Little RV on the prairie
Wildfire burning in Montana. Photo taken from the front seat.
Good vibes
The last few days have been easy and pleasant in ol’ Taco Smurf. Everyone seems to be in a good place. My impression is we are getting on each other’s nerves less frequently. Even when there is room to spread out, I notice we congregate at the same table or in the same room. Interesting.
We watched a great movie together last night, “Enola Holmes” on Netflix. Usually we are reading or watching individually and not often. I started “Anna Karenina” which I’ve always wanted to read. (I only mention it here to brag. It’s like 2,000 pages long! Don’t be impressed yet. I’m only on page 56.)
We’ve stayed at 2 more RV parks in Montana since my last update, including our first KOA campground which we tried to explain to Mark and Tina on the phone yesterday. KOA is hard to explain. Have you ever stayed at one? How would you explain it?
It’s like you time traveled to the 60s when we all thought futuristic, modern things were the answer to life. There was little evidence of the wild at the KOA campground. Still, we played a super-fun 18-holes of mini-golf and really enjoyed newly remodeled camp showers with their spectacular water pressure.
We’re on our way down to Buffalo, Wyoming today. There are more trout in Wyoming than there are people. Jeff plans to meet a few of them. (The trout. duh)
The Yellowstone River flows right beside Yellowstone's Edge campground, one of our favorite RV parks so far.
KOA campground in Billings provides each spot with a swing!
Zane is feeling more at ease about our trip these days.
On the road
Whenever we travel, Darla and I love to hit the thrift stores. They are so much roomier out here. Lots of room to spread out the junk! The stores in rural areas aren’t great for clothes, but amazing for antiques and vintage stuff. Stores near touristy places where more wealthy people live are gold mines for clothes! It’s all very silly and fun.
Zane hates shopping of any kind. So in Billings we picked up burgers and fries from a place called “Moo-yah!” which he really appreciated. We’ve got no deep fryer in the RV.
At most of our stops Jeff goes to an auto parts store and gets parts to do a little fix on the gig. If he hears about a good cigar shop, he’ll go in there, too. And of course, the local fly fishing shops. He talks with them about what’s happening with the hatches and the streams -- where to go and what flies to use.
Home on the range
Darla and Zane are getting into a school routine. We discovered that in our school district, a student is considered present for the day if they only contact the teacher in some way -- any way. That’s a big difference from the model originallly presented to the students -- you MUST come to each and every zoom class (6 hrs a day, 5 days a week). Both kids say the teachers are touting “participation” as part of their grade though. This is unfortunate and unfair for children with bad Wifi or no Wifi at home. But I get it. What are the poor teachers supposed to do?
We’ve got our grocery shopping and meal prep all figured out. Last night Jeff cooked us up some fresh, delicious Montana-raised steaks. (Finally!) Usually we eat a rotation of 10-12 dinners, the same meals we ate at home.
A big thank you to Lisa who told me Febreeze actually works. I hate fake smelling stuff, so I never wanted to try it before. But on her recommendation I bought the EXTRA STRENGTH “crisp clean” variety which has improved our indoor situation by leaps and bounds. My usual method is to leave windows open. But, with the colder weather up here (down to 30s and 40s), we have to close everything up at night.
You have a family. You can imagine what happens when 4 people breathe in one room all night. Pee-yew.
Other than sweeping, dishes, and laundry there isn’t any cleaning to do. So if you hate to dust, mop, and vacuum, move into a tiny house. Dust has no time to gather because every surface is always in use; and constant foot traffic takes care of the muddy floor. It’s like magic!
Cooking up some bacon. Take a look around.
- Zane's bed is out behind me because he sleeps in and then does school in bed whenever we aren't driving.
- The dish drying rack (and my dish gloves) are on the floor behind me.
- Darla's new jean jacket is hanging up to dry on the wall. It blocks the main door. There's also a bath towel drying on the passenger seat behind my head.
- I have on headphones because I can't jam out while the divas are in school. WHATEVER!
Our route
Half of our family is perfectly happy on the road and would love to continue the adventure indefinitely. The other half of our family is pleased to announce that we are now working our way, however slowly, back to Long Beach.
We’ll be in Colorado Springs to visit the Gore’s (adopted family of the Herrings for 30 years or so) and we’ll go to the Grand Canyon. We are in no rush to get home. But, it is on the horizon. Perhaps this is the real reason for the good vibes around here.
Oh well. I’ll take it.
Thanks for reading and replying. We're loving your music suggestions. Darla especially likes Blondie.
love, Nonni and the team