Many weeks ahead of schedule, our party of three headed out on the road! With our bikes strapped in and our makeshift rock guard in place, we loaded Carl in the car, said our goodbyes to Gram and Dave (where we have been working on the Airstream), and pulled out of the driveway.
I just want to take a second to acknowledge that we cannot believe that this day finally came. The day we really got to take Summer out on the road and see our beautiful country. I look back at pictures of when we first started and it gives me goosebumps every time. We worked so incredibly hard on this project, my husband especially, and are thankful to finally be traveling in our renovated Airstream! I am WEEKS and WEEKS behind on the renovation blog, but I hope to update that along the way.
So, we headed out, looking back and forth at each other and smiling wide, with Carl hollering in the backseat. We did it. It’s happening. Brandon wanted to make one quick stop before we hopped on the highway, just a few miles down the road from the farm, to check on the bikes in the back. He wasn’t super happy with how they were riding, but he tightened things and off we went.
Once we got over the Delaware border, Brandon stopped for a little bit of gas and to check on the bike rack. He was NOT happy with the way the bikes were riding. He added an extra ratchet strap and tightened things up again. I could see the worry on his face, but I hoped that our troubles with the bikes were behind us!
We had some struggles on the road and navigating. While we had navigation on our phones, it did not know that we were towing a very large trailer with an air conditioning unit on the top. We panicked at one point when a flashing sign told us that we were too tall to pass through a tunnel, so we got off 95. Mistake #1. This exit took us right through downtown Baltimore, with streets that were filled with potholes and bumps for our poor Airstream. Brandon winced at every single one. With a white-knuckle grip on the steering wheel, we kept on going. That is until a kind soul hollered at us that, “You lost a bike back there!” CRAP.
We pulled over and Brandon booked it up the street after the bike. We had borrowed these bikes from Brandon’s very generous mom- and we did not want to lose them! I stayed back with the car and surveyed the mess that was our back bumper. The remaining bike was barely hanging on and had been dragging along the road for who knows how many miles. Since the bike rack also had the spare trailer tire strapped to it, the bouncing had been uncontrollable, bending the entire back bumper with it.
Brandon did eventually return with the bike, having ran 3 blocks, riding the bike back. The one that had fallen off was fine, the other bike was busted. Then, the problem was- where to put the bikes? Our only solution was to put them inside the airstream, as the car was filled with Carl, tools, and the other spare trailer tire (we are very prepared for catastrophe). Once we had pulled off all the pillows and comforters and laid down towels on the floor and on the bed, Brandon duck (?) taped the bikes to the airstream, underneath counters and through handles. Legitimately using duck tape to tie these bikes to the airstream so they wouldn’t move and destroy all our hard work. Brandon and I looked at each other, shrugged our shoulders, and loaded back into the car.
Brandon was worried for pretty much the entire rest of the 4 and a half hours we drove. He was worried about the back tire bouncing on the bumper and that falling off on the highway. There was also a vibration that caused a lot of stress- for both of us.
We stopped an additional time in Virginia to fill up on gas. We were running SO behind. Our original plan was to stop somewhere, hop up in the airstream, make lunch, and give Carl some time to stretch his legs and use the litterbox. Well, that plan went out the window once we lost the bike! We were battling arriving in time to not interfere with quiet hours in the campground- which started at 10:00. At this stop, I realized that one of our countertops had popped off, we had lost a wheel on the bottom of our sliding bathroom door, and our fridge had slid forward and opened up during travel. Dang. Brandon quickly threw a few screws in the countertop, I wedged the door shut, and saved the refrigerator. I also made a makeshift litterbox for Carl and threw some food in for him.
At this point, it was like 7:00 and we were stressing about getting there in time. Brandon worried about sounds he heard from the trailer the whole rest of the 3 hour drive. I also eventually couldn’t handle the cat hollering anymore, so he slept on my lap for that last three hours too. HA! We have created a monster. At 10:00, we pulled into our campsite at Falls Lake State Recreation Area in Wake Forest, North Carolina. Brandon expertly backed into our site and we quickly (and quietly) unpacked the car. Luckily, our campsite was open 24-7 to campers, so we were able to easily get to our spot. I also picked the very first campsite as soon as you enter the park- so win for me!!
Sorry for the long post! We learned a LOT for our first day. The next day, we sold the bikes on Facebook and made some fixes to the interior. With a full day of rain, we had only one leak. Considering that a victory after the travel day we had. YIKES.
Much love,
Lauren
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