Escape by RV

We headed out this weekend on our big adventure of the year, an RV trip. It was our first time renting one and we were a little nervous but also amazingly excited. We have not gone much of anywhere this summer (or basically since March), and we were all thrilled to be out of the house and in our own traveling home.

Max had been trying to get us to drive to Los Angeles, where he still wishes he could live. Visiting Yellowstone National Park has long been on my bucket list. We both finally acknowledged that for our debut RV journey, staying a bit closer to home was a good idea. Planning a trip is pretty easy, and sure beats dealing with airline travel. When I browsed Go RVing for links to local RV rentals and campsites, I found good availability. (You can read reviews about campsites at sites like The Dyrt and the Campendium app.) The hour and a half drive to our first stop, Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park: Lazy River, was uneventful although Dave discovered that my habit of being a backseat drier is even more annoying when you're driving an RV. 

The campground is large and we got a golf cart, which is one of Max's all-time favorite activities and also helps him not get tired from walking around. We brought the kids' scooters and outdoor games. So far we've enjoyed arts and crafts activities, sightings of Yogi Bear, the giant jumping pillow, various playgrounds, mini golf, a water park (we had to make reservations and there were caps on the number of people during each session), a lazy river and seriously amazing ice-cream. One sign of a great vacation: when Max asks if he can come back next year. Within a few hours of being there, he was asking if we could return next year. 

Since Max, Sabrina and Ben didn't get to go to their usual summer camps this year, we were especially glad for them to get their fix of the great outdoors. Camp is also where Max flexes his independence, and I was bummed he lost out on that. But there was no stopping him here. 

It started when he decided that he was going to do his speech therapy session in the golf cart. We'd told his longtime therapist that he'd skip it—except Max insisted on it. So golf cart speech therapy it was. And despite Max's cajoling, we are not getting him one for home so he can do therapy while sitting on our street. 

Max also insisted on cooking. At home, he makes scrambled eggs for himself and for Ben every morning. Here, too, he decided it was his job. He cooked them up like a pro and as we dug in, he dug for the usual compliments "Is it good?!" Yes, it was. Everything always tastes better when it's cooked outside.  

Once Max discovered the pedal cart track, it was hard to keep him around the RV after that. He'd wave goodbye, take the five-minute walk there by himself and then pedal away like a madman. He was literally unstoppable. I'm sure it's freeing to him to drive around, and he's really good at it. 

We have all been relaxing. I've actually been able to sit around during the daytime—daytime!—and read outside the RV. We've enjoyed cruising around the campground on the golf cart and checking out other RVs. Some people rent campsites for the entire summer and had fences set up, landscaping and pools. The guy in the RV behind us was mowing the lawn one afternoon. 

Not surprisingly, Max would be pretty wiped out by evening and was fine with letting us make toasted marshmallows for him. His record is downing 15 marshmallows in one sitting and he hasn't broken that yet, though he has the rest of the RV trip ahead of him.

Family photo: Simone Kelly