Visiting Dear Friends - Day 2 of AlCan Road Trip

0430 and Michael was waiting at the airport to pick up Nolan and Alex. They arrived 30 minutes (or so) late. They all opted to sleep when they got back to the trailer. A lazy start is good for us. 

We arrived at the new farm of some college friends, Kevin and Chris. Todd is a bonus friend who helps them. We have enjoyed catching up, telling new stories, seeing what God has done in their lives since we caught up with them nearly 2 years ago and sharing yummy food. Stacia has always dreamed of farming and this was a blast for her! 🐓🐖🐄

Stacia and Chris with their pig

 It was a ginormous blessing to walk around their farm and hear the story of how God chose to give them this place.🙌 Especially on the day our agreement to purchase a home in Alaska terminated.  This is a lovely 215 acre (or thereabouts) farm in SW Washington. They paid about what we will be paying for a home.

I'm not sure we've ever considered buying this much land, but this is more like the dream. The home we buy now is to be temporary, while we wait to see if God will give us the property to do what we dream.  We're o.k. with looking for another home. We found ourselves uneasy with the resell value of the "motel," and the repairs and improvements were going to max our budget, in ways we foresaw drastically changing our lifestyle. It was the cheapest option at the time, but the investment had already mounted to tens of thousands beyond the purchase price. We were prepared to move forward, but their silly choice to refuse repairs allowed us the opportunity to re-think the purchase, with a price list for repairs in hand. 😂 If God wants to give us "the dream," He isn't dependent on our finances and budget, He may well surprise us. He certainly surprised Kevin and Chris. We will take the steps we CAN take and see what He works out. Buying a home that will be hard to resell and will max our budget, doesn't seem to be a right step towards "the dream."

Michael and Kevin

Ellie surveys a portion of her domain

It was fun having Nolan as a passenger in Nimo today. He told me about the hike, his thoughts on Alaska, and we discussed our change in house plans.

We arrived early afternoon at Kevin and Chris'. Nolan drove me to the nearest Walmart Super Center - they are EVERYWHERE, aren't they? We bought provisions for the next leg of our trip.

We had our first two mishaps on the trip - and we've not even crossed the border. I turned my laptop off and was waiting for it to close before putting it away. I got side-tracked and went on to other packing up jobs. You know where this is going! It appears my laptop took a HARD fall. The corner of it is crushed. I'm not sure the card reader will work....and trim is loose.....super glue and duct tape are in the near future for this baby.

Michael noted the brake controller in Uchi isn't working. This is rather important. We just happen to have a spare brake controller along with us. 😀 We'll stop at good ole walmart and buy a harness to finish installing it in the morning.

Onward!

We're Off! - Day 1 of AlCan Road Trip

Michael loaded, tweaked things, tightened things and hitched things. Stacia and I decorated the trailer and Nimo.  We were told Uchi was off limit to our pens. 

I asked him not to add ropes over Stacia's artwork - but sometimes, I'm told - practicality takes precedence.😉😜😉 ::SNORT::

We took a few minutes to help Dad with a project...and he helped us as well. He double-checked hitches and such and told me he thinks the trailer is too heavy for me to pull with Nimo.

And then....came the moment to say goodbye to Mom and Dad. It's been easier to do that lately, as we lived in an RV, had no strings to tie us down, and could drive in often. Things are changing, but we know God has all in His competent hands. Mom has completely finished her cancer treatments! She gained an amazing amount of strength in the last week. It's a good time for us to join our kids in Alaska.

Stacia, Me, Michael, Mom, Dad

 As we drove out of town, I couldn't help thinking of all that had happened since we drove into town  mid-November.  We knew we had to stay for Michael's therapy. We have new tools for fighting Parkinson's and referrals to clinics in Alaska. But there was so much more to our stay than Michael's care. Mom was diagnosed with cancer, went through surgery and recovery; Mom G passed away and we had a memorial service and a graveside in Denver; Gideon arrived 5 weeks early; we were able to be on hand when life began to transition for BreZaak; and be on hand to celebrate CoRielle's great news of Baby S on the way; we enjoyed spending time with all our  family....the timing was God...and we trust in His continued timing and leading.

This is NOT the most exciting view from my windshield, but there you have it. 

A funny thing happened on the way to our home for the night. The GPS began saying we were 3 minutes away from our stop. We were significantly early. And then it said we were arriving at "Joe's Hamburgers."  Seems it interpreted Stacia's "Go to Portland Fairview RV Resort," as "Joes Coffee, Portland." 😲 We put in the RV park's name and had another 51 miles to go - in heavy traffic. Ugh....seeing that North to Alaska kept my spirits up.😀 Later on my GPS (Gabby Abby) told us to exit at Powell's - but Michael's (Samantha) didn't give him the same message. We ended up pulling in at the same time.

My navigator

 We were able to get a pull-through spot, leave the trailer hitched and park Nimo beside the whole thing. I hope we find such easy accommodations on the rest of the the trip. We're pretty much winging it - things have been so busy we've not made reservations.  Our handiwork in decorating the trailer is making us the stars of rest areas, restaurants and RV parks.

Michael informed me in the last few days that this is our last MILITARY MOVE. They are giving us mileage from Yuba City to Anchorage; we only are expected to drive 300 miles a day, AND WE GET PER DIEM for 9 or 10 days.  Our lodging is going to be minimal compared to per diem (expecting hotel rooms). With that in mind there was no need to cook when we unloaded....

We went in search of a restaurant I found on the Happy Cow Ap. It was to have vegan options. We took a wrong turn and went to a family owned diner instead. I had a great salad and everyone else was happy as well.  Michael crashed - which was bound to happen after the way we've been pushing. Stacia and I watched Anne with an E, there are only 9 episodes on Netflix.

Tomorrow, we pick the boys up at 0430 from their Epic Alaskan Hike, and head up to WA, through Canada, and on to Alaska. 

Faces of Bella

Oh, the faces of Bella. It's fun to watch her emerging personality.  She is 13 months and 3 weeks old.

Teething Bella 

Note the wink and the tongue

We DID It!

Today was another incredibly productive day. Michael staged things, while Stacia and I bought groceries AND made another trip to ST Vinnies. We bought all their blankets - don't try the one on Q street if you are looking for blankets.  Blankets are great to wrap around furniture. They do have a great Instant Pot for $20 - missing the seal(4.50) and liner (19.95) both available on Amazon. I wanted to buy it - but "saner" heads prevailed. NO EXTRA BUYING until we are in Alaska. 

When we got back to my folks',  Stacia put away groceries, Michael and I climbed in the attic and got down the girl's coffee tables and end tables, and began wrapping and loading furniture. Will dropped by around lunch. We enjoyed a bit of a visit and he helped Michael and Cory with some lunky items. 

Cory (below left) got off work at 0900 and joined us around 1030 to pack the rest of the trailer. This involved a lot of juggling as we had  big furniture items and a distinct shortage of things to "stuff in cracks."  Cory had helpfully brought some boxes they had packed which helped to make a "tight fit."

They did fit in MUCH we hadn't expected to get in. 😊👍😀

My elliptical fit!!!! Barely...and the oak mirror right at the back door....

They did it! This is how we bond with son in laws. 

 By 2:45 p.m. we were loaded. We COULD put some clothes from BreZaak in the cracks.....but none of us really want to unload things to fill cracks at this point.  We'll probably repack in Olympia with the clothes BreZaak gave us to take up. 

The plan is for the Kayak and 2 or 3 bikes to ride on the sides of the trailer. The others on the Jeep.  

Can you read the Kayak? We plan to do some more inking. 

We zipped across town for Yuuki to get the certificates she needs to add Canada to her list of  countries traveled.

Michael left one of our trailer tires to be mounted for a spare last week when we bought new tires. He went to pick it up and they'd LOST OUR TIRE. They gave us a brand NEW tire free. We have spares for the jeep, spares for the trailer, extra gadgets and such for the RV....I think we're ready.

We asked BreZaak and CoRielle if we could have a "family meeting."  Family meetings were a "thing" Michael and I instituted years ago. Lately, we've been hearing from the older ones that they disliked them. Ah well - what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. 😏 Michael and I tended to wander in those meetings, we don't do that so much these days. We often addressed behavioural or character issues in those meetings.....because it was easier to lay the base line in a group and then work one on one. We still have family meetings with the younger three - they seem much funner than the earlier ones.  I think we've grown in our 32 years of parenting. 😀🙌😛

That's the back story. The kids were eager for this FAMILY MEETING.....we discussed the logistical details of having 7 extra people move in with our 5...and merging 3 distinct family units....We know which rooms they want. We have somewhat of a  plan for meals. We brainstormed where to put big items and discussed the merits of wood and carpet flooring. That sort of thing.  WE LOVED Izaak's suggestion to have a weekly family meeting to make sure we're all still on track! Way to go, son! You've got it! 😀😀😀  We reminded the girls they are adults now; these meetings will not be about character training. They may have been doing a bit of groaning and gnashing of teeth.

Added benefits of this meeting were seeing Bella and Gideon, and praying as a family before we began the trek north and they finished their last weeks here. Michael and I decided NOT to leave in the  morning. We will have a "down day," I will take Mom to a neurology appointment, we'll rest and start out on Wednesday instead.

Granna and Gideon

Grandpa and Gideon 

BreZaak bought Bella her very own backpack. She LOVES it. She'll be able to carry a couple of things...which is helpful in an airport.  

Izaak and Bella

  She is READY to go places! 

Bella is sweet with Gideon. She DOTES on him and watches very carefully over him when others are around.

Gideon and Bella 

 Of course Bella wants Auntie Arielle - why would Uncle Cory try to compete with that???😏😉😏

Cory, Arielle, Bella and Baby S too. 

 Bella has learned a new word, "Hi." She uses it quite freely. We were saying goodbye, and she leaned over Bre's shoulder, looked at Gideon and said, "Hi, hi!" He isn't greatly responsive at this point. 😃

We said goodbye, "See you again in Alaska!"

The TRUTH About RV Sites

Many envision the full-time life to be one of constant moving and beautiful sites in nature......and that has been the case, at times.  We tend to focus on the positives, and beautiful sites are a POSITIVE, but I also try to present a realistic view of our life - be that homeschooling, chaplains family, military life and now full-time RVing.

We've stayed in some great spots......spots we'd like to visit again. 

Beale Fam Camp 

Armitage Park - Eugene, OR 

Shoreline RV Park - Crescent City, CA - that's the OCEAN out our windshield

St Vrain CO State Park 

Buckley Fam Camp 

Massacre Rock ID State Park 

Ollalie - USFS campground

These are the types of places one dreams of when they consider RVing full-time. We've loved it. Unfortunately, most of these places have time limits. That's great if you are a full-timer who moves alot.  When moving we've stayed in friend's driveways, we've boondocked, urban docked and mooch docked around on each trip - always with express permission. We have NEVER been like the 11 parked around the Eugene Wal-mart. 😏

Neighbor's Crescent City

Truck Stops 

Wal-mart

Churches 

 Some sites we paid for were terrible - like the KOA in Rock Springs, WY that was little more than a mud hole.  It was ONE night and hardly an issue......but these spots do happen in a full-timer's life. 

We planned on being the type of full-timer who moved every 2 - 4 weeks. Due to our health issues, family situations and Mom's cancer,  we have had extended stays at Beale Fam Camp, a park in Crescent City, CA and most recently 7 months in Eugene, OR.  Since most of the beautiful state and USFS parks won't allow you to stay more than 14 days a month.....and the best rates for RV parks are monthly....we ended up paying monthly.....and living where our neighbors are VERY close to us......though one can walk across the campground and see some beautiful nature.

Maybe now you understand a bit more of why Michael wanted SPACE when we began to look for a home in Alaska. 😊

We ARE going to miss being full-timers!  We probably have a month or less left to claim the designation. It's been a great two years.  We plan on taking extended trips in the future.....the kids can watch the house. 😛😮😜

Mr. Gingerbread Man in Mexico.

Krista posted this on her blog before she left Mexico. I'm just getting it cross-posted. 

My family enjoys a gingerbread competition on New Years Eve and the winner this year received the honor of hosting Mr. Gingerbread Man. He was passed off to me in Colorado, so he could come enjoy Mexico for a bit.

At first Mr. Gingerbread was not thrilled, he was complaining that I lied about Mexico being sunny and lots of children for him to befriend. It was rather sad  the first three days were stormy and I had finals; I was a bad host and didn't introduce him to people.

However, the last week and a half have been what I promised and he has made many great friends and been enjoying some sunshine.

To read more of Mr. Gingerbread Man's adventures  click the "Gingerbread Competition" in the side bar labels. 

One Day and a Wake Up

It was great to have mom back at church today. 💓😊💓

We left early to meet CoRielle at Mom and Dad's. They brought over her very heavy dresser from Japan. We will spend tomorrow packing the remaining things into the trailer.

Our next stop was St Vinnies. They ARE open on Sundays. We purchased seven or eight blankets to use in wrapping furniture.

Will and Sherri had Harmony for the afternoon. We were glad this had worked out and went over for lunch so the girls could get in some cousin time before our move. They had a great time, we enjoyed visiting with Will and Sherri. Mom and Dad joined us for dessert and more visiting.

Gracie was a hoot. She LOVES playing catch. I've never seen a dog play catch with herself.

We sat about an hour - maybe a little less - in the hot tub here at the park. Interesting visits with a couple of fellow retiree types. 😊 I think it really did help both Michael and I with our aches and pains from all the loading. 😏

Josiah called and the boys are back in Eagle River after their big hike. 

One day and a wake up - unless we don't get it all done and leave a day later.😛💥😄