Day 21: Island Park, ID

Idaho is surprising me. I guess since this state is known for potatoes I assumed it was nondescript and brown. I was definitely wrong. I went for a short jog this morning and this is what I saw. Definitely not brown and nondescript. Also, a good reminder that your assumptions can be wrong.

This day was pretty low key. Beyond the usual schoolwork and work, Lucy and I drove into town to grab some groceries. We haven’t been in a location yet where the groceries were limited until today. The grocery store was a glorified convenience store with a little produce. Luckily, we found what we needed and after dropping off our postcards, headed home.

The kids have met another little girl at the RV park. Her name is Niola who is eight and in the third grade like Hudson. Both kids have loved riding bikes with her and playing at the playground. When I told Niola she had a pretty name she said she was named after her grandmother who “sadly passed.” Lucy chimes in and told us “she killed herself.” I could hear Jordan and both take a breath and then Niola explained “she had schizophrenia.” Then Lucy pops back in and says “when you have Pennsylvania you hear voices like ‘Lucy…Lucy.” I was a deer in the headlights during this whole exchange so I didn’t correct her “Pennsylvania” to schizophrenia. My kids are learning about all sorts of subjects on this trip. Hudson and Lucy really enjoy playing with Niola and are asking for a way to keep in touch with her.

I’ve mentioned that the lack of space isn’t really bothering us, but the lack of down time is. I can tell the newness of the trailer is wearing off a little and our “go-go” mindset is taking a toll. Also, I had this idea that every day needed to be amazing and magical. We had some really cool plans for this afternoon, but we scrapped them and let the kids play with Niola, I did laundry. We grilled outside and then played pickle ball. We have no idea what the rules to pickle ball are. We just yell and celebrate when someone hits them ball over the net. It was just what we needed.

Jordan is still dealing with our hot water pressure. He drains it, flushes it out, and the hot water will have pressure for a while. Then it starts sputtering again and ha repeats the entire process. When we get to a bigger city, he may look into getting some other tool to fix the issue. When we wake up it’s usually around 35 degrees so decent hot water pressure would be nice!

I’m personally feeling a little stressed. Obviously, I’m the main person who manages the kids schooling which takes up most of my time. Virtual parents out there – are you amazed by the sheer number of emails you receive?! I’m also desperately trying to find an RV park close to the Grand Canyon with our amended dates which is taking so much time. We HAVE to go to the Grand Canyon. I also volunteered to be our schools’s fall fundraiser chair before we decided to take this crazy trip. In hindsight, I should have stepped down when I realized I wouldn’t physically be in Sugar Land. I feel like I’m dropping the ball, letting people down and for me, there is no worse feeling. I can’t believe at one point I thought I could take a six-week online creative writing class while on this trip. That’s going to have to wait. It will all be ok. It will all work out. I’m just going to keep repeating that phrase.

One thing that is so cool is seeing all the different license plates in the RV parks. I’m going to start keeping a tally of how many we see. It’s cheesy, but seeing all of these state names reminds you how big our country is!

Tomorrow should be more exciting. I think I said that yesterday!

Until next time…

Sarah