The Crack

Ben and I have this rule. Don't drive more than 4 hours in a day and don't move more than once every two weeks. Well, we'd been breaking that rule all over the place last fall and in a moment of true hubris we decided to push it even further. 1,500 miles in 5 days. You see, there was this concert. We'd discovered Lawrence sometime in 2020 and had fallen deeply in love with their funky fun aesthetic, but they only seemed to tour in the east. The day after they announced their concert in Cincinnati, we bought tickets, knowing that we'd have to book it from the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta to Cincinnati if we were going to make it in time.

Then we found the crack.

Day one out of New Mexico, parked at a Harvest Host in Amarillo, winding down after a long day on I-40, I walked into the bedroom to check the slides like I always do and noticed a small crack in the wall next to the closet side of the bed. When I pointed it out to Ben, he immediately went outside, walked around the rig and found the dreaded sidewall crack right at the bedroom slide. Not the news you want when you've still got the better part of 1,500 miles ahead of you. We took photos, wrote an email to Brinkley, and opened a beer. There wasn't much else to do.

Harvest Host Stays

Mother's Brewing Co.

The Den

The Den is a gas station, coffee shop, and pizza parlor all in one, just off the highway in Groom, Texas. This was a great stop for the night while passing through and we were so grateful to be somewhere we didn't have to unhook and could just grab a pizza and beer. The owner was so kind and even wrote a message on the inside of our pizza box.

Located right on Route 66, Mother's Brewing is in the heart of Springfield, Missouri and such a cool stop. The outdoor space is perfect for large groups, the indoor is funky and covered in local art. The bartender that night must have really liked the cut of our jib, because they gave us carte blanche to walk around the building and check out their other event spaces. We had a blast just being nosy. We have it all in our YouTube episode, if you're curious like us.

The Cairo-Mississippi Bridge

We left Springfield with a mission. We were on day 3 of our travels from New Mexico to Ohio and starting to tire, so instead of continuing on our current course, which had us arriving in Cincinnati in 3 days, we were going to take a long day and see how far we could make it. We chose to go the more southern route through Kentucky into Ohio, rather than go through Indianapolis, which always seems to have serious construction going on. We decided US-60 through Kentucky would be our route. I mean, it was a truck route, how bad could it be?

Enter the Cairo-Mississippi Bridge.

Built in 1929. Two lanes. Twenty feet wide. No shoulder. The kind of bridge where you grip the door handle and stare straight ahead and do not look at your mirrors because you already know what you'll see. Ben drove every inch of it with the focus of a man who has made a terrible decision and is fully committed to seeing it through. When we got to the other side I let out a noise I cannot fully describe and Ben's hand went straight to his heart.

If you are towing anything wider than a standard pickup truck, please look this bridge up before you decide it's on your route. We are telling you this as people who did not. You're welcome.

Huggen's Haven & New Tire

The Concert

By the time we pulled into Cincinnati we were pretty tired, slightly traumatized by that bridge, and extremely ready to see this concert. They're not a huge band (yet) and we noticed their VIP tickets were reasonably priced, so we upgraded our tickets and got to go to sound check.

During sound check the band came down off the stage, walked onto the floor, and just played, right there in a circle with all of us around them. No barrier, no production. Very Lawrence. The concert was amazing. We stood on the rail and listened to them play their hearts out to a crowd that was so happy to see them. Worth every single mile.

If you haven't heard of them yet, check this one out, it's a favorite: https://youtu.be/M9TYHOARDFI?si=o2bhKt8_Y4CbEWNq

Brinkley Update

Brinkley got back to us a few days after we emailed them. Real person, real response. Samantha sent us a list of authorized dealers and the words we needed most...not structural, cosmetic, safe to travel. We sealed the exterior gap, took a breath, and kept going.

There's more to this story…stay tuned.

We hadn't planned to stay two nights at Huggins Haven. That was the tire's idea...

We pulled in planning to stay one night, let the dogs stretch their legs, and hit the road early. Then we picked up the bolt in our tire the next morning. One rush-ordered tire later, we had ourselves an unexpected extra day — which, honestly, wasn't the worst thing that could have happened. We fed fish pellets to what appeared to be the entire population of that pond while Huck watched in complete bewilderment, and we were better rested by the time we finally left.

Huggins Haven is a brand new, 25 acre family-owned campground in St. Charles, Kentucky. Beautiful grounds, a two-acre stocked fishing pond, and hiking trails that the dogs thought were put there specifically for them. It feels like a state park, big trees, level gravel sites.

If you're passing through western Kentucky, this one is worth a stop. hugginshaven.com