Vermillion SD to Sheridan Wy 638 miles 8 hours & 42 minutes

Yesterday my loving husband and I did something we've never done in our 14 years together.  We put a giant suitcase thing on top of our mini van, filled it with stuff one needs to live on the road and in a mini van for 8 days and we took off on a road trip.  Like a for real road trip, not a cruise to Minneapolis.

We have to be in Seattle on Thursday July 17th and we decided to drive there and most people were like "Why not just fly?"  and "Oh that is going to be a long drive, gas is expensive, you'll never get hotels during tourist season."  So much hostility towards the road trip option, so much negativity. I do understand the hate for the 1500 mile road trip because I have kids.  Which brings me to the reason we decided to do this:  no kids.

I love my babies, I truly do.  Like momma gorilla, carry them around by the feet, give them all day piggy back rides, pick the bugs off their nappy little heads kind of love them.  I feel like I need to say that before I say this:  I dislike them on car rides.

It starts with who gets shotgun (we had to make a frick'n schedule so no one would die in a fist fight) and it never ends.  The length of the car ride matters not.  Trip to HyVee for green onion brats = who gets control over the music (in our house it's either the grown up or the person not riding shotgun).  Everything is an argument: where every one's gear sits,who gets to charge their phone next, who made the bad smell, who has to sit next to Liam and answer his endless, breathless stream of 5 year old questions.

"Momma do you think it's a good idea for me to wait until I'm 12 to watch Jurassic Park?  I feel like it's pretty aggressive for 5 year olds."

So we said yes to 2.5 days alone in a car, because...no kids.  We said yes to 1500 miles because in 14 years, we've taken zero real road trips and all our mini road trips have been with children, speed racing to the destination to get the hell out of the car.

So here we are, alone together for 8 + hours in the swagger wagon on day one and so far kind of overwhelmed by how fantastic it's been.

Once we cleared the Mitchell SD exit, Brandon was further west than he had ever been.  I have completed to I90 trek to Wyoming more times than I can remember.  At some point I became desensitized to the beauty of western South Dakota, but seeing it with Brandon made those miles new again.  

I miss the city and so I forget the importance and the beauty of wide open spaces.  I miss the city and so I forget to listen to the peace in the quiet.  Brandon misses the city, but he knows when something is worth his time, worth exploring, worth acknowledging.  When to say yes that, but don't ignore this.  

As we wrapped up our first day, we faced 1.5 hours of Wyoming I90 to Sheridan.  The wind blew in a dark band of intimidating clouds.   Immigrant Song made a perfectly time classic rock radio appearance as we raced to beat the rain.  Thunder, lightening, but the sunset continued, guiding us west, peaking under the storm clouds.  I realized that I was in the presence of a phenomenon my friend Regina loves to document.  The Wyoming sunset.  So, for my friend Regina...my first Wyoming Sunset in 22 years.  

The road

Blog post July 14 2015.  Road trip with my main squeeze.  Ragnar Northwest Passage.  Stay tuned.

This one time, I blogged for 4 months

This was so much harder than blogging, but it was so important for me to do it.  I could have just sent out an awesome photo album (which I am going to do) or I could have linked to a bunch of separate videos, but even 4.5 months later, these 4 days were so incredibly meaningful and beautiful they need to be preserved with photo, video, music and love.

So I tried to do that.  In a program I've never used before on my fancy new Mac I almost chucked out the window as I struggled with this.  This was my toughest, slowest leg. 20 hours.  I'm officially in training for doing a better job after Seattle:)

Here you go Bamboozlers, proof of the awesome thing you did.   Proof that 6 semi strangers can live in a commercial van for 2 days without sleep, proper hygiene or proper food safety storage and come out life long friends.

We may do many more Ragnars, and they will all be amazing in their own ways.  But there will never be another first Ragnar.  We will never again meet for the first time.  We will never again be blown away by how well we click or how lucky we each are to know the one person that could link us all together.

We will gather in our post race rental house year after year, exhausted and totally high on the vibe from this group being together again, but we will always remember our first night in the house in "witch town."

And how badly Jim disappointed his team.  Never be Jim.

And how to sleep 6 comfortably in a van, in a parking lot with about 700 of your new friends.

And that nothing feels better than pooping in a Honey Bucket for the first time.

And which reflective vests are not runner friendly.

And how to make up the best card/dance game ever.

And how natural sister wifing really is.

And how to never make fun of a hooker witch.

And how to drive a commercial van down death mountain.

And how incredibly hard it is to realize its all over and we have to return to the little corners of life without our new friends.

Like our next Ragnar, the next movie will be easier in some ways and that will be nice. But there is something to be said for things being new, outside our comfort zone, really difficult and really challenging.

Beautiful things come from those experiences.

BAMBOOZLERS!

Ragnar 2014 the Bamboozlers Movie