Friday, August 16 Cy brought the RV to our house after working on a few last minute projects to get The Phoenix (which is what I named our RV) road ready. Summer was winding down, kids were back in school, so it was time for annual family trip! I was excited to load the bus, because this would be the first time I would be able to load and organize everything before setting off on a trip. In the past, we simply loaded everything in and stuck it somewhere well enough to get on the road, but not well enough to have order. Our new house is on a street where the RV can park for longer than an hour, so as we loaded, everything found a home. It was great to hit the road with everything in its place.

Saturday morning, Becky and I headed to Fayetteville with the girls. Ellie and Savannah spent the day with my mom while Becky and I attended a Bible Study Fellowship leaders’ summit to prepare for our upcoming fall study. The guys spent the day finalizing packing and buttoning up the RVs, then headed to Fayetteville to meet us. Once we joined the men, we got the girls settled into their seats and headed north.

Our last two big summer RV trips had vague destinations from the start. Our first trip we were hoping for Acadia National Park, but since we had never gone in an RV before, we really didn’t know where we would end up. Last summer, we were aiming for Yellowstone. This year, we really couldn’t decide where to go. We had talked about Canada – Thunder Bay or Banff (those are on opposite sides of Canada), we had talked about Glacier National Park, and we had even talked about Yosemite National Park. We figured we have the most fun when we just make the trip up as we go, so off we went. We did know that our first “destination” was Kansas City for cheap diesel, so that’s the direction we headed.

The first day of RVing always takes longer than you think it will. Everything needs to be checked over, everything has to get settled, and you have to get in the right mindset. So, we only ended up making it a few hours, but we were on our way. We had just started to get the girls ready for bed when we realized our generator wouldn’t start, which meant we couldn’t use the air conditioning. The generator won’t run if our diesel gets under 1/4 tank, so we had to go get a little diesel before we could go to bed. Luckily, when you’re boon docking in a Walmart parking lot, diesel isn’t far away.

The next morning, after a breakfast of cream of wheat (special request by Ellie) we made our first grocery run, then headed to KC. We arrived at the cheap diesel, to discover a trickier than average gas station (for an RV that is). Cy and Wendell handled it like champs. The girls had lunch while the men fueled up the busses, and I took the car to Target to search down some items we couldn’t get at Walmart. All this multitasking allowed us to get back on the road quickly – only an hour or so after arriving! (Everything with an RV trip is slower than you think it will be.) Then we continued north.

Cy and I decided we should probably figure out some more of a plan. So we laid the options on the table. We didn’t really know much about Glacier National Park or Thunder Bay. Cy’s parents had been to Thunder Bay a few times to see a beautiful waterfall and enjoyed those trips. I’ve always wanted to go to Glacier. Cy talked about adding a trip to Banff onto Glacier since we would be up there anyway. But we just couldn’t decide. Finally, we decided to stay north and shoot for Thunder Bay. We figured it would be cooler up there than it has been in Fort Smith and after a day or two there we could still head west if we wanted, or we could venture further into Canada, or head to the upper peninsula of Michigan. So toward Canada we went, with the second leg of our journey still to be decided. We spent the rest of the day driving. The girls entertained themselves with singing, reading books, and talking to each other. We spent the night on the border of Iowa and Minnesota.

Since we had done a pretty big day of driving on Sunday, we figured we should give the girls a little more of a break on Monday. As we made our way through Minnesota, we made a few pit stops. First, was a trip to Cabella’s to look at some walkie talkies. The girls enjoyed seeing the fish in the giant aquarium and the various elk, deer, moose, and even an elephant on display in the store. Our next sop was to a big RV store so Cy could look for a few parts he wanted for the RV. The girls had a ball in the shopping cart that had a two-seater cozy coupe attached to the front. Later, we ended up back at Walmart to top off the diesel before the prices started going up closer to Canada. We spent the night at another Walmart just outside of Duluth.

Tuesday we woke up and ran into Walmart one more time. Then we headed on toward Duluth. We enjoyed a scenic view of the city as we ate sandwiches for lunch at a visitor’s center. Then we left the big city for the smaller highways along the north shore of Lake Superior. Lake Superior was gorgeous, and often it was difficult to remember it was a lake and not an ocean! We saw lots of industry along the lake and also many beautiful homes with scenic views. The further we got from Duluth, the quainter the towns felt and the more picturesque the sights were. We stopped along the way to try out Betty’s Pies. We figured they must be good because the parking lot was packed with cars and people standing in line waiting for their chance to order a slice. We got a blueberry pie to go so we could have it with dinner. We couldn’t park in Betty’s lot, but had found a pull off just across the street. We walked around where we had parked because the view was spectacular. The bluffs were gorgeous and the water was so clear. This day was really feeling like vacation!

We drove a little way down the road to Gooseberry Falls State Park. Wendell and Becky remember it was a nice walk to see pretty waterfalls, and that sounded fun to us! Ellie hiked on her own (holding hands most of the way) and Savannah happily rode in the baby backpack on Cy’s back. We first went up to a big bridge where we could see down to some of the waterfalls. Then we headed down the trail to the areas where you could stand below the waterfalls. Cy and Savannah immediately headed for the water. Ellie and I walked around the riverbed and Ellie felt some of the smaller streams of water coming off the side of the bluff. Then she got brave and went into the riverbed with Cy and Savannah. She was delighted to splash around in the water while wearing her rain boots. We let Ellie play and took some pictures, then headed along the trail further to see another fall.

After our hike, the day felt spent, so we headed back East a little to a camp grounds in Two Falls, MN. The camp grounds were neat because many of the sites had beautiful views of Lake Superior. We could see the lake from our window, which would be nice for early morning coffee time! Wendell hadn’t been feeling himself so saw a doctor while we got the RVs to their sites and set up. We had a pleasant dinner outside and then once the girls were in bed, Wendell and Becky came over for Blueberry pie. It was delicious! We just wished we had had some vanilla ice cream to go with it! I snagged the recipe while we were at Betty’s Pies, so I will try it out when we get home and see if I can do it justice.

When we began dreaming of our vacation for this year, we decided we wanted an ultimate destination to be our only plan. Last year’s trip was similar. We wanted to go to Acadia National Park, and we just made up everything else along the way. This year’s ultimate destination was Yellowstone since Cy and I had never been. After Colorado Springs, we started making our way more deliberately to Yellowstone. We had a one-day detour into Denver for Cy to visit a customer, then off to Wyoming we went.

The drive through Wyoming put a whole new meaning to the phrase “big country!” The first several hours, the landscape was vast and very desolate. We could see for what felt like forever. When we crossed the Shoshone River and turned north, the views began to be mountainous. But the mountains had a distinct western feel to them and were very different than the ones in Colorado. We found ourselves making references to Longmire, Maverick and Tombstone as we gazed out the windows. Our first wildlife sightings were pronged horn antelope and mule deer running along the highway. One day, we ate a picnic lunch at Devil’s Canyon. It was an incredible sight to see. We learned that Native Americans used to drive bison into the canyon during hunts, which made sense to me because so much of the canyon’s depths looked extremely perilous and was filled with sharp rocks.

We had heard from a friend that we needed to stay in Cody, WY. So that was our next big destination. Because Cy and I like to be surprised along the way on our trips, we don’t do much research before heading to a destination – just enough to get us there and know a few basics. All we knew was that each night there was a fun reenactment of a classic gunfight downtown. When we arrived, we learned that Cody was the pinnacle of the West in the early 1900s. It was the home of Buffalo Bill and his big rodeo featuring Annie Oakley and Sitting Bull. We learned all kinds of interesting facts about Buffalo Bill’s venture in settling Cody when we toured the Buffalo Bill museum. The museum also featured a big gun collection, lots of artwork, and a natural history museum focusing on Yellowstone. The natural history museum was our favorite. It had lots of taxidermied animals that Ellie really liked seeing. It was fun to show her what a buffalo and elk looked like before we got into the park.

We went downtown one evening to see the gunfight. Cy and I were both really excited. We arrived just in time to watch! The cast did a great job and the storyline was cute. When the first shot rang out, Ellie started crying. We explained to her that it was pretend, but she just kept screaming. I walked a little way down the street with her so that her screaming wouldn’t interrupt everyone’s viewing experience, and so that the rest of the gunshots wouldn’t be so loud. I asked if she could be brave and she said, “yes, I be brave for Cookie. I be brave for Gigi.” She continued talking about other family members she could be brave for. She still cried when the characters “shot” at each other, but did better. At one point, two of the “bad guy” actors walked right next to us. I whispered to Ellie to say hi and she reluctantly waved, then yelled at them, “Don’t be scary!!”

After the show was over, we walked a few blocks and ate at a Mexican restaurant. Every night of the summer Cody puts on a big rodeo. The original plan had been to head to the rodeo after dinner, but we determined it would be too much for Ellie and Savannah. We did drive by just to check it out though. In true rodeo form, we saw a group of girls riding into the center of the arena on horseback dressed in red, white, and blue, and holding American flags.

Cody is on the outskirts of Yellowstone. So, we decided to drive the car into the park one day to figure out our next step. We did some research before setting out on our trip regarding Yellowstone. We knew it might be tough to find places to park the RV that wouldn’t cost an arm and a leg, but would also get us close to the park (or in the park for that matter). National Parks’ websites are notoriously difficult to find good information about motorhomes. That combined with word of mouth, and we thought that we couldn’t drive a 40 foot RV through the park, let alone park it. So, this initial trip into Yellowstone was kind of like a scouting mission to get the lay of the land.

On our way, we stopped at the Buffalo Bill Dam and looked around. Cy loves dams and really enjoyed learning about its construction. We took some pictures and then headed toward Yellowstone. Once we arrived at the East Entrance, we discovered we could in fact bring the RV into the park. That was exciting! We drove into the park and quickly learned that the east side doesn’t have any amenities or attractions. That section of the park had burned in a wildfire in 2003, and it was still in a real phase of recovery. It was pretty, but in a toasted kind of way.

We arrived at Fishing Bridge and looked around in a store and the visitor’s center. A ranger showed us which RV parks could hold our RV, and gave us some tips on how to get a spot since you couldn’t reserve a spot and they typically filled up every day. We drove around a little, took in the lake, got ice cream and then decided to head back to our RV in Cody since it was a good two hours from the center of the park. Our scouting mission had been successful. We were confident that that night would be our last in Cody and that we would get some fun, full days in Yellowstone starting the very next day!

 

 

 

 

 

When we set out from Arkansas in our RV I’m not sure if I truly believed we would make it to Maine. I half thought that we would spend a couple of days in the RV before realizing that I am not an RV girl and our trip would be ruined. But, we did it! We made it to Maine and I actually grew to like the RV! When we woke up in the Walmart parking lot in Augusta, we were both excited to hit the road and get to Acadia National Park. We drove about two hours until we found the cheapest diesel on our route. We pulled into the gas station behind another RV. We pulled up next to each other at the only diesel pump that would accommodate an RV and proceeded to begin the very long process of filling the tank.

Ellie and I went into the gas station to relieve our cabin fever, and when we returned, we found that Cy had struck up a conversation with our fellow RVer. I met his wife, and she introduced me to their kids. During the course of our conversation, we learned that they were Martins too, that their daughter’s name was Ellie, and that they were on a year-long RV trip as a family and their next stop was also Acadia! The guys traded RV war stories and us women swapped blog sites, and then parted ways as we headed to different campgrounds in the park.

The drive into Acadia was gorgeous. We went over several bridges with views of harbors, saw many fresh fish and lobster stands, and passed through a few quaint towns that looked like they belonged on a postcard. When we arrived at the check-in sight, we had a park ranger walk us through a map of the park and highlight some different places we should visit, hikes we should go on, and sights we should see. We pulled into our home for the next few days and got settled in.

The next morning we woke up at our usual time around 6:00. There was a rule at the campsite that nobody was allowed to run their generator until 8:00am, but no electricity hookups were offered. Our batteries were too dead to run the coffee pot, so Cy and I stared blankly at each other until 7:00 when we heard our neighbor turn their generator on. Cy jumped up and turned our generator on too, and hit the brew button on the coffee maker. We had just poured our first cups of coffee when there was a frustrated knocking on our door. Naturally, I bolted out of sight and hid while Cy dealt with the confrontation, since of the two of us he’s always the one in trouble. A ranger asked Cy if he knew about the acceptable hours to run a generator to which Cy gave a noncommittal answer. The ranger explained the rule in detail again, and Cy responded, “Should I turn it off then?” We really had no regrets though, because we finally had our coffee, which meant the day could actually begin.

As we sipped our coffee, we pulled out the map of the park and began to plan our day. We chose a couple of hikes we thought sounded fun and got ourselves ready. When we got to the trailhead, Cy loaded Ellie into the baby backpack, and somehow her forehead met the side of the car and she got her first large bruise. Looking back, this was clearly a sign about what was awaiting us over the course of the next few hours.

We headed up the trail, and I soon felt too short and too wimpy for the hike. The hike wasn’t a nice trail, it was a nice collection of rocks I had to balance on and climb up. The whole thing was straight up. I was carrying my nice camera around my neck, and had a water bottle in my hands. I quickly realized that water was going to be necessary throughout the hike, so I began to ration it. Cy and Ellie climbed ahead of me, and stopped to wait when I needed a break. Finally, we made it to the top. And it was WINDY! At the top of the mountain there was nothing to hold back the wind, or obstruct our view. We could see all around us, and the views of the harbor were to die for. It was definitely worth the treacherous hike to the top. We took some pictures and I caught my breath. We also met a woman who had a good map of the area. I had been planning on returning to the car the same way we had come up. But, this woman showed Cy that we could make the hike into a loop instead. She also assured us that it was a little tricky, but not that hard.

As we began the descent, we realized it was in full sun, and we stopped a couple to borrow some sunscreen for Ellie. I thought the hike had been difficult up until this point. But then we started the descent. Several times I just stopped and stared at the rocks I was supposed to climb down, not sure how I could possibly manage it. Cy was patient and encouraging the whole time, even when I was extra grouchy and anxious. My self esteem was thoroughly crushed when a group of 80 year olds climbed up a particularly treacherous part of the path with ease, but I found myself stuck and had to have Cy come help me. A couple of times, I tried to lie down on the rocks and tell Cy and Ellie to go on and I’d catch up in a few days. Thankfully, Cy never outright laughed at me, but continued to help me down. He did sneak a picture of me trying to climb down some rocks, and nobody but the two of us will ever see it, because it’s just too embarrassing. Finally, after approximately 5 days, we made it to level ground, and were able to walk the last couple of miles on a nice road.

We went back to the RV for lunch and quickly realized that my legs would mutiny if we went on another hike that day. So, instead we went on a little drive to explore the island. Ellie fell asleep, and in a victorious parenting moment, Cy and I transferred her into her stroller without waking her so that we could get out and see a historic lighthouse. After this excursion, we got back in the car and continued exploring the island. We saw a couple more quaint towns and marveled at what the shores looked like at low tide.

When we finished driving around that particular part of Acadia, we decided to go into town to buy a percolator so we could have coffee the next morning without breaking any rules. We got the percolator and a few other staples, and then pulled into a local ice cream place. This is when we discovered that in Maine, soft serve ice cream reigns supreme, and they refer to normal ice cream as “hard ice cream.” We ordered our ice cream cones, which turned out to be roughly the size of my head. We sat at a picnic table to enjoy our treats. Ellie sat in between us, and proudly practiced her latest vocabulary word, “Bite.” She would scoot over to Cy and say, “bite!” and he would give her a bite of ice cream. Then she would scoot over to me and shout, “bite!” and dig into mine. Back and forth, back and forth she went until everyone in the vicinity was laughing and we all had brain freezes.

Our first 24 hours in Acadia were everything we hoped they would be, and we couldn’t wait to see what else the national park had to offer!

 

We spent Friday evening and Saturday morning doing routine chores and getting ready to head out onto the road again. We pulled out of the campsite with Maine on our mind. It was about 11:00 and, as we were about to turn onto the main road, we realized Maine wasn’t the only thing on our minds. We also had visions of soft serve ice cream floating around – and so we did what everyone on vacation does – we had ice cream for second breakfast. We went back to Donnoley’s and discovered their Saturday flavor, which they make a surprise each week, was peanut butter and chocolate!

Our next stop was at Lake Champlain. We needed to catch a ride on a ferry to get across the lake. We paid our toll and then Cy drove the RV into its (very small) designated spot. When we got parked and as the ferry prepared ready to cross the lake, we noticed that the door to the RV was up against a wall. Cy wriggled his way out of the RV, I passed Ellie to him through the window, then squeezed out of the door myself. We walked to the railing and took it all in. The lake was gorgeous and Cy loved looking at all of the boats. We met some people who gave us travel tips for our time in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.

Once we made it across the lake, we drove for a few minutes, and then pulled over to have a picnic lunch in the RV. We drove the width of Vermont that afternoon, and then entered New Hampshire. Because of the mountainous terrain in New Hamphsire, there isn’t really an interstate that goes east to west in the state. Since we came into the northern part of the state, if we wanted to take an interstate toward Maine, we would have to go south almost the length of New Hampshire before cutting across east, and then back up. Instead, we decided to take smaller roads across the White Mountain National Forrest. We were hoping to make it about halfway across the state and find a grocery store parking lot to make camp in for the night.

Well. Let’s just say that the smaller roads in the mountains are home to very tiny towns. These tiny towns do not have parking lots that are friendly to 38 foot long RVs. And then, in our search for a place to park, we took a wrong turn. We drove for about 20 minutes before we finally found a place we could turn the RV around. While Cy unhooked the car from the tow dolly so that he could get the RV turned around, I prayed. Hard. Because we pulled over in what even Cy admitted wasn’t the friendliest spot he could have chosen. It was also getting dark on us and we had no cell service. Ellie enjoyed this whole process because she got to get out of the car seat and sit up front with me. She sang and reached for buttons and had a grand time, totally oblivious to the stress Cy and I were experiencing.

When we finally got turned around, we headed back in the right direction to the largest town we had encountered. It had a small grocery store with a parking lot that would fit about three Priuses. So that was out of the question. We tried to find their town center or square, hoping it had a larger parking lot. It consisted of an old, abandoned building, their historical society, and a church. Conveniently, it also boasted a large gravel offshoot next to the stop sign. We pulled onto the gravel, made a pot of macaroni, and went to bed.

The next morning, we got up and on the road in record time. We officially entered into the White Mountain National Forrest and put our rose colored glasses back on. Between the winding roads, the mountains, and the frequent Moose Crossing signs, we couldn’t help but enjoy the route. As we climbed higher and higher, we finally gained cell service again. Cy and I each had fantasy football drafts scheduled that day, so we were trying to figure out the times and where we could pull over. I know. Priorities.

As we got toward the top of the particularly mountainous stretch of road we were on, we came around a curve and discovered about a hundred cars parked along both sides of the road. Cy immediately pulled over because he just knew that there must be something scenic nearby that we wouldn’t want to miss out on. We strapped on our hiking boots, bundled up, and loaded Ellie into the backpack. We had stumbled upon a popular hiking destination. None of the trails were short enough for what Ellie (or I) could handle that day, plus it was cold and looked like the bottom might drop out of the clouds at any moment. So we just hiked a little portion of one of the main trails. It was beautiful! We took pictures, enjoyed the scenery, and encouraged a bunch of backpackers we passed.

As we headed back toward the RV it started sprinkling outside and had escalated into a rainstorm within 10 minutes of driving. We were thankful that the wipers on the RV worked, and not long after, crossed into Maine. At long last we had arrived in the state we had been hoping to reach since we set out! We spent an hour and a half or so at a McDonald’s so that Cy could participate in his two Fantasy Football drafts. Ellie was the apple of every elderly person’s eye that came into the building. They brought her a coloring sheet and crayons, and let her show off all of her cute tricks!

When we got back onto the road, we found the water plant that Cy needed to visit later that week for a business call. We ended our drive that day in Augusta and found a big Walmart parking lot to call home that night. It was pouring down rain, and we really needed to do a grocery run, but decided instead that we would splurge and have our weekly meal out of the RV. There was an Olive Garden right next to Walmart, so we dashed across the parking lot and enjoyed some Italian food. After our carb-loading session, we returned to the RV in time for me to do my Fantasy Football draft and then settle in for the night. As we fell asleep that night, we were giddy, partly because Cy and I had both secured Dak Prescott as our fantasy quarterbacks, but mostly because we knew that the next day we would arrive at Acadia National Park! How could life be any better?

The Hotter N’ Hell 100 2016 was awesome! 13,000 riders assemble in downtown Wichita Falls every year for the largest single day 100 mile bike ride in America. My wife Rebecca and I woke up early at 4:45. We had our first baby May 1st. One of my college roommates lives in Wichita Falls, and that was awesome for 3 reasons. 1. There is not an empty hotel within 100 miles 2. We got to spend time with friends (that had a pool!) 3. They took care of the baby during the ride which was super kind of them. Rebecca fed the baby and got her back to sleep before we headed downtown in the dark for the start. The ride starts long before the sun comes up, and the tandems get to start 10 minutes early at the very front which helps a ton.
If I had to bet money that morning whether or not we would finish, I would’ve put money on the 100k or maybe 80 miles, but no 100 miler. In this ride, the 100k turn off is 25 miles into the ride, and at that point we were both feeling great so Rebecca was all about continuing on the 100 mile route. At mile 35 we turned east into a headwind. It’s harder to draft with a tandem. You can’t just get on the end of a 20 rider group because back there they pedal, coast, pedal, coast, pedal, coast. About the only way to draft is to get behind 1 or 2 riders. That makes the headwind hard. Rebecca bonked about mile 45. We made it to the stop at mile 50 and recovered nicely. At mile 50 they had burritos in addition to all kinds of good food for energy: bananas, pickles, pickle juice, all kinds of cookies, clif bars, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, little smokies, and more. By the way, we did stop at almost every 10 mile stop because 1. My wife was uncertain how much water to drink in the heat and didn’t want to dehydrate, which led to constant peeing 2. By 10 miles I had consumed both of my big water bottles and needed a refill. But hey, that’s way better than getting dehydrated and having to quit. We saw plenty of those people riding in the sag wagons trailers.

We rode hard again to go through Hell’s Gate at mile 60. This is the last chance to do 80 miles instead of the full 100 miles. If you’re not “feeling it” they encourage you to do 80. We took a picture, I looked at her and said “Well babe? Last chance to not do the 100.” She said “LET’S DO IT!” The ride really thins out after this point. You have to ride over a counter so they know how many dead bodies to look for after the race…..kidding, kinda. Still tons and tons of riders but it no longer feels like you’re in a pack of 100 surrounding you. At the 75 mile stop we were both glad to get off the bike. It was about 93 degrees at this point, and there is really great shade at this stop. We sat in a couple of lazyboy recliners for around 15 minutes. They were actually just folding metal chairs but it felt amazing to just sit and let your legs relax. We felt pretty good and got back on the bike.

We skipped the stop at 82.5 because we felt good and wanted to get done, and then we hit the wall. It was 1:45 now and a sweltering 95 degrees in full sun. Also, this was the hilliest part of the ride so we weren’t getting great airflow. We were still surrounded by tons of riders. I only saw one tandem after Hell’s Gate. I’m sure there were more but we didn’t see them. We trudged on slowly and through the heat to make it to the mile 90 rest stop. There was a giant horse trough full of ice water. It was probably nasty from all of salty cyclist dipping their heads, arms, and even whole bodies in it, but I couldn’t have cared less how gross it was because it felt AMAZING! 10 miles to go and we knew we could do it. Every mile after 90 felt better and better. At mile 96 we could see downtown Wichita Falls. We crossed the finish line at 3:00! 8 hours total time. It was a great experience. Rebecca said “We’re never doing this again,” but I bet she changes her mind. They did an excellent job with all the logistics of the ride. Overall, it was a great ride.

Warning not all the smiles are real. Picture 4 was, “what the heck are we doing?”, pic 5 was, “we can’t let them know how we really feel… FAKE IT!”