USRT15 #1--Immediately Exciting

Our big summer adventure was a three-and-a-half week drive to Idaho and back. Our real purpose was attending back-to-back family reunions, but we extended the adventure to see some National Parks and old friends along the way.

I'll be honest, I was so nervous in the days leading up to the this. Dan decidedly couldn't take off four weeks of work, and I was determined to try this trip alone. I wondered if I was brave or foolish. But I checked and double-checked my reservations and the weather, and off we went on a Monday morning at 9 a.m. Joshua proved to be the best of navigators. I could count on him for everything and I loved having him up front with me.

This first stretch is always great. West Virginia is intensely mountainous and beautiful. The kids are entertained by little attractions at rest stops. We enjoy dancing to music in our seats and playing the alphabet game. Even the our plastic dashboard (that rode there the entire way) made them laugh each day.  The camera gets pulled out every hour because everything seems worthy of a photograph.

 Can you see Virginia in the cloud?

In the early afternoon the sky darkened and we realized we were headed into a storm. It got a little too scary to take photos. The darkness was thick and the rain came down heavy and fast.

 And then my phone buzzed over and over with warnings like this one. We pulled over at the closest rest stop with dozens of other people, listening to the wind and watching the storm pass on the doppler. Kind people from the area comforted us with their friendliness. After about an hour the rain lightened and we drove onto Louisville.

 We decided not to camp that night as we had planned. Joshua found an awesome deal for a hotel room and we enjoyed a quiet night inside. I was glad not to have to worry about being woken in the night by weather warnings or wonder if we were camping on a flood plan. It wasn't exactly the adventurous night in a campground I had envisioned, but we were safe.