1. How did you borrow that motor home?

The idea of taking this vacation began over a year ago.  Alex and Nick are old enough (12 and 10) to appreciate a long trip like this but still young enough not to hate spending all their time with their dad.  I was thinking of renting a small motor home for the trip but the cost was prohibitive.  So, I was planning on just taking my car.  I knew it would be painfully uncomfortable but I was counting on time dulling the memories of long days in the car. Hopefully, Alex and Nick would remember the cool places we visited and not being cramped in the car.

I ran into Jerry Mullins at lunch one day and told him about the trip. He had recently bought a new motor home and he generously offered to let us use it for the trip. Lots of people have been surprised by this – including me. What everyone needs to understand about Jerry is that he’s an incredibly generous and thoughtful man whose priorities are not all about what he has. He values honesty and loyalty and the relationships he’s created in his life. I can’t thank him enough for his generous gift of his RV for this trip.

$ 1,376.95 - 716.8 Gallons - 7.48 MPG
$ 1.92 average price per gallon
We traveled 5360 Miles over 16 days going through 16 States.
July 8th, 2004 - July 23rd, 2004


3. You took Denise?!?

Even harder to explain to some people is that I invited Denise, my ex-wife, to come on the trip. Denise and I have been divorced since 2000. We had an amenable split and we have worked very hard to remain good partners in parenting our sons. After taking the RV for a weekend to Salt Fork I realized that having another adult along would make the traveling go much smoother. I considered my parents and several of my friends but knew that no one would be better with my sons than their mother. Denise and I knew – or at least hoped – that we’d be able to get along for the two weeks. In fact, we got along great. We were very good friends while we were married and that friendship came back easily without having the other stuff of marriage get in the way. I think it worked out great for all of us. The boys truly benefited by having us both there.  I’m glad she came.

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