Go West, Young Family--An Introduction

This year Mr. Fantastic and I completely lost our minds were struck by an adventurous spirit and decided to take our family on a fast-track to Crazy Town a trip of a lifetime. Mr. Fantastic took an entire month off of work, we packed up the kids, and we headed west.

In an attempt to not invite burglars to our home, I decided not to publish anything about our trip until we returned. But I have kept a running log/journal so that you can fully appreciate the crazy experience the journey with us. There were ups, there were downs, there were things that did not go as planned at all--some better, some worse. I don't want to give anything away right now, so I'll just let you experience it "live" as I wrote it.

So here goes:

There are a few things you need to know about me and my family so that you can better appreciate this series…

First, I do.NOT.camp. I do not do anything that resembles camping. I try not to be outside for too long, in case someone around me suggests that it might be fun to camp. I think I am “roughing it” when Mr. Fantastic is in the potty that I want to use and I have to go to one of the other three toilets in our house. Me and camping? Yeah, we’re not exactly FB friends. And on this trip, this month-long excursion, we are camping.

Let that sink in a little.

Second, we’re totally not camping. I thought we were camping, but this is not camping. We are in an RV—and not just any RV, but an absolutely fabulous RV that my aunt and uncle were gracious enough to allow us to borrow. It has 2 slide-outs, lots of storage, a stove & oven, and (most importantly) plumbing. This is not camping. This is doable. Cramped, but doable.

Speaking of cramped spaces, there’s a third thing you should know. Mr. Fantastic is neat and orderly. No, scratch that. Mr. Fantastic is borderline OCD. Crumbs that I don’t even see on the ground will cause him to have a near heart attack. I, on the other hand, am more relaxed about cleanliness. OK, I admit… I am a tornado. I have actually gotten a lot better about that in the 12 years we have been married—and even prefer to have things neat and organized, even though I don’t always succeed at it—but I am still much more able to tolerate disorder than he is. And while this RV is very nice and bigger than many that he and I looked at (we originally thought about renting one), it is far from spacious.

And fourth, we have three kids. Yes, you already know that, but put all the pieces together and think about it again. WE.HAVE.THREE.KIDS. And one of them is Roo. For real. We are nuts.

So ponder those facts for a while and come back tomorrow to begin this westward journey with us.