The Hitch

Dan and Janice are home again, the trip is over, and usually that's very sad. But this time it feels different: everyone's energized and excited to do new things here at home. 

It's the final night in Evangeline, and the whole family is here to look back on the whole trip. It's been a long and good one, there's a lot to remember.

It's the second-to-last overnight and Dan and Janice are back in Iowa City. And being back on the same path that the trip started on gives some perspective on where they were and where they are now.

The heat wave that had been plaguing Nebraska the last few days has finally broken. And it turns out, this whole summer has been about just missing dramatic weather events.

Look. Dan shouldn't have said that maybe Nebraska wouldn't be a problem. Because it was absolutely a problem when, in attempting to unhitch in Ogallala, Nebraska, the tongue jack stopped working. Anyone got a good number for a mobile RV repair.

It's the final night in Colorado, and Evangeline is parked back at St Vrain State Park today, which means they're once again parked next to the Great Gas Price War of Greater Longmont. Plus:Dan probably jinxes the next couple days in Nebraska by saying that nothing will go wrong. 

This is it, it's really happening now: It's the final night in Lyons and the second-to-last night in Colorado. And while everyone feels OK about heading home, nobody feels great about leaving Lyons.

It's one week before Evangeline is parked and Janice and Dan and the family get home. And it's definitely hard to keep from thinking about what it will be like getting home. This time, it doesn't feel as sad for the trip to come to a close. Not because it was too much, but because everyone feels content.

It's Janice's Birthday! And it was a beautiful day, so most of it was spent outside. From eating every meal outside to hitting the river in the tube, to hiking around Boulder's beautiful Chautauqua park, it was a great birthday in the perfect weather.

It was the final move to Lyons Colorado, which also means it's the last week in Colorado before the road home. It also marks Dan's return to work, which is a little stressful but also a reminder of how lucky we are to do this.

It's the last day in Saint Vrain State Park, and it turns out both Janice and Dan are going to miss these beautiful sites. But most of the day was spent up in Lyons, catching the last chance to play pinball at the incredible pinball place, and of course dinner and ice cream at the Lyons Dairy Bar. Which, it turns out, was a real scene tonight: it had a little bit of everything.

Don't plan anything too ambitious for the day after Water World, because you will be far too exhausted for it. Most everyone hit the post-Water World wall today. However the little one hit it in the car last night. It got gross. 

It's very late and it's been a long day, but the whole family is here to talk about the epic day at Water World, the giant waterpark just outside of Denver. 

Last night's storm got worse after we stopped recording. Heavy rains and wind and... a kayak? Also: Dan got gas at the cheapest gas in Colorado. It was a whole scene. 

Evangeline is back in Colorado again, just in time for a big storm to hit, though it hasn't hit quite yet. Mostly, being in Colorado again means feeling like you've come back home, even though we're still 1000 miles away from our house.

Dan and Janice are parked partway through Wyoming, after what should have been an uneventful drive day. Except. Except that mistakes were made and hitching up took forever. In fact, it was so bad that they had to ask for help from a campground staffer named Kenny. Thanks Kenny!

Evangeline is stopped for a night in Bozeman, Montana, a town the whole family was charmed by back on 2018's trip. The campsite isn't particularly remote, sandwiched between the interstate and some busy train tracks, but it's very close to town. Turns out, a lot of money has moved in since the last time Evangeline came through, but it's still quite charming.  

Evangeline is parked in a big campground in the middle of a strip mall in Missoula Montana and finally everyone is getting cleaned after a long stretch without showering! After yesterday's difficult campground, this chain campground with his full hookups and level sites is a dream.

After backing up to a slightly less slopy sight, Janice and Dan and the family met up with a friend in Spokane who showed them the town. It was a great day! Especially being introduced to the public art/garbage can known as the Garbage Goat. 

Janice and Dan are out of the Pacific Northwest and back in the heat that the rest of the country has been experiencing. Tonight they're parked on a dramatic slope outside of Spokane, Washington. 

It's the last day in the Pacific Northwest, and the last day in the cool weather for the rest of the trip. And it's been an incredible time that everyone is really going to miss. But today, Janice and Dan capped it off with a trip to Orcas Island and, yes, that meant one last ferry ride.

It's the third day in a row of riding the ferry with the car! And Janice and Dan are loving that ferry life. Plus, how did parking Evangeline in the very tight, tree-lined campground go?

It's 8am and Evageline is on the open water, parked on the Port Townsend Ferry! It was an early wakeup and Dan and Janice are releshing the victories that lead to this moment on the boat. Come up to the sun deck and ride along.

Dan and Janice drove the car onto the ferry today so that they could head into Seattle beyond the tourist areas downtown. It meant Janice could visit the neighborhood she lived in back in the 90s, and the teen could go on a college visit. 

After a number of breakneck days, it was time to chill. And what a place to do it, right alongside the Sound in Bainbridge Island. Plus, a conversation with a trailer neighbor, caused Janice and Dan to change plans for the next stop. 

Everyone took the the ferry to Seattle to be tourists for the day. Which, it turns out, a lot of other people did too! It was bustling and crowded, but also a wonderful day in an incredible city. But now Dan and Janice are exhausted.

Evangeline is parked on Bainbridge Island, across from Seattle, and finally able to stop for a few days. The campsite they'll call home for five nights is right along the Puget Sound, offering breathtaking views.  The drive to get here was surprisingly chill, except for the absolute very end, which offered a very steep descent into the shoreside campground.

Getting to the Pacific has been a goal of the trip and tonight finds Janice and Dan finally there, complete with a shipwreck! But it wasn't without a whole lot of effort today, as a detour set them back by hours. It was already a long drive, but it was So. Much. Longer.

The big worry of this trip was crossing the Rocky Mountains, but it turns out once you cross them it's just more mountains! Janice has gone from a mountain novice to a seasoned veteran. Also: Oregon has shade and the heat is gone.

Janice and Dan are in Idaho and it is hot. The Air Conditioning is on full blast tonight, because even though the sun is down it's still well over 100 degrees. Oh, also, they almost ran out of gas. 

Tonight Evangeline is parked on Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake. This campsite was one we were really hesitant to book; reviews were filled with stories of swarms of biting gnats and spiders. Even their own official communications made it seem like it was going to be covered with insects. And yet: it turns out it was beautiful!  

There was just a single day in Moab, Utah, but everyone made the most of it by going to the Dead Horse Point overlook and being overwhelmed by the beauty of the canyons below. Just a stunning place in the world.

The main goal of driving over the mountains was to see Janice's niece and her fiance. Mission accomplished!  Plus, listen to Dan gush about the drive from east to west into Glenwood Springs.

At its core, The Hitch is about overcoming fears. And today Janice and Dan overcame their longstanding fear of towing up the Rocky Mountains.  It turns out, like a lot of things, the idea was far scarier than the reality.  

It's the final day in Lyons until the end of the trip, and much of the day has been spent with travel logistics and stress.  Despite having owned Evangeline for five years, and every trip having an extended period in Colorado, they've never driven the trailer over the Rockies. Tomorrow's the day and both Janice and Dan are stressed about it. 

The Lyons campground is beautiful whereever you are, that's a fact that's well established. But there's one campsite that's better than all the rest: Site Nine. And finally, we got it. Plus, friends come to visit!

Today we moved sites, from Longmont back to Lyons, Colorado. It's about a 25 minute drive between the two. Easy, right? Well, at some point along the way a bump was taken too fast and it resulted in the table leg breaking in the trailer. Things fall apart.

Our youngest turned seven today, so he joins us on the episode to talk about all the fun things that happened on his birthday! Also, one less-fun thing involving a sewer clog. You take the good, you take the bad, like the song says.

The birthday weekend continues, this time with a trip down to Denver to spend time in Janice's sister's backyard inventing games you can play with beanbags.

The little one's birthday weekend has begun, after a quick shifting of spots in Longmont, everyone ventured back up to Lyons to play at the incredible pinball arcade there. Plus, back to the Dairy Bar (again!!).

A quick move from Lyons to the St Vrain State Park, a beautiful pond-filled park just off the highway near Longmont finds Janice and Dan recording as the winds start to pick up around them. Plus, it's been very very hot.

Janice and Dan have friends over to visit, a rare and welcome occurrence, and they discover how nice it is to share this life with people you care about. But then, get ready, because it's laundry day and Dan loves laundry. And loves it even more after stumbling on a web connected laundromat. 

Today's episode was recorded alongside the St Vrain river in Lyons Colorado. Janice and Dan are joined by the little one, who's excited about the river and also a little hesitant to talk about it. He's a little too taken by watching the tubers float by!

Life in Lyons is in full swing: Dan had a full work day, Janice had family visit, and the little one had to figure out how to find his own fun.  

Welcome to Week Two! Janice and Dan are shifting the trailer into a more moved-in state, shopping for groceries, setting up chairs outside. It's life in Lyons for a few days, might as well settle in, unpack, and go grab burgers at the incredible burger and ice cream joint in town. 

It's the end of the first week, with many more weeks to go. Crossing Iowa and Nebraska was to get here: Lyons, Colorado, one of Janice and Dan's favorite places on earth. They get to spend quite a bit of time here over the next couple weeks, so this episode helps to orient you to this quaint mountain town.

Yesterday was a bad day, today in Nebraska was a better one. Though it didn't start that way, with high winds shaking the trailer. But, eventually the weather turned and so did attitudes and it was a good reminder that bad days are followed by ones that, if not necessarily good, are at least a little better.

This episode was recorded on June 24th, 2022, after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v Wade. Living life on the road means dealing with life on the road, and today that meant trying to process this huge blow while still pushing forward. It was hard, it is hard, and if you  would rather not hear the raw, immediate, impact of that day, at about the 15 minute mark the episode changes to talking about how Dan and the teen got stuck in the car during a massive storm. So also awful, just different.

Janice and Dan pull Evangeline into Nebraska, Janice's sworn enemy state. But the state park they're in for the night is actually pretty nice, and even Janice's hardened heart has to admit it.

After two days of pulling, it's a nice day off the road in Iowa City, where Dan needs to catch up on some work—only to be reminded that when you're working on the road, best laid plans often come undone. 

It's a drive day for Janice and Dan, as they hit the road for real, heading out from LaSalle/Peru and pulling to Iowa City. Except there's a little problem that comes up before they head out.