"Is everything okay?" asked a curiously nervous voice.
"It's nothing," I reply dryly. "just pretty windy outside."
Of course, it was Nothing... Nothing a.k.a the hurricane force wind that tried with much of it's might to take our little borrowed RV and send it right back to home base. The invisible force that wrestled with me at the wheel as I fought to keep us on the road and on schedule. Now I do emphasize a little for drama, but still it was my first driving an RV through the desert and head on into a spring windstorm. And at times it did seem like the wind may get the better of me as my wife wondered why I couldn't drive in a straight line. But we were on vacation... finally. Even if only for a few days. And Nothing was going to ruin it...
We'd been planning this trip for a few months. Since the day we got tired of cold and snow (sometime in December, actually) when thinking about sitting a hot desert in May was more like Christmas than... well, Christmas. Normally a weekend trip for us would consist of throwing a few necessities into to the back of a 4 wheel drive and heading out into the wilderness. This trip, thanks to the advent of children and the need to get away and still have access to indoor plumbing, we decided to borrow an RV from a family member and make it the Great American Road Trip... to our usual camp spot.
Inspite of the wind, we arrived safely, found our campground, checked in, and set up camp by plugging in the power and the hose. Certainly this is not as adventuresome as staking claim to a barren piece of land you have to hike to, but RV-ing presents it's own kind of adventures and we were glad to have it. More than we would know, as our friend The Wind followed us all the way to Moab.
Though our first day was still pretty windy, it was sunny and warm so we headed out for a day at Arches N.P. We like Arches because it's one of the most amazing places on the planet and it offers quite a few hikes that are easy and short enough for small children. And our four year old has been talking about it since her first visit last year!!
The big hike was to Landscape Arch. (a whopping 1 1/2 mile round trip hike). After the hike it was lunch and naps! This is why we LOVE the RV for camping with families: Built in napping stations wherever you are!
Day two, the weather took a bit of turn for the worse with wind (still) and some rain. But we thought Canyonlands would be okay as you can see alot without having to get too far out of the car. We toured Island in the Sky disrict and had good enough weather to make one short hike to Mesa Arch. Even though it was cloudy and windy, the views were spectacular!!
Day three was our heading home day, but we decided to take the long way and see some sights we had never seen. A decision that would later prove a bit too adventurous. We made a stop for snacks and a stop for lunch at Hite Marina at Lake Powell then headed for home.
Of course, no family trip is complete without that one memorable experience that you probably would want to happen, but will think of it fondly in the years to come. Ours came about halfway between Lake Powell and Hanksville when the right front tire on the motorhome decided to shed its tread. I managed to get the RV off the road safely to inspect the damage. What I found was a tire with no tread and, being unfamiliar with the RV as a whole, no jack to fix said tire.
As I searched to find some way to get the tire changed, Jami was finding out that we had no cell phone service to call for help. In the meantime, dozens of passers by came down the road slowing down just enough to... Well, lets just say no one really slowed down. Ok, one car did stop. 4 middle aged tourist from somehwere in Europe happen to pass by and decided to stop and see if they could help. Inspite of some obvious language barriers they really tried to help, and when they couldn't, they drove in to Hanksville to find someone who could.
I wasnt sure how long help might be so I continued to find a fix for the flat. I ended taking some leveling blocks that I was able to drive up on and using them for a makeshift jack. With the RV on the leveling blocks I stacked some wood planks under the front axle, then drove off the leveling blocks onto the wood. Luckily, the wood stack held and it was tall enough to get the spare tire on. Road trip saved!!
SO, all in all, we had a pretty good, in some moderately good weather, and we made it home in one piece!
So, how are you guys?
