The Adventure of a Lifetime

(parenthood that is)

July 31st and our baby girl is almost a month old. My name is Jason and I am an architecture student at the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture. My wife Leigh and I just experienced the wonderful journey of the pregnancy and birth of our daughter Kaia Mrain Steele. With family, friends and the sister camups to my school scattered about the midwest, we concocted the crazy idea of travelling half way accross the country and back making over a dozen stops to introduce the baby to her numerous fans. Leigh and I are pretty good at packing light. We rarely check bags when flying and on camping and hiking trips, we're prepared but never weighted down with extras. So before the baby came, we started talking about our great american trek, hoping we could arrange all the nececities into our small fuel efficent Mazda3. About six weeks prior to the due date, we headed west for San Diego. Another member of our family we haven't mentioned yet, is our nearly 100lb yellow lab "JP". He goes everywhere with us, and this trip was just as much for him as it was for us. With a light weekend suitcase packed and all the dog accessories, we made it to California and back with no trouble and had a great time while there. The one thing we realized was that travelling for 5 weeks with a baby, large dog, and all the supplies associated with those two passengers was impossible in the small car. The next step up was a SUV (similar the type we JUST traded for the Mazda), but even with the added space, there would still be expense for hotels. That's when I remembered back to the golden days of my childhood, crusing through the southwest in the cockpit of Grandma and Grandpa's motorhome. They always prefered Class C's, the kind with the overhead bunk, and this was the best place to sit as a kid. You had the feeling of flying looking out those forward windows high above the roads speeding by. RV's seem to be the ideal way to experience this great land of ours, packing only what you need and motoring along the countryside. So with the mode of transport decided, it was time to find our chariot. When I was older Leigh and I organized a trip to Lake Powell in the RV that had been passed down to my mom. It was a great trip, uniting the family and giving us all a needed break from the AZ summer. After that fateful trip, it left the family and we never saw it again. It turns out, Grandma's coach was a bit of a rarity. It is whats known as a "party" model with no formal bedroom in favor of an open floorplan. This allows more space for living without dedicating so much area to sleeping. I hunted far and wide, until I finally found the "one" with the mechanical history and amenities I wanted. It's a 1990 Fleetwood Tioga 26R, powered by a Ford 460 Fuel Injected motor and overdrive transmission.


Stay tuned for the planned trip route, schedule and points of interest.