Whew! How the heck did we get here? 7 weeks ago this idea that we’d live on the road for a year was just something the Husband and I joked about. Who would actually do that? We have a very small child for crying out loud! In the words of the Great Barney Stinson, challenge accepted.

A little history.  Three months ago we welcomed our first child, #TheGreatScoutdoors. Three weeks after she was born I had a meeting in Dallas. Yes, I could have said, “hey I just had a baby I’m not coming”, but it honestly didn’t occur to me that getting to Dallas from Reno, NV, with a fresh, out of the package human would be that big of deal. The real challenge was how to get there. We did not want to take our brand new baby on a trip in a germ infested tube flying through the air. So we decided to rent a camper and drive. It’s a mere 1,700 miles, no problemo! Turns out renting one of those bad boys is a pretty penny. So, long story short we bought a mini Winnebago trailer called The Grasshopper. We were able to snag it exactly 2 days before we were set to leave. Fortunately, we had an 11 year old Honda Ridgeline with 210,000 miles that was just aching to test out it’s towing abilities. With our bright green trailer, ancient truck and 2 week old newborn in tow we set out for our first adventure as a family of 3.

It should be noted neither myself nor Husband have any experience towing. Along with our vast experience (of a whole 2 weeks) being parents this entire adventure was a test of our sanity, survival skills and overall decision making. Good news is we had an absolute blast! Every day was a hilarious mess. Our first night in Grasshopper we had no power and no water. One week and several trips to Camping Worlds along the way we made it to Dallas. Success! After a few nights in a Fairmont we loaded back into Grasshopper and hit the road home. With our newly gained skills we decided to truly test the limits and boondock at a Walmart (a common practice amongst camping folk). Ah, what a humbling experience, waking up in a suite at the Fairmont and going to sleep that night in a Walmart parking lot. After nailing that we pretty much decided we are professionals and can do anything. You could smell the stench of arrogance on us. Husband even gave a pointer to someone at a Camping World. Really? Who do we think we are? Fortunately, our cockiness was really shoved in our faces in Kansas City. Unable to get a pull through spot we settled for a back in. No problem, we’re awesome! We stayed one night in a parking lot so we can obviously handle anything! Bah! Turns out backing up a trailer is NOTHING like backing up your car, AT ALL! After an hour, yes an hour, we settled with Grasshopper partially in the spot, mostly on the grass and using the campsite picnic table as a step in front of our door. At this point #TheGreatScoutdoors has developed a knack for screaming bloody murder during these tense moments. We imagine that she actually has all the answers but lacks the language skills to communicate them.

As our journey home continued we actually did get better. Lessons learned the hard way really stick with you. For instance, Husband will never again open the black water before making sure the hoses are connected properly. Our last day on the road we realize this was the last hoorah for our sweet Honda Ridgeline. We begin the end of car life plans and discuss our next vehicle. We half heartedly say we could get a real setup and just live on the road. No joke, that is how this started. I guess neither one of us said “haha, that’s silly” or “just kidding” so we just went with it. After 12 years together we shouldn’t be surprised that if one of us comes up with a crazy idea the other one will not only be on board but will assist in finding ways to add to the craziness. We got home, found the fifth wheel we liked and started shopping for a truck. We LITERALLY have only owned these items for 2 weeks. In the last couple of weeks we have liquidated our belongings, told our parents we are living like vagabonds with their first grandchild, packed what possessions remained in our fifth wheel and hit the road. While most people with a new baby settle down, buy a lot of stuff and begin a routine we have done the exact opposite. Not to be outrageous or antiestablishment. We put out these half baked ideas that sound amazing and just do what we can to make them happen.

So here we are. Day one of our new life on the road. Our home is a mess. We’re still figuring everything out, like how to hang things on cardboard thin walls. We laughed a lot today as we pushed buttons and pretended like we knew what we’re doing. Thanks for following our journey. I’m not a writer, so please excuse any typos, grammatical errors and sentences ending in prepositions. I don’t think this blog will be particularly inspirational, educational or funny. I’m hoping it’s a little bit of all three, but no promises.