I’m soooo tired…I haven’t slept a wink….

There is not much sleep to be had living the RV life. At least, maybe not for parents of three littles that are campground hoping across the U. S. With the changing of locations, comes the inevitable, critical assessment of one’s new surroundings. A high alert, watch dog feeling that takes over until you have deemed your new location safe for your family. And honestly, sometimes that recognition never comes. When you arrive at dark, to a previously unknown location, you kind of just have to hope for the best. That mind #%*^$, coupled with the perpetual excitement of this exhilarating lifestyle ushers in some real, undeniable insomnia. I also find that my wheels really get to turning during the nighttime hours, my mind finally my own. The afterhours is a welcome reprieve from a day full of being talked at…..absolution from a steady stream of questions and demands. I find myself unpacking our experiences from the day and wanting to get it in writing before the memories flee from my awareness. Even prior to this trip, I have had a strong desire to start journaling the highlights from our weeks, but have never found the time for it. I am terrified that I am going to remember nothing about raising my children. Some days I can’t even recall what I made everyone for lunch…. But, I so very much want to be able to recollect every small detail of their lives for eternity. Tell me it will all be there when I desperately need to conjure up a delicious vision of their little child selves? when I am trying to survive their angsty teenage personas?? Maybe its time for some gingko.

On this night in WV, I stay up late writing. Once I realize the absurd hour it has reached, I give myself a hefty dose of melatonin, and try to shut it down once and for all. Oh, hahahahahahaha. Did you want to sleep? That’s funny. Just as I begin to doze off, I hear what sounds like elves tap dancing on the roof of the camper. Or are those squirrels doing river dance? Is someone trying to hammer into our little home on wheels? What in tarnation is this? I sit with my adrenaline for a minute and try to rationalize these unfamiliar, and at the time alarming sounds. I feel the camper sway and realize the wind has picked up a bit. I recall noticing, when we were backing the rig in, that we are under a significant amount of tree cover at this camp spot. I settle with the fact that it is the wind that is sending acorns, leaves, pine needles and whatever else cascading down on to the roof of the camper, creating a real cacophony of nature sounds. It’s amazing what can be heard through the thin layer of fiberglass that separates you from the elements. Once I have comprehended the current conditions, the fight-or-flight starts to subside… sleep, sweet sleep, come to me. Queue the rain…. shit, are the bikes covered? Did Matt close the outdoor kitchen? I hope the truck windows are all the way up….. Enough already it is time to slumber. I wonder who is coming to the big bed first? My guess is Henry… man that boy can snore… even without his tonsils….and so the game of “bed hoping” begins…. sleep is for the birds.

10/10/20

We wake to a steady rain. I am already giving myself permission to have a low key, relaxing morning. The last few days have been action packed and high tension. Everyone is in need of a little recovery time. Matt’s got some work to do, and I am trying to launch this damn website. We finally get the DVD player hooked up so the kids can watch their first movie of the trip….. and it’s Space Jam…. I’ve been waiting to whip this baby out for years….

 “Wave your hands in the air if you feel fine, We’re gonna take it into overtime Welcome to the Space Jam, alright, alright…” 

Okay, sorry bout that.

The morning is coming to a close and it’s time to decide what comes next. Matt and I are immediately not on the same page with regards to how we shall proceed from here. I feel like we need to complete a full chill day and night at Little Beaver, and Matt is adamant about getting back on the road. I am of the school of thought that we need to see every trail, pond, lake, bug, animal, leaf, rock, museum, fort… whatever our current state park has to offer before we move on. Matt is of the mindset that we need to keep trucking. My other hang up is that I feel like the real beauty of RV life happens when we are set up and free flowing in the outdoors…. and I am really craving that right now. I do not want to constantly be setting up and taking down. It’s a lot of work, and I don’t really want to get back in the car with the cuckoo birds. They do so much better in the great wide open. But alas, it is raining…. Matt wins this one.

I concede only with the promise that we will go see the New River Gorge National Park on the way to our next stop. Deal. Pack up, back in the truck, road insanity sets in immediately.

We drive through more of jaw dropping WV on our way to New River Gorge. The misty, foggy, heavy air is the perfect counter to the fall foliage. I am so friggin glad Matt is doing the driving because I would have had us in a ditch by this point, unable to take my eyes off the scenery. The fog is seeping into every little nook and cranny of the converging mountains and hovering just above the patchwork quilt of brilliant tree colors. I learned that WV is the only state that’s entirety is within the Appalachian Mountains.  That is a claim to fame if I’ve ever heard one. I am drinking it up, trying to drown out the incessant bathroom humor coming from the backseat. Anyone else’s kids OBSESSED with talking about bodily functions? They think it is endlessly hilarious and I cannot seem to talk them down from it. I have tried everything to make it stop. Asked politely, rationalized why it’s not appropriate, yelled, shamed them about how uncool it actually is to talk about poop, threatened to throw precious items out of the window, actually joined in on the potty humor in the hopes that it’s consequentially now lame…. nothing, NOTHING makes it stop. So, I’m just gonna let em have it at this point. If you want to pretend the Barbie dolls are shitting all over the back seat…. go for it. We can reform the behavior some other time. Mama’s got some sight-seeing to do.

New River Gorge is a must see if you are passing through WV. Despite what its name suggests, it is one of the oldest rivers on the planet. It is the deepest and longest river gorge in the Appalachian Mountains. This National Park is probably worth a week of exploring as well, but we just did not allot the time for it. Grrrrrr. The bridge built over the gorge is phenomenal. Every third Saturday in October, Bridge Day is celebrated. The bridge is closed to car traffic, and folks from all over the world come to bungee and base jump into the gorge. We are telling the kids about this annual event, and after a moment of silence, Henry chimes in with “when, I’m a teenager I’m definitely going to do that” And I guarantee you he means that whole-heartedly. I sure hope we can get this kid to his teens in one piece; he is quite the wild man. And wait, teenager?  Why would this be an acceptable activity for a teen?? No, Henry… when you are a grown ass man you can decide to launch yourself off massive bridges. Not under my watch.

We walk the paths and see the sights here… its raining, but it adds a magical, spooky element to the whole experience. The kids spot the ice cream and fudge shop that adorns the parking lot, and so we reluctantly decide to indulge their little sugar craving. That should be good before getting back in the car, right?

The next destination that Matt and I have decided on is a campground located in Daniel Boone National Forest, Kentucky. We have quite a few miles to cover to get there, and we are bound and determined to land at our camp spot before dark. I have successfully convinced Matt of a two-night stay at this location. Yay me!!! So, we get back on the road. From New River Gorge, we find some scenic backroads before getting back on 64 W. I can’t say it enough, the whole state is just a visual overwhelm for the occipital lobe… Matt and I are perpetually slack jawed saying “woooooowwwwww”. Even when on 64, its mile after mile of tree covered mountains and hills. We pass through two big cities, Charleston and then Huntington. I am surprised by how much I like Charleston. It is a seemingly lovely metropolis built right on the riverbanks of the Kanawha River. I am very curious to go and explore this gorgeous city and see what it has to offer.  And this is the perfect transition into Matt and I’s DAILY argument…….

I want to feel free to stop somewhere and explore. I do not want to be on a timeline. That is the point of this whole trip, right? See what we feel called to see? Matt is very aware of his responsibilities as a business owner and the fact that he has not been able to really tend to any work stuff in a while. Between spotty cell service and trying to take calls in a car full of children (that’s a fun one), his work duties are backing up. He is feeling much more called to get to CO and get settled than I am.  I am still struggling to reconstruct my schema to say… “this is us moving to Colorado”, instead of “we are living on the road with no timeline and no plan”. I know what must happen, but I’m having a hard time letting go. Its really just me being a brat.

Any slight change in our tone towards one other is alarming to the kids. They have ZERO tolerance for us “fighting”. Which is absurd given how much time they spend doing it…. I totally have to hide my giggle when Henry pipes up with a “Dad, don’t talk to your honey like that”.  Teehee. That’s my boy.  He also made a funny earlier that day.. I can’t remember what word Matt used, but Henry said “Dad, don’t use that word, its inappropriate for your age”. These kids. They just slay sometimes.

After Huntington WV, we are basically in Kentucky. The scenery changes a little bit. Not quite the complete encompassment by mountains that we have grown accustomed too. Add in a little bit more farmland….the kind that comes with the junky yards and trailers.  (honestly, I was expecting all the shacks and trailers in WV, but I really didn’t see a whole lot of it… maybe its just where we happened to travel).  Kentucky introduces some derelict towns. Places that seem completely lost to time. Buildings, left to rot, businesses that are no longer. One of these is Salt Lick, the last little town before you enter Daniel Boone National Forest. A total dump, that from the outside looks entirely abandoned. As I’m studying the homes we are passing by, with half of the siding missing, parts of the roof off, and windows cracked and broken, I realize there are actually people residing in them. Some of the structures being inhabited in this area are in a shocking state of disrepair. I want to know their story. Tell me how you got here and what do you need to climb out of this situation? How will you stay warm this winter? I know I am a very privileged person, but I genuinely feel for people in dire straits and want to know their stories. This is one of the things about travel I appreciate so much. The opportunity to be immersed in something other than your bubble. To spend time contemplating someone else’s journey. I always feel called to help when confronted with these situations, but it’s hard to figure out where to start. People ultimately must be willing to help themselves.  So, I have found that I channel a lot of these notions into trash pick-ups. It’s much harder, I think, to help people…..but at least you can leave an area cleaner then when you arrived.  We can always help mother nature, no strings attached. We pick up trash wherever we go. The kids are on it, they are so hardcore about picking up trash. I hope it does not detract from their experience of the world, but I want them to be very aware of the precarious state of our environment and I want them to feel a duty to help where they can. So, while we can’t stop and knock on someone’s door and offer to patch their roof (maybe one day), we can certainly clean up whatever area of the world we visit.

Well that was a tangent. Lets get back on track

We drive at least 15 miles up into the mountains and into the National Park to find our campground, Zilpo. We are surrounded by nothing but beauty yet again. We do not pass ONE single car, so its hard to imagine there is going to be anyone else where we are going. But there is. I am always shocked that other people find these remote areas as well. There are some other campers sprinkled around this drowsy little campground… in the middle of a gigantic forest…beside a pristine mountain lake. Its wonderful. And we made it while there was still a sun in the sky!!!!!

I feel so much better knowing we won’t be waking up and packing up….that we will actually get to explore this new spot.

But for now…. I am BEAT.

Next post all about our time in Daniel Boone. It was fantastic.