Tag: missouri
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