There’s something about the start of a road trip that always feels the same for us — late nights, early mornings, and the excitement of finally getting underway. Like usual, we didn’t get to bed until around midnight. After just a few hours of sleep, we were back up, grabbing a light breakfast, packing the cold food into ice-filled coolers, and hitching up the trailer. By 4:45 a.m., we were officially on the road.

Not long after leaving town, Google Maps told us to take a detour around the lake. Naturally, we assumed it had to be wrong and kept going. Fifteen minutes later, we found ourselves staring at a completely closed freeway. So much for second-guessing technology.

What followed was a two-hour detour through the backcountry before finally reconnecting with the freeway. It wasn’t exactly part of the plan, but sometimes those unexpected stretches become part of the adventure.

We rolled into Missoula for fuel and discovered we could save ten cents a gallon using our Walmart+ app — small victories matter on long trips. After fueling up, we grabbed breakfast at McDonald’s and pointed the truck south again.

The miles carried us across Montana, back through Idaho, and eventually into Utah. Before reaching the chaos of the big city traffic, we passed a serious accident that had left a car completely destroyed. It was a sobering reminder to slow down, stay alert, and appreciate every safe mile on the road — especially in a city full of fast-moving drivers.

We stopped once more to refuel outside the city, realizing we were finally just three hours away from Bryce Canyon. Somewhere along the drive, Cas tested out his new night-driving glasses and declared them a success.

By the time we reached Bryce Canyon National Park, it was 10:00 p.m. We set up the trailer in the dark as quickly as possible, heated up some soup for dinner, and finally crawled into bed around midnight.

That’s when it hit us: we had officially been awake for 22 hours.

And somehow, despite the exhaustion, the adventure was just beginning.