The great summer road trip

By ALINE MENDELSOHN

© St. Petersburg Times, published August 13, 2000

The Bunbury family of St. Petersburg spent five weeks on the road in an RV. They logged 8,700 miles exploring the country, burned $1,200 in gas, sent 200 postcards and created memories to last a lifetime.

ST. PETERSBURG -- Elizabeth Bunbury's dining room table is barely recognizable.

Under a heap of 800 snapshots, dozens of postcards, brightly colored construction paper, ranger patches and a glittering geode, the table is the site for an ambitious project: making a scrapbook.

Not just any scrapbook, but one chronicling a once-in-a-lifetime vacation. Something the Bunburys can flip through and relive panning for gold in the Black Hills of South Dakota, viewing the Hoover Dam from a helicopter, braving whitewater rapids in Jackson Hole, Wyo.

For five weeks this summer, Elizabeth, her husband, Brian, and their children Tom, 13, Hannah, 10, and Mack, 8, coasted around the country in an RV with no itinerary, just a plan to enjoy and learn. Their journey spanned 8,700 miles, stretching as far west as Las Vegas and as far north as Yellowstone National Park.

On the second night of the trip, before going to bed, Elizabeth removed her wristwatch. She did not put it back on until she came home. The Bunburys ate when they were hungry, slept when they were tired. Elizabeth did not care what time it was.

For the entire trip, each family member except for Brian, who was busy driving, kept a journal, recording a personal account of the trip and the inevitable ups and downs.

Day 2, according to Hannah:

"We read to entertain ourselves while the long, dragging minutes tick off the clock."

The night before they left in mid-June, the Bunburys threw a party. Guests brought traveling gifts, which included a bottle of wine, soothing tea, a flyswatter, the game Outburst, a plunger (which would later be put to use, though not for toilets). One friend brought a framed picture of the Bunburys' house in St. Petersburg.

The next morning, around 8 a.m., the family started loading five weeks' worth of living supplies into the RV. By noon, they were cruising along I-275.

As far as RVs go, the Bunburys had it made: Their Fleetwood Southwind came fully equipped with a kitchen, a washer and dryer, a double bed, pull-out couches, a television and a VCR.

Such luxuries came with a price tag -- $1,100 a week, not including gas, which cost $70 a tank. By the end of the trip, the Bunburys had spent about $1,200 on gas.

Driving a 37-foot vehicle required more concentration than the Dodge pick-up Brian was used to, especially during windy weather.

"It's like driving a sail down the road," he said.

Going no faster than 65 miles per hour, he drove about eight hours a day. The driving itself, though often tedious, became part of the adventure. Elizabeth loved to watch the scenery unfold.

"You drive for hours and hours through miles of nothing," she said. "And then you hit something spectacular."

While America passes by, Tom dozes and Mack plays his Gameboy.

Through the miles of nothing, the kids kept themselves occupied with reading, journaling, playing games and watching movies on the VCR -- just one a day. By the end of the trip, the Bunburys had sent a total of 200 postcards, mostly to friends and the housesitters taking care of their pets. But some cards they sent for their own memories; these they addressed to "Dear Home" or "Dear Bunburys."

Remarkably, not once did Brian or Elizabeth hear whines of "Are we there yet?" And not once did the kids quarrel beyond the occasional sibling spat. That's according to the parents, anyway. The kids give another version of the story.

"We kept it quiet," Tom said.

"We didn't want to get yelled at," Hannah responded.

All in good fun, though. And besides, Elizabeth said, for most of the day Tom was too busy sleeping to bother with a younger sister or brother.

In three days, the Bunburys had plowed through six states. On the fourth day they arrived at their only planned destination, the Grand Canyon.

Day 4, Tom, via postcard:

The trip has been fun and eventful, except for the occasional outburst of disagreement. We have stopped at many national parks, each with its own coolness.

Tom, Mack and Hannah show off their catch at Trout Haven, in South Dakota.

Day 14, Mack:

We ate. We fish. We fish some more. We ate. We fish. We fish some more. We ate. We fish.

No itinerary, just five weeks to roam around 18 states.

"Anything we wanted to do, we did," Elizabeth said.

Tom, Hannah and Mack were on summer vacation, but their trip was an educational experience. In the Grand Canyon they learned to distinguish a white pine from a ponderosa pine. They watched elk stroll through their Rocky Mountain campground and a roadrunner hop along Lake Mead. They watched the sky explode into hailstorms in the Badlands of South Dakota, and they cruised their RV through the flashy badlands of Las Vegas Boulevard.

They met unusual people, such as the man in Rock Dam, Wis., who paints water towers for a living. There was the science teacher in the Rockies who taught them the steps of fly fishing: Pull. Pause. Push. Place.

They explored seven national parks -- Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Rocky Mountain, Grand Tetons, Mesa Verde, Badlands and Yellowstone.

Brian checked in with his office almost every day, except when in areas where his cell phone did not have service. It was at those times, camping in the woods, he recalled, that he felt the most relaxed.

On each stop, Tom added to his shot-glass collection, Brian bought spoons for his mom, Hannah found kitten souvenirs.

Midway through the trip, Brian got on a cowboy kick, complete with hat and music, a Michael Murphey CD he bought outside Rocky Mountain National Park. For the next several hours, he put track No. 4, El Paso, on repeat.

Hannah remembers that she put her hands over her ears, crying, "Enough already!"

"I wanted to bug them," Brian said.

"It worked," Hannah agreed.

Soon everyone belted out the refrain:

"Out in the West Texas town of El Paso,

"I fell in love with a Mexican girl."

The song played over and over. Brian recalled that he drove with a smile on his lips.

Day 10, Tom:

Everyone is sick. The RV is falling apart, the fridge is messed up, the windshield is cracked.

On the road, the Bunburys hit a few roadblocks.

Shortly after leaving Florida, Hannah and Mack began coughing, and within days the cough developed into bronchitis. They fought the illness the entire trip.

The disaster came in the middle of the third week, just when Brian was gearing everyone up to head home. Outside Four Corners, Colo., a rock bounced onto the windshield, leaving a diagonal crack on the left side.

Pronounced a mechanic at a dealership in Colorado: "Don't worry about it -- it will be fine."

It was, for about a week.

Then, as they neared Sundance, Wyo., the windshield started to cave in. On a Friday. At 6 p.m.

The Bunburys made it to Deadwood, S.D., where Wild Bill Hickock cashed them in for the last time. The Bunburys retreated to a hotel room. After weeks of living in a spacious RV, they felt squished together. But they knew it was only until Monday . . . or was it?

On Monday, the dealership said their new windshield would be in from Denver the next day. Tuesday: "We couldn't get it from Denver. It's coming from Louisiana. Tomorrow."

Wednesday: "There have been some delays. It's on the way."

Thursday: "Sorry, it got lost."

Friday: "It will be here tomorrow. By midnight! We promise!"

Somewhere in the middle of the week, the Bunburys broke down: For the first time on the entire trip, they ate dinner at McDonald's.

They tried to make the most of their situation. They rented a Jeep and toured a couple of the region's few attractions -- Mount Rushmore and the Badlands.

And they found ways to keep themselves entertained. Mack, Hannah and Tom invented a sport called Plunger Ball, a variation of stick ball using the toilet plunger and a tennis ball.

Card games also kept them occupied for hours. Near the end of the week, Tom and Brian played spades while snacking on cheese and crackers. Out of the corner of his eye, Brian spotted a can of Cheez Whiz. He grabbed it and sprayed Tom, who immediately retaliated. In a matter of minutes, Brian and his eldest son dripped with Cheez Whiz.

"When you're in the middle of South Dakota, there's not much to do except eat, play cards and have Cheez Whiz fights," Brian recounted.

With the 37-foot-long RV pointed home, Brian Bunbury snacks on beans.

On Saturday, they no longer had to succumb to food fights -- their windshield had finally arrived. Brian was thrilled: They were on the final leg of their journey, heading to visit his family in Wisconsin.

They had just crossed the Minnesota/Wisconsin border when the windshield began to peel out again.

"I think I'm going to cry," Brian said.

Day 37, Elizabeth:

"I really don't want this trip to end. But Brian is determined to get back to work. We will see."

In the third week of July, around 10:30 p.m., the Bunburys' RV rolled into their driveway. "Back to the real world," Elizabeth thought, and she began hauling boxes inside.

Inside, two boxes of mail, 70 phone messages and 160 e-mails waited for them. Tom and Mack wandered into their bedroom. Hannah scooped up her tiger-striped cats Jasmine and Buttercup.

And Brian, exhausted from driving, went straight to bed. Tomorrow, he had to face reality: his job.

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