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Day 24 - I’m a few days late as this whirlwind of an adventure has fully caught up with me. I may need a few more days to write my day 25 post as it was a day that might take some time to recover from. Anyway, day 24 started early. We were pulling out of San Antonio by 7am just before the kids started their classes. Everyone was in good moods still feeling the effects of a wonderful evening on the River Walk. We were hoping to get into New Orleans with a little daylight so we could drive through the city and walk a few parks; however, after stopping numerous times and our overall slow going, we didn’t get to our campsite until 6:30. Everyone was ravenous so we quickly set up the camper and headed downtown. The kids and I were surprised by the size of the city. We had imagined a smaller more quant city - something more like Charleston. We drove through the French Quarter and ordered some take out from Oceana Grill. While we waited for our food to be prepared we drove over to Cafe Du Monde for some beignets and coffee. The beignets were delicious! Chad handed Beckett a wax bag containing a beignet covered in a mound of powdered sugar. Beckett was raving about how tasty it was when we realized he hadn’t even found the beignet. He was only eating the powdered sugar. He was even more delighted when he realized there was delicious fried goodness under that blanket of sugar. We drove by the Superdome and gave the kids a history lesson about Hurricane Katrina and the devastation it caused in New Orleans. We rushed back to Oceana Grill to grab our food and headed back towards the camper. On our way back, Mya begged to stop by the Pit Bulls & Parolees building as she obsessively watched that show for years. We pulled up in front of the building in a somewhat dark and questionable part of town and peered out toward the building when Chad let out a huge yell that scared the bejezus out of everyone! The Pit Bulls & Parolees security guard (who could have guessed they have security!) who was wearing a face mask came about 4 inches from Chad’s driver’s side window and just stood there until Chad looked over and almost had a heart attack. He just told us that we need to park and take pics from the opposite side of the street. It was good for a big laugh after we realized we weren’t about to be carjacked. We finally arrived back to the camper and enjoyed a delectable dinner to celebrate our last evening of our trip. We also may have danced a little. Maybe it was the excitement to get home or maybe it was just because good food makes my family very happy!

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Day 23 - Besides almost running out of gas... again, and getting gas from the oldest pump I’ve ever seen, today was another great day! We got up early, Chad grabbed us some Flying J coffee and some gas station cinnamon rolls (gag!) and we headed out towards San Antonio. We got to our cute little campsite just outside the city, did a quick setup and drove downtown. We first toured the exterior of the Alamo and then went down to the River Walk. I was in San Antonio for a basketball tournament when I was is high school, but the River Walk was even more beautiful than I remembered. We had dinner on the patio at the Iron Cactus. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed their food and Chad and I especially enjoyed our drinks! We have done a fair amount of takeout on this trip but this was the first time that we’ve eaten at a restaurant since March and I must say that it was amazing! After stuffing ourselves we took a nice boat ride through town. The weather was perfection and our tour guide was hilarious. These last few days have been long as we make our way home, so it was such a wonderful evening to walk, eat, drink, and laugh with my family. I’m trying hard to fight off the exhaustion and squeeze out these last few unforgettable moments from this epic adventure!

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Day 22 - It was an uneventful and unexceptional long day of driving. We were planning to stop at White Sands, but everyone was tired, and the idea of seeing sand didn’t sound that exciting to my beach bum kids, so we decided to skip it. We did get to see a beautiful sunrise and sunset from the car. We stopped and ate some authentic Mexican food around El Paso. The kids got to glimpse over into Juarez, Mexico. We also got to experience a border patrol inspection point. The K-9 hit on the car ahead of us. It was aggressively barking and jumping. The boarder patrol agent asked us if we were all US citizens and sent us through. It was a scary for the kids as they watched the car that was being searched out the back window. We pulled into a Flying J and spent the night next to all the weary truck drivers.

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Day 21 - This morning started off a little rough. Beckett was not happy with his 4:45 am wake up. TGIF!The kids were having issues with the WIFI connection so we loaded into the car and drove to a Starbucks. I enjoyed a coffee and the kids had peppermint cocoa while attending their morning Zoom calls. We went back to the camper and headed down to Joshua Tree National Park. We fell in love! The grand, distinguished Joshua Trees and bright blue skies against the tawny-colored boulders was absolutely breathtaking. It was not what any of us had expected. We obviously anticipated to see the Joshua Trees but we hadn’t envisioned the variety of flowers, cacti, birds, lizards, and terrain. We had such a wonderful time climbing the boulders, laughing (Beckett had a lot more quotes from The Office), and soaking in the sunshine and incredible views. The kids were fearless which was making Chad and I fearful! They scrambled to the top of the boulders with ease. I reluctantly and slowly made my way to the top of a few, and before long I was jumping and climbing right along beside them. After everyone was scratched up and sore we grabbed a quick lunch in the camper and hit the road again. Tonight, we are staying at a KOA between Phoenix and Tucson. After a long day of driving Chad and I are looking forward to a cold beer, hot shower, and a long night of sleep.

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Day 20 - Today was not a great day. I knew they all wouldn’t be, but we were on such a good run! We reluctantly made the final decision to cancel the northern part of our voyage. It was a difficult decision as we were all really looking forward to this last week of our trip. The weather was just too forbidding to attemp Yellowstone or the Badlands. We also had an issue with one of our tires today so we had to stop to get a replacement - making a bad day even longer. We did decide on a new route home, and some newly planned stops in Joshua Tree, Phoenix, White Sand National Park, San Antonio, and New Orleans. It won’t be the trip that we were anticipating, but I’m looking forward to a new day and more marvelous adventures! Good night y’all!

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Day 18 & 19 - Yes, I’m at the point of the trip where I’m combining days. The last two days were spent exploring Yosemite. Yesterday, we stayed on the North East end of the park. We hiked around Teneya Lake and the Tuolumne Meadows. The lake hike got a little long and the kids started complaining. I was nervous to do another hike, but as soon as they got into the meadow and saw Tuolumne River they were completely rejuvenated. It is unimaginable to feel anything other than complete tranquility when looking out over the golden grasses, sparkling river, and distant mountains. On our trek back to the car we saw a coyote trotting through the grassy field. Today, we made the long drive into the valley. We hiked the Mist Trail, saw the all inspiring Half Dome, and El Capitan. With the assistance of the binoculars we were even able to spot 7 rock climbers about 2000 feet up the face of El Capitan. I can only imagine what their views must be from that vantage. We saw Steller’s jays, squirrels, chipmunks, deer, and a majestic Grey Fox. We ended the day hiking Tuolumne Grove to see the Giant Sequoias. Chad promised that it was only a 30 minute hike, but an exhausting hour and a half later we finally made it back to the car. However, getting to see those magnificent ancient trees was the perfect way to end our time in Yosemite. It was a fantastic two days full of laughter, sweat, a few melt downs, moments of peace and inspiration, and an appreciation for the beauty of nature.

Day 19 addition - Yay! we just saw a bear!!! We were driving back to our campsite through Lee Vining when we saw a bear cross the street. The kids had been looking for a bear this entire trip and had given up hope. Beckett had fallen asleep and when we yelled, “bear!” Beckett popped straight up and said, “Where’s the Bear?! Where’s the bear?!” We didn’t get any good pics but we got a hilarious video of me wanting to drive closer and Chad and the kids freaking out.

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Day 17 - We all spent the morning getting caught up on work. After lunch we headed over to Bodie a genuine California gold-mining ghost town. In its heyday, Bodie was a bustling town with more than 10,000 residents and produced more than $35 million in gold and silver. We walked around peering into the nearly 200 abandoned wooden buildings. Each home, church, school, saloon and hotel still had furniture, bottles, photos and other relics. We decided that it would make the perfect location for a haunted Halloween trail. Even in the middle of the afternoon the peeling wallpaper, tattered curtains and overall frozen state of the town made it extremely eerie. We came back had dinner, made s’mores, and Brooke and I had another night talking and laughing until it was too cold to sit outside any longer.

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Day 16 - After a harrowing drive through Death Valley, over the Sierra Nevada mountains, and almost running out of gas (Chad said that he’s never been so happy to pay $4 a gallon) we made it to California! We are staying in a small park called Willow Springs about 30 miles outside of Yosemite. My good friend, Brooke, who lives is LA drove up to meet us for a few days. Living on opposite coasts, we don’t get to see each other often and with my lack of social interaction due to Covid, it made the opportunity to spend time together that much sweeter. We had a sublime evening laughing, eating pizza, and having a few beers. It’s been one of the highlights of the trip for me.

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Day 15 - Vegas Baby! We packed up and said farewell to Zane Grey and Sedona and headed towards Nevada on our way to Yosemite. And when traveling through Nevada you have to stop in Vegas, right?! We found RV/camper parking at the Excalibur. While driving down the strip next to convertibles and sports cars, Chad said that he had never felt less cool! We hit the strip and the kids were amazed at all the sights. As it started to get dark and the lights came on it was sensory overload. We walked through New York, New York and Beckett was dying to hit the slots. After explaining that you have to be 18 to gamble he exclaimed, “Then why did you even bring me here - to torture me?” He then made a good argument about how gambling is the same as an arcade, but with better odds. He said that when you go to a Dave and Busters you pay $50-$100 and leave with a few pieces of candy, but when you gamble in Vegas you spend $50-$100 and you could leave with thousands. It was a good argument, but we kept walking. We made our way down to the Bellagio for the fountains. Then to the Mirage for the Volcano. We also took a quick trip over to the Venetian to see the gondolas and then headed back. Beckett was offended again by the lack of clothing and Mya posed for pictures in front of every casino, cool light, fountain, restaurant, and sign.

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Day 14 - This morning Beckett convinced Chad to take him into town to buy a net while Mya sat outside of Starbucks for their strong WiFi. I was happy to get a few hours to myself and delighted when Chad brought me back a vanilla latte. Beckett went down to the stream to try and net some trout. We all hung out at our campsite until after lunch then drove into Sedona for a short hike. We did the West Fork Canyon hike where we saw a huge tarantula! After a quick drive through the town of Sedona we grabbed a pizza and headed back to the camper. We played cards and I playfully started impersonating everyone. We all laughed until our sides hurt. I’m not even sure that my impressions were that funny or we were just all completely delirious from exhaustion. Either way it was another great night.