Kelli writes:

If you would have told me a week ago that we would really be ready to hit the road next week, I don't think I could have believed you. What a week it has been!

We had the good fortune in timing as weeks ago we had coordinated all 4 kids going to Grandma & Grandpa's at the end of July for a week or so. I can't really recall exactly what we have done in the week the kids have been gone as it's all a blur. Mark was able to tackle our last major upgrade on our house: laying travertine tile in the master bath shower & tub surround. We also sorted through all the kids clothes, paring down to just 10 short sleeve shirts, 10 long sleeve shirts, 10 shorts, and 10 pants to take with us in the RV. I had no idea what clothes-hounds we had become, but it felt good as we donated bags and bags of clothing and other household stuff to the thrift store.

Towards the end of last week, we made the flight down to Utah to pick up our selected motorhome. It is quite a story as we had come up with an extensive list of "necessities" to make this year long trek bearable. In reality, we could have lived without any of them, but with 6 of us occupying 1/10th of the space of our home, we wanted to be thorough in our selection. After narrowing it down to a few key features, including at least one set of bunkbeds for the kids, we found exactly 1 motorhome that met our needs and was available for purchase, and were pleased that it was located in the western U.S.

Having never even used a travel trailer before, we were in for quite the learning process in driving this mammoth machine. Mark drove it the majority of the way from Salt Lake City to Sandpoint, but I did spend about 40 miles behind the wheel. What has surprised us both is that there is no special licensing required to drive this 39' long x 8' wide x 12' high box on wheels down the road! As intimidating as it was to drive, I have to admit it was a pleasure to pull off at a truck stop, expand our bedroom, and crash for the night.