A rust-and-cream camper van descends from a mountain pass into a broad Western valley
Family field notes
Issue no. 08
American West
12—19 August 2026
Seven days / one very long way home

Big Loop

A family road-trip journal about high passes, low fuel, roadside fruit, and the weather we decided to love.

2,148miles
07nights
05states
Day 02 / the valley opened after the pass

The route, more or less

Distances from the glove-box notebook. Wrong turns included. Arrival times cheerfully ignored.

The Big Loop route A looping route from home across the Sierra Pass, through Moab and Palisade, north to the Tetons, and home again. Home0 mi Sierra Pass318 mi Moab812 mi Palisade1,126 mi Tetons1,604 mi Home-ish2,148 mi
Chapter 01 / out there

Morning came blue & quiet.

We woke before the heat, found the chipped mug, and watched the rocks catch fire one edge at a time.

A chipped enamel mug and camp kettle at a desert campsite beside the family van
01Day 4 — desert morning, coffee before the heat. Nobody spoke until the second cup.38.5733° N / 109.5498° W

The best stop was the one nobody planned.

We were meant to make another hundred miles. Then came a hand-painted arrow, an orchard road, and a paper bag warm with peaches.

Ripe peaches in rough wooden crates at a roadside farm stand with the van beyond
02Outside Palisade — juice to the elbows, zero regrets.Unplanned / 4:42 PM
The family camper van traveling alone on a long empty highway through an open Western basin
03Somewhere after the last radio station, the road became the whole afternoon.US 50 / Westbound

Windows down. Peach pits in the cup holder. The same song three times because nobody reached for the dial.

The family camper glowing warmly at a rain-soaked forest campsite on the last night
Chapter 02 / weather reportRain all night / spirits intact

Last night, rained out.

04Day 7 — last night: rained, nobody cared. We folded the chairs under the awning and ate the final peaches with pocketknives.

Trip log / still editable

Living note
0 words
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Best stop nobody planned: the roadside peach stand outside Palisade. We asked our AI to add the campsite photos; it handed us an upload link, and they landed here from my phone before the kettle boiled. Save room for the rain-soaked last night.