"You know," Lane said as she drank her coffee the next morning. "You guys could come with us. We're headed to New Mexico. You are more than welcome to join us."
"I appreciate it," Arlo said, leaning against the side of his RV. "But I've been planning to meet with a group in Arizona for a while."
Lane nodded. Sparrow looked fairly sad, beside her. Relle felt just as Sparrow looked. She had enjoyed having their company the last few days, but today was the day they would be parting ways.
"In case you change your mind," Sparrow handed Arlo a slip of paper with numbers written out onto it.
Arlo nodded a thanks.
After cleaning up their camp, Arlo was eager to get on the road. Madd, Cedar, Sage, Arlo, and Relle said their goodbyes to Sparrow and Lane as well as the couple's dog, Poppy.
It was a rather solemn departure that day. The sun was strong and bright, but parting ways from Sparrow and Lane felt sad.
Madd sat up from with his father for once. The map sat on his lap, but he hardly looked at it. He was busy looking in the rearview mirror towards Relle.
He felt sorry for what he had said. Madd told himself he meant it as a joke. However, deep down he wasn't sure.
Relle was a square and a bit of a know-it-all, but she was a lot more than that. Madd didn't have to guess that she had been good at school. She was probably as good of a student as she was a sister.
He wasn't delusional enough to believe that she would ever have spoken to him if it hadn't been for their situation. Relle was a good person, who would have done great things. Madd knew better than to expect she would have been his friend.
Madd let out a long sigh and glanced at the road.
Relle felt rather sad that day. Lane and Sparrow had been nice people to travel with. She already missed the two women. Additionally, the conversation she had with Madd the night before still stung. 'A square', what did that mean?
It wasn't in Relle's nature to care what other's thought of her. She knew that her fellow classmates had called her far worse than a 'square'. However, it stung when it came from Madd. She had assumed they had become friends in the last few days.
Despite her feelings, Relle tried to enjoy the drive. It had been a long time since she had last been to Colorado.
For once, Arlo had asked Madd to join him up front. Madd seemed pleasantly surprised by the request and joined his father in the front of the camper.
Sparrow had given Cedar and Sage some painting supplies and the two kids were busy painting. Relle sat beside Sage at the table, gazing out at the mountainous landscape that surrounded them.
The rocky mountain sides rose and fell as the RV spread through the land. While Sparrow and Lane were driving straight through Colorado, Arlo was only driving through the top left corner of the state and then heading into Utah.
As they drew closer to the place where Denver once stood, Relle was surprised to see more cars than usual. Many were abandoned, but others were driving away from the direction they were headed.
Arlo took the RV onto several, bumpy, winding back roads that lead around Denver. Relle was fairly confused as to where they were, but she knew they were headed into the mountains.
She had only seen the Rocky Mountains once, and they were just as impressive as she remembered. The road ran alongside a winding river that seemed to lead the way through the mountains.
High in the peaks there was fresh snow. The RV chugged along through the high mountain passes. After a few hours of Colorado's mountains, they soon found themselves in a much drier, desert-like environment. The mountains still stood around them, but they were not nearly as large as they had once been.
Relle was certain that they were on the other side of the Rockies. They would be crossing the Colorado-Utah border soon. Rocks and sand replaced the green flora and the heat from the sun had never felt stronger.
Relle had never seen the desert before. She was in awe at the strange life that lived among the rocks and the sunlight.
It was mid-afternoon when they reached Utah. To Relle's surprise, Arlo pulled off the road at an old gas station. It was clear that no one had been there for a very long time.
He turned off the engine and stepped out of the vehicle. Madd followed him closely. Relle turned to Sage and Cedar.
"Wait in here," she said as she followed Madd and Arlo.
The gas station stood alone in the desert, looking forlorn. All the lights were off, like everything else in the country. The front door had been broken into, it swung half open, rattling in the wind.
"What are we doing here?" Relle asked.
"We may not be passing many towns any longer. Arlo wants to continue to collect supplies for when we reach Arizona. Gas stations might be our only option to find goods to trade," Madd explained, walking beside her.
Relle still felt angry towards Madd but she tried to hide it the best she could. She tried to tell herself that it didn't matter what he thought of her.
"Relle," Madd said as Arlo walked into the gas station.
Relle stopped just before the door and turned to Madd. "What?" she said more angrily than she meant to.
"You know, I didn't mean anything when I said-"
"Whatever," she said turning away from him.
They returned to the RV with all the goods they found. Arlo stashed his bag and turned the engine back on. Relle walked up to her siblings and handed them each a grape-flavored soda, the only sodas that were left.
"Soda," shrieked Sage, snatching the can from Relle.
"Thanks," Cedar grabbed the other. "I thought you said we couldn't have anything like this when mom and dad aren't here."
"Sounds like something she would say," Madd said as he walked around Relle and laid down on the couch.
"Well," Relle said, "I changed my mind." 'I'm not a square,' she wanted to say.
For the rest of the drive, Relle sat up front with Arlo. Madd took a nap on the couch while Sage and Cedar enjoyed chips and soda. Utah was unexpectedly beautiful.
Relle had no idea a desert could be so full of color. The land around them rose and fell much like the mountains had, this time with a variety of golds, reds, and whites.
Relle traced their travels on the map on her lap. "This is the furthest I've ever been from home," she said.
Arlo said nothing, watching the road with a serious expression.
"Before the end, did you travel much?" She asked.
"A bit."
"My family didn't travel much," Relle said. "It was expensive, and my parents weren't the...exploring type. I always loved the idea of a road trip but I'm not really sure if I ever would have done it." She looked down at the map. "Where were we trying to get to tonight?"
"You never been to Utah?"
"Nope."
"Then I have a plan," Arlo said.
Silence filled the RV for a few minutes eventually Relle looked over at Arlo and asked, "why did Madd go and visit you in Canada?"
Arlo looked surprised by the question. "That boy got in loads of trouble in California. His mother and I thought it might be good for him to...get some fresh air, you know."
"Did he want to go?"
"Hell no," Arlo said with a chuckle. "But I didn't give him much choice. He was only in Canada for a week before the bombs were dropped."
"He was lucky," Relle said.
Arlo nodded. "He's a good kid, I just wish he would figure that out."
Relle said nothing. She looked back at her siblings. Madd had woken up and was now helping them paint a picture of what looked to be the RV. A smear of blue paint sat on his cheek in the shape of Sage's hand.
Arlo didn't need much help navigating, but it made Relle feel good to help with directions. It was late in the evening when they finally reached where they would spend the night.
Relle was in awe. The RV was parked someplace outside of the town of Moab. Giant pillars of red rocks reached to the skies. Arches and tunnels shaped the rock wall in front of them.
Relle was the first to run outside, her quick movement made Cedar and Sage quick to follow. Outside the RV the air was dry and hot with the sun sitting on the horizon, spilling golden sunlight onto the red lands.
Relle stared at the giant formations the rocks made. She had never seen anything like it. Sage and Cedar were in awe as well, running around on the dusty red earth.
Arlo stood with his hand on his hips looking at their view. Madd was the last to emerge from the camper, still half-asleep. Like Relle he was stunned by the beauty of the landscape.
That night they made a quick instant-dinner and ate outside under the stars. Once the sun set, the air grew cold far quicker than it had the night before. Relle didn't mind the chill. She wrapped herself in a sweater and sat close to the fire.
"There was a time," Arlo said suddenly, "that I wanted to visit all the national parks."
"Why didn't you?" Cedar asked, taking a bite of food.
"There just didn't seem to be the time," he said honestly.
"According to the map, it looks like we'll be headed right past the Grand Canyon tomorrow," Relle said. "Maybe we could stop. I've never seen it and I know Sage and Cedar haven't as well."
"Neither have I," Madd added.
Arlo nodded. "It seems that we will have to stop. I always heard that was a good one to see."
That night everyone went to bed early. A light breeze swept through the open windows of the camper, lulling them all to sleep. The moon was high in the sky, providing a bit of natural light.
Relle was about to fall asleep when she heard, "Relle."
She opened her eyes. Madd sat on the floor, watching her. "What?" she said.
"Look," he pointed outside of the window.
Relle looked outside to see what looked like twinkling stars falling from the sky. She gasped. It was a meteor shower.
"It's beautiful," she said.
"Sure is," Madd agreed, but he wasn't looking at the meteor shower.