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Day 3 – Helllllllo South Dakota!

Day 3 – Helllllllo South Dakota!

by | Jul 21, 2017 | Adventure, Wedding Adventure

Last night while at a rest stop we decided to book at a campground in Chamberlain, SD, along the Missouri River. Turned out to be a great experience. Plus, being plugged into a 30 amp service meant we could sleep in the comfort of AC the night before and use the microwave to heat up our quiche for breakfast.

After packing up, we hit the road and traveled through the Badlands with the goal of a quick stop at Wall Drug. We weren’t sure what to expect – sure maybe a few Jackalopes and lots of cowboy boots…
And yeah sure… maybe a giant brontosaurus.
Yes, it’s touristy and crowded. But Jay and I took a particular liking of the old historic photos and people watching.
Like this guy.
We quickly got back on the road and high tailed up to Rapid City. We stopped at the Target and Scheels.  Turns out Scheels like a better, more friendlier Dick’s Sporting Goods. We picked up a double hammock and I forced Jay to buy us normal camp chairs. Our current camp chairs are meant for backpacking and they are a pain to assemble and sit about 2 inches off the ground. It’s great for backpacking and for mosquitos biting you straight in the face.
We hit up Black Hills Bikes (name?) to inquire about the trails. And turned out the little park across the street had biking trails! So we rode a quick loop and called it a day considering it was nearing 100 degrees. Nothing a little dip in the river can’t cure.
Cooper sure did enjoy it.
We then left Rapid City and made our way to Mount Rushmore.  It was certainly a sight to see, and worth the $10 entrance but there’s not much else to do aside from looking at the monument and reading placards. We walked the little Presidential trail that loops around and give you different views. We were warned many times to not climb on the surrounding rocks – which of course looked like a lot of fun to climb on. Had there not been cameras and tiny children, I’m sure we might have indulged at little.
After Rushmore, we drove through the Black Hills Forest and stopped in Deadwood for drinks at Saloon 10. Complete with taxidermy and saw dust all over the floors. Just how I prefer my saloons.
Exhausted from a big day of events we headed on over to Spearfish, SD.  Janette, our good friend’s mom who lives in Spearfish, graciously offered for us to park in her nice, big, flat driveway that night.
Though the daytime had been in the upper 90s the temp dropped dramatically that evening, which we were grateful for considering our tin can had been roasting in the sun all day long.
Day 2 – The Midwest Push

Day 2 – The Midwest Push

by | Jul 20, 2017 | Adventure, RV-life, Wedding Adventure

After powering through Ohio and most of Indiana yesterday we finally rolled into a Walmart parking lot in Michigan City, Indiana.
We tried two rest stops along the way but they were completely filled with tractor trailers.
We awoke today to some pretty heavy rain –  complete with thunder and lightning. Knowing that we were likely going to hit the outskirts of Chicago during morning rush hour in a rainstorm… why not?
One of the better decisions we “thought” we made was going into the express lane and bypassing some heavy traffic, although because of the heavy rains, as tractor trailers passed in the lanes aside of us – huge walls of water would crash into us – some pretty terrifying moments of not being able to see anything.
Once we got out of the Chicago area the roads cleared up, the sun came out and we exhaled!
With using the All Stays app we found a Camping World near Madison, Wisconsin, and decided to check it out for the first time.  Jay couldn’t contain his excitement.
While parked we also thought (given the sunshine) it would be advantageous to charge up our batteries with our Zamp solar system.  Super cool!
Now it was my turn to take the wheel! I was a little apprehensive at first, but I drove the Airstream through the majority of Minnesota. The truck handled very well and I didn’t have to make any technical turns or back up – PHEW.
THUMBS UP for not hitting anything and parking “OK”.
Day 1 – The start to our Airstream Adventure

Day 1 – The start to our Airstream Adventure

by | Jul 19, 2017 | Adventure, Wedding Adventure

Okay, so 9am was maybe a little ambitious.  So we got later start than we would have liked to today- but that’s okay. What matters is we have LEFT the driveway and are now westbound!
I don’t know what’s more impressive. Jay’s trailer towing skills or my pee holding skills.
Cooper is also fairing pretty well considering this is his biggest drive yet – he doesn’t seem to mind. I wouldn’t either if I was lying in a bed like this.
We just past Cleveland and are now headed to our next stop at a Travel Plaza outside of Toledo where we’ll take a break and heat up some dinner before our push to get near Chicago.
In prep for our big drive I made some Tikki Masala that we could heat up easily on the road and just cook up a quick pot of rice to pour it over.
YUM!
The moment we’ve been waiting for!

The moment we’ve been waiting for!

by | Jul 18, 2017 | Adventure, RV-life, Wedding Adventure

It’s almost been 2 years since we purchased our travel trailer (Jowanda) and tomorrow we head out on our first big trip across the country.
We are Canada-bound. The “far far away” part of Canada. We’re headed to the Canadian Rockies  -only about a 37-hour drive (sense the sarcasm). Our goal is to get to Canmore, Alberta by Sunday.
It’s a good thing I married someone detail-oriented because I don’t think a trip like this would happen without Jay’s constant research and hard work getting the trailer ready.

 

Here’s Jay making some adjustments to our battery-box to accommodate taller batteries and also to give us a way to connect to our solar set up from ZAMP.
Solar will give us the ability to boondock for way longer than we’d be able to on just fully charged batteries – especially since they recharge the batteries as long as we have sunlight!
I’m excited to see how our adventure unfolds, but for tonight it’s pack, pack, and oh yeah…pack. The trick will be to try not to forget something incredibly important!  Passports…check! Underwear…check!
Making things LEGIT – our legal wedding

Making things LEGIT – our legal wedding

by | Jul 4, 2017 | Intentional Living, Mindfulness, Wedding Adventure

We knew we wanted to travel and exchange our vows while on our first Airstream trip… but we also wanted our moms to take part in our wedding somehow.

We thought… why not have a small ceremony back home where we legally tie the knot? It would save us the hassle of doing things legally in another country and dealing with VISAs and whatnot.

So that’s what we did… We hired an officiant, gather in my mom’s yard and tied the knot.  A HUGE thanks to my stepdad who walked me in and also sat in as our photographer!  I’d say he did a great job, huh?

 

 

We are licensed to marry!

We are licensed to marry!

by | Jun 7, 2017 | Wedding Adventure

This past weekend was a big weekend! We moved the Airstream for the first time, we nearly addressed all of the invites for the wedding reception in September AND we got our marriage license so we can tie the knot legally (within the next 60 days).

THE WEDDING ADVENTURE

We aren’t traditional people, so why do something traditional?  We love travelling and exploring new places. Which is why it was meaningful for us to make this more than just one day – but an adventure!

We’ll be having a small, intimate ceremony with just our mothers and an officiant, to make our marriage “official” and “legal” sometime in the beginning of July.

Later in the month, we’ll head out on a first big trip in our Airstream to the Canadian Rockies!  This is where we’ll exchange our own personal vows – just us and the mountains (oh and Cooper our dog of course!).

We plan on getting back to Ithaca, NY, sometime in mid-August so we can focus on preparing for our reception ( September at the Ithaca Farmer’s Market). A great way to end the adventure – by celebrating with our family and friends in the town we call home.