On The Road Again

“I have found out that there ain't no surer way to find out whether you  like people or hate them than to travel with them.” ―   Mark Twain ,  Tom Sawyer Abroad Before our crew of eleven gets too far out on the road I'd like to introduce you to the stars of         On the Road Again . The cast of characters: Mark says, "I'm excited to see the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone." "I'm looking forward to the adventure and beautiful landscapes all shared with great friends," says Michelle Drew says, "I can't wait to see the USA!" "Can't wait to hang out with the Hess Family!" says Nick. Ryan says, "I can't wait to hike with my friends." "I can't wait to see the Rocky Mountains," says Kevin. Annie says, "Between seeing spectacular sights and hanging out with fun people, I'm not sure if it gets better than this!" "I'm most exci...

I've been camping for as long as I can remember so the basic needs for staying in a tent are covered for the Hess House. It's a bit different for going out West in an RV for two weeks. Between doing our own research and advice from friends we've made quite a few purchases over the last few months. No guarantees in their actual usefulness, but here are some of the more interesting items we've bought: The Coffee Cup Power Inverter has the similar weight of coffee cup, fits in your cup holder, and has a USB port as well as two plugs. This may be the sole reason why you're able to keep up to date with this blog! I'm really excited about these. One of the questions that has been on my mind since we began planning is what do you do with six people's worth of clothes for a two week trip? As simple as these look they are amazing! I got one large eBag for each family member and it holds five days worth of clothes, plus pjs, extra socks, and clothes f...

Four years ago we went to Disney World, staying in a cabin at Ft. Wilderness (a highly recommended resort), and for the year leading up to the trip it was all we could think about. With our trip out West, it has been very much the same situation. The Hesses take over France/Epcot A couple of weeks ago we celebrated summer birthdays with the Hess side of the family with the theme of   Explore the World . Gotta get your passport photos! Intense game of paper airplanes Part "Pin the Tail on the Donkey," part "Fortune Teller" Get blind-folded and spun around = Find out where your next trip will be! When we're in South Dakota Kevin will become Miss Nola's Godfather <3 Taking advantage of the party's location in Clifton to practice scenic photos Summer Birthday People! Fill your life with adventures, not things. Have stories to tell, not stuff to show. 

I was hoping to find the RV with enough time to get use out of it before we head West. Buying it in April (the start of baseball and softball season) was not going to make that easy! Although, we have been able to use the RV a few times this summer. All three boys were in a baseball tournament in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Memorial Day Weekend and while we stayed in the hotel with the teams we brought it to the complex for games. It ended up being a great idea because there was a two-hour rain delay where we relaxed in the air conditioning and the other teams jammed themselves under a shelter! No RV-movie mishaps with the first emptying of the tank! Found out that the cushions for the dinette are super-comfortable--Charlie was out! My cousin’s wedding was out at Stonelick Country Club so we reserved a site at East Fork State Park . Walking out of there in heels and Kevin in a suit was pretty funny, but how nice to get ready in the a/c :)  Kevin’s brother took the ...

I’m trying to recall the process of finding The One but honestly, I’ve blocked out much of what we went through. Unfortunately, it wasn’t an easy process. If money is no issue then you won’t have any problems. There is seemingly an endless amount of brand-new RVs at your disposal. When visiting a dealer in Lexington, Kentucky , we took a peek at one that was valued at $400,000. Wowza! It’s called a Tiffin Allegro and while it was very nice (and had a closet bigger than the one in our house) we were looking for something a little bit different. The salesperson was extremely helpful and I wish it would have worked out to buy from him but they had sold the RV that we went there to see and everything else was out of our price range. Many hours were spent looking on the RV Trader site and more often than not we found that the site wasn’t updated often. We’d fall in love with a Forest River or a Coachman only to find that someone bought it a month earlier. Argh. And then we learned tha...

I pride myself on organizing and planning, but Michelle’s husband, Mark, blew my mind with the plans he came up with for our trip! He has created both a daily schedule and an hour by hour spreadsheet of our trip. Here’s a quick look at our trip: Day 1: Let’s see how far we get the first night! (possibly Dahinda, Illinois) 355 miles, 5 hours There’s a Spoon River Rest Area Westbound that comes highly recommended! Day 2: Sioux Falls, SD - Kevin’s brother lives there and offered to let us camp on their farm for the night! Added bonus: we get some quality time with Baby Nola :) 515 miles, 7.5 hours Day 3: Badlands 283 miles, 4 hours Day 4: Wall, South Dakota 35 miles, 1 hour and then Deadwood, South Dakota 94 miles, 1.5 hours Day 5: Cody, Wyoming - (Benny’s 12th & Charlie’s 10th Birthdays!) 347 miles, 5.5 hours Days 6 - 10: Yellowstone National Park 94 miles, 2.5 hours Days 11 - 12: Grand Teton National Park 57 miles, 1.5 hours Day 13: Mt. Rushmore 470 ...

In late May of 2016 I was hanging out on my friend Michelle’s deck while the kids played wiffleball in the yard to kick off the start of summer vacation. One of the things I love about Michelle is that she’s always up for an adventure. It didn’t take the two of us long to put a plan into works that we are now seeing come to fruition a little over 13 months later! That summer Michelle's family had plans to spend time in Michigan, going from city to city with their pop-up camper. I was feeling pretty jealous! I shared my dream of doing an RV trip out West. Before the afternoon was over we had a two-week trip planned that went from the Isle Royale National Park in Michigan; to Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota; Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota; both Yellowstone and Grand Teton in Wyoming; and then Windcave and Badlands National Parks in South Dakota. Whew! We typed up our list, looked for info on renting an RV, sent it off to our husbands at work, and then...