Viva Las Vegas

There’s something about a travel timeline that never quite goes the way you plan it… 

Let’s set the record straight from the beginning – we’re laxed travelers. Going with the flow is our preference and when we load up the trailer to go, we like to do it on our timeline, without a rush. After years of traveling, we’ve learned that getting stressed out about a trip usually ruins the experience and why kill yourself to get to a destination? Enjoy the ride, man. 

Now, having prefaced with the “we’re chill people” talk, we also have a neurotic side that shines bright when panic sets in, which happened to be the day we were supposed to leave for our coveted Yellowstone 2020 Trip.

When was the last time you checked your tires?

If you don’t remember, go out and do it now. 

Go on. 

I’ll wait. 

On the eve of our departure, we were feeling good. The trailer was packed, and we had double-checked our lists, for the first time in a long time, we were ahead of schedule and ready to hit the road. While we walked around to do our standard trailer check [lights, plugs, jacks, tires], we obviously had overlooked our tires in the weeks leading up to this day, and – wham! The harsh reality of the issue we faced stopped us in our tracks. 

It was a Sunday evening.

*Cue the panic*

Luckily, we have a legit tire guy who rushed up to Fresno to pick up tires for us and was able to have them installed the next morning. We clearly had a rookie mistake, and Jose swooped in like the MVP he is and saved the day. 

We were a day behind schedule, but we found our inner zen, loaded up the Russell Dawgs, and hit the road to catch up with our Uncle John. 

The first leg of our trip was a long day on the road, with a pit stop in shady ol’ Barstow for lunch. We rolled into Las Vegas to set up camp for the night, where we enjoyed a frozen pizza and a few cold cervezas and sang along with the live banda playing a few houses down from the Las Vegas North Elks. 

Night one lived up to the travel chaos.