Day 30: July 7, Barstow, CA to Flagstaff, AZ

So here we are, the final planned day of the trip. We’ve got a big driving day ahead of us and no adventurous sights to see. We get Josh and Zev up early and they do a great job of shuffling down to the free breakfast before heading to the Westy for the last time. Today we travel a section of road that I’ve dreaded for three reasons; 1) it’s about the hottest place on earth, 2) it passes the place where I broke down the first time driving the Westy home back in March, and 3) it’s about the hottest place on earth. The Westy hiccups a couple of times as we pull onto the highway. Great. I just keep going and hope it works out. We’re on the road early and the air isn’t too bad. It’s a pretty unremarkable trip, thankfully. As we approach Needles, CA, where I spent a night as the van was getting worked on several months ago, I said a silent prayer. It was definitely getting hotter. The Westy is driving on smoothly and it looks like we’ll get past Needles. Several more miles and we’re over the Arizona border. The kids yell and shout. I’m excited because we’re now under 200 miles from Flagstaff and my AAA Premium Gold-Plated Platinum Membership allows for towing up to 200 miles. No need today though as the Westy strongly continues on, even handling the increasing hills with confidence. The kids are still doing great. No major fights, no blood. We roll on through Arizona, gaining in elevation as we increase our mileage. The air is getting cooler and we’re greeted with a brief thunder shower outside of Seligman. Soon enough we reach the exit for Flagstaff and we’re just all ecstatic. We made it! 30 days in our little van, lots of adventures, no major problems.
This was a great trip and exceeded all of our expectations. We’ve now spent a full month living in a van with our two active boys and few breaks from one another. Of course, there were moments when one or more of us were a bit cranky, but I have to say that those moments were fleeting compared to the amount of fun we had together. And we got to see lots of cool stuff too. I hope Josh and Zev look back on these last 30 days as one of their most favorite memories… I know I will.