Category: Missouri
Our 2021 Travels

Our 2021 Travels

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Hey Guys! It’s December 31…the last day of 2021…and I thought it would be fun to do a review of our travels for this year!

With everything that was going on this year, not only in our country, but worldwide…we weren’t sure how much traveling we would be able to get in. But, you know I had a plan and had us reserved just incase we could travel. Well, not only did things workout…we ended up spending time in sixteen states this year! We added twenty-nine new National Park Units to our overall NP count and managed to visit a new-to-us unit of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park in Oak Ridge…so 30 NPs all together for us this year. That puts our total National Park count at 189 of the official 423 National Park Units. So…we still have plenty to get to!!

While we spent most of the year traveling, we still got in several weeks of mooch-docking with family in Missouri so we could spend time with some of our favorite humans and get some projects done on our home-on-wheels. It’s always good to go home and see family. It’s always hard to say goodbye when we leave. Some goodbyes are harder than others…

We also had some celebrations during 2021! The boys are now 21, 18 and 17…and we had two high school graduations this year! Two! That means that we are officially done with homeschooling. I’m not sure how I feel about it…it is bittersweet.

We went through all of our 2021 travels and picked out our top ten favorite places we explored this year…so let’s get into it.

The first place we’re going to revisit on our top ten is Wall Drugs in South Dakota. Wall Drugs is in our number 10 spot. I know what you’re thinking…Jennie, Wall Drugs? Really?

Guys…Really. This place was unreal. We’ve explored quite a few places and have been to many many stores during our almost seven years of this crazy #nomadlife and we’ve never seen a store like Wall Drugs. We stayed about a block from it while we were in the area…so we got to see the crowds that came every…single…day. All Day. People would start lining up before they even opened, just to get their famous maple donuts or pecan sticky buns. Because we were staying so close for two weeks, we spent quite a lot of time in Wall Drugs perusing all it has to offer. If you ever need or want a souvenir for South Dakota…this is definitely your place. If you need a break from driving and some foodies…this is definitely your place. If you’re into quirky roadside attractions that have interesting history…this is definitely your place. If you’re anywhere near Wall, SD at all…Wall Drugs is SO worth a stop.

In the number 9 spot is Pipestone National Monument in Minnesota.

When we started this nomad life way back in 2015, we wanted to show our boys the Country they live in. We didn’t want to show them just the shiny pretty places, we also wanted to teach/show them our Nation’s history. Places like Pipestone National Monument, which preserves over 3,000 years of history, is a prime example of why we chose to live a nomad life in order to travel. We’ve learned so much history that we would have never even known about over the last almost seven years. There’s so much out there they don’t teach us in public schools. The historical National Parks like Pipestone NM are some of our absolute favorite National Park Units.

Keeping with our love of history lessons…it won’t surprise you that Scotts Bluff National Monument in Nebraska made it to the number 8 spot on our top ten for 2021.

Scotts Bluff NM has both amazing views and a rich history. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Scotts Bluff NM. It was late Spring/early Summer when we went so the flowers were still in full bloom and the heat was ramping up. The day we went, we saw temps in the 90s so we didn’t spend as much time hiking as we’d’ve liked, but we hiked some and spent time in the visitor center museum learning. I never thought of this kind of landscape when I thought of Nebraska…we were pleasantly surprised not only with this park, but with this area.

Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site in Pennsylvania sits in the number 7 spot on our 2021 list.

When I asked the boys to name their favorite places we explored this year…it surprised me when more than one of them mentioned Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site. This is one of the smaller parks we visited but it’s absolutely crammed with not only history…but also engineering. So, it probably shouldn’t have surprised me that my little nerds liked this NP unit so much. We learned about railroad engineering and the way railroads changed life along their routes.

Sitting in the number 6 spot is Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming.

Devils Tower NM is steeped in local Native American history and lore. We loved learning not only about the science of it, but also the lore woven around it. We visited this park on two separate days and it was insanely busy both days. If you go, make sure to pack your patience and since there’s not a lot of educational info available (no museum), which really surprised us, make sure to grab a Ranger and ask about the science and lore of the “tower”.

With our love of battlefields and history…it won’t surprise you to see Stones River National Battlefield in Tennessee sitting at the number 5 spot of our 2021 list.

If you’ve been following along at all, you’ll know battlefields are our jam. So much so, that earlier this year we did a battlefield tour of Tennessee. And while all battlefields have certain things in common…the cannons…the war…the death… there are also the stories of life and perseverance and love…and those are what draw us in. You can learn so much from the stories that surround the battlefields. Stones River was one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War. The stories we read…especially one about two brothers…really touched the boys and made a lasting impact on their views of life. This is what National Parks will do…they’ll change you for the better.

There are only three places that made it to our top ten that aren’t National Park units. The number 4 spot is one of those with James Island County Park in South Carolina.

Guys…this park is awesome! It’s not only on our top ten of 2021 list…it’s on our top places to stay list. I would go back to this area just to stay at this park. When I booked this place…it was a last resort. There aren’t a ton of places to stay in the Charleston area and when the place we usually stay wasn’t taking reservations because of the whole CV thing…and then the other places I tried were either closed or refusing to take reservations that far out…I ended up taking a chance on James Island County Park. It was the best decision. We love everything about this park. From the walking trails to the fishing pier (sunset pics) to the paddle boats (watch out for the gators) this park is the best one we’ve found in a long time.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee has the number 3 spot on our 2021 list.

There are 423 National Park Units. Great Smoky Mountains is the most visited National Park unit in the United States. While the park was crowded every single time we went, we were still able to find a few quiet places. There is an underrated beauty to this park that is refreshing. We’ve found that while the “old man mountains” of the Smokies aren’t big and flashy…you won’t find the dramatic views like you’ll find in the Rocky Mountains or the Sierra Nevadas…there is a quiet calm and a beauty to the Smokies. Tranquil is the word that comes to mind…even with the crowds.

Custer State Park in South Dakota is firmly in the number 2 spot of our 2021 list.

Custer SP should definitely be a National Park. We stayed just outside it for two weeks and good grief…the whole area is amazingly gorgeous. This park has it all! Views, hikes, wildlife… We look forward to going back someday. Hopefully, without the tornado that went through while we were there.

As soon as we started making a list of our favorite places of 2021, Badlands National Park was the first place we thought of. And, while we might have disagreed about which numbers the other places on the list fell…we all agreed that the number 1 slot definitely belongs to Badlands National Park in South Dakota.

Guys, this park blew us away! Badlands NP isn’t just on our favorites list for this year, it’s made its way onto our overall favorite list as well. We saw so much wildlife at this park…and the colors were just…amazing. We went in the Spring while everything was still green and the bison were starting to shed their winter coats and all of the baby animals were bouncing around. Badlands NP has got to be one of the most underrated NPs in the NPS system. We spent two weeks going in and out of Badlands and completely loved it.

And….with a year of travel comes a year of foodies. We started listing the places that were fabulous…the places we wanted to include…and well, you can imagine that the list kept growing. So, I’ll leave this collection of foodie pictures here and tell you that we had a very very good foodie year. So good, we all gained a few extra pounds. Ha!!

We’ve been living this crazy nomad life while we’ve been on our #grandadventure for almost seven years now. In those seven years we’ve seen so so many amazing places and made countless memories. We’ve learned more than I ever thought we would, traveled farther than I ever thought we would and did things I never thought we would have the chance to do together as a family. We’ve grown… in more than one way…some of us are quite a bit taller now than when we started this amazing journey all those years ago…and with that growth, comes a need for a change. We’ve decided that 2021 will be the last year we live the nomad life. It’s time we get a more permanent basecamp where the boys can learn how to adult “normally” and go to college and get jobs and start planning adventures of their own.

So…this is the end of our Grand Adventure as a #digitalnomadfamily and as fulltime RVers. When we started planning this whole crazy thing way back in 2014, we never thought it would become our life for almost seven years, take us to 49 states and shape us in the way that only traveling can. And, as with every end, there is the magic and promise of a new beginning. As 2021 ends and 2022 begins we look forward to the promise of adventures…of a new kind.

We hope y’all have a wonderful New Year filled with all of the amazing adventures your heart desires.

Thank you for coming along on this crazy nomadic ride with us…we’ve loved having you be apart of the journey!

Much Love,

Jerl, Jennie, Charles, Alex and Nicholas

#theend
Back To Tennessee

Back To Tennessee

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Hey Guys!! Merry Christmas!!! We hope everyone has an amazing day filled with everything you love!

When we left Louisiana we took the long way around to get back to Tennessee.

We spent a couple of weeks back in Houston. I’d planned on getting the boys back to see their pediatrician for their yearly wellness checkups while we were there. The Dr.’s office even texted me a couple of weeks before we got there to remind me it was time…but when I called to make the appointments…the Doc wasn’t going to be in town while we were. Soooo….that didn’t happen. We did get to spend time with a few of our friends and hit a few of our favorite H-Town foodie spots, so definitely time well spent!

From Texas we headed back up to Missouri where we spent about a month visiting with family and friends. We were there over Thanksgiving and loved getting to spend it with my parents. We also got to help Grammy put up the Christmas tree and celebrate her December birthday!

Like every time we’re back in Missouri, we had projects we wanted to work on for our home-on-wheels. I dabbled in some craftiness and made a reusable advent calendar. Well, I bought the little cabinet built but unfinished and I stained it and decorated it…now I just have to find a spot for it in our tiny home. Ha!!

We replaced our states map because some mold or something had worked its way under the stickers and was damaging the paint on the RV. We got all the stick off, but there wasn’t anything we could do to fix the discoloration left by the mold. We got a new states map and instead of putting up a new Canada map, we decided to put up National Park stickers representing all of the National Parks we’ve been to…that would be forty-four…if you’re curious! I’m kind of loving have the NP stickers up. Everyone has a map, but I haven’t seen anyone else with these stickers up.

We also took the opportunity to hit some of our favorite foodie spots. If you have a Logan’s Roadhouse near you…go get their cookie dough cake. Make sure you eat that before you eat your meal…you’ll thank me. *wink* We had ours after lunch and struggled to get it all down, but we got it all down!! Ha!! It was too good to leave any behind!

Nicholas…our Littlest…graduated from High School while we were staying with my parents so they were able to help us celebrate his accomplishment! He worked hard to graduate a semester early. We’re so very proud of Nicholas and can’t wait to see where his journey takes him.

The route we took to get back to Tennessee from Missouri had us going right by Ozark National Scenic Riverways and well…if you know us…it shouldn’t come as any surprise that I planned an overnight stop right by the Visitor Center. We didn’t have time to do everything we would have liked to have done, but we did get to see Big Spring. This place was gorgeous! The water color was so brilliantly blue. Big Spring is one of the world’s largest springs with an average water flow of around 470 cubic feet of water per second. You can walk around it to see where the water comes out of the rock. It’s all of the minerals that the water picks up while going through that rock that gives it that turquoise color.

We found the best Mexican restaurant in Missouri. It’s called Las Margaritas and it’s in Van Buren and Guys…it’s a must stop. Everything we got was amazing. Ah-mazing!

We also spent a night in Nashville…just to eat at Hattie Bs Hot Chicken. Hattie Bs!! We stood outside in line on a cold drizzly December afternoon and didn’t mind at all because…Hattie Bs!!! If you know, you know.

We got to Knoxville December fifth and will be here at least through the winter…maybe longer…we’ll see.

See y’all down the road!

#NationalParkTour

Home Again, Home Again…

Home Again, Home Again…

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Hey Guys! While Missouri isn’t technically our home…it’s where we grew up and where family and friends still are…so it’s home. After a super busy South Dakota/Wyoming/Nebraska loop, we were all ready for some down time as we headed back to my (Jennie’s) parent’s house to do some driveway camping.

Before we could rest and enjoy family and friends…we had to do something about the AC units that weren’t working. It was a miserably hot two day drive back from Nebraska when none of our AC units were working. YUP…we drove back without AC when the temps were in the 90s. That nomad life can be so glamorous sometimes! Heavy on the sarcasm there. Ha! We were afraid we wouldn’t be able to find any big units to replace the roof units, but amazingly, we found not one…but two! We ended up replacing both of our roof units and Guys, that super cold AC air never felt so good! It took all five of us and some ingenuity to get the two big ACs up on top of our home-on-wheels, but we got them up there and then Jerl and Alex got them switched out! The dash AC unit on the RV also decided to go cah-puts. My dad and Jerl were able to fix that too. Apparently, when we had some engine work done at a Ford dealership, one of the AC hoses didn’t get moved and over time, a little hole was worn into the tube…leaky tube equals no cold air. I’ll never take air conditioning for granted again.

We celebrated the 4th of July with family and food and fireworks! The boys really got into setting off fireworks this year and spent the entire day (sorry neighbors) shooting them off. I finally made a flag cake. I see them pop up in my Pinterest feed every year…and every year I tell myself I should make one. Well, I finally made one and it was pretty darn good! Super moist and light!! It didn’t last long.

Our oldest (Charles) turned the big 21. I’m still not sure how I feel about having an official adult. Where does the time go? He can’t be that old…I can’t be old enough to have a kid that’s 21!! We’re super proud of the man he’s becoming.

Nicholas…my Littlest…had Senior pics taken by one of our cousins. He’s done all three of my kiddos Senior pics now! He takes some of the best ones I’ve seen and we really appreciate his time and willingness to fit us into his busy schedule!! I’m not sure how I feel about having my baby in his Senior year this year. I’m having lots of hard mama bear feels right now…if you need me, I’ll be over here eating my feelings.

The rest of the time we spent visiting family and friends. We just about had ourselves talked into stealing our cousin’s dog, but couldn’t figure out where a Great Dane would sleep in our tiny home-on-wheels… so we didn’t. Besides, our cats would have had a total hissy fit if we’d brought some big drooling dog home.

We were only back in Missouri for a month, but squeezed in several meals with friends and family along with some downtime to recharge before we started prepping for the next (and last) adventure loop of the year!

We’ve explored fourteen National Park Units so far this year and have quite a few more planned for this next loop. Hopefully, everything works out as planned and we don’t get into more lockdowns and shutdowns and all of that stuff again as we head East.

Hope Y’all have had a wonderful summer this year! Stay safe out there!

See Y’all down the road!

#NationalParkTour

2020 Update

2020 Update

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Hey Guys! I thought I’d hop on and give y’all a quick update on what’s going on! We’re still mooch-docking with my (Jennie’s) parents. We’ll be here until late Spring…if the nomad itch doesn’t get too bad. We don’t usually stay in one place for so long and Guys, the itch to hit the open road is hitting pretty strongly. Adventure is calling!

This year has been incredibly difficult on so many levels…for the entire world. We’ve all had a hard year. Between the whole pandemic thing to the civil unrest to the entire election debacle to another round of eye surgeries… and all of the wildfires… 2020 has been…unexpected. And not in a good way.

We’ve got some traveling in mind for 2021, but I’ll be honest…whether or not we actually go really depends on how things are going. I don’t want to go through another year of constant cancelations, park closures and ever changing quarantine laws. It takes all of the fun out of the whole Nomad life thing. While we still don’t have a clear picture of what our 2021 is going to look like, we do know we’re not done traveling. The world is big and there’s still SO much to see.

Here’s hoping 2021 is better than 2020! Thank you for coming along on this crazy nomad journey we call life.

Happy New Year and Safe Travels…from our family to yours!

See y’all down the road!

“May the blessings of each day be the blessings you need most.”
An Unexpected Trip Home and Some Updates

An Unexpected Trip Home and Some Updates

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Hey Guys! Well, in true 2020 style…something went wrong.

We had three weeks left of the 2020 travel loop and Jerl’s right retina started to detach.

We were in the middle of exploring Yellowstone National Park when he started to notice some light tracers…which are the first signs that something isn’t right. Fortunately (I guess) this wasn’t his first experience with a detaching retina, so we knew what to expect and what needed to happen.

We ended up cutting our Yellowstone adventures short by a couple of days and start the long 1300 mile journey back to Missouri. Which…wasn’t our first experience with that either. During the last week of 2017 we were in Phoenix, AZ and had to make a similar trek. You can read about that adventure here if you missed it.

Before I get into the drive back to Missouri…let’s talk foodies from the West Yellowstone area. We found a couple of tasty spots! One was a food truck called Taqueria Malverde…it was really good Mexican food. Big portions, great food and nice people. The other place we found was The Buffalo Bar. We had some great burgers! We highly recommend both of these places if you’re ever in the West Yellowstone area.

There are a few different ways we could have left West Yellowstone and made our way back to Missouri. We decided to head south in Yellowstone National Park to the John D Rockerfeller Jr Memorial Parkway. The day we left was really smoky from all of the wildfires raging in the west.

This route let us drive through Grand Teton National Park one more time…and Guys, we saw eight grizzly bears! Eight!! The first three were hanging out on the road. We think they were juvenile males…possibly siblings. They were so goofy and unimpressed with all of the cars.

Right around the corner we ran into Mama Bear 399 with her four murder minions. Y’all know I wanted to see these bears sooo bad that while we were in Grand Teton earlier in the year, we’d gotten up at 4am to try and get a glimpse of these famous danger floofs. We never saw them during that trip, but Guys!!! We finally saw them! It kind of took some of the sting out of our situation.

To give you an idea of how smoky it was…the picture on the left is what the Tetons looked like when we were there back in early July of this year. I took the picture on the right as we were driving through Grand Teton NP in September this year.

Between the smoke from all of the California and Montana fires and then the smoke blowing up from the many Colorado fires, we saw really smoky skies for the first two days we were driving.

We made it to Missouri late that third day. While it was good to see family, it was still disappointing to miss several National Park Units and anxiety about upcoming eye surgeries was starting to set in.

We got back to Missouri on a Sunday and Jerl had eye surgery that Thursday. Everything went well. He had to lay face down for three weeks while his eye was trying to heal. It wasn’t his first eye surgery experience…and this one seemed to go smoother for him with less pain.

But now what?

We had to cancel the rest of our travel loop for 2020 and figure out what we wanted to do for the winter. With the whole virus thing still an issue plus all of the civil unrest/violence plaguing the country and the upcoming elections…we decided it might be a good idea to stick close to family this winter. Which means…we’re mooch-docking in my (Jennie’s) parent’s driveway until we head out again. We’re not sure when that will be. Like the rest of the world, we’re waiting to see how the whole virus thing plays out and how this coming election ends. By the time this post goes live, we will hopefully know who the next President will be and will have a better idea of what the heck we’re going to do with our 2021. Do we travel more? Do we buy a house and settle down?

You just never know with us.

See y’all down the road!
Five Year Nomadiversary!!

Five Year Nomadiversary!!

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Hey Guys!! It’s that time again…it’s our Nomadiversary!! Today marks five full years of being digital nomads and living our American Dream. You know, we started this whole journey to show our boys that not all American Dreams have to look the same. Some might include a white picket fence, some have you wearing suits and working in offices, sometimes it means you go to work outside and some dreams might look like a home-on-wheels that takes you wherever you want to go. Everyone has different goals and dreams…and that’s ok. It’s those differences that make life so interesting and our Country so great. We really believe that if you can dream it, you can do it. You just have to be willing to put in the effort to make it happen.

It’s been quite the year! We started our year in Texas eating our way though BBQ places and then we spent a couple of months in Missouri visiting family. Every time we’re in Missouri we seem to have a never ending list of projects we need to work on. We did make it to Branson with my (Jennie) parents for a long weekend of family fun. And, the boys got to have Shop Class with Grandpa. We always look forward to our time with family.

We spent almost two months in Colorado finding the wild places and visiting National Parks. Colorado is, with out a doubt, one of the most beautiful states in our country. Our favorite day in Colorado was the day we went exploring up in the mountains on old mining roads.

Utah was in a word…amazing. We did some hard hikes, found some breathtaking views, drove down some awesome dirt roads and woke up with ice on the inside of our walls a few times.

We spent several weeks in Northern Arizona. before heading to New Mexico. I always forget how cold New Mexico gets in the winter. A few of us wanted an actual winter with a white Christmas so we ended our 2019 in New Mexico. We visited some new NPs and revisited an old favorite. Even as nomads we’ve developed family traditions…ours just revolve around certain places. Is it weird we feel at home in several different states?

Arizona was home to us for most of our nomadic year. We were just starting our time there when the Corona Virus started to do its thing. Luckily, we did get a little exploring done before everything closed down. Sedona has been one of our favorite areas since our very first visit back in 2015.

Ok, let’s talk about the real reason you’re all here…the foodies. We do love our local mom and pop foodie shops. And, Guys…we found some ah-mazing places this nomadic year!!

We had big plans for 2020 with tons of National Park units on the schedule. In February and March while we were in the Sedona area, we realized things weren’t going to go as planned. Due to the Corona Virus, everything started shutting down and it became almost impossible to find things in the grocery store. State and National campgrounds closed, some private RV parks were ordered to close, and…all of the National Parks closed. All of them. It’s hard to go on a National Park tour when the parks are closed and there’s no definitive answer as to when they’ll open back up.

When our reservations in Sedona ran out we decided to go ahead and keep with our planned reservation schedule. Our next stop was back to Page, AZ and honestly, we didn’t mind that it was basically a ghost town. Mostly locals. It was so different from the last time we were there when there were people in every nook and cranny.

For now, we’re hanging out in Utah, waiting to see what happens with the National Parks and the campgrounds. We’ve been enjoying the scenic drives that are close by…and the snow topped mountains aren’t the worst thing ever. ;-P

It’s been quite the eventful year for us even with this whole corona virus mess! During our fifth year of nomadary we: explored six states, visited thirty-two National Park units, drove a total of 4,689 miles, and made countless memories.

A few of our favorites from this year are hiking Angel’s Landing, exploring the mountains of Colorado, getting to talk to some Navajo while visiting their home, and hiking the Peekaboo/Spooky slot canyons.

All in all…I’d say our fifth year of living the nomad life was a success. Thanks for coming along for the ride!

See y’all down the road!

#nomadiversary
A Slow Year So Far…

A Slow Year So Far…

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Hey Guys!! It’s been awhile!! The last time we chatted, we had just moved from the Houston area to the Kyle area. That was way back in April. In June, we moved up to Missouri for two months. I thought I could squish the four months we were in Texas and Missouri into one post…so here we go!

Let’s start with the BBQ…because y’all know we had some. We ended up eating at nineteen different BBQ places in the two months we were in Kyle. Yup, you read that right. Nineteen. And some of those places we ate at several times. Ha! It was hard to leave all of that amazing BBQ!! Jerl is still grumbling about having to leave all of those BBQ joints behind.

When we got to Kyle, the entire area was covered in carpets of bluebonnets. It was gorgeous! When I planned this part of our year, I’d hoped we would be able to see some bluebonnets. It’d been four years since we had been in Texas during the bloom and I was desperately wanting to get pics of the boys with the bluebonnets once again. During our two months in the area we saw the bluebonnets in all of their glory fade away to be replaced with the bright yellows and oranges and reds of the other wildflowers known in the area. It was beautiful.

We were fortunate enough to celebrate two Birthdays and a High School Graduation while we were in Kyle!

When we weren’t stuffing ourselves with BBQ or celebrating something, our days looked pretty…normal. Normal for us anyway. Work, school, and chores. The boys were all working on learning to drive. I left those lessons up to Jerl. I’m a reluctant and a bit nervous driver at the best of times. The last thing the boys need is a Nervous Nellie trying to teach them to drive.

We’d had grand plans of hiking every weekend, but the weather seemed to have other plans for us. It stormed so much that the hiking trails were either under water or a muddy mess. We weren’t able to hike at all, but we did take a day trip to Waco and visit Waco Mammoth National Monument to learn about when Colombian mammoths once roamed Texas.

Right next to one of our favorite BBQ places to frequent was a pie shop. Pie and BBQ…a match made in heaven. We actually found out about the Texas Pie Company while we were eating at a different BBQ place. These pies were sooo good! And there were tons of flavors! I think I ate my weight in BBQ and pie and then washed it all down with sweet tea. Gotta love the South!!

We headed for Missouri in June to spend some time with family and work on some projects on our home-on-wheels. Besides the many projects we had in mind…we also had some medical stuff to deal with. Eye surgeries were done (Jerl), wisdom teeth were extracted (Charles), and the many projects were…almost all done.

In between medical stuff and projects, we had some fun. The boys learned some new skills by helping their grandpa build a deck, we celebrated a birthday, and we took advantage of all of the space. Living in an RV gives us limited space and while we have a new “yard” every couple weeks or so…it’s different than having a real backyard where you can let loose and be free. The boys really enjoyed their summer.

We’ve been to forty-nine states and have favorite foodie spots in quite a few, but there are some foodie spots in the Joplin area that we always look forward to visiting!

Right at the end of our visit in Missouri we were able to squeeze in a trip to Branson. Some of my favorite childhood memories are of family vacations to Branson. When I was a kid, we would go every summer. We love sharing new places with the boys, but we also love to give our boys a chance to experience some of our favorite childhood places too. It was so fun watching the boys make some great memories with my parents this summer.

We were basically stationary for four months this year. It was both the longest and shortest four months ever! Ha! After four years of frequent moves, I start getting the itch to move along about three weeks into a stay. The first week of August we headed out on our next loop of adventures. We love our time with family and leaving Missouri is always hard, but (as the quote goes) “the mountains are calling…”

See y’all down the road!!

#nationalparktour
Rescheduling, Repairs, and Recouping

Rescheduling, Repairs, and Recouping

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Hey Guys! We’ve been back in Missouri for two months now.

We got back to Missouri Sunday, December 31 just before midnight. It was a very long 15 hour drive day! We had Monday to recoup from the drive and then Jerl had an eye appointment Tuesday then surgery Wednesday. This was his second eye surgery in less than five months. He’s still healing, but it’s going much better this time. He had to have another gas bubble inserted into his eye…this time during the surgery. It was much less painful for him that way. The bubble finally completely disappeared Tuesday, March 7. He was pretty excited that it was gone before we took back off on our adventuring.

Mother Nature greeted us the week we got back with some snow. It was pretty, but it kept us from getting our home-on-wheels to the Ford dealership for engine work.

Once the weather cooperated and Jerl was able to drive, we made the three hour drive to the dealership where we had to leave our home for repairs. I’m not going to lie…it was really hard to drive off and leave our home there. We’d heard some pretty gnarly horror stories of things that had happened to other people’s home-on-wheels while they were on dealership parking lots getting repair work done. We had to prove we’d had proper maintenance done on the engine (regular oil changes), but after that Ford was great to work with. We ended up needing a whole new engine and catalytic converter. Not from anything we did…apparently the engine was malfunctioning from the start and we were lucky it lasted as long as it did. The dealership never seemed to be bothered by our many calls for updates and always answered all of our questions.

With our home-on-wheels staying three hours away, we had to move out. I didn’t move every single thing out, but I moved out everything we might want or need and anything that I didn’t want to lose just in case something happened like a fire, or theft, or a storm…you never know…and y’all know I’m a planner. We ended up being out of our home for about six weeks!

Luckily, we were able to stay with my (Jennie’s) mom and dad. Our furrbabies made themselves right at home. I think they kind of liked all of the space…and the carpet. They really liked the carpet. We don’t have any carpet in our home-on-wheels. It was really funny to watch them roll on the floor and spread out. We ended up getting a runner to put in the RV for them and they’ve been enjoying that too. The things we do for our furry family members…

This unexpected detour really threw a kink in all of my planning. The Grand Western Loop was cut short. Big time. So, I had to rework the schedule. We won’t have time to do the entire loop I’d originally planned. It’s kind of working in our favor though. We’re going to be spending more time in California than we’d originally planned…which means we’ll get to see more places! We’ll be breaking the Grand Western Loop into two smaller loops with a winter in Florida in between. The blue loop is our revised Grand Western Loop, the red is our Florida winter, and the green is our…well, I haven’t named that loop yet…it’s the other part of the original #grandwesternloop. And yes, we are booked all the way through the blue route and most of the red route. Florida is another hard state to book for those of us who are under 55 and have kiddos…and wear clothes. The state parks book eleven months in advance and boy howdy…let me tell you, they book up the day they become available…usually within hours!! I still have two more state parks to book, but I have to wait for the eleven month mark to do it.

The boys enjoyed an actual winter…for about a week. And then they were over it. None of them complained when I told them we would be spending next winter in Florida. Ha!

We’ve enjoyed frequent family game nights! If you don’t have 5 Minute Dungeon, you’re missing out. It’s a fun, fast-paced, short game where you work as a team to defeat the dungeon.

Alex and Nicholas had fun helping my (Jennie’s) mom and dad down at their shop. Nicholas helped Grammy in the office while Alex helped Grandpa out in the shop. I think Alex kind of loved wearing Grandpa’s shirt. They both did stuff I used to do when I was growing up. It’s kind of funny to hear them talk about their day at work.

Oh! I’m learning to make bracelets. It’s something for me to do to pass the time…I’m thinking about eventually opening an Etsy shop for it. I’ve had so much fun picking out beads and learning a new craft.

We signed up for UniversalYums…it’s been sooo fun! Every month we get a box filled with snacks and every month it’s from a different country! It comes with this great little booklet that tells us about each snack plus some facts and games about the country of the month. Plus, you get clues as to where the box will be from the next month!

When we got our home-on-wheels back, we found out some of the plumbing pipes had frozen and busted. We thought we’d winterized it before taking it up to the Ford dealership, but we didn’t get it done fast enough (all that snow and ice) and the water filter busted which made it impossible to blow all of the water out of the lines…so…we had busted pipes. We had to take our home-on-wheels to an RV dealership for some more repairs. They worked their magic pretty quickly. We’re still moving back in as I’m writing this post.

We definitely didn’t plan on starting 2018 like this, but that’s ok. Honestly, I think it’s going to work out even better for us. We head back out this Saturday, March 10 to get back to our adventuring…so, I guess I’ll…

See y’all down the road!

Mad Dash To Missouri

Mad Dash To Missouri

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Hey Guys!! Are you ready for more of the story?

It took us three days to drive the 1,400 miles or so to get back to Missouri. We were in sunny and warm Arizona when we started out. We said goodbye to Lost Dutchman State Park early Friday and took off for Las Cruces, NM. Now, there are three ways to get from Phoenix to Las Cruces. One path goes up and over and takes you up the steep Colorado Plateau, one path takes you straight east through Globe, NM and some steep grade mountain passes and the other path takes you down to Tucson and then over.

We chose the down and around route to avoid the steep grades since our engine was acting up. We ended up at the Hacienda RV Resort the first night after a fairly uneventful day. We’ve stayed at…I don’t know…close to 100 RV parks and this was the first one to give us treats for our cats! I thought it was super cute and the cats appreciated the treat. I don’t know how the RV park is other than the treats. We got in right before they closed and we left before anyone was in the office the next day.

We started out even earlier on day two. We had a long day ahead of us and there would be some elevation gain that would slow us down. Our route took us through El Paso. You’re looking at Mexico in the picture above on the left. We’ve heard a lot of…not so great…things about El Paso. We didn’t stop. We just drove on through. It’s a big city and took forever to get through, but we made it with no issues. The engine was behaving.

We got to our RV Park in Abilene pretty late that night. It was so dark on the road we weren’t really sure we were in the right spot at first. Thank goodness the office had the forethought to put us in an easy in and out spot. It was dark when we got there and dark when we left.

We woke up to ice on day three. We’ve driven in a blizzard, we’ve driven in wind storms, and torrential rain…but, Guys…driving on a sheet of ice was a whole new ball game.

We crept along at around 20mph and noticed our windshield wipers were freezing up so we thought we’d be smart…and safe…and stop at a gas station to recoup and fix a few things. We didn’t know we were driving onto a thick sheet of ice until it was too late. Our only course of action was to go with it and try not to run into anything. We slid past the gas tanks with the cars…we slid past the propane fill up…and somehow we got stopped without hitting anything. I think Jerl and I were in shock at this point and  sat wondering how the heck we were going to get out of the ice covered parking lot. The only out we had a chance at making it to was the one in the pic above and we watched car after car slip and slide up and down it. My (Jennie’s) dad had the idea to use cat litter to get enough traction to get out. Luckily, the gas station had one bag of it left. It worked and we made it out of the parking lot an hour and a few heart-attacks later.

It took us four hours to go 90 miles that morning.

We made it though. It took us 15 hours that third day to make it to Missouri, but we made it safely. It was the most stressful day of driving we’ve had in the three years we’ve been nomads…I’m getting all stressed out again just thinking about that day.

I’ll leave y’all here and next week I’ll give you all the updates and the plans for the rest of the year!

See y’all down the road!

#itsnotallfunandgames

It’s Not All Fun And Games

It’s Not All Fun And Games

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Hey Guys!! One of the main reasons we took a travel hiatus is to work on the growing list of projects for the RV aka…our home. We do little odds and ends while we’re on the road, but there are some things that would be easier to do while stationary. I thought I would let y’all see behind the scenes of what it takes to keep this nomad life of ours going.

The very first thing we do every time we driveway camp at my (Jennie’s) parent’s house is to clean out and organize our “basement”. We take everything out, reevaluate its place and if we still want/need it, and clean out all of the bays under the RV. The first year we left we had all of the bays totally packed. Completely filled. There wasn’t a single inch of free space. Now…we’ve actually got quite a bit of empty space in our “basement”. The longer we do this nomadic life thing, the more we realize life isn’t really about the “stuff”…it’s about the memories and the moments.

Once we got everything cleaned out and reloaded, we put new seals on the bay doors that needed it. The seals are what keep the wet and dirt out of our “basement” and off of our stuff.

We (I’ll say we, but really it was just Jerl) did some electrical work. We (there’s that we again) added a strip of electrical outlets under a lip on our closet. A couple of our light sensor switches (I totally just made that name up…I don’t really know what it’s called) went out on the main control panel so Jerl took a look at all of those wires too. These switches tell us if our water pump and arctic pack is on or off. So, they’re kind of important.

So…funny story (not really…heavy sarcasm). The bottom slide out compartment of our freezer broke so our freezer door wouldn’t stay shut. We looked and looked and looked some more for the part or for someone who could tell us where to look for the part and no one in six or seven states could help us. Y’all…we had to keep the lock strap on our freezer door or the thing would just stay open. That’s not helpful. While we were back in Missouri, we finally found a place that could look up the part we needed and actually order it! We did a little happy dance after it was fixed!!

We have three ceiling vents in our RV. Two of them are in the bathrooms with these little dinky fans that help ventilate the…well, you know. Our plan was to replace all three with an upgraded fan. We started with the one skylight that didn’t have the fan. We LOVE it! It’s a reversible fan so not only can we vent air out when we’re cooking we can also pull cool air in to help cool the RV on days when it’s not hot enough to turn on the AC. We only got one switched out because we simply ran out of time due to some unexpected injuries. I’ll fill you in about those later.

We replaced this doo-hicky in both of our hot water tanks. The bottom one is the one we took out and the top one is what a new one looks like. I’d say we replaced it just in time. What the heck is it? Well, it’s actually called the anode rod and it helps protect the hot water tank from mineral build up and rusting.

We took out all of the cornice boxes around all of the windows (I’ve disliked these from day one) and my (Jennie’s) mom and I made curtains!! It took me forever to pick fabric. For…ev…ER! And then when I decided I went back and found that one of the fabrics was almost gone! Sheesh! I bought up the rest of it that day and luckily we had enough for the curtains and a small pillow! We lined all of the curtains with the grey insulating material you see in the picture above.

And, because I’ve already gotten several questions about that insulating fabric…you can see the details in the picture above. I got it at JoAnne’s back in the upholstery section on the big, long rolls.

The curtains made a huge difference in the way the RV looks and feels. It feels so much homier and more comfortable now. We’re loving the curtains! And… because I love the fabric…here’s the fabric that I almost missed out on. The big curtain in the back of the bottom picture. When I first found this material there were five full bolts of it. Five! When I just happened to stop in to have one more look there was only one partial bolt left. One. And it was almost empty. I grabbed it and carried it around the store in a panic trying to finalize my decision on the other fabrics. That’s what I get for procrastinating and trying to wait for a good coupon.

Jerl fixed a leak in one of the slides. It had been leaking for some time and we’d had it in to the shop. The pros couldn’t find the leak, but we kept seeing evidence of it, so Jerl took matters into his own hands…and leak be gone!

If you look back at the very first picture on this post you’ll see our trusty 4Runner. We had to replace her this past summer. Our first thought was to get a truck, but we couldn’t find one that fit us better than our old 4Runner so we ended up with a newer 4Runner. My (Jennie’s) dad and Jerl worked on getting her ready to go.

It was a hard decision. Not only did we really love our old 4Runner…she was totally paid off.  But, we can now flat-tow and get rid of our big, bulky, heavy trailer. The trailer has caused us some issues on our travels. We always had to make sure we could get a pull-through spot or if a pull-through wasn’t available we had to make sure there was a spot somewhere for our trailer. Some parks let you park on the grass right next to your spot…most don’t. Some parks want to charge extra for either another spot or storage. So, while we’ll miss her and the no payment it was definitely the right decision to replace her. *sniff sniff*

Ever wonder how to replace a mattress in an RV? Well, it’s actually pretty darn easy! We ordered ours from a company called Mattress Insider and they shipped them to us in the boxes you see in the picture above. So, getting the new mattress in the RV was easy peasy! When you take the mattress out of the box it’s wrapped up tight. We found it easier to cut the wrap than try to pull it apart. Once you cut the wrap, you unfold it and the mattress expands…and voila! New mattress! We got new mattresses for all of the beds. After two years of sleeping on the factory mattresses it was time for an upgrade. Our backs are thanking us!

Getting the old mattresses out of the RV door wasn’t as easy as getting the new ones in, but with a little muscle we made quick work of it.

In between all of the projects and explorations, life happened. Charles got started on straitening his teeth with the help of appliances and these trays. We were able to get all the trays he’ll need to take with us so over the next year his teeth will straighten out and when we get back to driveway camping next October we can go back in for a check up.

Nicholas had a pretty big growth spurt which effected his vision so we had to find somewhere to get his eyes checked and get him some new glasses.

Charles and Jerl took a quick trip down to Texas to get a driver’s permit. We’re late on doing this. Charles isn’t in a hurry to drive…this doesn’t bother me at all. I get it. I’m not a driver either.

Jerl had a retina detach from his cornea. He had to have eye surgery. He’s actually still recovering from it, but is able to drive. It’ll take a solid three months for it to really heal up and then he’ll need new glasses. Remember that bit about me not being a driver? Well, thank goodness we were around family when this happened. My parents watched the boys while his parents drove us around to Jerl’s various doctor’s appointments. This is the injury that put a stop to any more big projects. Hard to work on something if you can’t see it properly.

Oh yeah…and three of us got a stomach bug. Gross.

So, while 16 weeks sounds like a lot of time…well, you know the saying…time flies. We started our Grand Western Loop on October 28, 2017. This loop will take us an entire year and will allow us to finish up 49 of 50 states with Hawaii being the odd state out. We had planned on doing Hawaii this past late September/early October, but with the growing number of projects we decided to put it off and take care of business instead. I’m so glad we did or we would have been in Hawaii when Jerl’s eye crapped out. That would have been…bad.

Well, Guys! That’s it for this post! The next post will be the first in our #grandwesternloop so stay tuned!

See y’all down the road!