ArcaMax

We're about to celebrate the oh-so-American holidays of Thanksgiving and Black Friday. This year, my family and I will be celebrating both holidays from an RV. Because of our limited space, I asked that the Christmas lists (aka Black Friday lists) be simple and down to the basics. Because of our limited kitchen space and completely broken RV ...Read more

On Thursday morning, my son woke me up from where I slept on the couch, TV blasting with election results still pouring in, neon orange dust caked around my mouth. He held up an empty party-sized bag of Doritos as he shook his head like an 8-year-old warden of our household.

"Mama, I want to say something," he said.

Oh, no! He found the ...Read more

"There are tacos here."

"Tacos?" I repeated.

"And not just any tacos," my friend said. "Life-changing tacos."

"I'd stay in line all night for life-changing tacos," I said.

"It's the American way."

I thought back to all of the things I'd waited in line for over the years. They'd never come with free tacos, but the desired results were worth ...Read more

It's that time of year again. The dreaded sports. The sports take over my household. Expletives fly like moths in the night. The house shakes like an earthquake at the epicenter. Sleeping children with dreams full of lilacs and peace fairies are jolted awake by a whooping and a hollering. What's that? they wonder, their minds quickly ...Read more

"Does that freight train come through at 5 a.m. every morning?" an exhausted Vinny asks in "My Cousin Vinny."

"No, sir. It's very unusual," the hotel clerk responds.

My dad is a storyteller -- the very best one I've ever had the pleasure of listening to, and I've had the pleasure of listening to some of the greats. His stories are always ...Read more

My husband has been doing our laundry. He has always done our laundry, but lately, it has become suspicious. Three hours for two loads? Hmm.

Though yes, I realize that timing does work out, it's the glee with which he takes the hamper full of clothes to our RV campsites' laundry facilities that leaves me curious.

He's never experienced such ...Read more

"Do you need a cane?" my 4-year-old asked me on a hike. "You look pretty old."

"How old do you think I am?" I asked her, hunched over, teeth chattering.

"Hmm, about 88," she said so innocently it was almost endearing. Almost.

"Eighty-eight?!" I exclaimed. "I'm still in my 30s."

"What? You're younger than Grammy? No way."

I'm not sure ...Read more

I blame the cinnamon buns -- or, more accurately, the lack of cinnamon buns.

My husband and I decided to make a last-minute detour to get away from the West Coast smoke. And because I'm a planner -- and this wasn't planned -- I found the process of finding and booking us an RV campsite entirely overwhelming. How to pick a campground? Do we want...Read more

"Watch out. She spits," the teenager said.

"She spits?" I asked.

"Yeah, she's pregnant and peeved off."

Only he didn't say "peeved." I knew what he meant. I've never felt more seen as a woman.

"And, like, she's a llama," the teenager said.

Don't ruin this for me, kid. The angry pregnant spitter and I are having a moment.

Not that ...Read more

RV life has led us to Northern California, which means it has led us to both forest fires and very low nighttime temperatures. I cannot be sure whether it is the coldness or the smoke that has impacted my dear husband so, but as we settled in to the campsite in the Golden State, my husband settled in to a new hobby: keeping the campsite awake ...Read more

"At the port-a-potty, go south through the sage brush."

That should've been a sign that this hike was going to be the dumps.

I read the instructions on the Utah trails pamphlet again. We are on the hunt for dinosaur tracks. Surely, something that has been preserved for 125 million years can't be that hard to find. At the port-a-potty, we ...Read more

"Don't be scared," my driver said. "I'm going to take you a back way. We won't see another car for miles and miles."

"OK," I said.

"Also, I have a loaded gun next to me," my driver said. "I thought you should know. But don't be scared. You're going to be just fine."

Maybe it's the city girl in me, but this would typically be about the time I'...Read more