Halfway Between Here & There: Stat Edition!
The second half of our trip is upon us, which I can hardly even believe. We are taking it up and over the 6th month hump by ditching Spud for 6 weeks(ish) and hopping on a plane with a bag full of swimsuits and sunscreen. Where to, you ask? To the palm tree laiden, shave ice devouring, bikini clad state of HAWAII, of course! Cue joke about taking a vacation from the vacation right about now (and yes, we do plan to work!).
Before we start throwing palm tree/blue sky and world class surfing stoke your way, here are some hopefully entertaining and perhaps interesting stats from our first 6 months on the road.
6 Month Stats:
When we departed: June 15th from Durango, CO
Total miles: 11,900 (whoa!)
Breakdowns: ZERO, zilch, not even a minor freak out. All I have to say is all those years Chip Keller worked on his VW bug and ghia back in the day have REALLY paid off. That, and certainly some luck. We envisioned (and I'm knocking on wood right now because we still have a return leg) the possibility of being stranded on the sides of roads with no food and crying/hot/bored/naked jibs or having setbacks due to maintenance issues. But so far, NONE! (Again, knocking on a very large piece of wood right now...love you Spud).
States we visited: 14
Countries: 2; Canada, US of course
Nights in Spud: 98
Favorite place we stayed: Chip - Detroit, Oregon (on a semi-dangerous - even to Chip - gravel road, way the heck up). But those views won us over bad!!!!!!!; Lindsay - Tie: Belly River Campground, Canada or Cape Lookout State Park, Oregon. Wait, one more...Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri! That one rocked!
Cape Lookout State Park, Oregon. The most beautiful stretch of sand, no highway nearby, fun beach towns to the north, and well, you could ride your bikes on it.
Nat'l Forest Land, Detroit, Oregon. We were driving around that lake (below from where I'm standing) only moments before. Then the steepest, scariest, gravel road ever lead us here. I thought we might die (narrow, popped tire, rolling backwards to our death). But we LIVED and it was AWESOME!
Number of oil changes: 4
Scariest moment: That time back in June when Reid slipped off his pool floaty and no one noticed for a few seconds. I cried. Then swimming lessons began IMMEDIATELY AFTER.
Best moment: Too many. Happy Hour along Lake Michigan at sunset (naked jibs/beautiful beach) or Island Lake BC Canada for the eclipse. Alpine mountain lake, a lodge with one room left?! The best. Both places we completely stumbled upon!
Toughest moment: Volunteering in Santa Rosa (the wildfires...) which we felt like we weren't able to help in the capacity we were expecting. Afterwards we had no place to stay/camp (which should not have been a surprise), plus it was rainy and gloomy. Everyone was exhausted. There were no vacation rentals or hotels (also because of the wildfires). We ended up backtracking and staying 30 min opposite way. Chip and I also had our only argument of the trip here. That was also the only time we were homesick.
Number of times someone wet the bed (aka sleeping bag): 2 (thankful they both happened after 6 in the morning) (Also, thankful sleeping bags are absorbent).
Number of random acts of kindness we've done: 131
Most used phrase by the boys (Also, my least favorite phrase of all time): "Moooooom, I need to go poop." (Mothers out there, tell me. When do children learn how to wipe their own behinds????)
Longest day spent driving: 5 google hours. So 10 "on the road" as we generally double what google says to accommodate breaks and a slower vehicle.
Spud Upgrades: New tires. Fixed some dents. Nothing else. If you think you might bring a few small projects to complete along the way, well, you had better be more dedicated than us.
Westy events attended: 2; Wet Westies (in WA) and Descend on Bend (OR).
Wet Westies Group Photo, Dosiwallups, Washington - *Take note of flying jib in the background!!!!! Doubtful we could ever time it that perfectly for a group photo again!
Descend on Bend event, Oregon - Picture taken at random by Richard Sjösten from Sweden! Another flying jib!
Number of nights we camped/spent nights with fam and friends (some old/some new): 94. Seems as though we were hardly ever alone.
Spud's fully loaded weight: 4800 pounds
Favorite state: Oregon (but ALL have been over the top amazing in their own way)
Longest we went without showering: 7 days (stank!)
Hottest day in Spud: Middle of nowhere South Dakota at 106 degrees. We also pulled out the Spud shower. And used it in our birthday suits. Oh yeah!
Number of mice we spotted in Spud (usually at 1 am): 2. Both are no longer with us. Not dead though (we tried)...they just must've escaped by morning.
How fun is it to sleep next to your kid in a sleeping bag: 9/10
How fun it is to sleep next to your kid who is not in a sleeping bag: 3/10 No thank you, midnight jiu jitsu legs.
New skills learned: Pedal biking & swimming (jibs). Surfing & ukelele (Chip). Sleeping next to loud highways & squatting on a kid toilet to go to the bathroom (me! And yes, those are true skills. We only have a quarter of the toilet with us so it requires the use of many unique muscle groups). I need a new hobby. That's it...I'm taking up yoga this week.
Number of free hotel nights used (thanks credit card): 8
Favorite National Park: Another hard one...tie: Glacier National Park and Waterton Lakes National Park (Canada)
Days it rained: Maybe 8 days. It never rained!
The boys' favorite saying: "I want to go live to that campsite!!!!"
Our favorite thought after we'd arrive at a campsite and crack a beer: "We wish everyone could do this!!!"
Days I worked: 34ish.
Days Chip worked: 1/4 of one day. He is looking to improve his record soon. So he says.
PB&Js consumed between us all: I think we are above 300 at this point. But also we switch it up with Nutella. Try PB&Nutella one day and thank me later. It is SO yummy.
Most memorable State Park: Ecola State Park, Oregon. Were so in awe with the view that we came back at sunset. Honorable mention: Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park.
Longest we went without "eating out" in any form: 14 days
Illnesses: Only 1 cold. Homesick once.
Number 1 trash item we always find on the beach: Hairties. I should be set for life.
Biggest surprise: Washington (the whole state, or at least of what we saw). Olympic National Park...two thumbs up!
Air BnBs or VRBOs we stayed in: 6
Number of minutes my children will now watch a movie without moving on to the next activity: 31 (come on, a mom needs her break from the never ending game of parenthood).
Current location: Kailua, Oahu. With our bums in the sand, ocean breeze on our skin, drinking Maui Brewing Co beer, and watching the "high surf advisory" waves roll in. I am happy. Chip is happy. My children are naked. I mean, happy. We also have an 800 square foot house with TWO bedrooms, a kitchen, and a bathroom. It'll be a welcome change.
Last stat: We love our readers!! Thanks for tagging along, fam and friends! We hope people are enjoying following along with us. We'll be back soon with some more. And seriously, I need to get on that Oregon post...
