I really miss my best friend Mary and our awesome friend Miss Carrie who is a very special activities coordinator at Thousand Trails Peace River. Miss Carrie finds awesome crafts and activities each winter for kids and grown ups. Mary and I are special friends too. We love to play together and laugh and swim. I miss them both very much. They are great friends that come from the love.
Written by our 9 yr old daughter :)
Go big or go home.
When we travel..man do we travel.
This morning I woke up around 4 and started rousing the natives (aka bears known as kidlets) we were rolling out of the rest stop as the sun was on our backs.
We drove into a wicked storm from Pensacola to Mobile Alabama. ( I would offer a few photos however they are no where on my SD card ) The gulf winds were blowing. We were thankful for the rays of sunshine as we drove deeper into Alabama and Mississippi. By late afternoon we were in Arkansas.... sun was perfect...and temperature was pleasant. Our backroad GPS adventure was quite a drive. We even drove by the riceland rice plant!
As we entered Little Rock Frank called on our hand held walkie-talkies... there were more weather storm warnings...these included hail and Uhm yeah, tornado watches.... the clouds were ominous and the wind was a wee bit way too twister ish for my taste.
We made it through just past little rock. About 650 miles today. We had hoped to arrive at our destination but fell about 200 miles short. So another night of *moondocking * which is what our sweet Blondie boy calls it.
Where are we headed? Well....we will be workcamping this summer in Missouri at a small private resort campground. A different role for us.
Certainly not what we *thought* we would be doing this year but we are excited about the opportunity!
The only challenge now is that it feels COLD after 4 months in sunny Florida. And we may need to give up some shorts for some jeans!
So they finally came. Our freedom tags! We have been waiting on license plates from Texas so we can start a new adventure.
The plates from Texas are a formality.
We are changing out domocile. As a full time rv-er's there are many reasons that we would do that. Some of which are the freedom of laws when it comes to homeschooling, the lack of smog checks, insurance perks and the ability to say we are from the biggest continental state.
Don't get me wrong. .. we still love California but when you have no real roots it makes the most sense to pick a state that makes full time rv living easy.
So today was a westward ho kinda day.... it started out well. But as always there were way too many potty breaks and well... yeah... the serpentine belt on the van decided to shred on the I-10. Not so fun. Frank, in true fashion was awesome and sent me to the auto part store ( thank goodness for that 2nd vehicle ) with a parts list and quickly changed it out!
We did make 406 miles today...less than I hoped for. We had a camping spot lined up then life happened so we are sleeping with the big rigs this fine evening ..
Or as Aaron calls it...moondocking.
It's lights out and no charger so g'night from rainy Florida
Where are we headed?
Come back soon and see
Life is an adventure. I tend to tell our stories in photos on facebook.
You can find us at
www.facebook.com/narrowroadschoolers
Last week we had a cookout with friends. In the hustle of daily life it is always important to teach your kids how to safely, and ONLY with daddy's help, build a fire. Sometimes campfire conversations are a great remedy to relax. I see the workd through snapshots in my head. I am always delighted to find other talented kidred spirits that also see life through a lens.
Life is good. We have continued to shuffle from campground to campground. But we have also taken some day trips. Frank's dad is also down visiting. We keep busy watching the neighborhood wildlife... and swimming and playing with friends. We are blessed tohave quite a number of friends here in Florida
Today 3 families hung out at the pool. 4 of my kids, 5 from another family and 8 from yet another ftf and that did not even include the people we didn't know.
Too bad its not a cool new dance. Its a complicated ballet of reservations when wintering in Florida with an endless abundance of snowbirds, vacationers and other full time travelers. In January we realized early on that my mom and our family couldn't get reservations on the exact same moving days. So we opted to leave her at our favorite of the 3 Florida campgrounds we frequent. We knew we would be back into the park approximately every 2 weeks and it seemed like the most viable option. It has not gone without a few minor complications, however, for the most part it has worked out. She has met quite a few of the full time residents and had plenty of camp sponsored entertainment, church and even a ladies crafting group where she is learning new crafts and rekindling old crafts. As we plan into the spring months we are taking into consideration where she would like to travel also.It proves to be both good and somewhat challenging all at the same time...but worth it.
That's legit. I wrote an entire post about changing direction earlier today and I went to post it and the entire thing except the title disappeared. Clearly God wants us to change direction in our posts but rather than tell you about it ( like I had thoughtfully thought through) perhaps we are just supposed to do it so ...here goes.
As I was driving back from the laundromat today I realized living in and out of campgrounds is a lot like living on base.
Well, not really. But there is a guardshack at the front with a gateguard. Sometimes.
And community pools.
And a community center...we call it the lodge. Or clubhouse
Everyone is supposed to obey the speed limit but most don't.
Occasionally there is a community event
You may have a grumpy neighbor or 2
But overall its a good community where people connect and care about each other.
And today that is enough.
