Tuesday, July 2
We had a shower! The little luxuries in life that home dwellers take for granted! Then we were off for a long day of driving from the UP down the western side of Lake Michigan to Chicago. We had rain most of the drive. It helped wash the dead bug stains off the windshield! We arrived at the Chicago Cubs free parking lot with free shuttle right when they opened at 4 PM and took the shuttle to Wrigley Field. Gates opened at 5:35 for the 7:05 PM game of the Phillies vs Cubs. We had nose bleed seats on the third base side with a partially obstructed view but it was literally a perfect night for baseball. The sun came out and it was 83 degrees with that Windy City breeze out to left field and we were protected from the sun. Trea Turner had three hits, including two home runs and the Phils won 6-4. We left after 7.5 innings to get a head start on the drive east an hour to boondock at the Bass Pro Shoppe in Gary, IN.
Wednesday, July 3
We slept late and had a quiet night at the Bass Pro Shoppe parking lot. Another cloudy day but no rain today. We drove 10 mi to Indiana Dunes NP, the newest national park and one that Jessica still needed to check off her life list. Not much to see at this park—some green covered sand dunes on the shores of Lake Michigan with a steel company on one end of the park and oil refinery on the other end. Clearly, it was a politically conceived park and not really worth a listing but we have now been to 60/63 national parks. We then headed east primarily on Rt 30 to avoid tolls and boondocked at a Cracker barrel in Youngstown OH. There isn’t much good free camping on the East coast like out West and we already miss the wide open landscapes. Tomorrow we should arrive home for the Fourth of July after 52 days living in a van on the road. And let me tell you, this is the life. You would think living in 70 sqft with only your partner for 52 days and with no toilet and only 2 showers a week on average that the honeymoon is over. But quite the contrary! The freedom of vanlife, the ability to go and do whatever whenever, and the way we worked perfectly together as a team actually reinvigorated our relationship and I think brought us closer than we have been in many years. We probably averaged $150 a day expenses, which isn’t bad. Vanna now has 97k miles to her name (well over 12k from this trip alone) and performed amazingly well on some pretty sketchy gravel roads and mountain passes with hairpin turns. The sheer joy of being on the road and out in nature and with TOTAL FREEDOM is something everyone should experience at least once in life. We don’t need much to be happy—just a van, an old pair of hiking shoes, and each other. Until next trip, thanks for following along on our journey.
