Few Days, Many Miles
We made a trip of 1,500 miles in three days. We didn’t have our travel trailer, so we were able to go more miles per day. We drove three long days and stayed in hotels. We are so happy to be back in our Rockwood Mini Lite 2205S.
Trip Prep
Before we got on the road, we had a couple of important activities to complete. One was to install a bidet. We like the bidet in the travel trailer so much that we decided we need one at home too. It was a very easy task and we completed it in no time.
I also baked up a batch of egg bites for the road trip. We like to have these when we travel, for a quick easy breakfast or snack.
And, we needed to have some time with our local friends. Tony smoked a bunch of chicken thighs, and Michael & Micki and Bryan & Patrick made side dishes. I cleared the sewing table and we actually all sat around a table together, which is quite a feat in our little house! After dinner we were sitting on the back porch and Tony heard panting. A little dog has gotten loose from one of our neighbors’ houses. The puppy had a phone number so I called, and her mamma came to pick her up.
Crazy Days
With the extension of our trip to see the Union Pacific Big Boy arrive home to Cheyenne, Wyoming, we adjusted the timing of our trip to Indiana for the 2024 FROG rally. Our Mini Lite has been in Indiana, getting a new sidewall and then waiting for us to pick it up. Therefore, we were traveling in just the truck.
As much as we liked our truck-and-tent excursion to Wyoming, and loved the night we spent in the tent, we were not about to assemble that whole set-up after long drive days, all the way from New Mexico to Indiana. We drove 550 miles on each of the first two days, and 450 on the third day. So, we stayed in hotels each night of this trip.
Monday Miles Madness
Monday we woke up early and finished packing up the truck. We got to talk the pilot of a hot air balloon that flew low over the house. I never tire of that!
We got on the road right about 9:00. Our first pit stop was in Moriarty, and I thought the bathrooms were so nice that I had to snap a photo.
We rolled into Amarillo in time for a late lunch at the Big Texan Steak Ranch. We stop every time we go through Amarillo. We like when the musician comes by and sings us a song.
As always, there was someone who wanted to try eating a 72-ounce steak meal, including salad, shrimp cocktail, dinner roll, and baked potato, within one hour, to get the meal for free. This time it was a teenage boy. His family was there cheering him on. Unfortunately we always have to leave before the hour is up. The guitar player said about 10% who try actually finish. He said this one would not make it. I don’t know if he was correct or not.
We got back on the road and made it almost to Oklahoma City before we stopped for the night. We checked into a hotel and mustered up the energy to record our podcast. I edited about half, but couldn’t stay awake to finish. We were full from our steak lunch, so we didn’t eat any dinner.
Two-State Tuesday
Tuesday we got up and got another early start. The hotel had a free breakfast so we ate, and packed up to get on the road.
We knew we wanted to make a stop in Tulsa, to meet Buck Atom’s new girlfriend, Stella Atom at Buck Atom’s Cosmic Curios. We can’t resist those American Giants! We ate some lunch meat, string cheese, and other road snacks on the road.
Around coffee time, we saw Ozarkland in Sarcoxie, Missouri (one of four locations). They also had fudge and other candy. The billboards promised “calories eaten on road trips don’t count” so we got coffee and some candy. Tony opted for the buckeyes, which are peanut butter balls dipped in chocolate. I got a milk-chocolate-coated coconut, and one of peanuts. It was all really tasty.
In a very weird version of our road trips, we drove by Uranus Fudge Factory without stopping. We were getting rather tired of the inside of the truck, and had a ways to go before we were done for the day. I did snap a shot of the Mayor of Uranus, who is still headless after the June windstorm that decapitated him. Poor guy!
I still have never seen a live armadillo. I’ve seen a lot of them on the side of the highway. I always think of the line from author Nick Russell’s John Lee Quarrels Book 1, Stillborn Armadillos. In this book, someone explains that there are no such thing as live armadillos, they are all stillborn (maybe that’s not exactly what he wrote, but that’s how I remember it). I am not entirely sure I believe they exist.
We stopped just short of St Louis and checked into another hotel. I finished editing the podcast so Tony could do his part in the morning, and not have to fret about it all day Wednesday. We did make our goal of 550 miles each day, so we only had about 450 on Wednesday. Only. Ha!
Weary Wednesday
Tony got up early and did most of what needed to be done to get the podcast uploaded. I slept a bit longer. I got up, we ate another bland hotel breakfast, and packed up for our last long drive day.
We could have shaved 50 miles off the route, but it means driving up almost into Chicago. It also means an expensive toll road. So I routed us east then north, and we had a nicer drive even if it was a bit longer.
I did about one third to half of the driving on this trip. Tony really likes to drive, and the truck is pretty comfortable so he thinks nothing of driving when we are towing. We limit those days to 300 miles, after all. On these long miles though, he got tired of the driver’s seat and I took over part of each day.
We checked into the third hotel, in Goshen, Indiana, on Wednesday, and immediately got back in the truck to go get dinner. We thought we’d go to Goshen Brewing Company, but when we pulled into the parking lot it was packed, as was every table we could see. A band was setting up. I really was not in the mood for that much crowd and noise, so I checked the map and found a place called Hopper’s Pike Street Grill. We headed there instead. They were really nice there, and Tony was able to have a beer and we had good food. I saved room and drove through Culver’s for dessert.
Back at the hotel, we couldn’t find the room keys so we had to ask for replacements. That was embarrassing! We went up and changed, and took advantage of the hot tub before turning in for the night.
We totally accidentally slept in on Thursday! It was 8:40 when Tony woke up! We were obviously exhausted. Breakfast ended at 9:00 so we rushed down right away and grabbed some (bland) hotel breakfast. We talked to a couple of RV haulers at breakfast, and the owner, at the desk for a while, then went back up to get ready for our day.
Reunited
Picking up Mini Lite with new side wall
Once we were packed up we headed to the Rockwood service center to pick up our Rockwood Mini Lite 2205S. They had replaced the driver-side wall which had been damaged at a campground in May. It felt strange not having to sign it out with anyone, as if we were stealing our own trailer!
We headed from there to the Elkhart County 4H Fairgrounds, where we will be this week for the Forest River Owners’ Group (FROG) rally. If you own any RV made by one of the Forest River brands, check out this really fun annual event! We were disappointed to find that our regular campsite was given to someone else. We got settled, though, and made the most of the situation. We had a lot of stuff to move from the truck to the travel trailer, stuff we had taken with us for tent camping while the trailer was in Indiana without us. We met our neighbors (not the ones that have our site; we still haven’t seen them).
We went to Das Dutchman Essenhaus for the buffet for lunch. We got nice and full so we wouldn’t have to eat dinner. Tony couldn’t resist a small peanut butter pie to take home. Hmmm, I wonder why we gain weight every time we come to Indiana?
Tony took a bike ride around the fairgrounds. We craved milk, and needed to stock up on toilet paper. I made a shopping list and found the grocery store. I picked up a few supplies then we rounded out the afternoon setting up the trailer, hanging other with Vicki and Scott in the Tiki Bar, and catching our breath from our trip.
Since then, we’ve caught up with FROG friends, and tried to remember where all of our gear lives inside the Mini Lite.
The rally officially starts with dinner Sunday. In the mean time, we’ll catch up on our work so that we can spend the week learning, teaching, and visiting.
