9.4.15 putting some miles behind us.

/

We woke up still in the Flaming Gorge Recreation Area and had a plan in place to get across the border into Idaho by nightfall.

Leaving our lovely camp spot behind.

Leaving our lovely camp spot behind.

We couldn't help but pull over when we saw signs for a kayak park in Green River, Wyoming.

We couldn't help but pull over when we saw signs for a kayak park in Green River, Wyoming.

Some lovely scenery near Green River, Wyoming.

Some lovely scenery near Green River, Wyoming.

Our favorite part of road trips without much of a schedule is being able to stop every time we find something of interest to see. We ended up on a wonderfully winding road through Utah that took us past some beautiful lakes and a spring.

Christian is becoming quite the photographer. He often steals my camera to snap photos and I don't mind one bit...it's nice knowing there's documentation of both of us on the trips we take!

Christian is becoming quite the photographer. He often steals my camera to snap photos and I don't mind one bit...it's nice knowing there's documentation of both of us on the trips we take!

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My little shutterbug.

My little shutterbug.

He's so photogenic.

He's so photogenic.

We crossed into Idaho right on schedule and stopped off at a tiny grocery store in Malta for a few food items before seeking out our free campsite for the night.

The dispersed camp sites were about 10 miles down a gravel road. The drive was beautiful in the late afternoon sun.

The dispersed camp sites were about 10 miles down a gravel road. The drive was beautiful in the late afternoon sun.

There were quite a few cows to be found along the way.

There were quite a few cows to be found along the way.

Found an ideal spot along a creek and took an evening hike up to check out the view.

Found an ideal spot along a creek and took an evening hike up to check out the view.

Beautiful sunset.

Beautiful sunset.

The best dinner seating around.

The best dinner seating around.

What a lovely perfect night to be camping.

What a lovely perfect night to be camping.

the breakdown.

/

Our morning drive out of Vermont and into New York was perfect. It took us through some gorgeous towns and winding roads that were a far cry from the thousand-plus miles of interstates we knew lay ahead. With nothing but the cost of diesel in our way, we chugged towards Niagara Falls with the intentions of staying nearby for the night and exploring the falls early the next morning before beginning the massive trek home.

About an hour after Christian took over the wheel, he aimed for an exit ramp to a service station. Excited that he'd sensed my impending need to empty my tiny bladder, I hadn't realized there was an odd sound and smell eminating from the engine. As soon as we'd pulled off and began to slow, I too noticed the sound and smell. We quickly parked and popped the hood to inspect. It was immediately apparent what the origin was, as we found a small trickle of smoke wafting up at us from the belt around the AC compressor. Apparently, the compressor had somehow seized up and was now static as the belt spun around it, creating a massive amount of friction.

Being that it was well past closing time for any garages nearby, we opted to head to the next main exit to a truck stop for the night and figure out a plan. Christian did some Googling and made a few phone calls to local shops, leaving messages explaining our situation and asking for a callback as soon as they opened the next day. Given our predicament, we did the only thing we could…we popped a few beers and hunkered down for the night, hopeful that we could get our dear Campbulance into a shop first thing in the morning.

We got up bright and early the next morning and made some coffee with anticipation that we'd soon be heading down the road to a nearby shop. We received a phone call from one of the shops we'd called the night before and they immediately referred us to Dave's Service Center knowing that they worked on diesels. I slurped down the rest of my coffee as Christian made the call to prep Dave's for our arrival.

Dave's made quick work of diagnosing the problem and figuring out the solution…we needed a new AC compressor. Lucky for us, we got there just under the deadline to get same-day parts, so they ordered it quickly and assured us we'd be on our way by 3pm. That gave us an entire morning and afternoon to explore the nearby city of Geneva, so we grabbed our daypack and set off on a walk.

Knowing that we'd have few opportunities to blog on the road, we set out for the library to make use of their free internet and do some catching up. After a few hours of photo editing and blog-writing, we decided it was time to take advantage of the beautiful weather and go exploring.

As inconvenient as the engine trouble was, we ended up having a blast walking around Geneva and exploring the shops and lake. I think we were both grateful for the mandatory break it gave us from the road. After poking around shops and thrift stores, exploring the nearby lake and filling up on a tasty lunch, we figured it was time to head back to Dave's and see what progress had been made.

True to their word, Dave's had Campbulance all ready to roll by 3pm and we were on our way west with renewed confidence and one thing on our mind…making it to Niagara Falls before nightfall.

We've taken to yelling "Whoop whoop!" at every ambulance we see on the road now…

- Chelsea

we've made a huge mistake.

/

I left off yesterday while we were driving towards NYC. Though optimistic about our endeavor as a whole, we knew we might hit a few stressful moments as we breached the city limits in the Campbulance. Not surprisingly, the traffic getting through the Holland Tunnel was bumper to bumper and put us behind our already delayed schedule. It was sitting in said traffic that we both began to question the soundness of our decision. In fact, our optimism was quickly turning to a sense of dread and realization that we might've made a huge mistake.

When we finally made it through the tunnel (Christian was still driving and I was navigating), we knew we had to find our way through Manhattan and across the Williamsburg Bridge to Brooklyn. The stress was mounting as we fumbled our way through turns and forks, hoping against hope that we'd make it the first try without having to backtrack or turn around. Thinking we were in the clear once on the bridge, I got out the camera to take a few photos and video just as there was a clear division in the road and two very different options ahead of us. We cut it close, but made it to the right lane before mistakenly heading towards the Bronx. Surprisingly, there was no yelling or cursing between us, but we did have a few of the more tense moments in our relationship during that stretch of driving.

We pulled up in front of his brother's apartment with a sigh of relief as we saw a giant spot right in front. I hopped out to play defense as Christian maneuvered it up beside the curb. Never has such a sigh of relief been so anticipated as that moment when the engine was shut off and the driving for the day was done. Initially, we'd plan to take Campbulance down to Park Slope so that my friends meeting us could see her, but it was obvious in that moment that we wouldn't be moving her from that spot.

We were greeted by Christian's brother with hugs and offers of hot showers for the both of us, which we gladly accepted on behalf of our three days of ripeness. Once we'd cleaned up and sufficiently recovered from our traumatic drive, we headed to the subway to go meet my friends and get dinner and beers.

I'm still taller.

As much as this is a road trip laid out with the intentions to see Christian's family, it's turned into one to see mine as well. He's met eight very good friends of mine ranging from high school through college and beyond. It's been so amazing to get to catch up and share our pasts with each other as we enjoy our first road trip in the Campbulance together.

The next morning, we escaped the clutches of the city with some more painfully slow traffic as I attempted a flawless execution of navigating us out of there. We faired pretty well and were meandering up I-95 by noon with Cape Cod as our destination and nerves intact.

- Chelsea