Hey Guys! While Missouri isn’t technically our home…it’s where we grew up and where family and friends still are…so it’s home. After a super busy South Dakota/Wyoming/Nebraska loop, we were all ready for some down time as we headed back to my (Jennie’s) parent’s house to do some driveway camping.

Before we could rest and enjoy family and friends…we had to do something about the AC units that weren’t working. It was a miserably hot two day drive back from Nebraska when none of our AC units were working. YUP…we drove back without AC when the temps were in the 90s. That nomad life can be so glamorous sometimes! Heavy on the sarcasm there. Ha! We were afraid we wouldn’t be able to find any big units to replace the roof units, but amazingly, we found not one…but two! We ended up replacing both of our roof units and Guys, that super cold AC air never felt so good! It took all five of us and some ingenuity to get the two big ACs up on top of our home-on-wheels, but we got them up there and then Jerl and Alex got them switched out! The dash AC unit on the RV also decided to go cah-puts. My dad and Jerl were able to fix that too. Apparently, when we had some engine work done at a Ford dealership, one of the AC hoses didn’t get moved and over time, a little hole was worn into the tube…leaky tube equals no cold air. I’ll never take air conditioning for granted again.

We celebrated the 4th of July with family and food and fireworks! The boys really got into setting off fireworks this year and spent the entire day (sorry neighbors) shooting them off. I finally made a flag cake. I see them pop up in my Pinterest feed every year…and every year I tell myself I should make one. Well, I finally made one and it was pretty darn good! Super moist and light!! It didn’t last long.

Our oldest (Charles) turned the big 21. I’m still not sure how I feel about having an official adult. Where does the time go? He can’t be that old…I can’t be old enough to have a kid that’s 21!! We’re super proud of the man he’s becoming.

Nicholas…my Littlest…had Senior pics taken by one of our cousins. He’s done all three of my kiddos Senior pics now! He takes some of the best ones I’ve seen and we really appreciate his time and willingness to fit us into his busy schedule!! I’m not sure how I feel about having my baby in his Senior year this year. I’m having lots of hard mama bear feels right now…if you need me, I’ll be over here eating my feelings.

The rest of the time we spent visiting family and friends. We just about had ourselves talked into stealing our cousin’s dog, but couldn’t figure out where a Great Dane would sleep in our tiny home-on-wheels… so we didn’t. Besides, our cats would have had a total hissy fit if we’d brought some big drooling dog home.

We were only back in Missouri for a month, but squeezed in several meals with friends and family along with some downtime to recharge before we started prepping for the next (and last) adventure loop of the year!

We’ve explored fourteen National Park Units so far this year and have quite a few more planned for this next loop. Hopefully, everything works out as planned and we don’t get into more lockdowns and shutdowns and all of that stuff again as we head East.

Hope Y’all have had a wonderful summer this year! Stay safe out there!

See Y’all down the road!

#NationalParkTour