“Lets go for a Drive!”
If you haven’t read that Elephant and Piggie Book and have small children, you’re missing out. Basically they plan everything they need to go for a drive. “Make a plan and stick to it, is what I always say….”
That’s exactly what I like to envision my driving trips to be like, but rarely do I manage to do the actual “stick to the plan “ part. Becoming flexible has been my saving grace.
For those who don’t really know me, my name is Emily Jackson and I’m a Mom, Professional Athlete, Full Time Employee and World Traveler…. I live by the premise of “Uncompromised” Which means I have a list of 5 things are that are very important to me and I work hard to ensure I prioritize those on a daily basis. I also encourage my Husband, Nick to live by this philosophy. You can watch my Ted Talk Uncompromised at the bottom of this blog.
I grew up in an RV, I remember seeing some incredible places. We were living the dream. Some memories though, included popped tires, no gas and other misadventures, still remained positive… And I realize now it’s simply the way my parents expressed the situation and dealt with it. They maybe pulled their hair out at times, but they always came back with a new plan and they always made it fun.
When I look at the map of my year, which starts in TN, goes to California, Idaho, Colorado, British Columbia, Ottawa Valley and then some… I cringe at the idea of the drive… My daughter Parker, whose 2, gets car sick, and I cant drive an extra mile if for a second I think I’m tired… Doesn’t matter where we are, I’m pulling over.
This year my husband had some incredible opportunities, ones that I encouraged him to pursue, even though it left me with BIG drives solo…. Did I mention it’s my first year driving a truck trailer combo versus a Sprinter RV?
To save the time it would take us to drive across country, I would send my Husband off on his adventure and I would think in my head that I am crazy, and away we would go… Him taking off on his plane and me with the GMC Truck, Grand Design Trailer, two kids, and two dogs. Now if you asked my husband and honestly me, I had the better deal.
I can still remember Day 1 of loading up the trailer on my own…Now we don’t just have a trailer, its 28 Foot, Gorgeous Home on Wheels, that has quickly became “my baby.” Our Grand Design 28RBH has everything I never even knew I could wish for…. So I was not only nervous about the travel, but making sure the “baby” was in pristine condition in the process…. I took an extra 20 minutes loading up, which is a lot considering I shocked myself and backed up, and loaded the trailer in 5 minutes…. (I swear it takes my husband way longer) This first solo trip I was driving from Boise, Idaho to Calgary, Canada.
Once the trailer was loaded, I almost forgot it was there when we pulled away. We have a GMC Sierra and I honestly didn’t feel like we lost much power once it was hooked up. I actually had to remind myself that there is a BIG trailer attached to me. It was 5 in the morning and my two children, Tucker 5 and Parker, 2 were asleep in the back seat. I figured, if they slept in till 9, I at least got 4 hours under my belt. Those first 4 hours of having my kids asleep in the back, and the empty, wild and scenic highway in front of me, were liberating. Here I was, solo without my husband, moving our home, 2 dogs, and 2 kids across country lines and thousands of miles… I was empowered. Once those 4 hours were over, and the kids woke up and watched an hour of cartoon before we had to pull over. I realized, with my house with me, and no time restraint, I could do this, and not only could I do this but we could have a lot of fun in the process.
We stopped for awhile and I started looking up stops that were 6 hours apart, this really taught me about the locations I was in and I researched small towns that no one had ever heard of, only to find Parks, Rivers and plenty of Adventure.
First stop was Glacier National Park, which felt like we had just left the US and entered a miniature Switzerland. That day really fueled me to learn more about the places around me and the amenities, landscapes and history that each location had to offer. Not only was I learning so much, but my kids were too. After a day filled with following baby mountain goats, seeing Grizzly Bears and hiking over 8 miles. I came home to my home parked right outside the park. The kids slept in their own beds, I had my nighttime cup of tea and cuddled into my dogs… Life wasn’t just good, like was AMAZING!
We made several more stops along the way, we found quant RV parks with water slides and pools, we met endless amount of nice people always offering to help me if I seemed in a pinch. I became a (semi) master of backing the trailer up, hooking it up, and making tighter turns. Either way, I gained A LOT of confidence.
Now that I had conquered that 20 hour drive, and spent a week in Canmore, Canada competing in a whitewater kayaking event, my husband got offered to go on another gig. He looked at me and said, “Tell me not to go.” But I knew I could do the next drive, so I told him to go… This time almost the full length of Canada. Canmore, Alberta to the Ottawa Valley Region.
When I told people what I was about to do, they usually didn’t say much, just looked at me like I was slightly insane… But I had just done a wonderful 4 days and 20 hours with my kids a week before. What was double that going to change?
After my husband was dropped off for his flight out of Calgary. The cross Canada Adventure began. The mountains around me in Canmore were spectacular, near Banff to be exact. I wondered why the drive was going to bring, only looking up to 6 hours ahead of me. Only 2 hours from where I was starting, was a Canadian Provincial Park, and while I didn’t want to stop so soon, it happened to be Dinosaurs… Which when you have a 5 year old boy… You can’t pass up… So Day 1 we stopped at Dinosaur Provincial Park where we hiked in some crazy landscape and saw real dinosaur bones and dig sites. Once I saw the RV sites they had, I knew I wanted to spend the entire day and evening. So we parked, painted, picnicked and enjoyed the remote and surprisingly wonderful location.
The next morning I struggled getting my sway bars on, which if you are going to pull a big trailer, I highly recommend…. For some reason the way we were parked they were very low and I couldn’t get them where I needed them, after struggling for 30 minutes, I decided to ask my neighbor in the RV Park, who showed my if I raise the jacks up, it will lower the angle and make it easier to attach them. Sure enough, 5 minutes later we were hooked up and ready to roll… I was terrified previously that a moment like that would happen, where I felt stuck. I realize now that I probably built up those situations in my head, and that asking for help is never something to be ashamed of.
The next day we drove as close to Winnipeg as we could get as my Mother in Law who hadn’t seen the kids for almost 8 months, was itching to see them, and was flying in. I meant to drive 8 hour that day but only made it 7. Luckily when I searched for a small town near where we were, the town itself had 5 RV spots, with a full hook up, for $5 CAD. I was stoked. We pulled in tired but excited to be in an RV Camp Ground. I spent the night researching things to do in Winnipeg. It was a much bigger city then I was anticipating and I realized it had a ZOO! The kids had just visited Calgary Zoo, and if you want to wear small children out for a drive, the zoo is perfect. At 10 in the morning we picked my mother in law up and off to the zoo we went. I must say, it might be one of the best zoo’s I had ever been too. From Polar bear cubs to a lot of unusual kinds of yaks, deer and animals. After wearing the kids out we loaded back into the trailer.
We drove 2 hours while the kids were asleep and stumbled across the biggest farm to table store. It had endless rows of fruit, dairy products, meat and so forth. We bought as much as I thought we could eat and loaded it into the trailer. The kids woke up but enjoyed the bounty of the farmers stand for about another hour before we started looking at places to sleep. We found ourselves in Kenmore, surrounded by lakes after lake. We pulled in an hour before sunset and the kids ran around in the grass at an RV spot while I prepared a quick dinner from the farmers stand. Not having to get dressed to eat out, or look for a restaurant, knowing that your kitchen is with you, and full of goodness, takes a lot of pressure out of the drive.
The next morning I looked up another 6 hours past us and found Sleeping Giant Provincial Park. It was maybe 30 minutes out of the way but I was excited to explore Lake Superior. It was 5am again, and the trailer was ready to roll. I made myself a cup of tea. Kids, Mother in Law and dogs were loaded up and away we drove. That morning we caught sights of baby deer, bald eagles and lake after lake. We arrived at Sleeping Giant Provincial Park and I was in a hurry to explore as much as I could that day.
I was told I was given a drive through site but once I got to where we were supposed to be, it was going to be a real challenge to back in. (not a pull through site) Afraid to lose time in this new park, I took a deep breath and told myself I had all the time in the world to back in. Sure enough, with a calm and “no one to impress” attitude. I backed in perfectly. It took time as I questioned every inch we moved, but I was on top of the world once I put it in park. We threw the kids in the car, along with my Thule Sapling ( a back pack you put your small child in) and away we sped to the best hike in the Park- The Sea Lion Arch. Once we hiked down and enjoyed the physical activity that came with hiking, we spotted some paddlers on the lake. So I yelled out- “Where did you put in and how long does it take to get to the arch by water?!” When they yelled back to go to the towns boat ramp, and paddle 20 minutes, I was in. I left my Mother In Law and Son to hike back on their own and ran out to get all our paddling stuff together. Again a huge advantage to having your home with you, you are ready for anything. By the time I got back to the RV, with my Daughter on my back, got all our paddling stuff loaded in the truck, my Mother in Law and Son were just finishing the hike. We all jumped in the car and raced off to the boat ramp. It was already 7pm and I knew it got dark around 9:30/ 10:00. So I wanted to make sure we weren’t moving too slow. We got to the boat ramp, got the kids in wet suits and PFDS, got snacks and bottles, headlamps and off we paddled.
The water was pristine. It gave the illusion of being shallow just due to it being crystal clear. I was blown away with Lake Superior and its beauty. Every stroke I couldn’t believe how blessed I was to even be in this situation. Paddling through the arch I was thinking about how doubt could have kept me from so much, but by having faith and knowing that I can be flexible and adapt to any challenges that driving across country could bring me , everything was going to be more then okay…
We finished the paddle and got everything loaded back into the car, as I stripped my kids out of their wet clothes and put them into the trailer, I sighed pure joy. In that moment I felt like the exact parent I wanted to be, like my parents, living to the fullest. While my Mother in Law cooked dinner, I completed much needed work and crawled into bed to sleep. We slept so well, and woke up ready to drive.
Once again at 5am off went, only today was our last full day of driving. We visited a library, saw bears, watch the sunrise over a lake, visited an Indian stand, and although the drive didn’t offer much on the map, we found it to be a very rewarding drive.
While I was ready for the drive to be done the next day, I also wasn’t ready for the excitement of uncertainly to end, and normally, uncertainly means anxiety for me.
I learnt so much about myself, my kids, my capability in that drive. I found a newfound strength and I was shown how strong my kids can be. While I didn’t follow Elephant and Piggie’s rule of sticking to the plan, getting lost and finding flexibility really made the highlights, that much brighter.
I would highly recommend loading up in the trailer and hitting the open road, because honestly you really never know what you might find.
Emily Jackson
