Departure took a bit longer than anticipated and the first casualty of the trip was the microwave. It was tragically lost when it fell off the fridge turning back into the school before we left. Had a great sendoff from family and staff. And we were on the road. We have definitely been turning heads and the students are relaxing and enjoying the drive. We drove through wind advisorys all the way to our first camp and we could get it from the drivers seat and the fuel mileage. Discovered a few things that we didn’t test well enough or plan but that learning and adventure.

Frost night of camp was good. We started to figure out how to RV camp. Sleep was a little hard to find for some. 6:30 we are back on the road, for a long day of driving. Googles navigation was kind enough to tell us our path took us through blizzard advisories.

Here we go. 

Day 2

We left camp early, knowing it was our longest day on the road. It didn’t seem to matter which path we picked. They all had “blizzard warning” and “wind advisory.” We chose that path that seemed to avoid the storm as long as possible. Within a few hours, we hit the rain and found our leaks. At one point, we had a pot on the dash collecting water and a student hanging from the emergency exit to keep it sealed against the wind. After a bit of student problem-solving, we contained the leaks with cups, towels, and duct tape. The rain stopped, and miles and hours passed as we watched the weather. Then came hail and the blizzard; our speed was reduced to between 25 and 35, and we followed other large trucks and plows. We drove in the blizzard for 4 hours, stopping once for fuel and once on an off-ramp to de-ice the windshield so we could see. When we got to South Dakota, the blizzard disappeared, and most evidence of it was gone. We were back to highway speeds. We crossed the Missouri River and finally saw mountains and felt like we were ‘out west.’ We made camp at 8 after 14 hours on the road. The camp has no water since it’s still too cold here. We ate, showered in the bus, played some games and called it a night.

Day 3

It was a cold night. We expected the number of people on the bus to keep it warm enough, but we were wrong. At about 4 am, we started the diesel heater and warmed the bus. Our camp had no water since it was still winter. So, there are no restrooms or shower houses. We put our plumbing to the test and made it through with no issues. It was a 3-hour drive into the Black Hills to get to Rushmore. Made a quick stop at Wall Drug for doughnuts and 5-cent coffee on the way. Rushmore was impressive, and we got some great pictures. We loaded back up and drove into Wyoming to Devils Tower. We landed that night in Hulet, Wyoming, within a few miles of the tower after seeing it from the road. The town was small, with a k-12 school of 150. The boys went off to explore the city, and before I knew it, I got a call to come to the town’s museum. They were impressed by what we were doing and wanted to take our picture and put us in the local paper. It was a great day.

Day 4

Day 4 was expected to be a shorter day. The camp was next to a drive-thru coffee shack, a big win as far as I was concerned. We knocked the ice off our water lines, packed up, and were off. It was a short drive to Devil’s Tower. We geared up for some hiking and exploring. Francis Hoggatt managed to capture us from home on the live cam at Devil Tower. The views and scenery were breathtaking. We discovered that High School sports don’t totally prepare you for hikes in the mountains, and by the end, the bus was a welcome sight. We left the Tower, hit the gift shop, and were on the road to Gillette, WY, for our first Walmart re-supply. A few hours later, turning into the Walmart parking lot, the angles and a rough entrance, our fridge broke loose and fell over into the shower. We resupplied at Walmart, stopped by Home Depot for materials, and headed to Riverton, WY. We repaired/secured the fridge on the road. When we reached camp, we made a few more repairs, the students practiced baseball, we ate, etc. When we attempted to fill our water tanks, the wall adapter failed, and water was spraying inside the bus. We stopped showers and went into water conservation. We hope to pick up parts to make repairs in Cody, WY. I took a little time to enjoy the stars. It’s so dark and spread out you can see the night sky so much better here.

Day 5

When we started the bus at the Jim Moss Arena Campground in Wyoming, the moon was high in the sky, and most everyone was still asleep. I took the early driving shift, and one of the students and I enjoyed watching change as the sun rose over the beautiful scenery.  In an hour or so, we found ourselves going through Wind River Canyon. Many students were awake by then and watching through the windows. Rushing rapids and steep canyon walls were amazing; that was only the beginning.  The night before, we had a team meeting and had to decide what to do about Yellowstone. Due to winter, the roads through Yellowstone were closed. The choice was Yellowstone or Jackson and Grand Teton. The northern entrance to the mammoth hot springs via Gardiner, Montana, was still open but only to the springs.

Yellowstone was the decision, meaning the other two might not happen. We pit-stopped at the hardware store in Cody for the materials we needed to repair our water system and a few other repairs. Then began the long way around and made it to Yellowstone. We zigzagged our way through to Mammoth and the Hot Springs. The springs steaming amidst the snowy landscape with bison wandering about is something to behold.  Shortly after, we descended back into Gardiner, after a brief stop for Bison crossing the road to get souvenirs.  Once we had made sufficient purchases, we departed for Bernie and Sharon’s RV park in Garrison, Montana.

Day 6

We left camp early to make sure we could see what we wanted to see and get as far as we could. It was pure darkness when I got on the highway. Eventually, silhouettes of mountains appeared out of the dark. Like they had always been there, just invisible. We traveled north through the Flathead Indian reservation and by Flathead Lake. I’m sure you would get used to it if you lived here, but being surrounded by beautiful views made the drive more enjoyable. As we approached Glacier National Park, the snow kept getting deeper. When we entered the park, it was like it had just snowed, with only tire tracks in front of us. Lake MacDonald and its lodge were as far as we could get into the park due to closed roads, but it was amazing.

We had reached the goal we set out to do almost a year ago. I can’t say anyone else felt the weight of that, but I know I did. We spent about 2 hours in the park, and everything was closed save one gift shop. Back on the bus, we headed back south to get as close to the Tetons as possible. We landed that evening at Beaverhead RV Park in Dillon, MT, early enough to enjoy the camp. We divided up what needed to be done, and before I knew it, there was a campfire, the grill was going, and the camp chairs were out. We finally had the time to tackle the water situation and managed to bypass the faulty part so we could fill our tanks again, none to soon since we ran out after dinner. We filled out tanks and settled for the night. Everyone seemed to enjoy getting to camp early enough to relax, and I heard multiple comments about today being the best day so far.

Day 7

The bus rolled out of Beaverhead at about 6:30. We’ve developed a system where I do the first shift of driving while everyone is asleep, gradually wakes, and we get to our destination, and then Alec takes the second half to the new camp. Seems to work out well and I’ve been told that is the best sleep hours for everyone, except me. Today, we picked up the Grand Tetons and Jackson that we had to skip earlier on the trip. To get there from the Idaho side, we had to go over Teton Pass, elevation 8431 ft, which really put the Bus through its paces. We rolled into Jackson smelling like hot brakes and headed into the National Elk Refuge and Grand Teton. The main part of the Tetons was closed, but we got to a few overlooks and took terrific pictures. We had a snowball fight overlooking the Snake River. We made our way back into Jackson for Bison Burgers and to go through the shops. Then we got back on the road down to Willard and went to our next campsite. When we arrived, tasks got distributed, and everything seemed to work for the evening.  It was a good night. 

Day 8

We rolled out of the camp as a the sun started to light up the mountains around us and we began the 4 hour drive to Arches National Park. The ride passed fairly quickly but we were not prepared for Arches. The drive in was beautiful but I did not expect all the people. We had been nearly the only people visiting the other parks but with the temperature in the 70s Arches was pretty busy. Parking a bus was challenging, there may have been some questionable locations but when the bus lane is filled with cars you do what you have to. We did multiple quick stops at overlooks but did some hiking at the main arches stop. Had some nice visitors from Michigan admiring our work. We grabbed lunch in the bus and went to make a quick stop at Canyonlands then headed to camp. The hiking took longer than expected and and we were running late. We made a quick resupply at Carl’s Jr and Walmart then landed at the Pleasant Valley RV Park at 10. Showers, some games and we were going to bed.

Day 9

We had a busy planned and departed as the sun was rising. Everyone was essentially asleep until we arrived at the Zion visitor center. When we entered Zion I expected a more scaled down typical National Park that was not the case. There was essentially a small resort town inside the park. Some of us grabbed breakfast from a small coffee shop while the others raised the pantry. We also happened to arrive at the same time as a bunch of folks hiking the actual river in waiders. Not what I expected. Zion was busier than Arches, people all over the place. I can’t imagine the busy season, but we might have been in th spring break rush. We picked up a pass to take the bus through the 1+ mile tunnel towards the Grand Canyon. Luckily the bus was under the height limit by a comfortable 7 inches on the sides. We found out later that next year they are closing the tunnel for RVs altogether. The view in Zion were incredible, so much color and unique formations and we were only able to drive through and stop at lookout points. We wanted to save time for the Grand Canyon so we made it through Zion and ventured South. In a few hours we reached the edge of the canyon and stopped to look. We managed to lock ourselves out of the bus, thankfully since we built it we knew a way in. The first stop was impressive but we weren’t actually in the national park yet. Once we made it to the tower, i can say it more than lives up to the term Grand. We spent a few hours at checking things out and taking pictures. It was amazing. One of the students “tamed” a squirrel but the bus is a no squirrel zone. On the way out of the park we managed to get a few pictures as the sun went down. We arrive at camp in the dark, the students cooked dinner and did a fine job. We were running into each other a bit but otherwise did a great job. With tomorrow being another early day we went to bed.  

Day 10

We got an early start for our last long day of driving. We left the Grand Canyon Oasis RV resort and started the drive to Monument Valley. I can say the roads in Arizona, or at least those parts, leave something to be desired. Rough road for the next 24 miles is no joke. I’m not sure how anyone slept through that, but they did. Monument Valley was impressive, with wide open spaces and towering monoliths you can see for miles. It was part of the Navajo reservation and had a museum of the Navajo Code Talkers from WWII. Sadly, our time was limited, and they wouldn’t let us take the bus on the scenic tour road. We went from there to The Four Corners. It was interesting to stand in four states at once, but it was a little underwhelming after all the other sites we had been to. We drove the next 5 hours to a lovely riverside campsite in Colorado. The road there took us over Wolf Creek Pass, and I was glad I had as much experience driving as I had acquired as it climbed to over 10000 feet. Once the pass was done thanks to Colorado’s smooth roads we were able to make some dinner in the bus on the way. When we reached camp, there was Cornhole, baseball, fishing, and workouts. A typical evening before showers and more games then bed. It feels like a bit of a unique routine, but it seems to be working. 

Day 11

The day started much like the rest except for the sun starting to rise over the creek between the mountains. I had a brief GPS error at the start, but I noticed and corrected it early. The mountain passes during the sunrise made the morning drive nice. I saw some deer loitering near the road on the way. Before I realized we were coming into Colorado Springs and passed by NORAD or Cheyenne mountain. We arrived at the Garden of the Gods about 5 minutes before they opened, giving the boys some time to get up and get ready. We stopped at the visitor center and went hiking. It seems strange that it is in Colorado Springs and just appears out of the city. We spend about 2 hours hiking and taking pictures. We ran across a free climber in the park, and the students got to talk to him and took some cool pictures. Afterward, we opted to try an In-n-out burger. The verdict was generally favorable. We had a light travel day, and the boys were charged with finding something to do if they wanted to. So obviously, the debate started when we had to make a decision. Eventually, Top Golf won the debate, and we went. We had to wait on available bays and kill time in a Bass Pro Shop. We nearly left but got notified that our bays were ready and spent the next 90 minutes there. It seemed like a good change of pace, and everyone seemed to enjoy something different. I was a bit of a hard sell but I’m glad we did it. We took off down the road, knowing the wait and activity cost us a bunch of daylight.

On top of that, when we entered Kansas, we lost an hour going to Central time. Some of the students have discovered that there is enough room for a partial workout in the kitchen hall, so pushups and planks have been happening while we cruise down I-70. We reached camp and got everything setup. It was nice enough but there was nothing around, it felt like we were in the middle of nowhere. We followed our routine and went to bed. 

Day 12

The day started like the rest,.earliest start and sending whoever was sleeping in the chair to take my spot. We left High Plains Campground in the notorious Kansas wind and fought it all the way to our next destination. The wide open high plains felt almost desert like with high gaps in between small towns. We made a fuel stop at the smallest Love’s I’ve ever encountered and got back on the road. The GPS kept trying to get me to go on dirt roads and when seemed like the last option I took it. We bounced our way down into what appeared to be a dryed up creek. It wasnt as dry as anticipated and we slid our way through and acquired a fair bit of Kansas mud. We decided not to do that again and found what was the only paved way to the Center of the Contiguous US. It was interesting and a bit underwhelming there was a small chapel, shelter house and marker. We took a picture, looked around for a bit and loaded back into the bus. To my surprise a few other cars pulled in as we were departing. We were going through Kansas City on the way to the last campsite and who can go through Kansas City without BBQ. The students found a place called Slaps and I can say it was some the best BBQ I’ve ever had. With everyone satisfied we headed through the rush hour traffic to Cottonwoods RV Park. The park happened to be next to an athletic complex and had lots of nice amenities. The boys disappeared to play basketbal, football and baseball. Which left me with a rare hour or so of quiet time in the bus. We rented a fire ring ane bought some wood. Dinner ended up being anything that could go in a pie maker or on a roasting stick. We had some good conversations around the fire and then everyone started to wind down for the night. With the hopes of an earlier departure we went to bed. 

Day 13

With the threat of storms and hail and the urging of the students we left earlier than normal. The bus rolled out of camp at 430. Fueled up and got back on the interstate. In a short 2 hours we were at the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. Parking the bus downtown was interesting but thankfully that restaurant was doing valet at 6:30 am. We got our and walked around the Arch for a little while, took pictures and got back on the road. We did well keeping the storm behind us on the trip back. We made a surprise pit stop in Fischers to get Cane’s, the most requested food on the trip. Everyone was very excited. We made it back to school with no issues and were met by our Director of Operations. I know he’s been following our journey closely as our bus mechanic. Within a few moments we had parents arriving, happy to have everyone home safe. We got the bus put away and everyone sent home. I can easily say that I’m incredibly proud of my team and what we’ve been able to accomplish in seven short months. While the trip didn’t go flawlessly the experience, the lesson’s learned, and the memories are priceless.