journey

Not so SoCal

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So last post I was feeling soooo SoCal, well since then we’ve moved not so SoCal. The journey is taking us slowly north up the Pacific Coast. Since Santa Barbara and Hobson Beach, we have parked our home and moved in to what I am now calling The Holy Trinity of National Parks…Sequoia, Kings Canyon, and Yosemite. img_2746

Leaving Hobson Beach Park, a state park in Santa Barbara, I was a little heartbroken. Living next to the beach, listening to the waves crash at night with the windows open instead of our white noise machine, combing the beach each morning, and meeting some great people while we were there was really hard to leave. However, it was time to get back into the national parks and see the things.

As soon as we arrived at our campground near Sequoia, I knew I needed to be back in the nature of trees. Our campground was along a river with big willowy trees swaying in the breeze encompassed in Spring blooms. After walking down to the river, feeling the breeze, dipping our toes in the freezing cold rushing river, and quietly listening to the sounds, I was completely at ease. img_2633

Our first day in Sequoia National Park we happened upon some Petroglyphs, one of my journey obsessions (along with cacti, heart-shaped nature, dead trees, and Pelicans diving into the water). First we did the “must dos” and conquered the General Forest. We saw the General Sherman Tree along what we thought would be an easy hike since it was the most popular but going in we knew it would be harrrrd getting back out because it was allllll downhill. However, the tree was massive and awe-some!

After that crazy hike we drove up and through the Tunnel Log….twice. Once so I could go through in the truck and once so I could take pix. Then we hiked up Moro Rock, which is no joke! You go up, up, up and include some stairs and major drop offs and get to the most beautiful panoramic view of a national park. Then you climb down and cross the road and climb up another killer hike to see the Roosevelt Tree (if you’re tired or not in the mood, worth skipping it and just another big tree in my book).

The next day we spent finishing our journey planning, Gilmore hung outside sunbathing, and letting the girls play basketball, tether ball, and skip rocks in the river. A good day had by all essentially. Finishing our planning, contracting campgrounds/national parks, figuring out dates and then Shaun calculating when we’d ETA get “home” was super exhausting and even more depressing. I can NOT express enough how much I do NOT want to go home (except to see my loved ones) and would love to do this for just another year. I know many of you can not understand my drive but having my husband and girls in my business all of the time and seeing the greatness of America with them every day is completely priceless and AMAZING! Also, saving them and myself from the worry of what is happening in the world (not blinding them from it but protecting) and the current trends of young women is completely worth bubbling them in the RV and keeping the journey going.

Ok so after I depressed myself, blamed Shaun (not his fault but who else), and agreed on dates, we set off on a narrow, windy road towards Kings Canyon a day early. Why? A campground in-park opened that day and had campsites open that could handle our rig (our home, travel trailer is 36′ 11″ without the F250, which has to be perfectly straight when unhooking). So we moved….and QUICK! We didn’t, for the first time, have a campground ready and waiting for us to stay at and Shaun knew I was freaking out about this detail.

We got there and were probably the fourth person to park there for the day, aka the season. The site we parked in was the most amazing site we have ever parked in EVER! There was no one around us but trees. Oh, oh and the trees, I am in LOOOOOVE with the trees. They were giant, smelled amazing, and just encompassed the word beautiful!!!!! This is now where I knew I belonged. I want to be in the trees forever!!!! John Muir and I are one and we belong smelling, saving, dwelling, and living in the TREES!!!!! img_2706

So after I resolved to be one with the trees, we woke up cold and in the trees. We dressed and hiked from our campground right into the General Grant Tree self-guided hike (self-guided hikes ROCK) and loved it especially pre-Memorial Day rush. It was amazing and we loved it! Afterwards, we wentt home, made a massive fire and hung out as our amazing family does!

The next morning we woke up colder and damp. Propane was kicked on and I homeschooled to kill time before our hike. As we headed out to the truck to head to the Panoramic Point to hike up to the Fire Tower, that idea was quickly killed. The road was so foggy that none of us could see and we were just going to rise in elevation so we abandoned ship and headed back. We arrived to the campground and I whipped out my camera and Natalie joined me in a wet stroll along the Sunrise Trail next to our campsite and then Brie joined me afterwards. Photographing the trees and natural world during a post rain, condensation, and camp fire bound time was amazing to experience with my girls and such precious time for me to bond with them, one on one too.

Descending on the time to evacuate the chilly weather, we headed toward Yosemite. A scheduled campsite through our beloved Thousand Trails was pre-set and toward it we went. Knowing that there were long, hot showers with plentiful water running through our connected faucets (Berkey ready for filtering water), a river for fishing and playing, and another national park for exploring we ventured on. Originally we were supposed to be in Yosemite for a week but Shaun had an amazing opportunity to paraglide with an amazing instructor and we agreed he had to take it, so we shoved our Yosemite experience into three days of what we refer to as “active days” and I made everyone non-stop active the whole three days.

We were not far from the national park, which for an out of park campground is amazing. Monday we knew a lot of people would have off and so I planned an off-the-beaten-path hike. Hitting Hetch Hetchy toward O’Shaughnessy Dam and then Wapama Falls was not a hard but also not easy hike and walking through the falls, seeing all of the Spring butterflies, feeling the warm breeze, seeing the water at it’s best post-freeze, pre-dry season was amazing and priceless!

The highlight for the girls was walking through the waterfalls. Also, seeing multiple lizards, butterflies, and plants we couldn’t recognize but then meeting an amazing park ranger who found them all in a book she “couldn’t live without” was priceless. We hit the ranger station, bought the book, and it’s been priceless to us, The Laws Field Guide to the Sierra Nevada by (my buddy) John Muir Laws.

The second day in Yosemite, we decided to do the “must sees” as I call them. First we hiked to Bridalveil Falls, the largest waterfall in North America. Then we headed to Yosemite Falls, well hiked to the lower falls but could see both. We saw El Capitan, Half Dome, Cathedral Dome, and Sentinel Rock en route. Then we made our way to Cooks Meadow Loop which provided an amazing view of so many iconic spots, a beautiful meadow, and spring (especially the tadpoles under the boardwalk parts of the hike). After we decided to do the Mirror Lake hike so we can get into the heart of Yosemite and so I can photograph the rock formations in the lake. Well it was a pretty hike but the lake photography left much to be desired. We hiked in and quickly hiked out. The girls played in the Toulemene River at the campground instead while Shaun fished. Win win win!

The third, and final active day, we went to Carlon Falls. Three rangers recommended it, so how could we not?! It was a great hike, beautiful falls, vacant of people, farther than anticipated, and lovely. After we decided to hike to the Giant Sequoias in the Tuolumne Grove for a ranger talk to finish the Junior Ranger books with the girls. After hiking down, down, down, down into the forest we found the meet up point for the talk and ate our lunch because we were early. Our ranger was raring to go, informative, and taught us a lot about the trees and she was the most informative person we’ve ever met in the national parks/monuments/forests/etc.. We still had to hike up, up, up, up and after Natalie and I had to turn back in for her lost hat, gave up, and rehiked up, up, up, up and met up with Shaun and Brie we were beat (btw her hat was in the bottom of her backpack lol). The visitor center was our last stop in Yosemite National Park for the girls to earn their beloved Jr Ranger badges. Boy did they earn them after over 18 miles of hiking in three days!

After arriving back home we decided to pack up and get as ready as we could to leave early the next day so Shaun could go to his second paragliding certification course. It is such a blessing that he’s been able to work with this group of teachers whom know there paragliding info inside and out. He and I feel he’s in the best hands to prepare him for the best, worst and in-between when he goes out on his own in a sport that he loves and enjoys. It brings him closer to enjoying his down time and us supporting him in that.

While he did his training, the girls and I have slept in (which was needed after our Yosemite race), been to the beach, tried hiking but it was too hot, drove around seeing and looking for paragliders/aka Shaun, made new/awesome friends, homeschooled, read, made slime, biked, hunted lizards and more. We can get more done in our time in the RV then we could anywhere else. SIGH!

After this we headed to a national forest for a few days to wait, impatiently, until we hit San Fran with our family/BFFS! Peace out sauerkraut! We also celebrated Gilmore’s 2nd birthday!

Arizona to Utah-mazingest!!!!

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Although we had great fun in Phoenix chillin’ like villains, we had even more fun in the coming days. Still in Arizona, we hit the Grand Canyon. I feel like this was a big milestone in our trip because it is one of the most iconic, most visited, and one of the 7 natural wonders of the world.

Honestly, Shaun and I expected to get there, look out at the canyon, be in awe of it’s largness, and that be that. Once again, to our surprise there was so much more to it than that. It was sooo much larger than we’d ever imagined, so much more beautiful, and had so many different facets to it. It literally moved me to tears the beauty and overall momentous experience of our being there.

Day 1 we arrived early at the park, hit the Visitor Center for our Jr Ranger books, and decided to conquer the whole red trail of the South Rim, approximately 5 miles. It was a little brisk as we started the day but figured we have NJ blood and can handle it! Two miles in the wind picked up a lot and it became unfun. We, along with everyone else at the park, rushed to the shuttle bus lines to get the heck out to there. What we had seen and experienced already had left us pumped for Day 2.

Day 2, we got there a bit late, waited to get through the ranger check-in for an hour, it took us another hour to get the shuttle to pick up our hike where we’d left off, and by the time we arrived to our start point it had taken us three hours. So we have learned to get to the parks earlllllly!!! We finished our hike and felt great about it! We also saw a lot of elk which was killer!

img_0498Day 3 we woke to watch the sunrise. Running a little bit late, we rushed leading to a speeding ticket in the Grand Canyon by a Park Ranger. Buuuuut we made it for the sunrise and it was spectacular! After attending a fossil trek, the girls earned their Jr Ranger badges. MOM TIP: If I haven’t mentioned it before, the girls love earning their Jr Ranger badges at the National Parks/Monuments/etc…  Not only do they learn so much while we are in the parks, Shaun and I learn a lot too. It’s a great way for the whole family to learn about the place you’re in, be engaged, and collect something memorable.

We loved watching the sunrise so much that we went to watch it again Day 4. Thankfully we did so sans a speeding ticket and, again, it was totally worth the early alarm. Two early mornings led us to a nice down day. Hanging at the campground, going to watch the IMAX Grand Canyon movie (TIP: the movie is dated, like from the 80’s, and a waste of money), and some family fun card games rounded out the rest of the day.

A little insider info…we have really learned to love playing card games together and do it a lot in our evenings. Finding card games that keep Shaun entertained (yes, that’s my husband), while making sure the girls (ages 10 and 7) can grasp the concept and abilities is a bit challenging but doable. We have a few favorites, Quixx, Dutch Blitz, and Phase 10 are our favorites right now. I am also working on teaching them how to play Rummy to get to 500 Rummy which is my favorite card game and Shaun and I play that a lot.

img_0592After the Grand Canyon we ventured out of Arizona to Utah. What did we know of Utah…NADA! No expectations, real bucket list items or high hopes. With that said we headed toward the MOAB area to check out Canyonlands and Arches. I’d seen lots of pictures of Arches and knew that our pictures would be epic but other that than that’s that.

Day 1 we headed to the Canyonlands…WOW! It blew us away! We took the Grand View Point trail and the views, terrain, and overall greatness of this park surprised us in a most pleasant way. We drove through and stopped at some of the view points which were more and more breathtaking each time. Lastly, we hiked the Mesa Arch trail to see one of the most famous arches, the Mesa Arch, our first arch of the trip, and it was a definite highlight of this day. Then the girls earned their Jr Ranger badges, I bought our magnet and our post card, and we got our signature pic in front of the park sign to end the day.

Day 2 makes it to one of my top days on our journey and made me well up multiple times. We woke up our girls at 4:30am but they weren’t complaining because the Easter bunny had come. After finding Easter eggs and checking out their baskets we all dressed in hiking clothes to head to the Arches. We arrived at La Sal Mountain Overlook at 6:15am to attend an Easter Sunrise Church Service. God was most present on this Holy morning with his astounding creation surrounding us while the sun rose, singing beautiful worship songs, and being able to start the day remembering how good God is.

After the service, we drove to, ironically, a 4 mile trail called the Devil’s Garden. This trail was marked, and not mis-marked in anyyyy way, difficult. The hike itself was amazing, maneuvering up boulders, fancy footwork, and sandy slickrock was required, and we were super impressed how well the girls did. Along the path were a few arches, but most magnificent was Double O Arch. Determined to see the most iconic arch of all, Delicate Arch, we made our way to the next trailhead. Thinking it was 2 miles out and back only to arrive and find out it was 3 miles out and back, we were still going forward. Unknowing we started the 1.5 miles to get to Delicate Arch  which was a 600 foot elevation increase and there was no shade at all as it was almost all slickrock. Wiped from the first hike, now hotter out, and having gotten up at 4:30am..it kicked out butts As we rounded the narrow trail along a mountain with a very far drop down, the view of the arch made the hard work totally worth it. The hike back was a dream and I finnnnnallllly got to see some petroglyphs en route. We arrived home, yes to our home on wheels, to enjoy some much deserved Easter bunny treats and libations/lemonade and enjoy our glorious God given day. Thankful for our abilities to do what we did, free to celebrate our King of Kings, and blessed to rest together as a family living life to the fullest on this journey.

Day 3 in MOAB, aka Shaun’s favorite day, we rented an ATV and headed out to the trails. We saw some real dinosaur bones off of Dinosaur Trail, the gorgeous Uranium Arch, and had a BLAST!!! Uranium Arch was one of my highlights of the day because in the National Parks you are forbidden to climb on the arches but being out in the desert without anyone around, the girls and I climbed onto the arch and got the coveted arch picture that I will definitely treasure forever. Bahaing through the lands just the four of us, barely seeing anyone, surrounded by some of the most beautiful views, we couldn’t be happier. A lot of whooping, hands in the air, and screaming fun was had.

Day 4 we were beat! We brought the Arches Jr Ranger books to the Visitor Center, the girls received their badges, we putzed the shops in MOAB and got a yummy lunch. Unsure of one of our stops I asked the ranger for advice and he was so knowledgeable and patient. The rangers are usually a wealth of knowledge but this ranger was super. Thankfully I asked him, got his advice and went home to cancel one our reservations, made another one and did a bunch of research for our new stop en route.

This morning we are setting off to another local in Utah, which has quickly become one of our top states. However, before our departure we had a HUGE RV life fail. Our toilet overflowed in our master bathroom penetrating other parts of the RV and there was a lot of overflow! This required a Walmart stop before arriving at the next campground since I used all of our bath towels, beach towels, throw blankets, door mat, paper towels and kitchen towels to clean up the mess and a lot of extra time out of our day. Our second mishap of the day occurred when we were about 10 miles from our campground, ready to settle in and chill out. A sign stating “small tunnel ahead” appeared. After asking a ranger he said you needed a permit to go through annnnnnd it already closed for the day. Long story short we had to drive a big loop around Zion to get to our campground that took another 1 1/2 hours. I always check the campground websites because sometime they give you tips for driving a big, heavy, long vehicle but this campground failed me. We did arrive to the best site they had, the clearest, starriest night we’ve ever seen, and just peace. You live and learn and recover from the hiccups in life!

Here’s some fun normal life pix of our life this week!

Week 3…Living the Dream

I can’t believe, and I mean this is the best way possible, that it’s only week 3 of our journey. Honestly, it feels like it should be more like month 2. All three weeks have been so different that I feel like I can’t compare them. Week 1 sucked and sucked some more. Week 2 was chill, some adjusting occurred, and we got outside a bit. Week 3 can be summed up in one word…FUN!

Last Friday we moved to the Orlando area so we could spend the weekend in Universal Studios. We, and out BFFs/family, the Pieklos, have never been. To give an honest review of it from two families that have done Disney a bunch, it was wayyyy better than we expected! Especially now that we have an “adult” ticket holder among the kids and they’re getting older. We spent two whole days there and still didn’t get to see everything. Both families got yearly passes since we were going for at least two days and would probably go back again. It also permitted us to go back and forth between parks via the Hogwarts Express freely.

Day One

Day Two – Shaun’s 40th Birthday

Monday we moved from Orlando to the Tampa area. I couldn’t be happier to move because for lack of a better word the Orlando campground we were in was, ghetto. We relocated to an amazing campground with indoor pool, every service you could imagine for your RV, two on-site restaurants, and so much more. I will disclose the name next week or send me a message to find out where.

Tuesday, Dani and the kids came to see our new mobile abode. The kids went for a swim and had a blast. After we grabbed some yummy Cracker Barrel dinner. Wednesday I took the girls to the American Girl Doll Store in Orlando. Natalie’s request for this adventure was to see every American Girl Doll store in the US but she happily settled for every store near where we visit. This was our first one and they each bought an outfit for their dolls with their own money. After I surprised them with an afternoon back at Universal. Being a lower crowd weekday, we went on things we didn’t and went back on things we loved. We closed the place down again and had so much fun!

Today, we went to see the Pieklos new abode, an actual brick and mortar lol. Then we took the kids to play and collect seashells on Honeymoon Island. It was beautiful and they had a blast. After we went to dinner in Dunedin and the husbands met up with us. Last, we walked for some amazing ice cream at Ice & Cream Creamery and if you ever go, stop here because it is yummy.

Not only did we finally get warm, have some amusement park fun, enjoy Florida, but we got to do it with our besties, cousins, loves! However, they aren’t rid of us yet…. There is more fun yet to come! This weekend is the whipped cream, hot fudge, and cherry on top of the already eaten two scoop ice cream cone of the past week.

Stay tuned to see what these crazies do next!!

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Full-timing & Fuller Hearted

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We are officially in our second week of full-timing, as it’s called in our new awesome lifestyle. The change from living in our old town, the girls going to public school and all of us being very immersed in it, to moving to a new town and homeschooling, and now to living full-time in our RV, roadschooling and with some days of just us, has been a big transition. However, I have to say that my children really go with the flow, embrace life and it has been a welcomed slowing of pace to the chaos of the past few months. img_8142

If anyone is concerned about my mental well-being after the first week from Hell, do not fret. Since I have had my multiple panic attacks, made my husband invest a small fortune in upgrading his truck, and froze in states where it’s normally warm, we have found a happy rhythm. It has still been unseasonally cold this week in Tennessee but we hiked, ate some good southern food, explored the beautiful KOA of Sweetwater, and learned a lot this week. While Shaun was working the girls and I bundled up and got outside a lot. Fresh air did us a lot of good!

Now we are trying to make the most of our space, personalize it a bit (which we’ve yet to do) and learn to make the most of everyday. One tip I’m learning quick is that if we are traveling or want to do a full day of something, we need to, and absolutely can, modify our schooling schedule (even doing some reading while still in bed because why get up). Part of this journey is to make the most of our days, and yes they need to learn and grow mentally, but exploring, wandering, and being free is also a big part of it. This is the part that we can not take advantage of when we are home, they’re in public school and there are rules to everything. I’m saying rules-schmules…LIFE is what my kids need!

This week coming up is going to be a GREAT part of our journey! We are headed to Florida to see the Pieklos, our BFFs/Family/Loves! It’ll be the first time we all bring the kids to Universal Studios where we will celebrate Shaun’s 40th. During the week we’ll get some quality time in. Then the following weekend we’ll hit Magic Kingdom and Epcot and the following day celebrate Dani’s 40th. That will be the cherry on top of the ice cream sundae because her and I are hitting the spa and we NEED it! It’s been quite the past 6 months for us both and these mammas deserve a 40th birthday celebratory BFF spa day!!!

I must admit that since Dani and the fam moved, it’s been sad for me (and all of us). I totally get why they moved and knew it was their dream so I support their dreams but am sad without them close by. The best part of our friendship is that we always get each other, think too much alike, support each other in our hair brain ideas, and back each up in our crazy, and sometimes illegal, whims. Other great parts are that our kids love each other and fight like siblings, which is pure love in the kid world. This week is going to be the best, warmest and funnest (yup a word!)!!!!

So, what happened this week past, I did our first load of laundry thus far. Let me tell you, doing your laundry once a week with three machines simultaneously is awesome! It would be less if Shaun’s clothes weren’t so God forsakingly big but he’s a giant so that is life. Then they had big dryers so all of it went into one big drier and was put away in no time. Mom win! Southern food is delicious, albeit not healthy but yummy. Long division and money were conquered in our roadschooling! Mom tackle, goal and field goal!

We went to the Cherohala Skyway and saw the breathtaking Bald River Falls. There were frozen sections and it was truly a display of God’s handiwork.

Cherohala Skyway

Tomorrow we start the two-day travel to Florida and we are all excited for the journey because the end of the road is going to be great! See y’all next week…might post after we depart on Tuesday 2/6 so I can give you the full download of our time but you never know, I might be too excited to share the fun also.

Til then… img_8104