!
Lake Michigan meets Chicago
The wives who tagged along!
Watching some good old American baseball at Wrigley Field
Two very proud South Carolinians
