I stared out the window of the bus, watching the changing scenery as we left John F. Kennedy Airport and headed north.
I had an amazing sense of direction. I didn’t need a compass to know which way we were going.
New York City wasn’t at all how I pictured it. Where were the towering office buildings and crazy cab drivers that were always portrayed on TV and in the movies?
We were on a freeway with trees on either side. I was kind of bummed I never got to go into Manhattan where all the iconic New York City attractions were located.
I was feeling very nervous about learning to drive an RV. I got my driver’s license when I was sixteen.
But I left for Stanford a year later, and the only time I’d driven since was when I came home for the summers.
I didn’t understand why both team members had to learn to drive it. Nate would be doing all the driving.
But the rules stated both team members had to demonstrate competency in case one person became incapacitated and unable to drive.
Nate and I slept together last night. Literally. We didn’t have sex. But we shared a bed. So technically, we slept together.
Just not in the way that most people mean when they use that phrase. I was so afraid of brushing up against him that I slept on the edge of the mattress all night.
I was such a loser. Every time he touched me, I freaked out and acted like a Nervous Nellie. I wasn’t afraid of becoming intimate with him. I had to lose my virginity at some point.
I was probably the oldest virgin on the planet. And what better man to deflower me than my husband? Really. It seemed like a no-brainer.
What I was actually afraid of was falling for him. I didn’t want to get my heart broken. And that is exactly what would happen if we did the deed.
So, I was trying hard to stick by our no-sex agreement. But I had a feeling it was going to be the toughest challenge of the entire marathon.
“Hey,” Nate whispered, squeezing my bare knee. I willed myself not to jump as jolts of electricity shot through my belly. “Are you excited?”
“Yeah,” I said, turning away from the window. “I’m just nervous about driving the RV.”
“You’ll be fine,” he said. “If old fuckers can do it, I’m sure it will be a piece of cake for us.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“Sweetheart, I’m always right,” he said with a chuckle.
“You tell her,” Larry bellowed.
I’d forgotten that chauvinistic ass was sitting behind us. I cringed when Nate leaned around the seat. I didn’t want to make enemies with anyone.
“I was actually kidding, Larry,” he said. “My wife is a genius, so she’ll probably be right ninety-nine percent of the time. And I’m okay with that. I respect and admire her.”
“Aw. That’s sweet,” Pat said from across the aisle. “You’ve got yourself a good man, Stella.”
“He is a good guy,” I agreed, smiling shyly at Nate.
His face broke out in a wide grin. He leaned over, capturing my lips in a searing kiss that sent tingles right to the tips of my toes.
“The newest newlyweds are going at it,” Pat announced, her loud voice carrying throughout the entire bus, causing a chorus of laughs.
Heat spread up my chest and across my cheeks. I didn’t like attention. I preferred to fly under the radar.
“Oh, don’t be embarrassed, honey. We’re all newlyweds. Pete and I have been married for six months, and we still do it every night. Sometimes twice!”
Nate looked at me with a horrified expression on his face. I laughed and shook my head. Pat was outspoken, but I liked her. She seemed like a nice lady. And I was proud of myself.
I’d gotten through my first PDA of the day without freaking out.
Thanks to Pat, everyone thought we were horny newlyweds who couldn’t keep their hands off each other. If we kept that up, nobody would suspect our marriage was fake.
We continued north through the suburbs of New York City. After about an hour, the bus driver turned off in a place called Crotonville.
“That must be the Hudson River,” Nate said as a large body of water came into view.
The bus driver pulled into a strip mall and parked behind the building where ten identical RVs were lined up.
“Look, Nate,” I said. “There are the RVs. They aren’t nearly as big as I imagined.”
“Yeah. When I think of an RV, I imagine those great big, long things. Those aren’t so bad. They’re more like big vans.”
“Can I have everyone’s attention, please!” Yolanda shouted from the front of the bus.
Everyone quieted down as we waited for our next instructions.
“When we get off the bus, we’re going to go inside and go over the rules of the marathon. You should already have them memorized if you did your homework correctly.
“But we’re going to go over them again, and I’ll try to answer any questions you may have.
“Then the representatives from the RV dealership are going to go over everything you need to know about driving an RV and hooking up and unhooking at the campgrounds.”
We filed into an empty unit at the end of the strip mall. A long table was set up with ten chairs on each side. For the next hour, Yolanda reviewed the rules and answered questions.
The marathon would take one hundred and ten days to complete. We would be on the road for almost four months.
Most legs of the marathon would take one day to complete, followed by a full day at the check-in campground. A few legs would take two days.
In order to check into the campground, contestants must have completed all tasks, purchased a souvenir with the name of the state on it, and correctly identified the state nickname, capital city, and state flower.
Contestants were allowed to ask locals for the answers.
Whichever team arrived first with all tasks completed, would receive a magnet representing that state, and one thousand dollars.
Contestants could place the magnets on the fridge in their RV to keep track of their points in the marathon.
Each state was worth one point, regardless of whether it was a one or two-day leg. The team with the most magnets at the end would win five hundred thousand dollars.
In the event of a tie, teams involved would compete in one final challenge in the final destination of New York City.
Contestants would be issued one cellular phone per team.
The phone could only be used to call nine-one-one in an emergency, to take pictures and video required for some challenges, and to catalog memories from the trip.
After the show had finished airing, personal pictures and video footage would be returned to contestants. The phone also had Google Maps, which contestants were allowed to use.
Each team would travel with a cameraman and a sound technician. The crew would rotate each leg, meaning you wouldn’t always travel with the same crew.
Contestants had to stay within twenty feet of each other at all times during the marathon, and during the stay at each campground checkpoint.
During campground stays, contestants were free to wander about.
The campgrounds were closed to the public, including people with seasonal campsites during our two-day stay, to protect the integrity of the show.
At campground checkpoints, contestants would eat together on the full day in between legs. All meals would be provided.
Each RV would come stocked with healthy snacks, beverages, and easy-to-prepare foods for arrival and departure days, and would be replenished as necessary over the course of the marathon.
There would be organized group activities as well as free time during the rest periods.
During each leg of the marathon, contestants would wear small, waterproof microphones clipped to their clothing.
After checking in at the campsite, contestants would only be required to wear them during meals and organized events.
The producers wanted to respect the privacy of the newlyweds and their need for some alone time.
Contestants were required to use their assigned RV as transportation.
However, some challenges would require contestants to park their RV in a designated location and use alternate transportation, which might include rental cars or public transportation.
Teams were not allowed to divulge the number of states they’d collected to other teams. No team was allowed inside the RV of another team at any time.
When teams reached the check-in, they might arrive with other teams and inadvertently learn who won the leg, however they could not disclose that to any other teams.
This was to protect the integrity of the marathon.
If teams were aware that one particular team had a large lead nearing the end of the marathon, it might affect their desire to participate and compete if the winner had already been determined.
“Fuck me,” Nate muttered. “So many rules to remember.”
“It’s not that bad,” I said. “Mostly common-sense stuff.”
“Well, I’m glad I have a smarty pants partner to keep it all straight for me,” he whispered, leaning in close; his lips grazed the shell of my ear. “I like you with a ponytail. You have a sexy neck.”
I bit down on my lower lip as I tried to hide the effect of his words and his warm breath on my neck. My nipples were like little bullets, making me regret wearing a thin T-shirt.
I cleared my throat, pretending to read over the papers in front of me while he stared down at my chest with a sly smirk.
I glanced around us. Nobody was paying attention. There was no reason to be acting like lovers right at that moment.
“Can I have everyone’s attention, please?” Yolanda called out. “I’d like to introduce the host of the show. Say hello to Rudy Rupert!”
And he has this short, goofy laugh that follows every sentence he utters. He’s only in his early thirties. But the viewers must love him because the show keeps bringing him back.
“Hey!” Rudy shouted, shaking his fist in the air. “Glad to be here. This is gonna be epic.” He laughed as he scanned the room.
“I know you all are newlyweds, and you’re itching to go break in the bed in your RV.
He walked down our side of the table, dropping a set of keys in front of each team.
“That’s right, dudes and dudettes,” he chuckled as he dropped ours on the table.
“I know who you all are. What kind of host would I be if I didn’t learn that shit ahead of time? I memorized your pictures and bios.”
But apparently, the powers that be decided for me.
“Okay, teams,” Rudy said. “I’m gonna open up the large door at the back of the room. On the count of three, teams will run outside and find their assigned RV.
“The bus driver already put all your stuff inside for you while you were trying to stay awake.”
He walked toward the back of the room, laughing to himself. “Now, listen up. I don’t wanna sound like a kindergarten teacher, but I don’t wanna see any pushing and shoving.
“Husbands, hold your wife’s hand and protect her from getting trampled. Please, dudes. I’m old-fashioned that way. It’s our job as dudes to protect our women.”
“Gimme a break,” I muttered under my breath. This was the twenty-first century. What a ridiculous thing to say. Nobody heard me but Nate. He poked me in the side.
“I heard that,” he whispered.
“Good,” I whispered back. “I don’t need you to protect me.”
“We’ll see, Mrs. Miller.”
It was the first time he’d called me that. I kind of liked the sound of it.
Which was not good. If I got too attached to being Mrs. Miller, it would just hurt more when it ended. I had to be careful and protect my heart at all costs.
“When you get outside,” Rudy continued, “you need to try your key in all the locks until you find your RV. There is an RV technician standing in front of every camper.
“He’s gonna take your keys away from you. Then he’s gonna walk you through the basics. How to hook up when you get to your site, and how to unhook before you leave.”
I took a deep breath and cleared my mind. I could do this. My eidetic memory was going to give us a strong advantage.
“There’s a list of things that must be completed each time,” Rudy said. “Then you’re gonna do a mock hook-up and unhook.
“When your technician is satisfied with your performance, he’ll give you your keys back.
“At that point, one of the team members is gonna drive the RV down the road and follow the signs to Teller’s Point. Your site number for this park correlates with your team number.
“Once you find your site, you need to back in your RV. When the tech passes you on that skill, you need to hook up. And not with each other.”
He snorted, his goofy laugh coming out like a hyena.
“You need to hook up your camper to the services on your site. When you’ve done it correctly, your tech will give you a card with a green check mark.
“You will then run to the entrance of the park and check in.
“We can’t have every team trying to race out of here in an RV at the same time tomorrow, hence the need for this challenge to determine your starting times.
“The first team to complete the challenge today will leave at six am. A team will depart every thirty minutes thereafter.
“For the remaining legs, the time between departure will be based on the time you checked in for the previous leg.
“For example, if you were the last team to arrive, and the team before you beat you by two hours, you’re leaving two hours later. Just a tip. Don’t let that happen to you.
“And don’t forget, you need to take your camera crew with you. You can’t leave without them, or you’ll have to turn around and come back. No worries though.
“Those dudes are used to chasing contestants. They’re waiting outside. Make sure your mic is attached to you, please. Then I want you to turn it on so we can do a sound check.”
A wave of excitement swept over me as Rudy raised the door. This was it. The official start of the marathon. I was really doing this.
“On your mark, get set, go!”
