Livin' the Dream - Ferg Fam Summer 2015 RV Trip PART 1

For those who don't know, Nathan and I embarked on our first ever extended RV trip.  The actual planning was months, but the concept was years in the making, which is why I'm calling this "Livin' the Dream."  Several days (can't remember at what point) into our trip I realized that while we've always sarcastically said "livin' the dream" in response to the rhetorical question "how's it going?", we were indeed living our dream.  Nathan and I have talked for YEARS, maybe going back to our dating years?, about packing our kids up and traveling the country.  There's so much we want to see, and we wanted to experience it together with our kids (and later after they're off in the world and we're retired).  So "livin' the dream" took on a true and very poignant (for me) meaning.  Throughout the trip, I got choked up thinking how fortunate we are to have the ability to leave our home for 30 days and drive all the way out to Yellowstone and back - the moment we pulled out of our subdivision, the moment we started the drive through Badlands National Park, standing looking up at Mount Rushmore...these were just a few of the moments my eyes may or may not have gotten a little wet.  Shhhh, don't tell Nathan.  He makes fun of me.  I'm a little teary-eyed right now, too.  

Family vacations have a lot of meaning for me, for a bunch of reasons.  My family growing up wasn't an ideal situation, and family trips never happened - no money, lots of dysfunction, addiction problems, etc.  I wanted an entirely different situation for myself as an adult, and for my children to grow up in a happy, comfortable home.  So taking a family vacation like this means that my husband and I are happy, committed and financially able to take a month off work.  It's almost like reaffirming that I truly have provided a very different home for my children than the one I grew up in.  In so many ways, living this dream is so much more than standing in the Grand Tetons looking up at beautiful, snow-covered mountains (although that was so amazing beyond words, too), it's realizing I've (at least for now) achieved something I never thought possible when I was a kid.  For me I also realized that this was more momentous than the day I graduated college and commissioned in the United States Air Force.  Not to say that those accomplishments weren't big deals - they were - but they were things I never doubted I could do.  I always doubted I could move beyond my growing up life, and sometimes I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop.  I mean how did I get this lucky, right?  Anyway, enough psychology babble.

I've divided our trip into three parts.  This is Part 1, which consists of all the travel up through visiting my sister in Kansas, which was visiting friends and family.  After Kansas is when we started our "sight-seeing" portion of our vacation.  Part 2 will be the sight-seeing portion - Mount Rushmore, Badlands National Park, Grand Tetons, Yellowstone.  Part 3 will begin when we leave Yellowstone to visit my parents and new nephew and drive home.  Please excuse any typos, grammatical errors, etc.   I will upload pictures soon, I promise.  :)  Enjoy!

Day 1 - June 3, 2015

We planned an easy day of driving "to work the kinks out." We'd never gone anywhere with the fill tow hook-up and everybody on board. We wanted to see how it went, and our only goal was to get past Tallahassee. It ended up going so well - no problems (that we knew of) - we decided to push through to Gulfport. We wanted to get gas after Mobile - gas was $2.37 versus $2.70+ in Florida, but we didn't have quite enough to get there, so we looked up prices on Gas Buddy, randomly found a place at $2.53 and put in 15 gallons to get us to Tillman's Corner. It was a bit of a nail-biter, but we made it, putting 74.12 gallons into a 75-gallon tank. We agreed to never do that again - too close for comfort. So we load back up, buckle in, Nathan turns the key...click, click, click. I'm sure the looks of horror on our faces were hilarious, but we were NOT laughing! The battery was 4 months old; how had this happened?! Nathan started to generator to hopefully charge the batter enough to start. It did a little, but not enough. Luckily Nathan packed a jump starter his parents bought him, and between that and the generator, the RV cranked up. Phew! That gas station was sketchy, and we were happy to get outta there. At this point we had no idea what was wrong, but we could at least get the 65 miles to Campgrounds of the South in Gulfport, which had a spot to accommodate us for two nights instead of just one. Pulled in and Nathan started the hooking up process and detaching the Focus. Bump in the road #2: Electrical burning smell in the Focus! Something's up with the Brake Buddy system, but thankfully nothing caught fire or burned. While Nathan hooked stuff up, I ran to Raising Canes for some super yummy chicken fingers - definitely wish we had one of those in Rockledge! It was well after 10 p.m. (11 eastern time) when we finally all crawled into bed, tired but happy to have made it safely. I did end up driving some - about 150 miles - so Nathan got a break for a bit. Light traffic on I-10 made for easy driving, even through Tallahassee.

Rockledge, FL to Gulfport, MS

621 miles

~11 hours of driving with stops

Sunlight streaming through the clouds coming into Mobile

Day 2 - June 4, 2015

First thing this morning, Nathan unhooked the battery and took it to Advance Auto to have it checked. Perfectly fine, so the guy suggested it could be the starter. Nathan came back and poked around looking to pull it out and realized it would require a couple hours underneath the camper. So he went ahead and hooked the battery back up, noticed some corrosion on the connectors, cleaned it off, and for the heck of it, decided to try starting it up. IT STARTED! Nathan think the corrosion on the connectors was the problem. Phew! Crazy time saved...and money! With not much to do, we took the girls to Chuck E Cheese to play out some energy, which kept them happy for a while. Late that afternoon we met three friends at The Shed in Ocean Springs. The Shed was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, and we hope to eat at one of the Triple D places at each stop on the route. It was good to see Teresa, Susan and Elizabeth, and eat some good food in the process. My first thought upon pulling up to The Shed was...this place looks straight outta True Blood! While we were at The Shed, I got a call from Mom that Rachel's water broke, and she was in labor. My newest nephew was on his way! After dinner we came back to the camper, bathed the girls and headed over to our old neighbor's, Wendy Ravencraft, to chat and catch up. In hindsight Nathan and I wished for another day to check out how Highway 90 looks, maybe drive by the location of the mansion we were married in - washed away by Hurricane Katrina - but I'd like to see what's in its place, and maybe check out a buffet at Beau Rivage. All things considered, a great day!

Thankfully the battery was fine and didn't require time or money to fix!

We met some friends at The Shed in Ocean Springs.  I worked with Susan and Teresa at Keesler.

Elizabeth was also able to meet us at The Shed for dinner.  She and Nathan worked together at Keesler and Pope.

Day 3 - June 5, 2015

Happy Anniversary to Nathan and me – 11 years! We thought it was kinda ironic that 11 years ago we got married near Gulfport, MS, and today we pulled out of Gulfport on our adventure across the country – with no real intentions or plans for that. It was another easy day of driving, except for the 50-mile stretch of state highway between I-10 and I-49N in Louisiana – horribly maintained, very bumpy. We should've stayed on I-10. Lesson learned about back roads – interstates are best for Rvs. We arrived at Mill Creek Ranch Resort about 5:30, did a quick, minimal set-up (thankfully close to the pool and playground), and took the kids to the pool while I took Dolly to the dog park. The small, fenced-in area was a bit disappointing, but at least Dolly was off leash for a bit. Mill Creek has nice, long pull-through sites, nice hook-up areas, two pools, ponds for pedal boating, etc. Nathan and I agreed for $37/night it was awesome and some place we'd like to stay on a longer visit. The girls stayed in the pool for quite a while burning off energy. We ended the evening by opening our last bottle of good ice wine and toasting our anniversary. Nathan said only 39 years to our big milestone anniversary. I felt obligated to joke about him making it that long.

Gulfport, MS to Canton, TX

485 miles

9 hours of driving

Ava and Anna swimming in the pool at Mill Creek Resort in Texas.

The last bottle of GOOD ice wine from Germany.  Very nice way to toast our anniversary.

Day 4 – June 6, 2015

Today was a short drive, about 285 miles, but on the stressful side, because we had to go through Dallas. There is a lot of construction all around that city, making for a lot of stop and go traffic. Once we made it through Dallas, it was much smoother sailing. The wide open spaces and rolling green hills of North Texas and South Oklahoma were beautiful. Pulling into Amy's was pretty easy. Brandon is a pro at maneuvering Rvs, so he got Nathan right in, no problems. The older girls were instant friends, and the littles warmed up to each other fairly quickly. It was good to see Amy! What I love about our friendship is we can go years without seeing each other, and it's like we never left. We pretty much relaxed, showered and let the kids play outside with the dogs. The kids had a water balloon fight and played in the sprinkler. We ate dinner at the Rusty Knot – awesome queso sticks and the blue cheese burger was really good! It was a nice, fairly relaxing day.

Canton, TX to Purcell, OK

285 miles

4.5 hours of driving

The littles, Anna and Xander, got along most of the time.

Gabbie and Ava got along instantly.

Day 5 – June 7, 2015

Today was a leisurely morning, which was nice to not get up and go somewhere right away. Brandon and Amy had 4 free passes to Frontier City, a bonus when they bought season passes. It was pretty hot, so the kids (minus Anna) rode a few rides before heading to the water park. The water was refreshingly cool, and the kids wore themselves out. That night we grilled out at Amy's for dinner and stayed up chatting until after 11. I love how conversation flowed so easily between all four adults. Made for an enjoyable visit.

BFFs for 23 years!

Our oldest kiddos at Frontier City.

Amy with Ava and Gabbie

Day 6 – June 8, 2015

Today Amy worked a half day, Brandon resealed our RV roof, and Nathan and I took all the kids to Jump Zone in Moore, OK, to visit with Kathy and Ty and their two kids, Jared and Ally. All 6 kiddos jumped for a solid two hours. We ate a Pizza Hut buffet lunch, and Amy met up with us when she got off work. We drove over to Amy's parents' house and visited with Wanda for a couple hours. The kids ran around outside and played on the playground most of the time. It was nice to see Wanda. She was like a second mom to me for years. Amy's dad, David, pulled up as we were leaving, so I did at least get to give him a quick hug. Afterward we took the kids for snow cones to cool off. We ordered pizza for dinner, and then Amy and I went to see the late showing of Spy. Hilarious, highly recommend!

Kathy and Nathan worked together at Keesler.

Ally, Jared and Ava...Anna sat out.

Day 7 – June 9, 2015

Today we left Oklahoma. It never seems like a long enough visit with Amy. We got a later-than-planned start, because the steps wouldn't go up. We knew they were dying, but we'd hoped they'd last for the duration of our trip. Finally Nathan and Brandon zip-tied them up and out of the way. We'll have to buy a stool to get in and out of the camper. We started out about 10:10. The drive wasn't bad at all. Nathan drove all of it, about 315 miles. We pulled into Gina's at about 4 p.m. Then we were deciding where to park the camper, finally deciding under some trees in the backyard. Not a good idea. We didn't calculate how steep the angle at the bottom of the driveway was, and Nathan scraped the tow bar and wire system into the asphault. Oops! Fortunately the gravel turnaround at the end of the road was ample space to park the camper. After parking, we relaxed, ate some awesome Mexican beans and drank Gina's homemade sangria. We went to bed early...well I went to bed early after several days of not sleeping enough.

Purcell, OK to Milford, KS

315 miles

~6 hours of driving

Driving and snacking...

A rare moment of affection.

Day 8 – June 10, 2015

This morning I woke up and took Dolly for a 2.5-mile run, but I didn't think to ask about any inclines! Gina showed me a 1.1-mile loop she walked in her old neighborhood. By the second lap, even Dolly was giving me the side-eye, but it was a great run anyway. The day was pretty low-key...and HOT! Nearly 100 degrees. Gina took Thomas, Ava and Anna to a nearby nature center, and the rest of us stayed home. I even relaxed on the couch and shut my eyes for a bit. The kids all got along great, no fighting between the two families. The three adults finished off all the sangria – sooooo good! We grilled out for dinner – kinda like a cross between fondue-style and kebab grilling. Turned out to be easy and great. Of course no grill-out is complete without smores. Just a peaceful, laid-back day at Gina's. I couldn't ask for better.

Day 9 – June 11, 2015

Full disclosure: This was the only day I never journaled about. I remember it being another laid-back day. The younger kids played in the hose and sprayed each other to cool off. Nathan tried to fix the Brake Buddy, and figured out that the manufacturer was about 90 minutes from Gina's house. He called them, and they said if he brought it in, they'd fix it for free. We made plans for Nathan to get up the next morning and be at the manufacturer when they opened. The most exciting thing happened at like 11 p.m. when Thad got home. Not thinking, we left Dolly in her kennel out in the living room. Well she lost her mind when Thad (a complete stranger) walked in the house. It took several minutes and walking Dolly outside to get her to calm down. She never got vicious with Thad, but she was definitely on guard for a bit. After a little while, he was able to pet her, and she warmed up to him. She's a great dog, and now we know just how attached she must be to us to have gotten so worked up over Thad coming in.

The Menold and Ferguson Fam