Day 5-6

Life on the road is here.  We are learning the routines of camper life… when to make the bed back into a table, when to leave it a bed, where to let Kolton nap, how to light the pilot light, where to store our extra things, etc. 

 

We had a lovely night in a hotel bed with a hot shower, clean towels, reliable wifi, and room for Kolton to roam in a confined area.  We worked in the business center - which was soundproof and ideal for our screaming child.  But this was also the stage for his first steps!  He was hyper at first and getting confident enough to stand, and then he took a step and fell, and then he took 3 steps and fell.  Honestly, this trip is not fostering Kolton's 10 month old intellectual and physical milestones in any logical researched form, but by God it is challenging him in a lot of different ways.  He may not have the perfect runway to practice walking, but he is learning how to navigate grass and dirt, and rocks and sticks.  He may not be getting the books and toys and social interaction at day care, but he is learning how to adapt to new locations and schedules and still keep positive, and he is getting a lot of mom and dad time!

 

Then, after some roaming the city and some shopping, we set out for our next RV park at Flathead Lake between Missoula and Glacier.  This place is super nice, and the bathrooms are dreamy.  We woke up to a beautiful sunrise over the lake, and Kolton and I scoped out the playground.  The wifi is good half the time, and the cell service drops calls unless you hold the phone in just the right spot.  This made work productivity less than satisfactory this morning.  We found a coffee shop which served much better this afternoon.  I was frustrated because I wanted to make a concerted effort to show that I am committed to working and a team player (in the first week of working remotely), so others won't have to pick up my slack because I am choosing to travel.  However, that is not how it felt after an hour of failed software downloads and what felt like hours of opening files from other servers.  These are the things I have to learn to accept, ignore, or change.  I did not react well today because I was frustrated.  This meant a less happy mom and wife, and travel partner, which doesn't help anyone, I feel like I am letting down coworkers also.  We just have to continue to do our best to plan for having reliable service and internet during the work week, and if we don't adapt and find places that do.  Surely this won't be the only hurdle we come across, but my goal is to give it my best effort to show my teammates in the office that I do care.  And then, as he does so well, Narendra found a hike and took us to the dirt.  We had a great loop hike with lots of up and down, and by the end we were all feeling good.  Kolton found his singing voice on this hike, which was funny - at first.  Then we came back to the RV, and had a huge win when I figured out the hot water heater and was able to give Kolton a bath!