August 21.

It was dark when we arrived at our camp spot in Evanston last night so I was happy to see blue sky and trees around us this morning when I went outside. I drove the Jeep for awhile this morning while Madi slept and Morgan drove the bus.

We stopped for lunch at some strange little place called Bucks in Rawlins that had good brisket and also a waiter with a wad of chewing tobacco tucked into his lip. I don’t know if I expected anything different than that honestly. Also discovered that Rawlins is on the Continental Divide Trail after we saw thru-hikers loafing around the town.

Today is a hot one in the bus. 98* outside and all we rely on is open windows so it’s just a warm, windy day in here. The couch leg is having an issue so I’ve been using our camp chair until we can get it fixed tonight. So far our plants haven’t died, although our philodendron that’s stored in the kitchen sink did lose a small leaf this morning. Our fiddle-leaf fig is finicky but made the trip from Enderby to Winton and thrived so hopefully it doesn’t choose this time to die.

We found a campground in Limon, Colorado, a KOA with a pool so we arrived there around 6 after fighting Denver traffic for awhile. We got the bus plugged in and the a/c on and then went swimming to cool off. Before we left California Morgan went and bought 10 pounds of asada taco meat to put in the freezer so our weaning from good Mexican food would be more gradual. So we fried up some taco meat and made quesadillas and fresh salsa for supper. I laid in bed and listened to the distant noise from the highway and was very happy to know we will see Mom tomorrow!

August 22.

We woke up early to the most beautiful red sunrise this morning and hurried to get the bus in shape so we could leave by 630. We went to IHop for breakfast and then headed east.

I wish there was something interesting between Limon and Mcpherson to write about but it’s literally the most blah road in America.

We got to Mom’s around 3 pm and got to relax there and catch up. We all went out for Mexican food with Justin&Joan before going to Mom’s school enrollment evening. We were so disappointed we couldn’t stay longer than we are to be with Mom and everyone. But it was so good to at least say hi to people we recognized!

August 23.

Mom, Madison, and us got to Darvin&Diane’s at 6 this morning to pick up Renae and the boys who are riding back to Michigan with us. So hard to tell Mom goodbye and leave her here in Central without any of us kids. I love that our family is so close and that Mom is like my best friend, but it makes it doubly hard that we’ll all be together this year except her. We are already planning pur next trip to see her:) Madison drove with us today and we had good driving except for the stifling heat. The boys did great and we stopped for lunch at El Toro in a town called Chillicothe, Missouri.

We got a campground spot at Long Branch State Park and arrived there shortly after lunch, where we had decided to spend the hottest part of the day. We went swimming in the lake, took naps under the a/c, and relaxed outside. Morgan grilled brats and pork loin for supper, and after a good 8 hours there, we got the bus ready to go, cleaned up, and got back on the road. Madison is ahead of us driving and we are cruising along with cooler, but not cool, air rushing in the windows and we are all very comfy. Max was asleep before we were even off the campground road, and now both of them are sleeping on the bed. We may pull off to sleep but we decided with the heat supposed to be really bad again tomorrow, we were better off driving as much as we could thru tonight so we will see how far we get. We hope to make it to Dillons in decent time tomorrow!

August 24.

We arrived at Dillons house this morning at 8:00. Yay!

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