After the Chicago event, we stopped back home to check on things, get supplies, maintenance for everything. We also discussed some plans to vacation with Max’s parents and siblings.
After discussing it, and making sure that all who wanted to go, could take the time together. Michael was off at college, Josh was working at the grocery store and as a life guard at the local pool, so neither of them would be coming, so it would be Carl, Maria, Maggie and the twins David and Riley.
Max’s parents would be taking the other RV while my folks would stay at the campground in the cabin when they wanted to stay out there.
The old RV would have room enough for the 5 of them, it would be tight, but would sleep them all, they would just have to put the dinette down. They would follow us out to Colorado to the Rocky Mountain National Park, where the plan was to visit for a few days, maybe a week. Max and I said they could take as long as they wanted traveling with us or not.
The contractor had done the site prep for a 50×50 foot metal building on the new land and were starting to pour footers the beginning of April and the building should be up in a few weeks. Then a concrete floor, electric and plumbing next. This would be the first building on the new land, and would be used for lots of stuff. First as a construction office for the rest of the group camping area, storage for materials, a work shop, a place to store things like 4 wheelers, tractors and trucks.
The first of May we left the house. Max and I had reserved some time in a few state parks in western Ohio and Indiana for 3 weeks to kill some time before the kids were out of School. This would probably be the last summer that Riley and David would want to be with their parents doing stuff, being 15 and all. Since they started Kindergarten late when they were 6, they would be freshmen when they go back to school in the fall.
The kids got out of school on a Thursday, that Wednesday afternoon, Max and I drove the fiat back to my place to get the other RV. We dropped it off at his parents for them to load up their stuff Wednesday night.
Thursday Max and I went over to help Maria pack their stuff into the RV. The nice thing about the old RV is that it had a lot of storage underneath and over the cab; which is good because Maria had two plastic totes full of diapers, looks like it will be a great time for one or both of the twins. As we were loading the RV, the school bus came lumbering up the road. Off first was Maggie, then David and Riley.
I could tell something was up with them. “I can’t believe you did that, why would you wear those to school. Now. People are going to think I do too”, Riley said
“Well because I wanted to, and the last time I checked, you were still wearing them at night too, which is totally fine if you need or even if you want them. It’s not like we are going to see them for 3 months, plus we are the oldest in our class” David said..
“I know, and i’ll defend you through anything. It’s not like we are going to see them for a month or so, but did you have to moon them?” Riley asked David
“I didn’t have to, but it was funny, and will keep them wondering for a bit” David said
“David James, did you wear a diaper to school after I specifically told you not to? Well don’t come crying to me if it blows up in your face.” Maria said, a little pissed that he disobeyed her.
Not wanting any of this to fall on him, Riley made it clear that he told his brother that it was a horrible idea.
The boys finished packing the RV, as Carl wanted to be able to head out in the morning. Though not too early.
We had parked for the night at the grocery store and would swing by their house in the morning. Carl did not want to tow a vehicle so the only tow vehicle we would have is the Fiat, but if we needed to get a bigger vehicle we could for a week.
The next morning Max woke me up and changed me, we unplugged the RV and ran through the checklist to leave and headed to his parent’s house. They were up and ready, Maria was making breakfast sandwiches on paper plates for everybody.
Riley and David walked out of their rooms in just a onsie and diaper. I could tell both were in disposables and both were quite soggy. They sat down and drank some juice and ate their sandwiches.
Maria was running around making sure they had packed everything and was getting stuff ready to leave. “David, Riley go get your diapers changed and get ready to go. Riley remember what we talked about last night, I expect you to be padded up just in case you fall asleep. Also make sure you take your meds before we leave. I packed all your extras too.” She said to Riley as he walked out of the room.
Both returned about 10 minutes later obviously still diapered beneath their shorts.
“Mom can I ride with Max and Jason?” David asked
“If it’s ok with them” Carl pipped in
“Fine with us” Max said
We left around 9:00 am, not as early as Carl would have liked, but still we should make good time. We set a CB channel for both of us and made sure the CB’s worked and on the road we were.
After I got the destination and first stop in the GPS I hopped in the back where David was sitting. “So your brother did not seem like he cared about having to wear on the trip did he?” I asked wondering why Maria would have him wear.
“No, mom asked him to wear while driving in case he fell asleep, and he really said he did not care if he needed to wear them, he was fine with it. Between you and me, I think on some level he likes to wear them too. I mean he started wetting after he started seeing this counselor lady. He likes to claim that since the doctor upped or changed his epilepsy meds it was causing it. But hey, he’s no longer a jerk to me, in fact we get along better than ever” David said
We rolled down the road and I hopped back up front to navigate, when I turned back, David was asleep on the sofa.
Max drove for 3 hours and then we stopped off, switched drivers and drove another 3 hours. Stopped for food, rested for an hour and drove for another 3 till we found a stopping spot and pulled off for the night. David asked if he could stay with us, and we gladly allowed it. This allowed the other RV to not have to tear down the dinette. Riley even asked if he could stay with us too.
“As long as you two are able to fit up top or one on the sofa. Either way it is bed time.” Max said as he directed me to the back of the RV to change me.
“So what did you decide?” I asked, inquiring about how the sleeping arrangements were going to go.
“I think we both can fit up top” Riley said, “plus it’s not like either one of us are going to get up in the night.”
He had a point there. One by one they went to the back bedroom and got changed. Riley took his meds before They both climbed up to the bunk and we went to our bedroom for the night.
I am an early riser, so I was up at 7:00am, and woke up Max to get a change. Max grabbed the stuff to setup for the picnic tables outside between our campsites, while I clanged around in the kitchen to awaken the two sleeping teenagers.
About 8:00 Max went to the other RV and knocked on the door, “Breakfast is ready”
“Ok, just a minute” his dad replied back
I had made enough for all of us, scrambled eggs, bacon and toast. His parents brought the coffee since they already had a pot made. I had the juice and milk.
Without even thinking about it, David and Riley stumbled out of the bunk and outside in just their onsies. Nobody said a thing, as if it were normal.
We ate quickly, and cleaned up and got the RVs ready to take off. The teens were still looking sleepy, but I had to tell them that the bunk had to be put up so we could pull out.
“If you still want to sleep, you can go to the back bedroom and sleep there. Maybe get changed if you are really wet too.” I said as both boys were still in their night diapers.
I then did a final walk around and let Carl know that we were ready to hit the road. We were on the road by 9:30.
David went into the bedroom and got himself changed and returned to the sofa, and then Riley said he was getting changed too and went to the back and did not come out. After he did not emerge, I went to the back to see if there was something wrong and what I found was kinda shocking.
I first looked at Max’s bed which is the one right inside the door, but he wasn’t there. He hadn’t disappeared into thin air. I then looked over to my crib and see the blanket covering up a sleeping 15 year old Riley. I could hear him quietly snoring, so I quietly backed out of the room. Now my curiosity was definitely peaked. Why was he in the crib?
I went back out front. “Where’s Riley?” David asked.
“He decided to go back to sleep, just leave him alone. If you want to doze off out here on the sofa you can” I said, not letting on that I had just witnessed Riley in the back in the crib.
I went back up to the front, but not before whispering in Max’s ear that Riley was asleep in the crib.
“Huh?” He said
“I dunno, should we leave it be, do you think he had an episode.” I said, telling Max not to tease him about it.
After an hour David was dozed off, and Riley had still not emerged. We waited another hour before stopping for a rest break, at this point Riley had been sleeping over 2 hours.
I quietly slid into the bedroom, which was darkened due to the blinds being closed. I slid the door shut and then gently woke him up. “Hey Riley, we’re going to be stopping soon, did you want to get up and get a snack. Did you have meds you need to take?” which I said a couple times.
When he woke up a look of terror came over him. “Please don’t tell anybody…. I…. I just wanted to see what all the fuss was about, guess I dozed off” He said, but honestly how does one just try it out and end up covered up and snuggled in with MY TEDDY!
It’s ok, I just wanted to make sure you were ok, did you have a seizure or anything? Max knows you were back here, but he won’t say anything and I kept David out of here too.” I said
“Seriously, I thought i’d see what the allure was, got in, covered up and I must have fallen asleep instantly. I don’t think I had a seizure, I usually end up waking up crying and don’t sleep it off. Holy crap it is 1:00 almost, that’s almost 3 hours”
“Yeah you slept for awhile, it was 2 hours since I first checked on you. We’re stopping at a rest area to get out and stretch and eat some, better get out of there before David sees” I said as he had already sat up and I unlatched the gate. I could tell he needed to get changed as well.
I left the bedroom and he followed shortly in what I assumed was a clean diaper. David went in and got himself changed as we pulled into the visitors center. We grabbed our trash, including the quickly filling diaper pail, and got out and stretched as we disposed of the trash.
Maggie was happy to be out of the RV as were the teens. Really I was glad to be out of the RV too. It was nice to get into the sunshine. We were in the middle of Nebraska, with nothing really around. We got some subs out of the fridge and sat at the shelter house to eat. After an hour we hit the road again, Max and I switched the driving duties.
We drove until about 5:30 before stopping at a McDonalds that we could park at. We changed drivers, got some sandwiches and chicken nuggets before heading to our campground at a state park, we were a day earlier than expected. We were tired and did not want to have to cook that night.
The next morning Carl and Maria cooked breakfast sandwiches before we set off. We stopped along the way and rented a SUV to go into the park with. We decided when we planned the trip to not stay in the national park, as their campgrounds do not have RV hook ups.
We pulled into Estes Park, found our campground and spots where we would camp for 4 days. We got leveled, hooked up, and slides out.
“Ok, ready to head into the park?” I said
“Almost ready, just packing some bags” Maria said
Max and I grabbed the yeti cooler and our 2 gallon drink dispenser. from the garage area that morning and had loaded it up with bags of ice. We had filled the fridge with bottles of sports drinks, and juice boxes last night, so they were cool. Both RV’s have pretty good water filters, and we use water containers in the fridge too to always have fresh cold water. We all had metal water containers that kept water cold all day. My mom had put everybody’s name on their container with her vinyl cutter. The last time I was out here I went through lots of water to stay hydrated.
Max filled the cooler with a layer of ice on the bottom, then I started tossing drinks to him as he put them in the cooler along with layers of ice. Carl came over with some sandwiches for later on in water tight containers, which we put in the cooler and put some more ice on top. Then they carried the cooler out and put it in the back of the SUV.
Max came back in as I was grabbing some more supplies for a picnic. I had checked my camera bag and diaper bag to be sure I had all I needed. One look from Max, and I knew it was time for a change or check, as I was marched to the bedroom.
After getting changed we headed out to the SUV and loaded the picnic supplies, while we put my diaper bag and camera bag in the Fiat. We then just sat in our lawn chairs and waited for Max’s family to come out.
“Did you feed Zorro this morning?” Max asked
“No, did you?” I asked
“That is your job, then he does not weasel out two bowls of food from us” Max said, as he directed me to feed the kitty
The kitty was fed and now wanted nothing to do with me until he was done…. Fine be that way!
I came out and Carl and Maggie had emerged. “She’s making sure that we got everything packed, bottle of water?” he said.
Shortly thereafter Maria and the two teens emerged. I could tell that David was diapered, and Riley looked like he was as well. I didn’t think he was going to be wearing unless he was at risk to fall asleep, but then again the bathrooms are kind of scarce and ‘rustic’ to say the least?
They loaded up in the SUV, and we in my Fiat and heading towards the park entrance. We stopped at various turn-outs along the way to see the landscape and shoot photos. Max’s family was amazed at the beauty of the national park.
Around noon the 2-way radio squaked to life. “Gotta find a bathroom? Know where any are?” Maria said
“I think there is a picnic area up ahead on the right, there’s probably vault toilets there, not sure” I replied.
Since entering the park there was not cell phone service, not even for a text. We pulled into the picnic area near the bathrooms. I see Maggie open the back door and run towards the door, as maria followed her…. Both came out in a couple minutes. Carl then went in, followed by Max.
Max came back to the car quickly looking like he was retching. “Oh god, those are nasty.” To which Maria, Maggie and Carl agreed. The teens and I just laughed. We moved to the picnic tables away from the toilet building, so we did not have to smell the stench emanating from there.
We got done eating and David and Riley were whispering to each other. “how are you” “I need to, but not in there they say it’s filthy” “I won’t last much more and don’t want to” “well ask her” “no you ask her”
“David, Riley, do you two need to get changed?” Maria broke into their conversation.
“Uh huh, but not in there” David said
“Yeah not wanting to do that in there either” Riley said
“Are either of you messy, or just wet”
“I am, sorry couldn’t wait longer” David said
“I am about to poop too” Riley said
“Well you have choices, either in the toilet in private, though it smells really bad. Or in the back cargo area of the suburban and take your chances with other people seeing” Maria said
“I’m not going in there, so I guess the back of the car” David said
“Ugh, neither is a good idea, but I guess the back of the car” Riley said
I had a picnic/beach blanket ground cover called a neat sheet. I also carry a bunch of magnets in the bag for it too. We opened the hatch of the SUV and with Max’s help kinda set up a curtained off area for the cargo area.
David went first, since he had already messed, and then Riley after he finished messing. Both diapers were bagged up and put in the trash. It was at this point that Maggie made revelation.
“I now see why they wear diapers, that bathroom was nasty, next time I’ll think about just using my pull-up, rather than going in there.” Maggie said revealing that she had been in a pull-up. Not sure how much of the trip, but could have been the entire trip so far.
We continued on further into the park towards Rainbow curve overlook… Which was another 90 minutes. Sadly this year the snow lasted late in the year, and this was as far as we could go; the ranger said that they may have it opened tomorrow, as it was pretty much cleared. Max, Maria and Carl got out to use the bathroom while Riley watched Maggie and David took photos.
“Maggie, do you need to go to the bathroom, it’s going to be several hours before we get back to the camper. These bathrooms are better than the last ones” Maria said
“Do they flush?” Maggie wanted to know
“No, but they don’t smell as bad, c’mon let’s go” Maria said
“Uhm mommy, I….” Maggie said trailing off.
“Ok, let me get the bag” Maria said as she grabbed what I assumed was a diaper bag from the back of the SUV and then walked Maggie to the bathroom. They returned several minutes later, to Maggie bouncing towards all of us.
“Better now sweetie” Carl said
“Uh huh” She replied
I had taken the chance at Rainbow Curve to get my diaper changed as well, which barely was hanging on at that point.
It was about 4:00 PM, we had been gone since shortly before 10:00 AM, and everybody was getting tired. Based on how long it took us to get to where we were, it would be probably 2-3 hours back to the campground in Estes Park. We decided to go back the same way we came so we could check an area that we skipped due to being too busy. Otherwise, we could have come out another entrance and been closer to the campground.
Almost three quarters of the way back it started hailing and sleeting, which turned into a big rainstorm. We discussed dinner plans, and decided to go out to eat. The kids wanted to get pizza, Carl and Maria were looking for a good sit down dinner, maybe steak and burgers. I could really use a good steak, Max said too.
As we entered the park we passed by a steak house, maybe that would be good. I suggested that which everybody said was fine, but they wanted to go back to the campground first and get changed into some better clothes.
Max got me changed as soon as we walked in and then got into the shower himself. While he was showering, I looked up some steakhouses and their menus. One was the better choice since it had a wider menu. We had to remember that Maggie still would want a kids meal, and not a big steak.
I had called the steak house so they knew we had 7 people, as it could be busy. They said they would see us at 7:00 pm. By 6:35 we all were dressed and ready, David had come over and used our back bedroom to get changed and dressed, since there were less people trying to get ready in our RV.
We all headed to the steak house in our respective vehicles. I had asked if I was allowed to drink at dinner that night and Max said it was ok, but only 2 drinks and that was it, as he has heard I can’t hold my liquor. It didn’t matter anyway, because when we got there I noticed that they had milkshakes on the menu, and being the kid that I am, that is what I ordered.
Oh my! That steak was so good, everybody loved the food they got too, yeah it was a little expensive, but we had been eating McD’s and basic food on the trip, it was nice to get a good meal.
We got back to the campground and sat around the campfire for a few hours, just talking and chatting. One by one the kids went off to bed, and soon it was my time to go to bed too Max said.
The plan the next day was to drive out to bear lake and go hiking around the lake. The next morning we packed up our vehicles along with food for a picnic, and diaper bags and headed out.
The drive was only 15 miles but it took over an hour due to the twists and turns on the road and lower speed limits in the park. Plus you know people stopping to take photos and stuff.
We arrived and got our walking gear out as this trail was paved. We started walking and about half way around the lake I could see that both Riley and David had stopped for a moment to use their diapers. However Maggie was looking worried and asked her mom where the bathroom was. To which her mom told her that it was back where the cars were parked, and she leaned down and they whispered something back and forth and they continued to walk, stopping once and looking at something and then staying to the back.
We made it back to the parking lot and everybody decided it was time to go to the bathrooms. I needed a change, both twins, and to my surprise Maggie as well. I was not aware that Maria had her wearing the pullups, but she must have.
“We are quickly running out of those, I only packed enough for night time and the occasional accident, and you’ve gone through 2 at least each day since we’ve been here.” Maria said
“I can’t help it, there’s never a bathroom around and the ones there are, they are so gross.” Maggie said, getting upset
“Well we will need to go to wal-mart tomorrow and see if they have anything” Maria said.
We all ate the picnic lunch that we had, hydrated some more and then headed back down bear lake road to the main highway. Since today was a nicer day we drove back up to Rainbow Point and on over the mountain into Grand Lake. By the time we made it there it was close to 3:00 and we really could not stay that long, but we grabbed a quick snack and headed back to Estes park where the RV’s were.
That evening we decided to just grab some pizzas and head to the RV park for the evening. Tomorrow we were going to re-stock on provisions and such, maybe do some shopping in town.
I found out the last time when I was here, there was no walmart for 60 miles, just a Safeway and some specialty shops. First stop was Safeway which was not as packed as it was the days before when we drove by, but the shelves had been picked over. We were able to get the basics that we needed, meat, eggs, cheese, frozen food, cat food (it never hurts to grab a bag when you can.), milk, etc…
What Maria did not find was any of the larger sized pull ups that Maggie had been using. She found a medical supply store about 2 miles away and they were open and she had discretely called and they did carry youth diapers that should work.
“OK we can stop by there after we’re done here” Maria said
“Why not take the Fiat and we will meet you after. I think we are going to hit up the hardware store next” I said
“That sounds like a plan, David did you want to ride along?” Maria said, knowing that the SUV was tight unless one of the teens rode in the Fiat.
“Sure” David replied.
We got all our groceries paid for, loaded into the SUV and then headed around the shopping center and eventually to the hardware store, which was more like a grocery store without groceries… they had everything but food.
Eventually Maria caught up with us as we were in the hardware store. Maggie looked none too happy either. On the ride back to the campground, David said that the store they went to did not have pull-up type diapers, just the tape on kind, and Maggie was not happy about those, but her mother made her try them on and got several bags of them anyway and made her wear the sample out of the store.
We dropped the groceries off at the RVs and then headed back into town and walked around at the shops and such, got ice cream, chocolates, and such. We stopped into an outerwear store that I had been in before. Needless to say I and David both got some hickory striped overalls, and an engineers cap. I will certainly have mine sent to my seamstress for some snaps in the legs.
We walked around until about 4:00 and then decided to get something to eat for dinner, as we had stuff to do back at camp. I had started Max and I’s laundry before we left, so first thing I did was put it in the dryer when we got back. Maria brought a load of laundry over and I started it, then we started getting ready to watch a movie on the TV outside my RV. First one was a kids movie, animated… so during that time, Carl and Maria slipped back to their RV to get showers and ready for bed, then they sent each of the Teens to get showers, David used our shower. Maria switched her first load of laundry to the dryer and then started a second load in the washer.
David and Riley both emerged from the RVs in just their onesies and diaper and took their seats and watched the movies. Maria waited about 30 minutes to let the water heater in their RV recover, and then she ushered Maggie into the RV for her to take a shower and get ready for bed. They emerged about 20 minutes later as we started the latest Avengers movie.
By the time the second movie was over Maggie, David, Riley and I were pretty much asleep. We all went into the RV’s and got our last night’s sleep in Colorado. The next morning we packed up everything, ran through the checklist, dumped the tanks, made sure we were full on fresh water, filled our water bottles, and extra containers before disconnecting. We stopped and got propane filled up and then hit the road.
We had discussed the night before that we could either drive about 3 hours and stop for the night or we could power through 6 hours and get close to Yellowstone NP. We decided to get started early, drop the SUV off at the rental car agency and head north. We drove for about 2 hours, stopped and stretched and topped off on gas, we would do this several more times, as there was a stretch where there was no gas for almost 100 miles, or if we did find gas it was $1.00 a gallon higher than elsewhere.
We ended up rolling into Dubois, WY about 6pm. Having been here before I knew that places closed early. So I had told the boys to be changed and ready to go as soon as we got parked at the RV park. The campground had golf carts that we could take around town, so between the fiat and the golf cart we headed the two blocks to a little diner called The Cowboy Café. Frankly the whole town was a cowboy town, dirt roads and all
Carl and Max wanted to be adventurous and got the Wyoming Wild Platter, which was spicy elk, Buffalo sausage over grilled onions. Me I got the Swiss mushroom country fried steak, Maggie got chicken strips and fries, Twins got hamburgers and Maria got a steak. The food never disappoints. Max and Carl ate it all, but I could tell it was an acquired taste.
We made our way back to the RV park and turned in for the night, we had a short trip tomorrow to get into Yellowstone National Park. We would stay there for a week and still not see it all.
I found a car rental place that was willing to meet us at the national park and drop off a 15 passenger van for us, and I had reserved 2 camping spots for us next to each other for the week.
It was a 3 hour drive from Dubois to the Moran entrance of yellow stone and another hour more to get to the campground. We got checked in at the campground, started setting up the campsite and then Carl and I went to meet the car rental people at the Grant village general store and get the keys.
Back at the campsite lunch was being fixed, just some hamburgers and potato chips before going over the plan of what we were going to do. First stop is Old Faithful, then Grand prismatic springs and whatever we find along the way.
Everybody helped clean up after lunch, getting all food and coolers back in the RV’s, we turned on the magic fans, as there were no hookups. Both RVs had solar and were charging the batteries, and we could run the generators when we got back until 10 pm, but today that would only be about 2 hours. Luckily the batteries in my RV were at about 85% and Carl said they were at 80%
After getting cleaned up, Maria told the boys to get changed into clean diapers if they needed to. David and Riley came to our RV to get changed while Max and I loaded the van up. Maria directed Maggie into their RV and she emerged a few minutes later in the same outfit, so I guess it was for a diaper change or getting diapered up for the trip.
It was about an hour drive to get to old faithful and as always it is busy busy busy, we got out to the viewing area and found places to sit and take photos. The wait was about 30 minutes before the eruption of Old Faithful. I don’t care how many times you’ve see it, it is still amazing.
Next we traveled to Grand Prismatic springs, but we also stopped off at a few pull outs to look for wildlife as well, and seen several bison.
We made it back to our campsite around 8 pm and fired up the generators to get the AC units going in the RVs and top off the batteries. We ended up making some campfire pizzas with the pizza stones over the campfire; letting them cool down while we ate and relaxed.
The teens decided on their own to get ready for bed before being told to, as Maria had ushered Maggie into their RV and put her to bed. Max took me inside the RV for us to get ready for bed, and then we joined the others outside around the campfire.
“This has been a really fun trip, thank you for inviting us” Riley said and David agreed.
“Well just remember it, because in a year or so you two won’t want to hang around with mom and dad anymore” Carl said
“Maggie is having so much fun too” Maria said
“Yeah, first time I came through I did not allow myself anywhere enough time to see everything. There is so much to see here. Maybe one morning we should get up early and catch a sunrise from a nice overlook in the park. Tomorrow we’ll drive around this side of the park, the upper and lower falls, etc.” I said
We spent the next day driving to the Yellowstone falls, stopped at the tower general store for some ice cream, and basically driving through the entire park.
We would spend the next few days doing activities like taking a horseback ride, hiking. One morning Carl, David and myself got up before 5:00 AM and found the perfect overlook and sat there sipping coffee and waiting for the sunrise. Of course we shot plenty of photos and video as well. David was getting pretty good with a camera, some of his shots rivaled mine.
We were in Yellowstone for a week, before heading eastward, towards our next stop of Mount Rushmore. We had to stop off in Gillette WY to get supplies that we had ordered (diapers and food), so we stopped there for the night and left that next afternoon.
It was at this point that I realized that Maggie had pretty much been diapered the whole trip, as Maria had ordered another box of youth diapers for her, to last until we got home. Of course the twins and I also had more diapers waiting for us.
We made it to keystone, SD the next afternoon and setup camp. That evening we went to Mt Rushmore to see the monument lit up, via the RV park’s shuttle and then went back the next day to do the full tour. We also stopped off at Crazy Horse.
At this point we had been out for almost 4 weeks, and everybody was ready to get back home. I had been checking in with dad about the campground and construction. Carl and Maria were in close contact with the grocery store and the other two kids.
We had no other places to stop, ok so we stopped in Wall, South Dakota – you have to; other than that we were on our way home, save for the stop at a Dairy Queen in Minnesota to see the Jolly Green giant.
We would drive for a bit, switch drivers and drive some more. Stop eat, drive some more and stop off for the night. With having two drivers each we made it home in 2 days. By this time both RVs needed to have oil changes, and other servicing done.
I will admit it was SO NICE to be in my own bed, I mean crib at home. We stayed around the house for a few days, and then put the RV’s back out to the campground.
Max and I stayed out to the campground most of the summer, only taking a 3-4 day trip during the week a couple times. Mostly we were keeping an eye on the new section of the park that was being built.
Mom and Dad ran most of the management of the campground, and staff with max and I helping out when and as we could. Carl, Maria and the kids came down some weekends, often David would stay for several days up to a week, followed by Riley as well; usually both were in diapers the whole time. I was beginning to think that Riley was more interested in diapers than he wanted to let on, but at this point it was just unspoken that it was not brought up or made a big deal about it.
The summer played out like the last two, with us closing the campground on the weekend before Halloween. Everything was pretty much buttoned up by that first week in November, the water shut off, blown out, and the shower house closed up for winter. The construction continued on over the winter as much as it could.