July 2015- Road Trip!!! | The Harris Family Blog

July started out much like June finished….a whirlwind of busyness that makes the holiday season look leisurely. We celebrated the 4th of July with the usual shenanigans, fireworks, pool, beers, etc.

How pretty are these patriotic ladies?

Oh, and it was also the much anticipated National Cookie Day. We celebrated that with gusto…..

Next up, a much-anticipated wedding, that FINALLY partnered off one of our closest friends. We were beginning to wonder if he’d ever find “the one”, and I’m pleased to say that he found her, somehow convinced her to marry him, and that she even said yes. John and both of my big kids were honored to be a part of the big day, which was especially fitting because of the long-standing joke about Eric actually being the father of Jackson and Reese. They are super smart and mostly well-behaved, just like Eric:-) There’s no denying who is the father of Malory…

Before I move on to the main event, I need to document one picture that looks straightforward at first glance….

But, if you’ll look away from Mom’s handiwork over Reese’s shoulder, you’ll see habanero in the sink. Yup, that’s normal around here.

Another thing that’s beginning to look normal around here, much to my dismay…..RAIN. Again. For the love of God, it has to stop.

Now, let’s get ready to rumble!!! Or drive 12 hours in a house on wheels. Whatever.

Here’s she is….our very own 35′ Tioga Ranger, rented from RV America for 9 days, 2000 miles, or the loss of Mom’s sanity, whichever comes first. We’d done an RV trip once before when Jackson was a baby and enjoyed it, so thought this would be an ideal way to travel to Lake Okoboji. We were (mostly) right.

One thing to know about John is that it typically takes him a day or two to “transition” to vacation mode. This is a nice way of saying that the first leg of any vacation usually involves much eye rolling (me), yelling (him and me) and tears (the poor kids). This trip was no exception. We had a minor mechanical malfunction which delayed our leaving the front yard, but once we were out on the open road, we had all the makings of a great trip….see evidence below.

The first leg of the trip took us to Custer’s Gulch RV park in South Dakota. It was a great little spot, with a fire pit, picnic table, and most importantly somewhere to “dump the sh#$ter”. We settled right in for a dinner of chips and hot dogs, followed by s’mores and a few adult beverages. Barbie and Ken even got dressed for dinner. Clearly they’re not experienced campers.

The next day’s trek was L-O-N-G. The wind was blowing hard, which makes driving a house on wheels a little challenging. Add to that the part where John asked me to drive because he was working and needed to use his computer. I’ll spare the details because I should “let it go” but suffice it to say there was much yelling and eye rolling….again. We didn’t die, did we?

Finally, we arrived at our destination, a quaint lake-shore house in West Okoboji, Iowa. We were there primarily to visit my side of the family, and were just pleased as punch at their choice of this year’s destination. After a dicey situation in maneuvering the RV into the driveway, we got right to the business at hand, which was a little lake fun.

I was getting ready to write captions describing all of these pictures, but really they’re pretty self-explanatory, right? Sun, fun….end of story. Summer road trips ROCK, as long as you have squeeze cheese and the Garth Brooks station on Pandora. Maybe Yellowstone next summer?