Challenges and Joy from Day 1

What’s an adventure without a few challenges?  We have spent months preparing for this trip, from being sure to get camping reservations at the National Parks the second they opened, to planning our itinerary, to spending late nights packing and preparing the trailer and we even brought our vehicle into the shop in April to get anything upgraded/fixed that might need it before our big trip. In life though, preparation can make things go more smoothly, but there are no guarantees that we won’t encounter challenges.  On this trip, we met our first challenge just a couple of miles from home and it made us all laugh- the plastic casing below the mirror that helps show the left blinker started to fly off.  We used some duct tape and fondly remembered a man who recently passed away and stories were told of his 5 week cross country trip taken over 50 years ago and his fondness for “100 mile per hour tape.”  It was a quick pull-over and then we were back on the road.  Many miles later, we were driving through rain and a very stinky mist started coming out of the vents.  Our Google searches showed that we likely had a broken heater core, so we called the friend we’d be visiting and he contacted his local mechanic (it was not the heater core, but some old and yucky fluid ended up in the vent area and we are stuck smelling it, though had the whole system flushed and refilled).  We decided to cut our trip to Cuyahoga Valley National Park short so we could get to the mechanic before he closed so we were more likely to get it taken care of come morning.  

When challenges happen, you can’t stop them, but you can choose gratitude in the moment instead of focusing on the losses.  Our car issues meant a delay that would mean missing hours with family who we haven’t seen for 2 years because of the pandemic and it might mean a shortened trip or entirely missing our visit to Indiana Dunes National Park.  BUT, we had so much for which to thankful and I chose to spend time pondering those things.  In our entire trip, we are only doing one “driveway stop” with friends and this was it.  Although most of our time in Ohio was rainy, the short stop we made at Cuyahoga Valley National Park provided a respite from the precipitation and some Park Rangers set up right near where we were visiting to engage the kids in a lesson about invasive plant species along with providing them with Junior Ranger books without needing to stop at the Visitor Center (which we didn’t have time to see). 

We had an incredible dinner made by friends who have known me my whole life and who are like family. The kids played in the rain, the adults got to catch up, and then they snuggled in for some TV. It felt wonderful to be loved so well.

If car trouble came our way at all, this would be the very best spot because we had a friend who could recommend a trusted mechanic and who could drive one of us back from the garage and to the garage when it was ready.  We didn’t have to hang around a stinky garage or find an uber or taxi to take us back to the camper.  It wasn’t a Sunday, so our delay wouldn’t be days, but just hours.  It was very rainy, but we had easy access to a washer and dryer, so playing in the rain was a welcome break.  As we spent hours the next morning waiting while it rained, we had a large, warm, dry house to enjoy with loving hosts rather than being stuck cooped up in the camper.  I am so grateful for all of this and while we ended up being 5-7 hours behind schedule, we had given ourselves two nights in Chicago and the anticipation to spend time with family has grown and I know our time will be so special.  

I am still SO excited for our adventure, and while I hope this is the end of our car troubles, I know it will not be the end of our challenges.  Kids will fight, we will get hungry at the wrong time, clothes will get ruined, someone will get hurt, I will get short-tempered, backing into a site will feel impossible, and we will likely go the wrong way at some point, BUT, the kids will also bond, we will eat incredible meals, we will have fun getting dirty, our empathy and compassion will grow, I will be incredibly patient at times, we will roll into many sites easily, and we will go the right way most of the time.