LONG STORY SHORT By Kristine McGowan When we set out on the road last summer, we knew we were taking on a new adventure—and a lot of risk. Yes, we’d given up our apartment and our jobs, but we were also moving into a travel trailer. And when you’re towing your house along hundreds of miles of highways every few days, just about anything can happen. Well. Something happened. A couple weeks ago, as we broke camp in West Virginia, our trailer’s slide-out stopped working properly.* I could go into detail here—too much detail—but in an effort to keep this newsletter somewhat brief, I’ll just say this: our slide-out couldn’t extend and retract smoothly anymore. Somehow, it had become crooked. Sustaining damage to a vehicle is already stressful. But seeking out repairs while you’re living in that vehicle thousands of miles from home? Good Lord. After many, many phone calls and a visit to the one RV service shop that had the availability to see us, we’ve learned that our slide-out shifted out of alignment while we were driving along rough highways in Ohio and/or West Virginia. (Thank you, giant potholes that appeared out of nowhere and made our teeth chatter.**) We’ve also learned that our slide-out system is damaged and needs to be replaced in its entirety. Now, we’re looking at thousands of dollars’ worth of repairs. Yeah. The word “stressed” doesn’t quite capture how we’ve been feeling lately. That said, between all the phone calls, we’ve still found moments of joy. Moments that reminded us why we took on so much risk in the first place. Yes, we had to adjust our schedule to accommodate service appointments. But we also got to walk on sand dunes blanketed by forests. Yes, we had to file a claim with our insurance. But we also got to watch an underdog beat a No. 5–ranked college football team. Yes, we had to shell out $1,000+ on parts. But we also got to listen to wolves howling on a remote island in Lake Superior. By this time next week, we’ll hopefully have our slide-out fixed. We’ll hopefully leave this whole mess behind us. But in the meantime, we still have lots to enjoy. Where have we been?Indiana Dunes National Park, Ind.  Just when we thought we’d explored all the dunes, this place took us by surprise. Indiana Dunes National Park isn’t home to the most incredible dunes we’ve seen—that title goes to Great Sand Dunes National Park—but it’s certainly unique. During our visit, we hiked from the shore of Lake Michigan up into the dunes, where we unexpectedly found ourselves shrouded in a dense forest. I’m not sure we’ve ever stepped in a habitat like this before. South Bend, Ind.  National parks and baseball games may be the two pillars of our itinerary, but occasionally we’ll sneak in something different. This time, it was a visit to the University of Notre Dame to watch the football team’s home opener against Northern Illinois. We enjoyed pregame festivities around campus before taking our seats at Notre Dame Stadium, where we expected to see the Fighting Irish cruise to an easy victory. Instead, we were treated to a thrilling and historic upset. Isle Royale National Park, Mich.  Isle Royale is so remote that if you have only one day to visit the park—like we did—you’ll spend seven hours of that day on a ferry and just three hours on the island itself. We knew we could squeeze in a short hike though, so we followed a trail along the coast. Soon enough, a deep silence washed over us, the kind you can find only in remote places like this. We stopped and took a moment to savor it. Then something broke through the quiet: a howl. Followed by another howl, and another. It was the island’s wolves, talking to each other. And somehow, despite our limited time here, we were lucky enough to eavesdrop. Where are we going next?We have one more baseball game and one more football game here in the Midwest. After those, we’ll head east for our first foray into New England.  122. Milwaukee, Wis. 123. Chicago, Ill. 124. Ann Arbor, Mich. 125. Cooperstown, N.Y. 126. Adirondack Park, N.Y. 127. Boston, Mass. * For those who aren’t familiar, a “slide-out” is a partial enclosure on an RV or travel trailer that increases the vehicle’s living space when extended.
** And we thought California’s highways were bad.
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