a very straight highway!

Life is... a highway(a very straight highway)!   I always thought the drive between Casper and Shoshoni was probably the most boring drive in the world. Yesterday morning we found a stretch of road that rivals that drive.  The upside to the drive to Wendover however,  is that it is interstate and the speed limit is 75mph (unless you are pulling a 35ft trailer and then you drive about 65-70).  We arrived at the Wendover KOA which is located on the Nevada side of town and quickly found a site that would be conducive to parking the truck and not feeling  like we are on top of our neighbors. All in all this will be a better environment for camper living however I could do without the 50 million goat head stickers and the mile walk to the laundry room. (I pray that the latter will be remedied by a new camper with washer and dryer).

 Our first excursion in Wendover was to get some much needed lunch. We had heard that there is a deli in one of the casinos that is amazing.  A quick tour of the town (this took all of 5 minutes) and we found the Rainbow casino which contains the '2nd street deli' and the source does not lie.  Not the cheapest place to eat but well worth it for an occasional splurge. Nathan had the Bronx  brisket sandwich with horseradish and I had the Brooklyn Reuben.  We both thoroughly enjoyed our sandwiches and I must say that it was the best Reuben I have ever had in my young life.  I can't wait to try some more of their sandwiches but at $8-9.00 for just the sandwich I won't get in too much of a hurry! 

The rest of our weekend thus far has consisted of laundry and just hanging out. Harlan and I will be taking Nathan to the airport in Salt Lake extremely early tomorrow so that he can go to a job in Alabama for 2 weeks and then we will leave on Tuesday for a visit to Casper. 

Getting ready to leave Oquirrh inn

Harlan Chillin' in the truck

 

The salt flats

indecisiveness!

Life is....indecisiveness!  Staying in Wendover. No, Tooele. No, Wendover. Make up your minds! ...and they say women are indecisive. Apparently men can be just as bad. We were told we could stay in Tooele through the entire job  and now we are told that if we do, Nathan will have to drive his own vehicle to work, which after this first month will be an hour and a half to two hour drive. Many of you have seen what we pull the camper with (Dodge 5500 essentially) and it doesn't exactly scream 'great fuel mileage'!  That being said we will be moving to the campground at Wendover on Friday. This is not necessarily a bad thing. There are in fact many positives to this; an actual campground, bigger hopefully better laundry facility, a pool, and more room around the camper for parking and sitting outside. The biggest negative is not having as much for stores and food at our disposal. Guess that means we should save more money right? Let's hope that is the case.  Part two of the indecisiveness is that Nathan was told he would be working five, 10 hour days and now he is working four, 10 hour days. Once again this has some positives as far as I am concerned. Three day weekends with my hubby sounds great to me. On the other hand a bigger paycheck sounds good to both of us, as this is the reason for being on the road.  Oh well, such is the life of working on the road. 

Now to update our 'lift off and re-entry procedures'  checklist. This is the list that we consult and go through like airline pilots before we pull slides in and drive down the road. This list ensures that we do the least amount of damage possible to our belongings and the trailer itself.  The list came about after the first few times things happened like forgetting to lock the pocket doors and they came unseated, and not putting the dishwasher scrubber in the sink and it falling between the outside of the slide and wall and making a large dent/crack.  Now we get to add the rearrangement of baby items to the list as well as delete a few that are no longer applicable.  I think this will be a good trial run to say the least. 

Let's get to the topic you all want to hear about; HARLAN!!! Harlan is 3 months old as of this last Friday and we still can't believe how much he grows right before our very eyes.  Whenever he is in a semi reclined position he tries very hard to sit up. He pulls his head forward as far as he can and holds himself there. He also spends lots of time looking at his hands and once in awhile he catches a glimpse of his feet.  He loves to lay in his crib and talk and talk and talk (especially when he is supposed to be sleeping).  He is overall a very happy child so if he is crying or fussing it is a sure sign he needs fed or changed. He also lets you know if he is bored and wants to talk to you or play. He is a busy little boy already so I think we are in for it when he learns to get around. 

 

 

what you make it!

Life is....what you make it! This week has old and new written all over it! Have we traveled with work before? Yes.  Have we lived in a fifth wheel before? Yes. Have we left all of our family wondering how crazy we are? Yes. Have we done all of this with a baby in tow? No.  

Living in a fifth wheel is not appealing to all, but once you get a handle on the out of the ordinary (emptying black and gray tanks, pushing a pedal with your foot to flush and learning to grocery shop in small increments) life continues as usual and you are none the wiser. This go around has added another element for us and once again we are adapting to make it part of our 'normal'.  Space is a luxury when traveling with the smallest of human beings and you learn to use it wisely.  Our 35 feet of living seemed so big so long ago and we are quickly finding that just a few or five more feet would be wonderful! There currently is a system of move that to get to that and then move it back again. Not as fun as tetris but a challenge just the same.  Our days are pretty much the same as back home for the most part. Nathan gets up and leaves for work by 6:30. Harlan and I are up about the same time or shortly after and the day begins....laundry, cleaning, feedings, naps, grocery shopping etc.   Our week started out with much more excitement including rain that tried to turn to snow,  a power outage for half the night and a gray tank that has a crack in it.  All in all though we are settling in nicely and Nathan continues to search the internet every night for a larger but not too large home on wheels and we continue to have faith in God and trust that we are right where we are supposed to be.