roadschool

“Home”

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We are “home”. I use quotation marks for so many reasons, which I’ll share with you in the next paragraph. If you’ve followed our journey, we weren’t supposed to come back until early to mid-August. So why did we come home approximately 10 days early and skip Mount Rushmore and the Badlands? A most important family member needed us and that’s all I’m going to say about that for now respectfully (please keep my family in your prayers). We departed from the Grand Tetons on Sunday, August 22nd at 4:22pm and arrived home Tuesday, August 24th at 11:22pm. My husband, who drove the entire time and the entire journey, is my hero!

Ok so now for the reasons for the quotation marks: 1) Shaun going to work, 2) I miss Dani (my BFF who now lives in FL), 3) We barely lived here before we left on our journey so it’s unfamiliar, 4) Although I have lived in this, the same county, my entire life I am not super familiar with this particular town, 5) I have one friend in this town and that’s hard and scary thinking what if I don’t make friends here, 6) The girls have no friends in this town, 7) I miss living the RV life BIG TIME, 8) I don’t know where anything is in this TOO big house, 9) I HATE cleaning this TOO big house, 10) We miss exploring other places, 11) National Parks, 12), 13), 14), 15), 16), 17), 18), 19), and 20) I am TOTALLY missing having the four of us (and Gilmore) all to myself without sharing with anyone, school, life, work, etc… getting in the way!!!!!! This is by no means a whoa is me moment, I am beyond blessed for the too big house, my husband having a job, for a BFF who I love beyond words, we’ve seen and been places people dream of visiting, and I love the people I share my family with, but it’s a BIG adjustment.

On the plus side: 1) It’s the BEST being near the fam (especially when they NEED you), 2) I love having my big kitchen with all of the equipment, 3) Not rocking around in our home is kinda nice, 4) Not wearing shoes in the shower, 5) Not walking Gilmore, our pup, 6) Really great internet, Netflix and tv all of the time, 7) The deck, yard, trampoline, giant grill, etc…, 8) On hand washer, dryer and best of all, dishwasher, 9) Amazon Prime whenever I want, 10) Our library around the corner, 11) Dunkin Donuts (what’s up with the West coast’s aversion to DD?), 12) Farms with local goodness so close by, and 13) Not packing up, unpacking, and moving your home.

Not surprisingly, got home and all of the hub bub of the girls wanting their own space and rooms and…drumroll…they slept in each other’s rooms for eight days after we landed. It took us days to unpack the RV, unpack what we brought into the house, get everything cleaned up, organize the crap, get rid of a lot of what we easily lived without for six and a half months, and settle in. It was a super hero effort on my part, the girls helped best they could and we were done within a week. Not tooting my own horn, and don’t get me wrong our house is not in full order, but we are living here without any of my super anxious feelings when I walk into a room.

Living such an unbusy, limited cleaning stress, go where we want, no outside demands or plans, easy life has changed us. Our lifestyle, goals, dreams, daily to-dos are different than the average Joe around us. We don’t want to sign the kids up for a million activites/extracurriculars and they don’t want that either. We don’t want to make plans weeks in advance for anything at all. We don’t want to blast our calendar to fill our days. Having been the calendar queen (I had three) and now we are home and I haven’t changed the fridge whiteboard calendar from what it was left at in December/January. The only thing I’ve added to my Google calendar was upcoming school dates, my sister’s wedding events, and some appointments for a family member.

The life we lived before the journey is GONE and the four of us couldn’t be HAPPIER!

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Yesterday in church, God showed me how much he is present with us right now through this transition from RV to house, in our new journey to change the way we live, and in a tough emotional time in our lives. The sermon was about how enough is enough in our lives. I’m summarizing here but stockpiling things, money, and anything else is unnecessary and not in the way of trusting our Lord and Savior because He always provides. In Proverbs 30:9 states ” give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much”. Mind blown!

We had our first weekly family meeting last night. Starting with open conversation about how we are feeling, what we would like to change, and how to do better. This could involve our family, friends, or just about anything. I figure if we start this at ages 8 and 10, then down the road hopefully they’ll be more open to share in a safe environment when things are really serious. I tried to focus on how we are feeling back in NJ so far, what we miss about the RV and how we could bring it here, and how we can feel more comfortable when we are not so sure how to feel but definitely full of a lot of longing.

During our meeting I was so in awe of Natalie, and this isn’t a new feeling, but her security and confidence in finding new friends and being ok in her new school was inspiring. Finding new friends every time we moved in the RV and being so confident in approaching new, unfamiliar kids might have helped because the grade she was in at her old school had only approximately 12 girls in her entire grade and she was uber comfortable, cushy there. Her new school she’ll be in she’ll be in the elementary school for one year with Brie before entering Middle School and then multiple schools come together and a more varied pool of potential friends. I keep instillling in her that if she doesn’t click with anyone she doesn’t HAAAAAVE to be friends with anyone and can make friends with a larger pool of girls next year. It’s my job and goal to help my girls be more confident and secure in themselves, who they are deep down, allow them to speak openly to me, and share all of their life with me without fear.

Brie was the one on the journey that wanted to come home to start her new school so she could make friends in our new town. I think the reason was that she wanted Natalie to be there with her for the first year before Natalie went off to a different school. Brie was the advocate for coming home instead of continuing the journey any longer. However, now that the date of the new school year approaches and she realizes her BFF, Chi-Chi, won’t be with her as her partner in crime, the tides have shifted. It definitely helps for her to see Natalie so confident and ready to make friends, not so ready to go back to all the hours, homework and hubbub of school, but as ready as any kid is after summer break.

Four and a half weeks left until my whole world is really turned upside down. Shaun will be at work and the girls will be at school. My RV life, my happy place, and the best part of my life will be completely replaced by a semi-“normal” life.

So, this is the real of how we are adjusting so far. We have spent a lot of time with my mom and she’s our person, we’ve hiked which helped to be among nature and pretend we were on the journey again, we’ve cooked and baked up a storm and enjoyed the big kitchen and all things in it, we have visited a nursery and bought some herbs and fruit plants to start growing, a library visit was in order and we do love love our local library (which we didn’t have at our last town or on the journey), we introduced our air plants from the RV into our home and many hours have been spent on our trampoline, on our deck and enjoying our gorgeous outdoor space.

Oh what Shaun and I, and at a 60/40 ratio the girls too, would give to get back into the RV and continue our journey!

Geeking Out

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img_3994Our time on this journey is sadly coming to a quick close and times like these in the picture below I am savoring and getting super sentimental about. My prayer is that we don’t fall into the ways of this world, the “normalcy”, or the busy busy life ever again. The connectedness we have alongside the unbusy is what I’d like to maintain when we return “home”. The “norm” will never be our norm again, with the grace of God!

Off to Washington state we went after Oregon. Once again, I couldn’t have imagine the gloriousness of another state in our great country. At this point I don’t think I would ever have the desire to travel abroad…well except for a warm island with drinks in coconuts or pineapples of course.

I’m going to totally geek out here, but we stayed in La Push, Washington. Anyone catching on? The Quileute tribe from Twilight that Jacob Black was from is real tribe located in La Push just like the movie and next to Forks where Edward Cullen, the vampire, lived. We used hipcamp.com to make our reservations and stayed on someone’s land (with electric and water hookups) there for super cheap which was awesome! While staying there we visited the Olympic National Park. What a surreal place made up of four ecosystems: coast, forest, rainforest, and mountains.

Our first day in the park we hiked through the rainforest and up into the mountains, two of four ecosystems. The water was a light turquoise color. We learned that the color is caused from the snow melting on top of the mountains, flowing down toward the river and bringing sediment into the waters…wow mind blown! Our second day we went to the coast, three of the four ecosystems, at Rialto Beach to see Hole in the Wall, Haystack rock, and the driftwood made of whole trees. We collected rocks from the shore, putzed along the tidepools stemming with ocean life and balanced beamed along the driftwood. The third and final day we went to Second Beach and to get down to the beach we entered the fourth and final type of ecosystem, the forest. We hiked one mile through forest to get to the beach which was super cool and a little bizarre for this East Coast fam, especially when we saw a banana slug on the trail. This beach had bigger tidepools but less beachcombing to be done but was a fun finale.

Next, we headed to Whidbey Island to our campground so Shaun could paraglide along a most spectacular state park bordering a bay in Fort Ebey. Long story short, the wind was sadly not with him during our time there so no paragliding happened. We checked out a pier and tried crabbing, investigated Fort Ebey, an old fort used for coastal defense during WWII, and drove over Deception Pass (not for the bridge hater like me!).

Next a super duper shmooper exciting mention in this post…we headed to Glacier National Park to celebrate Brie’s EIGHTH birthday!!!!! How my baby turned 8 is so beyond me because in my mommy mind she was born two years ago and should still be in a stroller when we go places. We surprised her with our friends, the Youngs, showing up to join in the fun. On her actual birthday we rented kayaks and enjoyed the glacial waters on Lake McDonald. Brie and I even swam in the crystal clear and freezing glacial waters! Then we got ice cream (Huckelberry is the specialty flavor of everything in these parts and is even an ice cream flavor), bought some souvenirs and headed back to the campground. She opened presents and enjoyed her double chocolate cake with dark fudge icing and chocolate sprinkles.

The following day in Glacier NP we also hiked to three different waterfalls in one trip: Baring, St Mary and Virginia. They were all different from each other but St Mary Falls had the most turquoise water I’ve ever seen inside the US and Virginia Falls was tallest and went down along the rocks in a picturesque way. Our final day we took the kids into the park to get their Junior Ranger badges, shopped a bit around St Mary and got the kids ice cream. The whole park is astonishing and it was such a blessing to see the glaciers because they predict that in ten years they’ll all be gone unfortunately. If you get a chance…GOOOO!

This was the end of our time in Washington and Montana. Next we headed to Yellowstone, which is mostly in Wyoming but some parts are in Idaho and some in Montana as well. Deets on our time here in Yellowstone and Grand Tetons in the next post because we are still here and there’s so much to tell!

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CaliforniA-dieu, HellO-regon

On June 9th our BFFs/family came out to meet up with us from Tampa, FL to San Francisco, CA. Not only did they fly in but they drove straight to us from the airport to snuggle, eat cheese, walk along the ocean side, and get some quality time in. My BFF, Dani, and I even managed to get the dads to walk with the kids to the store to get slime makings while we sat on a bench looking over the ocean and get some quality time together. We make lots of friends along this journey and I get some girl talk time in here and there but nothing like sitting with your BFF in sweats just dishing and listening.

We spent our first day going over the Golden Gate Bridge, stopping for the inaugural pix, heading to Sausalito for some shopping and eating, back along the Golden Gate Bridge, hit the world-famous sour dough bread maker Boudin, and wound up eating at their hotels comfy closed restaurant (and we ate it alllllll!)

Day 2 we went to Alcatraz and it was awesome! This sounds weird but the flowers on the island were so beautiful and I took so many pictures of them it was kind of odd. The history was surprising since I didn’t know about eighty percent of what had occurred on the island except that it was a jail. I highly recommend going if you can or reading a book on the history of the island because it wasn’t just a jail by any means.

After Alcatraz we grabbed lunch, and don’t judge, at Boudin again. Most people like to try different places when they go somewhere new but it was sooooo good we couldn’t not go again. Afterwards, we hopped on the bus and headed to Haight and Ashbury. Now, I know people might not always be jumping to go to the hippiest location and especially with kids but Dani and I were dyyyyyying to go. We arrived, started putzing the fun and quirky stores, did some killer people watching, and then headed to the park to bring the kids to the play area. We couldn’t find the play area and this might not’ve been the most kid friendly place so we all ubbered home ready for the next day.

This was my most excitable day because we were going to Muir Woods National Monument. On this journey, especially since Kings Canyon, I’ve become a biggggg fan of John Muir and couldn’t wait to see “his” woods. When we got there with our parking reservations, which is required and has never happened in any other park we’ve ever been to, checked in, and met up, I was ready and raring to go. It was so lush, green, the redwoods were so tall, and it was all breathtaking. Dani, who isn’t a nature/hiking person, even loved it! My niece and nephew, earned their first Junior Ranger badges which was super exciting for us and the girls.

After we drove to Stintson Beach, grabbed a delicious lunch near the beach, dipped our toes in the sand. Brie and RJ collected sand crabs while Natalie and Emmy did “sand gymnastics”. It’s a pretty magical thing to spend the afternoon on the beach with four kids who love the beach and never complain!

Next day, NAPA!!!!!!!!!!!!! We met at their hotel, then to the family pool, then….wait for it….Dani and I left to go to the adult only pool to then go to the spa!!! Holy awesomeness! There’s really no words. If you’re a mom, especially one that lives in 300 sq ft with your family, you get it! Then all eight of us went to dinner at Oxbrow Market where we all grabbed food we liked from stands, ate outside and enjoyed each other’s company.

Our final day together we hit the vineyards. Who knew Napa was so family friendly and we could not have been more thankful. Silver Oak was our first stop. They had a big open grassy area the kids just loved and the adults enjoyed our wine tasting. After that we went to the Hall vineyard. There they had comfy living room style setups outdoors, along with corn hole, bocce ball, and more. We tasted, played, and enjoyed our last day together. Lastly we went to V. Sattui for lunch at their amazing deli along with cheeses and wine and then self-toured and learned how wine is made. Lastly, we took the kids for ice cream and took a picture to savor at the infamous Napa sign. We said a sad goodbye and they went on to visit family.

It was hard to say goodbye to our family and friends in NJ when we left on this journey but we were excited to see the USA. However, saying goodbye to our BFFs/family without a set time to see them next weighed on my heart. They’re our people and we miss them so much when we are on opposite poles of the East Coast but we usually have an until date. We know we can NOT go long without seeing them and the eight of us as a force will make it happen sooner than later. My heart was full of love, laughter, and memories from our week together.

The next day we said our final farewell to the great state of California with its varied terrains, amazing beaches, giant trees, awesome cultural diversity, amazing wine and it’s most apparent liberalness. Off to one of my most anticipated states, Oregon. In case you’re wondering it is not pronounced or-a-gone, it’s or-gan with a soft i in between the two but said almost as one syllable. We hit the coast first and stayed at South Beach State Park Campground in Newport. This was hands down my favorite campground ever!

Why? We were in the trees and could hike among them. The roads and trails were paved and we could bike everywhere. The beach was within a half mile and it was gorgeous. The facilities were clean, there was a ranger station and hospitality center, kids state park badge earning program, huge sites, and it was safe. We met a great family and the girls quickly made friends. Our time here was spent crabbing (Hint: it’s cheaper to buy the supplies at Walmart than rent) and eating crab, especially Dungeness crab, beach combing for agates, sea glass and other treasures, finding and exploring amazing tide pools, especially along the outer parts of the jetty at low tide, walking the beach, bike riding many miles, earning junior ranger badges and awards, having big fires with our new friends, creating our own rock polisher for all of our beach findings (thank you Pinterest) and visiting the amazing Hatfield Marine Science Center (Hint: this is donation based as opposed to the costly Oregon Coast Aquarium and it goes to a good cause).

After we headed up to Mount Hood National Forest and back to our trusty Thousand Trails campgrounds. A beautiful campground, dream like scenic views, hiking trails that always exceeded our expectations, local places to get what we needed, and best of all we met great friends in the Young family! An awesome couple and their two boys who are the same age as the girls and by an act of God, literally, we all clicked in a million ways and taught each other a few things. It’s easy to make friends along the way but rarely do all four of us click but we knew we were meant to meet and it was easy to be together, shared a lot of the same values and parenting styles, our kids enjoyed some of the same things while also enjoying learning new hobbies from each other, and we all just happily jelled together.

While in Mount Hood we hiked the Old Salmon River Trail, Ramona Falls Trail, Mirror Lake Trail and, from our campground, the Cascade Streamwatch Trail where there was an underwater viewing area and then stopped at the Mountain View Recreation Area for a snack and playground fun. All of these hikes provided us with exposure to and views of God’s amazing creation. I expected Oregon to be lush and gorgeous but I am truly in awe! We also spent two days in Portland. Our absolute favorite was going to Powell’s Bookstore, the world’s largest independent bookstore housing new and used books, and we went both days we were there. The first day was a Saturday so we went to the Saturday Market, ate some food truck finds, listened to some live music and shopped/putzed. The second trip, after Powell’s, we hit the city block full of food trucks a few blocks away and then Voodoo Donuts (Hint: I think that the Old Dirty Bastard and Voodoo doll were the best) and both were amazing. Both days were enjoyable and we felt like we’d seen most of what we needed to.

Next we move on to Washington and I can not wait to spend time exploring this corner of our country but will greatly miss the Youngs! (The picture below is Brie crying as well pulled away from our new friends…little does she know what’s too come…stay tuned!)

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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!

SoCal SoFun!

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New Jersey has been my home my whole life and pretty much the same county even. Our journey traveling around the US has really opened my eyes to what could be. Even knowing NJ, especially our area, is one of the most expensive places in the country to live, it’s home. However, I think I have found where my heart would love to call home…the Santa Barbara area.

Needless to say it also shares the title of one of the most expensive places to live in the US. Worse off, it’s on the opposite coast from all of the people I love. What draws me to this area of SoCal? The salt life, the perfect year round weather, you’re within reach of everything you could need, want, and not know you wanted, there is so much to do, and it’s just perfect all of the time!

We were originally camping up in the mountains (pix above) of Oso (for those moms tortured by Agent Oso sorry for the memories this rehashes for you). Being up there in the mountains provided some killer hiking but we were so secluded from all of the good stuff. So we moved to the beach (if you didn’t know this yet…IG!) and are LOVING it!

So, I did what any right-minded woman would do and called a realtor to put our NJ sticks and bricks up on the market and started looking for a new sticks and bricks here. Just kidding! For our time here, I am just going to soak in all of the beauty, weather, salty air, great stuff, culture, and perfectness. The girls are definitely enjoying it here and Shaun is off paragliding and getting certified and there is four very happy Hammans 24 hours a day! We checked out the Santa Barbara pier and Channel Islands National Park, both gorgeous!

Currently, I am sitting outside, listening to the waves crash, every so often getting a light sea spray, soaking in the Vitamin D, watching the girls explore their findings from the beach this morning, all while the palm trees sway above, the boats and surfers sail by and I savor it all!

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California…no doubt about it

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We arrived on Wednesday to San Diego and it was beautiful! I get why people live there without a doubt. We loved the KOA there with their beautiful pool, jumping pillows, huge laundry room, book exchange, and handy store. However, the San Diego zoo was the highlight of that location.

Not being a huge zoo person, but still so excited to hit this iconic place. We spent the whole day there. Starting with the guided bus tour we made our list of what we must-see because I read it’s almost impossible to see the whole thing in one day. Most of our time was spent in the new Africa Rocks area. The whole place is just beautiful! Wish we could’ve seen the Safari Park area but we chose the zoo portion as the #1.

Friday we chilled poolside during the AM and then ventured out for the evening. We went to the Cabrillo National Monument. The tide pools there are super cool! This was the girls first time ever and our first time on this journey touching the Pacific Ocean…MONUMENTAL! After splashing, finding shells, touching all of the cool sea creatures, we headed into the visitor center to get our Junior Ranger books and earn our badges.

After slaying the badge earning we headed to Liberty Market for their First Friday Arts night. Soon I was made aware of everyone’s starving status and commencing whining. Shaun wanted to eat at a local brewery and we quickly found one of our favorites by some dumb luck. If you’ve never had anything from Stone Brewery it’s pretty rad stuff. Yummy food, good libations, outdoor beauty and then we hit the market.

This market is a must see for anyone in the area! In hindsight we wished we had gone there first and ate. Inside were individual store/stands with all local vendors. Some of the cool stops there are artisanal cheeses, ramen, fish/oyster bar, jewelery, good olive oils & aged balsamic, gelato and desserts, and much more. Then we went onto the big lawn to check out some local art, music, a museum and more. It was such a great, outdoors, local stop.

img_2067The next day we were waiting for a package to arrive at the campground so we decided on a pool/campground day. The package came earlier than expected and the campground got really busy to the point that the pool was too much for us. Family decision…we packed up in under an hour and head to the beach.

We arrived within three hours to Dockweiler Beach in LA County. It’s basically parking in a parking lot with hook ups and you’re feet from the beach. The view, the location, the beach is amazing! Bonus, we also made amazing friends with the family next to us. One of the best parts of the journey is the people we meet! We beached, we campfired, we watched the most amazing sunsets, we biked the path along the beach, and we beached some more! It was an amazing few days!

Today, Tuesday we galivanted to Santa Monica Pier. There we played in the arcade, ate some ice cream, people watched, and putzed. Then we headed down the PCH and I was so intrigued with seeing Muscle Beach in Venice Beach that Shaun stopped so we could check it out. It was everything I wanted it to be sans the muscley dudes. There was a great strip of shops, skaters/skater park, more people watching and so much more. After we went to the beach and chilled.

Now we are off to see more of Cali…

East Coasters landed on the West Coast

Although my last post might’ve seemed like I was on the verge of a hair losing in clumps breakdown or foot stomping arms pounding the ground tyraid about going home, I have not gone over the deep end just yet. I’ve reentered the still in the relishing every moment, making as many memories as possible, living this journey to the fullest and taking one day at a time stage. I vowed not to waste the rest of our time on worrying about the end of it because that is just silly and wasteful. It’s on journey…watch out!

img_1682To update you on where we are on the journey, we left Las Vegas and our short stint with Nevada. Then a pinnacle moment arrived and I really couldn’t have been more dorky-excited about it…we reached California!!! This meant we made it allllll the way to the West Coast from the East Coast. We made it! We did it! We took this journey across our great USA! Still so excited to actually touch the Pacific Ocean and hit the beach!

 

Although South Cali, from what we have seen so far, looks an aweful lot like New Mexico and Arizona and that was anticlimatic for me. Thennnnnn we reached 29 Palms and the hubby’s head exploded with Marine Corps excitement. I took pictures of street signs and such at his request (most blurry unfortunately) and it was really great to see his face light up. He was so excited to share his moment of life with Ronnie, who also is a former Marine (don’t ever call them ex-Marines btw) and I sent him pics as soon as we had service. OohRah! Semper Fi!

Then we reached Joshua Tree…wow! It was clear very quickly why they changed this once National Monument to a National Park. It truly is like NO other and not just because of the Joshua Trees but the whole atmosphere. After we arrived and scarcely fit the turn into our spot at the campground, we just looked around in awe. We also marveled at the stars. In Las Vegas, there are a few stars able to be seen but our Utah stargazing was missed and they were back.

This was our first time boondocking and staying in a National Park campground and Shaun and I were so excited, the girls a little hesitant about the no electric, water, cable, etc… Halfway into the journey, Shaun and I are ready to take the next step in full-timing and that seemed to us to be boondocking. Essentially, parking at a campground/designated camping area without any accoutrements. We do have generators to keep the refrigerator and freezer going since we have lots and lots of food in there and it keeps the essential lights up. Otherwise we are living the dream of being “real” campers. Don’t get me wrong, there are NO tents in our future, but this is real and hardcore for the Hammans and it’s freaking fun to boot. 

The campground we stayed in was called Black Rock Canyon Campground. Now this campground is located in Joshua Tree but not located at the main visitor center. Although I was a little bummed about this, it ended quickly. We were supposed to spend our 1 of 2 full days in the park leaving from the main visitor center but when the fridge was not working and we were figuring out the boondocking life, we chose to hike a trail connected to the campground. I have to say, like a toddler, I was a little wah wah about not going to the main source.

img_1767After chosing a 2 ½ mile hike, we set off and were immediately in awe of the wild flowers, cactus, Joshua Trees, lizards, rocks, and much more. We hiked up and up and up to the top of Black Rock Mountain via the Hi-View Nature Trail and the view at the top was totally worth it! The ranger told us to look out for the elusive desert tortoise but to our dismay we didn’t find it.

 

Later I took the girls to the Nature/Visitor Center at the camground to see if they had the Junior Ranger books. Not only did they have them but they had a small store, an informational nature center, a ranger was on location, a book swap shelf and more. They gave us the DL on the Jr Ranger books, told us some other helpful info, and we went on our way to learn. This was their homeschool/roadschool for the day and I made them delve in deep. The girls and I went on another hike while Shaun did some work and we conquered their books while having a lot of fun.

The 2nd full day in Joshua Tree we made our way to the main visitor center, the girls earned their Jr Ranger badges, and we headed in for some fun. Unlike our norm, we went straight to the trail that the ranger recommended to almost everyone and it was only a 1 mile loop too…blah. As we entered the park farther in, I was befuddled by the amazing rocks. They look like big chunks of play doh and are super cool. We also saw lots of climbers which I could watch all day long. As we arrived to the Hidden Valley Trail I was excited and ready to go!

First thing the girls wanted to climb every single rock, pile of rocks, mountain of rocks, and rocks rocks rocks. In fact, I did too. We climbed, climbed down, hiked, took pix, climbed up, climbed down, hiked, took pix, repeat a million times. What a completely unique, beautiful, and fun place for our whole family! Then we hit the Barker Dam Trail, a 1 mile out and back. There they had a cool dam, more fun climbing, and another beautiful and easy hike through the sand. Towards the end we found a short trail off of the trail to some really amazing petroglyphs. There were some with color which we’d never seen and were so glad we went.

This, and I know I’ve said this before about almost every national park and/or monument, is a must see! So happy we made this a stop on our journey! Wednesday, we headed to San Diego and there’s lots for us to see and do….till next time!

 

Nevada Part II

Being in the same place for almost two weeks has just reassured my concerns with going home and being bored in the same place. Although there is plenty to do here in Las Vegas and we’ve had four family members we’ve shared our time here with, it’s a lot of time in one place for us. There’s a bit of stir crazy happening and I’m ready to move on.

The joy of being here for a bit longer is we had the pleasure of spending time with my cousin Diana who lives here, my step bro James was in town for work and my in-laws flew in for a few days to visit. It’s been toasty so the pool was where we’ve been spending most of our time. However, my list of places to hike/see was reduced because it’s a bit too warm to be hiking in the great wide open. Not being in nature is really bumming me out! I’m excited for this upcoming weekend to start our month-long trek in Cali! My lists of to-dos are exploding and there’s a good mix of nature, nature, nature and a bit of city.

So, what happened this week…as I mentioned, my in-laws joined us for some Vegas fun. We saw some of the strip, took the girls to Circus Circus Adventuredome, hung by the pool, saw the amazing Cirque du Soleil show Mystere, and my MIL and the girls enjoyed some games/activities together. The show had a lot of gymnastics elements so the girls were wild about it and I highly recommend it if you can bring your kids.

The rest of our time here we are going to see more of the strip, enjoy more pool time, try and get some early morning hiking in so my want-to-see-list doesn’t completely go to poo-poo. There’s truly so much to do here, especially with kids, but we are really enjoying some pool time. We are planning a big Trader Joe’s trip before we leave, even though we know Cali will have them thank goodness. Last night we had to get Natalie a few clothing items because she never ever stops growing and of course we needed fro yo on a warm evening. The girls and I drove down the strip with the windows open just because too.

Now that we’ve hit the second half of our trip, I’m trying not to focus on the going home part but trying to embrace our time even more than I was before. This has been the most amazing part of my life and I’m so blessed everyday on this journey! I hope everyone who reads this gets to experience something that makes you as happy as this journey does for me!

Here’s a pic of our new air plants and the holders the girls and I made for them. Also, some Vegas-y pix for your viewing pleasure…

Utah-mazing Part II

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So we sadly left Moab, Utah and headed toward Zion Canyon National Park. We arrived in the Zion area on Wednesday, set up, and really truly set up camp since we are here for a whole week. After spending the first two and half months of our journey spending longer time place, we realized we aren’t going to see much else unless we spend shorter times at campgrounds and actively see things and move on. So, to be here for a whole week is long as of lately.

Our first night my romantic husband and I sat outside, cuddling, and watching the stars in the darkest state. I can not even explain the beauty you can see when you look up at the sky in Utah. I thought the sky in Eagle Lake, PA when I was growing up, hanging out on Leach Field was breathtaking but nothing compares to this Utah sky. Mainly we set up camp so we could chill, be comfortable and enjoy our time when our visitors get here…MUSHY AND POPPY! AKA my mom and Ronnie (step-dad but way more important and awesome).

Let me just quickly explain how much they wanted to be here, Ronnie is supposed to give 45 days notice before taking time off but they arranged to be here within two weeks. That’s love! And don’t be confused, it’s not love for me and Shaun but totally for the girls lol. In preparation I put together a very detailed and active agenda. They arrived Thursday, came straight to us, and we sat by the fire staring at the amazing stars and enjoying our time together.

Friday morning we picked them up and went to Bryce Canyon National Park. Again, and I’m sure you’re sick of hearing this, but the park blew me away. I expected a canyon smaller than The Grand Canyon and it was but totally different. This park has Hoodoos, which are amazing and crazy different from anything else we had ever seen. We hiked the Queens Garden with the Navajo Trail Loop and getting deep into the park and climbing back up gave us a real look at everything from top to bottom. The elevation change was more than I had expected but everyone hiked it like champs and we all really appreciated the drastic scenery. It was a total of 4 miles with a 1.5 mile 600 foot elevation gain. My amazing parents rocked this hike in their late 50’s/early 60’s like champs!

Saturday we surprised them with an off-roading 6-seater vehicle. We arrived at their hotel after they ate breakfast with the girls who slept over. Originally we just rented them for Ronnie and Shaun but my mom seemed disappointed so we changed it to a 6-seater. They were so surprised, excited and thankful! We arrived at the Coral Pink Sands State Park with the OTV in tow and hopped on. We ba-ha’d for hours and had the greatest time! After we headed into the town in Zion, Springdale and got Thai for lunch.

Then my mom took the girls for ice cream and a party in her hotel room while Shaun, Ronnie and I hit Hurricane for more OTV’ing. They had so much fun and we had even more fun, in my opinion. Ronnie, Shaun and I drove through the desert trails and really enjoyed every moment! Eventually dark clouds started penetrating our blue skies but we kept going. Eventually we stopped to talk to a dirt biker regarding the weather and they were unsure whether to go back or keep riding but told us to do if lightning strikes and that was enough for me to make the guys go back. I told them they could leave me at the safe, grounded car and they could risk their lives but we all headed back to safety and as we did hail started, lightning bolts struck and we followed dirt bikers doing the same. We arrived safely back to the truck loaded up and bailed out of there. We hit our favorite new coffee shop that brewed their own coffee and added it to an amazing stout beer and went to see mom and the girls. On the way home the sky cleared and the sunset was totally stop worthy and awe-some!

Sunday the rents and kids met us at the campground, we headed into Zion and hiked a bit. After we had a surprise planned and headed toward Antelope Canyon (if you’ve never heard of it, Google it). We arrived we checked in and got an earlier slot…winning! I was a little hesitant to be stuck in a slot canyon without the ability to get out (as I posted earlier about my agoraphobia). The guy working their eased my issues because it is only ¼ mile from start to finish and you can see the sky at all times. It was easy to get through and was one of the most beautiful, unique places any of us had ever been. We used the Navajo Tours company and our tour guide, Abraham, was AMAZING!!!! We could not stop talking about how we would have missed out had we not gone. GO!!!!

The girls slept over my parents again but had an early flight so they swung by early with them to say goodbye. My mother almost forgot to drop them back off…;)  We were sad to see them leave! It was one of the best, fun, and memorable parts of our trip and we were so thankful they came to see us, my mom for the second time. After they left we hiked Zion for the next two day and did some recouping from all of the fun with them.

One week since we arrived, we will be heading out of Zion but be in Utah until Sunday. I am so sad to leave Utah but excited for our next stop here and for the resort we’ll be in after we depart Utah. Zion was good to us!

We arrived in Torrey, Utah ready to hike Capitol Reef and maybe some surrounding areas. The day after we arrived the weather turned colder and windier, then we received high wind warnings so we hunkered in for a rest/cleaning/chill/movie day to prep for hiking the next day. However, the winds were worse and it was colder the next day. Disregarding the weather and determined to see the park, we set off. Hitting the visitor center to get our Jr Ranger books we were informed that there were some fun kids activities happening. We arrived at the Nature Center and quickly made friends with another family there full-timing. We spent an hour there with them, went to the Gifford house for amazing, fresh, homemade pie, and proceeded to sit outside with them while the kids played, had handstand competitions, and played in the river.

Capitol Reef was also awesome because I got to see some more amazing Petroglyphs which I am slightly obsessed with. Like the cactus, tumble weed, and sunsets, petroglyphs are an amazing God preserved part of the past and I can not get enough.

 

As much as I enjoy just being in my happy bubble with my family, it was refreshing to my soul to touch base with our people and have a fun convo. We parted ways, returned home to pack up for the next morning, and get to bed early. Next morning, we depart early and depart from our beloved Utah. More of the US of A to see!!!

This is my new favorite pic that I found that I want to post and am deeply in love with! My next post is going to be one of those real, raw posts about how I feel after living in the RV, traveling with my family full-time for the past 3 1/2 month and only having about 4 months left.

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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!