Airstreaming Dreaming

Like So Many Things

2012-02-08T08:34:00.000-06:00

Like so many things, when we first purchased Minerva, the foam we bought was not exactly upholstery foam but it would work perfectly for weekends and vacations. After all we weren't going to be living in it......right? So why in the world would we spend THAT much money on foam.

Well we have found that it is not so perfect for fulltiming. As a matter of fact, Shawn and I have turned into grumpy non-sleeping people since our not exactly upholstery grade foam has developed a dip in the middle of the bed. Ok, dip is a bit of an understatement.....

For the last two weeks it's caused one problem or another with our sleep. First one of us would trap the other one in the dip. Once we figured out what was happening, we have tried sleeping on "our side" of the bed. However, the dip is so large that you tend to slide down into the hole.

Have you ever tried to really sleep while clinging to the edge of the bed so you don't trap your spouse in a gigantic hole in the middle of the bed?

Or tried to sleep while enduring the "slight" draft or cold that radiates when you are up against the wall? It just doesn't work very well.

Bright and early this morning, Shawn was up researching options. Thankfully he found an upholstery store at our next stop that has the correct foam in stock and he hit up Walmart for a 4-inch memory foam mattress topper to, we hope, help stop the slide...........

Little Things

2012-02-06T12:00:00.001-06:00

The time of laziness is coming to an end, thank goodness. I'm am beyond ready to hit the road and see the scenery change again. Yes, I know it's been less than three months. Yes, Texas is pretty. Yes, I've enjoyed relaxing. However, my addiction to see new vistas has been back building and it's about to overflow and I'm tried of randomly driving around Texas just filling in the time.

Though we will have a week or two here and there that won't have a purpose to it, from now until mid-April almost every week will be spoken for. We've already started planning out the next two months. This week starts tax preparation and Dr. Appointments, next week we start the "See Ya Next Year" family tour (will span 2 months... off and on)and the week after that we tackle over due haircuts (an entire year without my favorite hair stylist... the horror!). Before I know it, I will be ordering school curriculum for next year. I can't wait to get to the storage shed to offload some junk from the trailer too.

We are still getting accustomed to the new hitch. I have not towed with it yet. Shawn likes to get use to driving with it before he lets me loose with it. It does seem to have cut down on hitching up time but I'm still learning how to direct Shawn to back it up right. (Jason, I promise to get a picture for you.. when I remember to!)

Sunset On An Airstream

2012-02-01T09:11:00.001-06:00

Fullfillin Another Dream

2012-01-30T14:07:00.001-06:00

I am not completely sure when my obsession with NASA started but it might have something to do with a flyer that was all about Space Camp It was certainly sealed by that movie called "Space Camp". Unfortunately, my mother wouldn't spring the $350 dollars for me to spend a week playing astronaut but I've always wanted to go to Johnson Space Center. Anyway, we finally managed to make that one happen.

The mural on the wall at the Tram Tour loading area-

This building houses, on loan from the Smithsonian, an actual Saturn V Rocket..

Mission Control-

Space Shuttle Mission Control (I really wanted to see the Apollo Control...but it is still mission control)-

If you look in the back corner you will see lights shining on some plaques. Those are for the missions that are still ongoing ...the ones that will never return.

Our next stop is the astronaut training facility...a mock up of the International Space Station-

This is shuttle training equipment is headed to a museum somewhere -

The new rover will house a few astronauts for about 14 days -

Here you go boys.... ROCKETS!

Finally to that Saturn V I teased you with earlier. Massive, titanic, gargantuan... don't really cover it. It was also my son's FAVORITE THING!

Now we are going to head back into JSC (Johnson Space Center Museum)-

Inside a mock up of the Space Shuttle-

A random Skylab mock up picture -

Lunar Capsule -

We spent about almost six hours. We missed a movie or two and the playground but we did enough to satisfy the dream. Well not the one about going to space camp but.....some things just weren't meant to be!

Yes, Despite the Lack of Photos.... We do Have Children.

2012-01-28T22:23:00.000-06:00

In Response to:

"I feel like getting on to the both of you. You appear to want this blog to be about a FAMILY adventure. An occasional picture of your kids in unfocused settings will not endanger them. The dirty toilet in one of the above images was not appealing. Who do you want to know what you are up to, and what do want to share?"

First, the dirty toilet was behind a glass window. Second it was rust. Third sorry if it offended you. Fourth there is a joke there but I won't go there... even though it pains me to keep it to myself.

Now for the kids.

For everyone reading it's a harmless travel blog about two adults, two kids, and two dogs who hit the road in an Airstream. For us it's our life. The mental and physical safety and health of my kids overrides everything and everyone else. I have no illusions as to what this world contains both good and bad. I choose to err on the side of caution.

When this blog started it was more about the renovation of Minerva than about anything else. Naturally, our kids had very little to do with that process. Then things changed and we, as parents, had to make a decision about posting pictures of our kids. We discussed several things that caused us to decide against posting pictures of our kids.

I am an avid follower of several "mommy blogs". One day one of them posted about picture theft. Some other woman was writing a blog about HER children, using HER photos and claiming HER kids. She had little to NO recourse because she had not done anything to protect her photos. She only found out when someone who read her blog found the fake blog. This same blogger, once her older children reached the age of awareness, requested she quit including stories and pictures of them in her blog. Some of the things she was posting embarrassed them. She also had more than one instance of someone reading her blog and using it against her children.

I had a blogging friend who had her pictures stolen to be used as advertisements. I don't want to be driving down the road and see my kids up on a billboard. Though I admit very unlikely, it has happened.

Then there was a certain website that you could search for people on. At the time, this website used sample pictures from people's facebook accounts to confirm it was the person you where looking for. At the time I had only posted pictures of my crafting not my kids. My pictures showed up for anyone to see.

The internet is a strange thing. You have very little and in most cases absolutely no control over who views your photos. The only way I can insure the privacy of my children is to not post their pictures and request that no one else does either.

I believe my kids should have a choice as to wether or not their pictures are plastered all over the internet. I chose to start this blog, my kids did not. At this time they are not old enough or aware enough of the world around them to understand exactly what the consequences are. I am and that makes a world of difference.

I can hear you thinking "Everyone else does it"... well I am happy for Everyone Else. As a matter of fact, I routinely enjoy looking at Everyone Else's pictures. Everyone Else has some very adorable children. That is Everyone Else's choice but mine is simply different. AND frankly, if Everyone Else took a long walk on a short pier at least I'll still be dry.

I am guessing that the last sentence might have meant to be "who do you not want to know what you are up to what don't we want to share".

This trip is very much about OUR family. This blog is very much about where we go, what we see and how much we want to share. I am not hiding anything special. As a matter of fact those who are close family and friends will tell you that my life is pretty much an open book. I have been accused of having verbal diarrhea at times (just read this post). Our families and friends just have to send out a single email, text, or place a call and we will bombard them with pictures.

The Blue Ghost

2012-01-27T22:02:00.003-06:00

Last weekend, the kids and I decided to head out and visit the USS Lexington, otherwise known as "The Blue Ghost", which is a floating museum located in Corpus Christi, Texas. We've visited the Intrepid in NYC, but the kids were a bit too young and really didn't remember much, so this visit was quite exciting and memorable for them both.

So the history of the USS Lexington is that it is an Essex class aircraft carrier (same as the Intrepid, actually) that was commissioned in 1943 and was decommissioned in 1991 (the longest of any of the Essex ships). She fought in WWII, had a hand in the Cuban missile crisis, and trained most navy pilots from the 60's until the 90's on carrier take offs and landings.

The story of her nickname is interesting....apparently during WWII, she was painted dark blue, and was the only ship in the fleet to not have camo (because she was so heavily fortified and defended). Anyway, the Japanese thought they had sunk her many times, only to find out later that she survived the attacks...hence the nickname "The Blue Ghost".

Unfortunately, a lot of the pictures have my kids in them (especially the really good ones of all of the restored heavy artillery), so those won't be posted here :(

What you see when you approach the museum.

The obligatory aircraft and propeller displays.

The main island as seen from the flight deck -- all said there are 5 levels that you can explore within the museum, including the flight deck, the airplane storage deck, the quarters, the engine room and the island.

The listing of battles and action.

A close up view of the island...apparently the Lexington was to be named the Cabot, but was renamed the Lexington (CV-16) after the prior Lexington (CV-2) was lost during the Battle of the Coral Sea in 1942.

"Dont Bother Running You'll Only Die Tired"...this was painted on the side of an Cobra attack helicopter displayed on the flight deck....I thought it clever and quite appropriate to the machine it was on!

This is the "view" out of the bridge of the ship...there were all kinds of cool stuff up here....again, lots of kids pics!

This was the admiral's quarters..it was funny because since it was still in use up to the early 90's, it was quite "modern" in look and feel.

This was the admirals and the captain's galley.

Captain's bathroom.

Captain's quarters.

One of the many air operations rooms, where all of the aircraft were monitored and tracked -- think of it as the air traffic controllers for the navy at sea.

Being on the sea for so long, you had to have everything on board, including a barber.

One of the many berthing rooms on the ship...the 4" thick mattress would lift up to expose their personal area for storage. They were also given a single locker. The Lexington was the first coed ship, so there were specific women's and men's rooms.

This was their quite impressive on-board machine shop.

Everything on-board, right? Here's the dental department!

And the post office.

And the x-ray office.

And the emergency room (the medical facilities where quite nice and seemingly capable).

And the medical isolation room (which was quite scary, actually).

All in all, it's a nice museum, and the kids had a blast there. In the forward aircraft elevator, they converted the space into basically in IMAX theater, where they show movies related to aircraft, or naval combat.

Minerva Gets A New Tongue Ring

2012-01-21T16:28:00.000-06:00

Our day starts out pretty good. After all we are going to put the new hitch on and we did but it involved a lot of trial and error. I have mixed feelings about it because I'm gonna have to relearn how to hitch up all over again. I just got it down to a science. Sure, once I learn hitching will be a piece of cake, a walk in the park.... etc.

The first thing I did was unthinkingly undo the trailer coupler dropping the 100 lb hitch head onto the ground. I have no excuse but muscle/routine unhitching memory. After unlocking the padlock on the coupler you always pull it up.. at least until the new hitch. I missed Shawn's foot by.. well centimeters. We had an audience so at least it did not disintegrate into a martial spat. After reattaching the hitch head to the stinger and backing the truck up to the ball, we finally got our act together and the hitch installed. We even had a trial hitch up session.

At this point, Shawn tested the umbilical to make sure it was long enough... it wasn't. The last time he had to mess with that thing it took about a week to get it all figured out. We headed to the nearest RV place.. camperclinic (I think) to get cord. When we arrived home, starving for lunch, we discovered the dogs (yes, plural) and both had a stinky mess in the trailer.. ON THE NEW FLOOR!

Once we have the mess cleaned up, Shawn instructs the kids to clean up their toys so we can eat. That's when we discovered ANOTHER tambour door had bit the dust and Woody's (toy story) head was decapitated.

The tambour door will have to wait and Shawn will have to look into reattaching Woody's dismembered head but on the plus side(and we need a plus side today), the new hitch is installed, the new floor is clean, we have a new umbilical cord AND

(Hey Jason check this out) WE CAN OPEN THE TAILGATE WITHOUT UNHITCHING THE TRUCK.....WE CAN OPEN THE TAILGATE WITHOUT UNHITCHING THE TRUCK.....WE CAN OPEN THE TAILGATE WITHOUT UNHITCHING THE TRUCK.....WE CAN OPEN THE TAILGATE WITHOUT UNHITCHING THE TRUCK.....WE CAN OPEN THE TAILGATE WITHOUT UNHITCHING THE TRUCK.....WE CAN OPEN THE TAILGATE WITHOUT UNHITCHING THE TRUCK.....WE CAN OPEN THE TAILGATE WITHOUT UNHITCHING THE TRUCK.....WE CAN OPEN THE TAILGATE WITHOUT UNHITCHING THE TRUCK.....

ONE MORE TIME
WE CAN OPEN THE TAILGATE WITHOUT UNHITCHING THE TRUCK.....WE CAN OPEN THE TAILGATE WITHOUT UNHITCHING THE TRUCK.....WE CAN OPEN THE TAILGATE WITHOUT UNHITCHING THE TRUCK.....WE CAN OPEN THE TAILGATE WITHOUT UNHITCHING THE TRUCK.....WE CAN OPEN THE TAILGATE WITHOUT UNHITCHING THE TRUCK.....WE CAN OPEN THE TAILGATE WITHOUT UNHITCHING THE TRUCK.....

No it doesn't make me happy at all! Happy is just too tame a word. I'm, however, sad that we won't be driving somewhere new this week.... we can't try out the new hitch yet.

WE CAN OPEN THE TAILGATE WITHOUT UNHITCHING THE TRUCK.....WE CAN OPEN THE TAILGATE WITHOUT UNHITCHING THE TRUCK.....WE CAN OPEN THE TAILGATE WITHOUT UNHITCHING THE TRUCK..... Sorry I couldn't help myself.....

Floor Almost Done......

2012-01-18T21:56:00.000-06:00

Shawn go the last of the floor laid. We FINALLY have flooring!! I really can't tell you how exciting this is for us. It really changes the look of the Airstream.

On one of the Airforums threads, Shawn saw were someone used rope as trim/base boards. We like the idea so much we decided to use it too. There was a lot of hammering and some drilling too.

At least until he broke the drill bit...

The front room, sans dogs and kids................

The bedroom finished...

Be Gone Green Paint... Be Gone

2012-01-17T11:17:00.001-06:00

Shawn and I rarely plan home improvements. When we try, we discussed it to death then decide to wait. Then the wait abruptly ends after a five minute discussion months or ever years later. The gist of the latest five minute discussion was the time has finally come to do something about the floor. We'd originally planned to put some kind of flooring in but in the end just painted it with green deck paint. The green deck paint had worked well with two kids and two dogs but it is peeling rather badly in certain spots. Mostly where Drake (pictured below) jumps into/out off the trailer and where he stretches his legs. The sand from our coastal visits had not helped the situation. After going to the movies, we headed to Home Depot, a floor retailer, and finally to Lowe's. Lowe's had something we thought would work at a price much better than the floor retailer (half the price to be exact).

We decided to start laying the floor at around 6pm last night. I know.. we should have known better...

Your before picture-

The first box-

Shawn has a wonderful workshop... doesn't he?

The excitement of the second plank going in, sorry couldn't get a good picture of the first one as it's on the side of the gaucho coucho-

Small progress-

Then I got tired/distracted/something and put the camera down. I had intended to help him lay the floor but there really isn't a lot of space or need for help with our vinyl sticky floor. Unless you consider handing him new strips helpful.

At this point, we needed to move Drake from the bedroom to the living room. He looks so happy to have his home in upheaval.

Wow! I got an actual picture of Shawn doing some work.... will wonders never cease! At this point we are just working to get the front done so the kids could get to bed.... at a very late 10:30.

It took a record 2 minutes for all four of them to drift off to dreams...

We had planned to soldier through and finish but exhaustion set in. We had been on the go most of day, Shawn had to remove some of the furniture to lay the floor and he had been working for about 4-5 hours on the floor. So we decided to leave this part unfinished until today. Shawn will be working on this sometime today. I hope to have pictures for you later.....

Your Turn -

2012-01-11T11:24:00.001-06:00

Usually I write up something reasonably entertaining, I hope, but today is different. I am currently compiling an FAQ.. nope we don't have one. Nor do we have an about us section. So today, I want to know if you have questions you would like us to answer to be put in our new FAQ/ABOUT US section.

I have already compiled about 15 we get at every campground we visit.

So does anyone have a question they'd like to ask? If so leave them in the comments section for me.

Port Isabel

2012-01-10T21:58:00.000-06:00

We, sadly, left Port Aransas to head to South Padre Island. We had full-timing friends in a nearby town whom we wanted to visit with. While here we decided to visit the historic lighthouse.

The historical marker located in front of the lighthouse keeper's house. Unfortunately, the house and museum were closed but we did get to go up into the lighthouse.

Old Point Isabel Lighthouse.

There were 47 steps followed by by two separate ladders to climb. No, I didn't count them. It said so on a sign but our son thought it was about 2,000 of them.

The view from the catwalk looking towards South Padre Island.

The steps down......... now there was about 400,000 of them.

After visiting the top of the lighthouse, we decided to take the kids on the "Pirate Cruise".

Well it was large....

See I told ya....the World's Largest Fly Rod.....

His pirate name was Will Some.

Will Some was crazy.... that's all I'm saying. He eat fire for about 20 minutes.... child disclaimer was included.

This one he lit of the fire stick.

The this one he lit off a little fire in his bare hand

Little fire gets bigger...

and bigger....

Ahoy there me hearties.... want to go on a pirate cruise?

The Black Dragon where the kids became official Pirates. Although not cheap, we laughed ourselves silly for two hours. I got my "bathday"... which is how these pirates celebrate Birthdays. The kids participated in water pistol fights, sword fighting lessons, a treasure hunt and a little pirate named Stinky was flirty with our girl!

Ahoy.... DOLPHIN!

Sunset

Sailboat about to get attacked by pirates.....

Port Aransas, TX

2012-01-09T12:10:00.001-06:00

We enjoyed a spectacularly relaxing week at Port Aransas, TX. It was peaceful and in hindsight we wished we'd stayed another week. It was the perfect place to escape to after all that visiting we'd been doing.

Our first walk on the beach-

These were taken by our neighbor while we were enjoying a campfire on the beach for our last night there.

San Jose Mission in San Antonio

2012-01-06T09:27:00.004-06:00

While visiting Shawn's brother in San Antonio we found ourselves parked just a mile or so from the Mission San Jose National Historical Park. Naturally they had Junior Ranger Badges and naturally we just had to get one. Once again we are off on a mission to collect our number 16. (We do these to supplement the kids education....not just to collect the badges, but the kids don't realize this.)

This Mission still has an active church in it.

A collection of baskets.

This Mission is mostly restored, I think the Ranger said 70% was restored. You can tell by the color of the stones. The darker ones were newer and the lighter ones are the older.

More than one type of religion resided in these walls. This accounts for the different shapes of the windows and arches.

The very popular Rose Window. People come from all around to view it.

A remaining piece of Fresco. I actually prefer the rough stone work but admit they were excellent artisans.

This is a picture of a staircase that collapsed sometime in the past. One of the parishioners of the church took the pieces home and rebuilt the stair case. It is completely unsupported by any thing other than itself but members of the church still use it.

The entrance to the church. Those are the most beautiful doors. Apparently each of the statues has a meaning.

A close up of another Rose Window, the one above the Church Door.

They have a working mill in the mission. They have volunteers who demonstrate how it works.

The water that feeds the mills water wheel.

The outside of the mill.

The view near the outer wall across the yard towards the church building.

Finished Quilt

2012-01-06T09:12:00.000-06:00

I am a little behind in posting this but I finished the mammoth quilt the week before Christmas. It was so big I had to have help just getting it to move through my little machine. Someone had to grab it and guide after I fed it through the machine.

Keep in mind it's folded in half in this picture but the the bed is pulled out all the way. Now I just need to get back to work on the Grandmother's flower garden.....

Happy New Year... a Little Late

2012-01-02T10:01:00.002-06:00

Happy New Year. I know it's a day late but New Years was a little different for us this year. We, despite a few miles difference between the Brother-in-Laws and the trailer (10 min drive), opted to stay at his house. One might think it was the drunk drivers but it wasn't it was all the fog. Yes, I said fog in San Antonio. It wasn't your run of the mill fog either. It was really a smoke cloud.

You see these people, to quote my sister-in-law, get redonkulous with the fireworks. We had fireworks, expensive ones, going off around us. It was like going to a firework show in "the round". You could simply just turn around in circles and see the most spectacular display. I was rerouted around one street by some guy with a roman candle just so I wouldn't run over his waiting firework display. Seconds before Midnight they started going off and it was still going on 20 minutes later. Soon enough the smoke cloud rolled in. As a matter of fact, the drunk next door neighbors were still shooting off blackcats at 3am but that's another story. I have pictures for you, from my phone. Yes, there were fireworks enough to snap them with a camera phone. However, I haven't gotten a chance to download them yet.

Right now we are heading to the beach. We are in desperate need of some "it's only us" family time. Since Halloween we have only been on our own about 3 weeks.

Twas The Last Of The Poems

2011-12-30T09:00:00.001-06:00

Twas the week before New Years and all through the Stream,
the silence was deafening with nary a laugh or joyous scream.
The phone's bell was very silent and the email river ran dry
the great dane had no child to love on and he wanted to cry
the kids and the wife had some strange always gone temporary life
Shawn's days were empty of activity and his boredom was rife.

Happy New Year!! I know it's a day early but who knows when I'll be home long enough to blog ... at least until Monday.

By the way, this will be the last of the bad poetry... at least until next year.

Twas The Morning Of Christmas.....2011.

2011-12-25T10:03:00.000-06:00

Twas the morning of Christmas and all thru the house
pervades a smell strong enough to kill any louse.
The sound of the leaf blower outside has finally ceased,
but the tension inside has steadily increased.
The dressing and pie have been prepared to bake
the lego starship they are still trying to make.
The child has partaken of the shower following her bath
the skin so soft having incurred everyone's wrath.
All this excitement before our morning repast
the challenges looming ahead seems so vast.

Twas The Night Before Christmas... 2011.

2011-12-24T22:19:00.000-06:00

Twas the night before Christmas and the children are fidgety,

the Papa has thrown the annual tantrum at Mimi the midgety.

We've driven half the presents out twenty minutes from town,

only to return with most of them and a slightly large frown.

The first batch of popcorn was thrown in the trash,

the second batch was consumed in all but a flash.

The last movie of the season has just been viewed,

and the Santa waiting has, naturally, ensued.

Abnormal Week

2011-12-16T06:22:00.002-06:00

It's been a bit of a weird week for us. I have been, mostly, gone from the trailer for all but one school morning. It was the Laundry. Monday was normal Laundry day, Tuesday I was home, Wednesday it was sheets and pillow cases Laundry day, the Thursday the dog got on some blankets so it was quilt Laundry day. Frankly, I'm a bit tired of the laundry room here. I'm ready to see another Laundry Room.... any other Laundry room would do.

Shawn has stepped up to monitor the kids homeschooling while I sat in the Laundry room. The kids have been spectacularly good about their school work this week.... see very abnormal.

Then it was such mundane things as washing the dogs. It was finally warm enough to take them outside and bathe them as opposed to paying $20 a dog. I wonder if anyone has managed to get a Great Dane into a 1970's tub for a wash but I was not willing to be the first to try it. (Frank, are you laughing at that mental picture? If not you should be.)

We do have some pictures to download to the computer, upload to the blog, and write about but we just haven't gotten that far.

The Darker Side Of This Life

2011-12-12T09:39:00.004-06:00

We try to be honest with you guys while keeping the blog something entertaining or even funny. I often encourage you to laugh with or at me. However, this life is not without it's petty challenges. Some of those challenges have nothing to do with your day to day life but with how the friends and family around you handle your lifestyle.

Opinions are split within our family on what we should be doing. Let's face it we all have opinions about everything. Some think it's a wonderful idea, some wish it was them as well or instead of us, and some think we have fallen off our rocker or damaging our children. Their reactions can be, well unpleasant at times. We have one set of Grandparents who think its great that we are doing this with our kids. Granted they don't want us to spend the rest of our kids childhood on the road but think it's a good idea for a few years. They however part-timed for about 10 years. The other set, well it's complicated. We've been on the road for just over six months and we have already had comments like

"When are you gonna stop this?"

"Isn't it time to get a house?"

"What do your kids think about all this?"

"Don't you think the kids need to be in school?"

Nothing I say will convince this grandparent that the kids are enjoying themselves, that the kids are learning through experience, that the kids have a voice in the matter or that we are not damaging the children beyond repair. Then again we also know there isn't much we can do about the matter but talk to our kids before going to visit this grandparent. Nothing short of us moving in the house next door would truly make this grandparent happy. It is simply an unpleasant situation that we have to deal with for the children's sake.

When visiting we have often found it hard. Other than Shawn's job, our day is much less structured than most. Also, when you park for a week at a time, you don't want to impose on someone else's schedule, life, time. It's sometimes hard, with the people you care about most, to walk the line between being good squatters and good friends. They have expectations and you have expectations. You are also worried about over staying/interfering/annoying them. What's the saying? "Fish and company both smell after three days".

Sometimes you have to find the support you need outside of your "family network". This is very much what has happened with us.

White Knuckled Woman On The Road

2011-12-10T07:29:00.003-06:00

I had another stint at driving Minerva yesterday. I strongly believe that I should get experience with towing. You know, in case there is ever an emergency or maybe someday when we have a sticks and bricks I may want to have a girls "camping" out trip.

I lasted about one hour but I did learn a little.

I don't use the side mirrors in my normal day to day driving.
I did use the rear view mirror but it is now unusable (see the large dog crate).
I drive long distances so infrequently that I'm still not accustomed to driving the truck at anything over 55. My usual distance is from the trailer to the Laundromat.
I have a "slight" fear of being passed by big rigs while towing.
I normally drive closer to the center of the road than most people.
Your hands can start aching about 15 minutes into the drive.
I have a certain blind spot for speed limit signs, as in I don't see them.
I never realized how hard it was to maintain a regular speed while towing. I'm either lead footed or slow footed.
Hair accessories can impede the ability to check those side mirrors.
I prefer being the passenger.

When we arrived at our current destination the dog food bin had overturned and spilled its contents. Now Shawn would like to claim it was my fault and frankly, I can't really argue. Since it was the first time I'd actually driven Minerva while actually making turns and it was the first time the dog food had spilled as well.

Random Blatherings...Nuff Said.

2011-12-07T21:23:00.003-06:00

Can anyone say cold? Or freezing? Or if you live in the northern states just call me a wimp.... I don't care. It's a mite bit cold here and they are predicting it to get down 27 tonight. It's already 31 outside. If anyone ever tells you South East Texas is hot or remotely warm in the winter.... they lie. The dogs don't even want to go outside tonight....nuff said.

I took a bath tonight. Yes, I took an honest to goodness bath in Minerva. It can be done. It's the first time anyone has tried out the tub. Let me just say, if you're a parent bathing an infant, a child wanting to play in the water or an adult suffering from hypothermia it will get the job done... but that's pretty much all. The hot water tank was empty when it was less than half way full... nuff said.

Shawn and I have been discussing hitches today. The hitch we bought is an WD hitch and we have a friction sway control device but we bought it before we hit the road on a grand adventure. We are throwing around the idea of buying an "upgraded" hitch system. We talked safety, ease of hitching but you know what got my attention.... it might add enough space to allow us to get the dogs in and out of the truck without UNHITCHING the trailer. It's the small things that make me happy....nuff said.

We also managed to get the next three weeks of travel planned out. Considering the cold temps we would, in theory, like to head to warmth but since there really isn't any to be found within a reasonable driving distance of our Christmas destination we had to forgo the pleasure. We can just say that it took some time to decide....nuff said.

Does anyone know what movie "nuff said" is from? I'd give a prize but I don't have any...nuff said.

Oh Sweet Lazy Rainy Day

2011-12-04T15:31:00.002-06:00

We arrived to warmer temps if only temporary. Rumor has it that the temps will probably drop down into the 20's at some point this week. It started raining last and night and we (the kids and I) are enjoying a perfectly rainy lazy day. It's been pretty steady as well.

Shawn, in the mean time, has replaced the broken light switch on the overhead light. Another of the original 12 volt light switches bit the dust a few days ago. I think the bedroom overhead switch is about to bite the dust as well. Honestly, the man can't sit still, it's just not in his DNA.

The dogs... well Drake is shaking Minerva by chasing squirrels in his sleep as usual and Sasha is hiding out under the table.

More on Today's Adventure

2011-12-01T19:50:00.005-06:00

We arrived at 8am and departed at 6pm for the repacking of the bearings. Now many would have gotten upset but it really was just a pile of complications working against the poor service tech. Minerva was NOT nice to him today.

First the simple repacking became replacing. Two of the four bearings where badly discolored and had several different types (colors) of grease. We decided for the safety of our family to replace all four. Then replacing became finding the parts. Naturally, someone came and took the needed bearings right before the tech went to get the ones for Minerva. Then the parts store had to go to the NAPA warehouse in order to find four of them. The needed guy at the warehouse wasn't available when the call first came in. As you can imagine this took some time. Minerva's shoes were difficult today.

As we are waiting, we walked the dogs by Minerva. We both wondered why they had loosened the propane tanks but at this point we were more worried about walking the dogs and then getting lunch.

Many, many hours after arriving, I look around the building to see the bearings were replaced and the wheels where back on. I did notice Shawn and the service tech looking at the propane bottles. I wander over to take a look. Apparently the tech hadn't loosened the bottles and had wondered why we had done so. The plate underneath one had come undone and the gas line was crushed. It was fixed, a new regulator installed, new gas lines put in place, and our bottles refilled which took up another hour or so. The tech had to make a run to the hardware store, as well, since most if not all our gas equipment was still 70's in manufacture. You know 1970's and 2011 plumbing doesn't exactly speak to each other. At 6pm we finally departed for our four mile return trip to the RV park.

Why, are you wondering, aren't we upset?

"Welcome to the real world, where most of the time things don't go your @#$% way." Anyone know what movie that's from? It's a holiday must in our family... after the kids are sound asleep.

Anyway, what should have been a simple bearing repacking turned into a drama for the service guys and why should I add to their already miserable day. It's not as if they wanted to spend the entire day chasing down parts, have 4 people, one small dog, and one horse sized dog wandering around their service center all day. As for the propane bottle plate, well it was fixed entirely and we got the exterior gas system almost entirely replaced, and two refilled propane bottles at no cost to us.

Truthfully, we'd take Minerva back there.

Repacking the Bearings - The Joy

2011-12-01T09:32:00.003-06:00

I know it's only been six days since I last posted but it seems six eons. It would appear that I like traveling more than I like sitting still. We finally moved 1.5 hours south of Shawn's parents house. It was a bit painful to say goodbye but after spending 4 of the last five weeks making scheduling compromises I am ready to get back into OUR schedule.

As for right now, we are in Denton. We are sitting in the local Airstream Dealer/Service center waiting on our bearings to get repacked. Naturally, we arrived just before 8am. It's around 9:30 and they have just told us that they are waiting on the part to arrive and it will probably be around noon before the job is done.

It's not their fault. They got us in immediately. There was a magnet hanging on one of the front wheels (no brakes on that tire). Then he had to make a call about a seal that he didn't have a part number. Now he's come in and shown us that the bearing on the one wheel he's gotten off had been burned. There was something about three different colors of grease and he's pretty sure the other three bearings will be in the same condition. For safety, we will be replacing all the bearings.

Meanwhile the kids and I have checked out the new airstreams. They sure are purty.

It's cold in Denton. I'm dreaming of at least 68 degrees. Heck I'm dreaming about the coast of somewhere warm.... who cares if it's beautiful.... just warm.

Post Thanksgiving

2011-11-26T07:53:00.002-06:00

Thanksgiving has come and gone. We had an entirely untraditional meal of T-Bone Steaks, baked potatoes, salad, and pumpkin biscuits per my-in-laws request...they were buying. We even had it in early afternoon as a opposed to lunch or dinner. Completely untraditional! Boy was it good!

Now black friday was a bit traditional for us as we avoided the chaos. We really dislike black friday and find it's getting more dangerous every year. So we took the kids to see the Muppets instead. There were many cameos and it was campier than camp but everyone enjoyed it.

We are hanging out here (my feet are just enflamed with the itch to move) until mid-week and then we are headed to Denton for a few days to get the bearings repacked. Where, for once, we will headed to our "home" town to hang out until we have to leave for Christmas.

The adventures are slim on the ground right now...I really need to start planning next years.

A Series of Mishaps

2011-11-22T19:44:00.002-06:00

We have over the last few days had a series of mishaps. Nothing major, just little mishaps ... although water dripping inside isn't really a mishap, just unfortunate.

Where should we start? Well, how about with the dog and the thunderstorm. The thunderstorm scares the dog. The dog jumps on the bed (I told Shawn I saw a white face glancing out the bedroom window). Shawn goes out and removes dog from bed and blocks the hallway stopping the access to the bedroom. Shawn comes back across the yard to his mom's house. Dog (Great Dane) jumps over the three foot tall bin which houses his food, between the curtain and the wall (on the snap side) on to the bed. Shawn decides to go back out to check on dog when storm lets up. Shawn does not return. The kids and I decide to come home between waves of bad lighting. We find the dog hanging his head in shame and Shawn blowdrying a quilt from the bedroom. Strangely, the two are unrelated. A few minutes later on of the kids say, "Look Daddy the door to the closet is broken"....... silence.

First the water -

At Shawn's parents house we can't get the trailer perfectly level front to back. There is always a slight slant and Minerva doesn't like that slant. When we are slightly slanted backwards and get driving rain, water starts to drip on to our bed, forcing us to use the blow dryer to dry the quilt. I went to sleep with a towel stretched from upper cabinet to upper cabinet with a bath mat on top of it and the vent cover.

Second the Broken Door -

Apparently, in his futile bid to avoid another episode of "SHAME", the Great Dane had jumped off the bed and hit the door with his bum. Thus leaving a butt shaped crack in the laminate door, though thankfully not the size of his bum.

Fast forward to today -

I was doing laundry (shocking, I know) when both kids come across to Memaw's doing the walk of shame. Our daughter is almost in tears. She comes forward and tells me she broke the table in the trailer. I get them settled on the couches and run across to see the carnage. Shawn was not so calmly reattaching everything to the wall. Apparently, she'd leaned too hard onto the shelf supporting the table and caused the entire assembly to fall forward. However, all is well and improvements are in the works.....

Happy Thanksgiving ....right?

Patching the Hole

2011-11-18T10:44:00.005-06:00

Once again, despite the fact that I was in Minerva when he did the repair I don't have any pictures. It is a little difficult to take pictures while attempting to lift the overhead cabinets up enough to get rid of the bow in the wall.... with my feet. So of course, even if there were any pictures I wouldn't share them.

The patch from the bedroom side - We will be staining them soon. We are also planning on adding a few shelves.
From the kitchen side - Check out all that counter space! We are also thinking about adding some hooks to hold utensils.

Renovator's Post

2011-11-16T10:07:00.004-06:00

You renovator's will be happy today. This will also be a huge experiment for us since it will be the first renovation done while living in Minerva.

Now to start the tale. Shawn and I suddenly fell out of love with our vintage oven last night. He purchased a lovely convection counter top oven to replace the dead magic chef. This morning marked the removal of the old oven and man that thing is heavy and awkward. After it was removed this is what we are left with.

The original plan was to reinstall the box covering the back of the oven and use it to store things like bread and chips. However, when I walked to the back of the trailer and saw this:
My mind went on a serious side trip of "what ifs". Even though we promised ourselves we would not get too stuck in the "She's original and we don't want to change her" attitude, we have always had a bit of a battle between keeping Minerva in her vintage glory and making her fit the needs of a fulltiming family of four. This time the needs of the fulltiming family of four and the "what if's" won. You see we have a serious, but necessary, electronic cords issue. You see that outlet in the picture above... well it's never been easy to access. Both Shawn and I started thinking that several small shelves would help solve our cord issue as well as provide more space on the couch. Trust me... we squeeze four people back there to watch movies that six inches will be heavenly to spread out in.

Meanwhile take a look at that extra counter space. It may not look like much but we will no longer have to put the coffee machine away every day when we cook. It's the small things....
Here is Shawn demonstrating how we needed something to brace that open section with since it was causing a bow in the divider wall.
The plan is to go to Ace hardware and pick up a cap for the gas line as well as the supplies needed to support the wall, mend the hole, and make the small shelves.

Realistically We Knew It Would Happen

2011-11-15T12:27:00.004-06:00

Realistically we knew it would happen. We knew it would likely be soon but we weren't prepared for it. So now the debate has started. Why you ask.... well the pictures tell the tale.

Our 1941 Magic Chef Oven has been on the fritz. Occasionally misbehaving, yet always eventually lighting... until this morning. With biscuits (from the tube) on the tray, the pilot lit, but the rest of the flames refused to ignite. Shawn took a look (above) and the outcome is murky.

Apparently the thermo coupler is out (according to Shawn and someone he talked to on the phone). There is a possibility of replacing the broken unit BUT it would take 3 weeks. Three weeks is technically doable but are we throwing money away on a temporary fix. However, apparently if you live in California the broken coupler or something related to it has been banned.

The decision would be easy but for this:

Pros-

we love the oven
would HAVE to be connected to electric to use the oven if we took out the Magic Chef
in the winter it would help heat the trailer (unnecessary but still)
it's vintage

Cons -

we full time so we use the oven almost every other day
three weeks waiting for the part would be an eternity
realistically with so much use how much longer would the fixed Magic Chef survive
a microwave/convection oven in the trailer is tempting
one less thing sucking down propane
A vintage Magic Chef doesn't exactly cook evenly
microwave/convection oven wouldn't heat up the trailer in the summer (which means we don't have to wait till 7pm to cook dinner
One less pilot to light
One less thing to worry about breaking
One less thing to worry about burning hands/arms/finger on.

Oh...jeez. I reached 10 on the cons and less than five on the pros. I think I know which way this is gonna go.....but if you are out there reading, sound off and tell me what YOU would do.

****Due to the location of the furnace, it would be difficult to purchase a stove/oven propane unit.******

Quilting In An Airstream

2011-11-14T10:50:00.005-06:00

Here is a shot of my "working space" all set up and ready to go. The computer by the way is absolutely necessary as I like music while I work.

After I had sewn 25 strips together and folded them neatly to store away.
Now for the part where I am sure some of the guys will laugh. As you can see, the quilt top will actually be wider than Minerva when all pieced. We both got a chuckle out of this when we held it up but there is a method to my madness. Roll and Tuckability. I wanted something both wide and long enough that we could avoid the blanket thief....you know who you are. Denial doesn't work. Actually, everyone turns into one on a cold night. You wake up cold, grab the quilt/blanket roll over and tuck said quilt/blanket under your body and thus steal the covers from your spouse. I wanted to make SURE we don't have this problem with the new quilt.
To be exact it will measure 80 x 100 for a full/double bed before quilting. It will shrink some in the quilting process but if anyone claims there is a blanket thief from once this is done.......

PS. I must choose my quilting days carefully since I take up so much room. It must be pretty enough for the kids to play outside for several hours.

Randomness or Unfocusedness

2011-11-14T10:03:00.002-06:00

This past week was another week of visiting. The only thing I can really say about it is that I finally got my hair cut. I wont talk about those friends who I know don't want to be mentioned online.

I did some more quilt piecing and if I ever get iPhoto downloaded and upgraded I'll share them. Even the men will enjoy the pictures...I think.

We are currently in a small town park in Texas living through our second week of this month without full hookups.

We have seen the oldest still operating Dr Pepper bottling company in the US. Sorry we forgot to take the camera but there would have only been about 10 photo.

We walked through what had to be one of the dirtiest flea market booths EVER.

Tomorrow is a big day for Minerva. She's going to get her bearings repacked at a Airstream Dealership. We are going to take the opportunity to drive by the dump station as well.

Can I just state that:

with 4 people, even doing navy showers, a blue boy fills up FAST!
sadly, not everyone you love can be truly happy about your lifestyle
piecing quilts in the trailer is not as difficult as I had thought
when you are accustomed to small spaces hanging out in a "large" one is a bit overwhelming
if you ignore the itchy wandering feet too long... it leads to some irritability.

A Much Needed Week

2011-11-06T12:31:00.005-06:00

This past week was a much needed week for everyone including the ones we visited. We stayed at one of our favorite camping spots. The amenities include free campsites, a walk across the yard for showers, electricity, a lack of cell phone connectivity (for me), trick or treating, a ten minute drive to the dump station, jointly cooked dinners and built in babysitters. That's right we were at Memaws for 7.5 wonderful days.

Granted the itchy wandering feet, the wander lust, and the "anticipation of seeing something new" addiction kicked in around Thursday. We took a 45 minutes drive down to look at new Airstreams to help alleviate the symptoms.

I managed, with Memaws guidance, to alter my daughter sheets to make them fit the bed better. I pieced quilt blocks.

Shawn worked on the control center. He replaced the old (hot bulbs) with new colorful led bulbs. The old bulb for the water pump was trying to melt the plastic. Then we woke up and the bedroom lights wouldn't come on (for once not related to the repair). Apparently, I put a foil chip bag on something in the pantry that caused a short to the bedroom. Shawn moved the chip bag and got the lights working. He has bought a multimeter and will be looking into the pantry wiring tomorrow.

Now we are parked in another one of my favorite campsites. The amenities include friendship, kids to play with, dogs/cats/chickens/roosters, laughter and full hookups.....yes, I finally get to use my own shower again!! (Funny how I couldn't wait to take a shower in a "real" bathroom but I missed the convenience of my own shower.)

Hanging Our Heads

2011-10-28T16:46:00.005-05:00

To the other Airstreams that were parked in the same RV park as us this week (literally 4 slots down and across the street, we'd like to apologize. You see we just didn't have any spare time to visit and when we did it rained.

There really isn't much relaxing about stopping in OKC for us. There is work to tend to, laundry to do and children to school. Then there are several trips to storage because you forget to put things in or take them out of storage. There are trips to donations centers to drop off out grown clothes. There are trips to the mall because... well frankly, they have a Disney store. There are play dates to arrange and attend with at least 3 or 4 of the kids friends. There are routine doctors visits to see to. There are our favorite restaurants to eat at. Suddenly we saw you packing to leave this morning and we still couldn't get over to say hi/goodbye.

The Three To Six Month Storage Dump & Retrieval Mission

2011-10-24T10:08:00.004-05:00

It was time again. Time for the three/six month storage dump/retrieval mission. The process starts by having clothes tryouts and ends with a trip to Goodwill/Salvation Army Donation Center. It includes a, hopefully, very thorough inventory of Minerva's contents. So far, because we are new to this lifestyle, each time we have taking more stuff back to storage.

Items cleaned out of Minvera:

A grocery bag or two full of unused kitchen gadgets.
3 or 4 bags of clothes to be donated.
A few new books (from the one of the two authors I refuse to get on Kindle.
the school book dump/retrieval mission
a few bags of summer clothing that should fit next year

Items cleaned out of storage:

Two thick winter coats that should not be needed, we don't have room for in the trailer and will not fit next year
a medium zip lock storage bag overstuffed with unworn/un-needed clothing

What we didn't find was the perfectly good pair of shoes for our son, the other half of every pair of winter gloves, and any resemblance to organization in the storage shed. We did find that neither of us was looking forward to emptying the storage shed anytime soon.

Not so secretly, I long for the day when we have gotten all our ducks in a row and don't need this mission......

Lesson Learned

2011-10-16T12:22:00.007-05:00

Here is a list of the things we learned in our first 5 months on the road:

Mileage on paper is vastly different from driving the same mileage on the road.
Understand that unless you spend a month visiting one place you just can't see everything.
Don't set deadlines to return or visit people as it limits what you can do and see.
Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.
Ask for alone time when you need it.
Deal with problems head on, allowing them to fester in a small space isn't good.
Be flexible in scheduling. We missed so many things because of this and #3.
Check local weather before arriving
Laundry requires scheduling and takes some time.
Stop and rest for more than a week every so often
Listen to other full timers... they are a great resource.
Take a Ranger led tour when visiting your national parks. They bring history and nature to life.
Allow yourself to relax and enjoy everything.
Patience with ourselves and others
People who don't pull trailers have no idea how crazy it is to cut someone off who is pulling a trailer.
It is amazing what you can live without
Enjoy

In all our stops at National Parks and Monuments we have found a few books.

We are currently reading this one with our kids. Oh Ranger! So far it's been about funny animal encounters but we are starting the section on exploration this week.

Now an adult book on Rangers. Ranger Confidential. I have finished this book and Shawn is currently reading it. I will warn it can be a bit gruesome but it is a very honest look into what Ranger's lives can be like. It is also informative since there are more than one type of ranger.

Bittersweet

2011-10-16T11:52:00.003-05:00

Well, we are back in Texas now. If we were confused the smell of cow dung blowing in the wind would tell us all we needed to know. We've finished the big summer/early fall tour of the west. I find myself in a bittersweet frame of mind on making it back to Texas.

I am ready to tease my mother-in-law about anything, annoy my father-in-law on politics, and sit down at my friend's table with a cup of coffee to discuss men, children, marriage, and life (fire up those coffee pots ladies). I'm ready for a haircut (my split ends have split ends that have split ends....) and maybe even a day of pampering at some spa(hint, hint Shawn). I'm ready for a good dose of the familiar.

However, along with that I also feel a bit let down to know that there isn't some great spectacular thing to go see, that the only mileage we put on Minerva and Rose from now until spring will be due to holiday visits or because we just can't sit still. It will be hard having to hold off on the desire to find the next thing to blow my mind or touch my soul with its beauty (Hurricane Ridge or Glacier), splendor (Redwoods), vastness (Grand Canyon) or even history/tragedy (Battle Of Little Bighorn). No surprise discoveries to find out about ourselves (that we enjoy walking through caves).....well I feel almost without a goal.

Don't get me wrong, we do plan to find things to travel to and see during the winter and I know we will find some of the things listed above but I also know in my mind that winter will be a time to plan for next year. It will also be a time to rest, soak in the familiar, and just be. Yet, somehow I already miss moving our home and mostly I think I miss having an agenda.

From Snow to Flagstaff...

2011-10-13T23:17:00.000-05:00

So, we left the snow (a day early, mind you) of the North Rim, and headed down to warmer temperatures....Flagstaff! Not really "that" much warmer, I know, but warm enough. I have been really surprised at how much I've actually enjoyed Arizona...I like the vibe and feel of this state. It might surprise everyone to know that I'm actually a native Arizonian, but my family headed to Texas when I was young, so I never really considered "home", but perhaps on some sort of deeper level it is. Anyway, I really like Flagstaff, and within 30 miles you have 3 national monuments, and within 60 or so miles, you've got 3 national parks! Needless to say, it's been a great week for our Junior Rangers, who have now chocked up badge numbers 11, 12 and 13!

Stopping for refreshments...you can't see the snow, but if you were to in the back of the truck, it was full of snow.

The view driving around the north rim to the southern areas of the canyon....it was a spectacular drive!

The first of the national monuments we visited near Flagstaff was Sunset Crater National Monument, a volcano that erupted around 1000 years ago.

This is one of the many small red cinders around the park.

Here you can see the lava flow (this is actually the lava flow trail).

Here's a view of the actual crater...called Sunset Crater because the top was colored like the sunset.

Here's a view of the beautiful San Fransisco Peaks from within the park.

Located just north of Sunset Crater, is yet another National Monument, Wupatki National Monument. Here's a view of the Painted Desert (another national park in the area).

More of the Painted Desert....it's a shame, I remember going here as a kid, but I don't think we'll get to visit it this year :(

Here's the largest of ruins located in Wupatki National Monument, just behind the visitor center.

According to the NPS, this pueblo had something like 100 or so people living in it around 1100.

I loved the architecture, and how good the structure still looked after all these years.

This was the "ball park", essentially archeologists have discovered that the Wupatki played some sort of game, and this was the field (when it wasn't flooded from fall rains).

Walnut Canyon (The Quickest National Monument Trip Ever)

2011-10-13T21:51:00.004-05:00

Walnut Canyon was always planned as a mid week trip. What wasn't planned was the work call that took Shawn 30 minutes past his usual time off. Nor was it planned that the Monument would have switched to non-summer hours. Nor did we plan on leaving the camera behind (sorry no pictures).

When we arrived we had just 1 hour and 15 minutes to walk the one mile trail and do the Junior Ranger Booklet. We whipped through the 1 mile trail in less than 30 minutes barely glancing at the ruins and mostly looking at our feet which were just inches from the path edge (very few railings at this monument). Honestly, you want to keep close to your little ones on this one so as to stop them from falling down.

This left us, well Shawn and the kids, with just 45 minutes to complete the Jr Ranger booklet. Thankfully it wasn't a tough one and the kids managed to finish it with 20 minutes to spare before closing time. We snatched up our usual complement of souvenirs and walked out the door.

It was a bit of a shame really as the canyon was beautiful and I am sure walking the rim trail would have been magnificent. I'm not sure I will remember much except the climb BACK up to the visitors center. It took me an extra 10 minutes to climb the stairs (me and altitude aren't very well acquainted). They say it's the equivalent of walking up 18 stories.....my legs feel like jelly.

However, it does give us a reason to come back to Flagstaff in a few years..........

Stopping the Interior Rain (Crafting Post)

2011-10-12T14:16:00.006-05:00

It's the cold's fault. How many of us really enjoy indoor rain showers? Particularly those that hit only you in the face in the middle of the night? We'd just gotten somewhere between 4-6 inches of snow while in a campground near the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, we were all stuck in the trailer, and enduring night time temperatures that went into the teens when I noticed it. Lucky for me, we had just met another Airstreaming couple who had just finished restoring a 1960's Tradewind. I asked her about the condensation raining down on my face and she pointed out the vent covers she'd made.

Now I'm going to warn you. It is not my best sewing work but after 3 nights with a towels strung across the bed clothes pinned to the upper cabinets I didn't care. It was time to hit the fabric store (nirvanna after all these months) and get to work.

Remember the girl that had 4 sewing machines and an arsenal of tools. Well, this is all she has to work with now.

I chose denim again, for the washability, but put my foot down against blue. Between all the Gaucho conversion furniture we have enough of blue denim. I guess it's the quilter in me but I decided to use batting on the inside when Shawn mentioned that maybe the covers could also be used to insulate against extreme temperatures. Here we have the measureing/cutting/layering process.

I decided to sew it inside out so the batting was the first layer to sew through.

After turning it rightside out, I sewed all the way around the edges. Then I decided to play.

Now I'm a sucker for old sewing machines.... I have two treadles (in storage) and a featherweight. The downside is you need the old attachments for anything other than a straight stitch. No problem since I love the attachments, which is funny since I don't really have a use for most of them .... I don't sew clothes. Anyway, at one of the Escapee CoOp parks we had arrived just in time for the annual garage sale. The only items this one lady had to sale were the button hole attachments for the old sewing machines. She wanted $3.00 for each. I picked up one not knowing that it would become the perfect tool for making the holes for the vent cranks.

I have to warn that it was a bit of a chore to make the button holes but only because it was trying to sew thorough 2 layers of denim and 2 layers of batting. After a bit of battle, not to mention having to remove the entire attachment after every button hole, I was finally done.

I have to say that it was really ingenious what they could get these attachments to do. Anyway, here it one of the cover before I sewed the velcro onto the fabric, not the pretties of jobs but no more Interior Rain Showers.

Snowin' in Arizona...

2011-10-06T11:37:00.000-05:00

So, it snowed. It snowed on us, while at the grand canyon -- who woulda thought! Now seriously, we knew it "could" happen, after all this campground closes for the year next week, and I know that the road into the North Rim shuts down at the end of the month...but, this is what we woke up to this morning:

It was and still is quite beautiful, and there's supposed to be another 2 or so inches before we leave on Saturday -- but it's supposed to be sunny and 50 for departure (I hope, anyway).

Also of note, there are 2 other airstreamers "stuck" here with us, they popped in for the night coming from the WBCCI balloon rally, and decided to "stay" a few days more!

North Rim, Grand Canyon National Park

2011-10-05T18:15:00.000-05:00

So this week we're in a little place called Jacob Lake, in the middle of the Kaibab National Forest, just north of the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. So, when trying to decide where all to go on this trip, the Grand Canyon was always high on the list...but it's large and we didn't necessarily want to see the same view as everyone else, so we decided to hit the North Rim instead. According to our ranger, 3 to 4 million visitors go to the South Rim of the Canyon, take their photos and such and leave....but only around 500k make it up to the North Rim. I can say this, it is beautiful and completely different than what I had envisioned. Firstly, it's completely forested....huge Ponderosa Pines and Aspen trees are everywhere. Secondly, it's much cooler (in fact, its actually around 1,500 to 2,000 ft higher than the south rim). Thirdly (which is a huge plus for me, being the social butterfly that I am) it's far less crowded.

The downside, it's cold -- the road to the north rim actually shuts down October 31st, and this side of the canyon get's 15' of snow each year -- in Arizona! As I'm writing this, we're supposed to start getting snow (not too much though, I hope) and it's been in the 40's during the night and in the 30's at night (Thursday it's supposed to be 26 overnight -- too cold for me).

A view of the South Rim from the North.

Another view of the canyons (I can't actually remember them all)...but I will say that according to our ranger, all of the peaks and valleys have middle-eastern names, because the geologist on the initial expeditions was heavily interested in world religions, and would name the stuff after whatever he was reading about at the time!

Continued...

This is the road into the park on the north side -- look at the beautiful Aspen trees!

This is the original 2 room historic ranger station just north of the park -- built in 1910, it is still in use today, and is on the National Register of Historic Places!

Las Vegas....Help Us Please!!!

2011-09-30T23:25:00.002-05:00

So, we've been to Vegas....not because we wanted to go, but because MY 9 YEAR OLD SON WANTED TO SEE THE LIGHTS! So, we've spent the whole week at a park in Pahrump, NV (about an hour or so outside of Vegas, basically halfway between the strip and Death Valley) in the sun, baking in the 95+ sun so he could see the lights. It was okay, we enjoyed ourselves, and got to see a lot of stuff that we wouldn't normally see -- plus it was in stark contrast to the quietness and peacefulness of DV.

I do have to go on record in saying that we don't like Pahrump, NV -- and hopefully no one reading this is either a) from Pahrump, NV or b) a huge fan of Pahrump, NV....there's just something depressing and desolate about this place, but to each their own. What really bothered me more than anything is that you can gamble and get free drinks while doing so AT THE ALBERTSON'S GROCERY STORE...whatever?

Anyway, ranting done and over with.....tomorrow we hitch up and head out to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, and hopefully cooler temperatures and better scenery!

Death Valley, CA

2011-09-27T18:42:00.001-05:00

Once we arrived in Nevada from Yosemite, we were conflicted as to which stop to hit first...Death Valley or Las Vegas (don't ask). Death Valley won, and I can't even describe what we saw -- it was completely otherworldly! Luckily, the temps weren't too bad (mid 90's) and there was a breeze blowing through.

We drove the Twenty Mule Team Canyon, which was a lot of fun and again, otherworldly. After finishing up the short 20 minute off-road trail, we drove up to the top of Dantes View, which words cannot describe, and I'm not really sure photos can either! It was completely breathtaking, and a complete polar opposite to the majority of what we've seen so far in this trip (Glacier, Hurricane Ridge, etc).

Formations upon entering the park

Pano from atop Zabriskie Point

The oasis known as the Furnace Creek Visitor's Center

Furnace Creek, continued.

Driving through the Twenty Mule Team Canyon

Twenty Mule Team Canyon, continued (very fun little off-road drive, BTW).

Pano from atop Dantes View (stunning!)

Another Pano from Dantes View

A rock formation from atop the same (Dantes) view

Look at the spectacular colors and striations within the rocks

Yosemite's Mariposa Grove

2011-09-27T18:22:00.001-05:00

So, we spent two whole weeks just outside the southern entrance to Yosemite (well, "just outside" being like 45 minutes)......and you what, we only managed to get into the park once.....one time and that is all! So, for the single afternoon we were there, we did what we typically do....a ranger hike! Our kids are Junior Rangers, and without exception (yet) we ALWAYS go on at least one ranger hike to both fulfill their junior ranger badge requirements, but also because with the rare exceptions, the rangers are awesome, passionate, and we typically learn something along the way....this was no exception, and was without a doubt the best ranger program we've attended so far (which is partly why the photos were scarce, that and like the Redwood National Park, the tree's just don't photograph well).

Anyway, these are NOT the coastal redwoods that grow almost 400' tall, these are the Giant Sequoias (Sequoiadendron giganteum) located only in the immediate area of the park....more specifically, the Mariposa Grove. Although these trees are not nearly as tall as their coastal counterparts, they make up for it in mass -- they are enormous!

A baby sequoia

The Grizzly Giant, one of the more famous trees in the grove

More Grizzly Giant

Another closeup of the Giant, notice the fire damage near the base?

Rest For The Road Weary

2011-09-20T23:21:00.004-05:00

So an update. Shawn spliced the slinky and used a connector to fix the whole. The water drama continued until Sunday and Shawn finally master the plumbing....we hope. If it's still in one piece when we arrive at the next destination... then it's fixed.

I am not sure if others full timers would agree, but I'd found that in the last few weeks I was feeling off balance a bit from all the travel. We have only stopped two times for longer than a week in the last 17 weeks. I really can't believe it's been that long... 17 weeks in a 27ft Airstream. It had been over two months since our last extended stop. I know it might seem strange that hanging out for a week isn't restful enough but it seems that every so often having a week off from driving is appreciated. It was time for a break, I think.

The Park of The Sierras (Escapees CoOp park), so full of current and former full timers, has been a blessing to be at when we are so road weary. They welcomed us like we were old friends returning home after a long journey. I lost count of the invitations we received to the point that I couldn't remember who lives where.

The past 24 hours have been an indulgence for me. Since it won't be often that she gets to see her Dancing With The Stars anymore, I took my daughter down for a special TV watching session with another group of like minded ladies. I got this morning off from homeschooling (thanks Shawn) to get the laundry done (hey, laundry is my personal time). Then I spent 4 wonderful hours with the quilters of the Park of the Sierras. It was incredibly nice, no offense to my family, to spend a few hours with some women just hanging out.

We will get a picture post up soon of Yosemite. We didn't get to see the waterfalls because someone (me) pulled or strained a few muscles but we did see the trees!

***note****
Escapees CoOps are for Skp members

The Drama Continues

2011-09-14T10:42:00.004-05:00

After publishing the last post, the leak got worse again. We decided to top off the fresh water tank and use the water pump until Shawn could get to the hardware store for more supplies. This morning he gets up to leave and checks his work schedule. Well, it is safe to say that he's had less than 15 minutes off phone calls this morning. As a matter of fact, the kids and I were forced to sleep in, a true hardship, because his first call came in so early. To make matter worse, he is in the process of interviewing people via phone to fill a couple of positions.

Back to the water drama. Shawn worked so late on the water pipes he couldn't see to pick up all his tools. This morning, after refilling the fresh water tank, when he went back outside to turn the water off at the outlet he stepped on a metal file that popped up and sliced into the stinky slinky.

We just bought that hose in Billings just over a month ago! Luckily you can turn it so it's still usable for washing hands but no tank dumping. The nearest town, that may or may not have one, is a 15 minutes drive but the nearest city is 45.

Meanwhile on to our instrument panel. It tells us everything is full when we know it's not. Just dumped your tank... it's full. Can't get water while using the water pump.... you must have turned the faucet the wrong way because that tank is full.

Shawn has finally departed for the hardware store. All I can say is I'm glad the RV park has showers and I'm pretty sure, unless Shawn lucks out on finding a new slinky, someone will be headed into the big city today. Oh yeah, and the chances of seeing my husband today just decreased... rapidly.

Something Is Always Wrong With The Mistress's Plumbing

2011-09-13T21:23:00.003-05:00

The mistress has called again. Her plumbing is messed up..... again. Her plumbing is the bane of Shawn's existence. Every few weeks... well at least once a month... she springs a leak. The kids and I have learned to just walk away. Shawn and Minerva need time to work on their mutual problem.

Usually the problem is a minor thing, I won't say easily fixed because when it comes to the plumbing of Minerva ... nothing is easily fixed. However, it doesn't usually end with Shawn requesting the number of the in park repair man (Escapee CoOp park). Unfortunately, the guy never returned Shawn's call or showed up. Shawn ran down to the hardware store to get some pipe and he's been working on Minerva's hind end for a few hours now. You know the spot where the water comes IN to the trailer.

I am unsure of all the details but I can tell you that he removed some more WATER HOSE from the plumbing system, about 4 feet worth that was bunched around the water pressure thing and the dump valve. Is it normal to find copious amounts of water hose (at least it's from a drinking water and not garden hose) through out your trailer?

Due to the location of the repairs, the water had been cut off and we have been forbidden to use the water pump.... since before 4pm. It is almost 8pm and I think I may have heard the sound of the back compartment door closing... I think.....oh, no... I see light shining in from the cracks in the bathroom. I hear the squeak of something turning.....AHHHHHhhhhhhhhh!

If anyone sees my husband, please tell him the children and I miss him. Oh, and their just might be mini revolt if we don't get these chillens feed soon.........

Big Trees and Caves....oh my!

2011-09-13T16:37:00.000-05:00

So, we were staying just outside of the Redwood National Forest in an area called Hiouchi (not sure if it's a town, place....but it's where we were staying, regardless). This place literally shared a fence with the national park, which for us is great since although we've visited a few parks on our trip, we rarely get to actually *stay* in them because of our unique requirements (for those of you who don't know us or haven't actually met us, I'll explain a little later), so this was a rare treat for us. I have to say that the redwoods, more specifically the coastal redwoods, are an amazing site, and very different than the typical sequoia or sierra redwoods that most people associate with the big trees. Firstly, the sequoia are wide but not necessarily tall (we'll actually be seeing those this week while in Yosemite), whereas the coastal redwoods are very, very tall (some reaching almost 400ft). The problem with this is that although very beautiful, they don't really photograph well :(.

Trying to capture the sheer awesomeness of these trees!

A tree that was cut down on the side of the road -- again, this thing is at least 15 to 20 feet in diameter.

A few costal shots driving through to the southern edge of the park, along the coastal scenic route.

We decided to go and visit one of the few tour through trees left, and I was bound and determined to get my freaking truck through it!

Not sure if you can tell, but with the mirrors pulled in, I literally had 1/2 inch clearance on either side!

After touring the redwoods, we heard that there was another national park/monument, that was a cave (and we looooove caves). We decided to head north to the Oregon Caves National Monument, which was the first marble cave that any of us has ever been too. Also, the cave had a natural exit, which meant that there were a lot of bats in and around it -- which made it difficult to get a lot of pictures since flash photography is not good for them, and therefore is restricted to the areas where they are not seen.

Entrance into the caves.

Being a wet cave, there was a lot of stalactites and wet features.

This is the "ceiling" of the cave in this part -- notice the marble!

A really nice column formation.

Another formation that resembles a billy goat?

There was a hole chamber full of these Davey Jones-looking structures.

The natural exit to the cave.

Now I promised to elaborate on our issues with locating and find places to stay, and why we rarely get to stay in state/national parks anymore....I work. I'm, unfortunately not on vacation, and therefore must always an internet connection to perform my tasks. Also, being a pre-1974 Airstream, we don't have grey water. For those of you who are out dry camping all the time, that's great, but we have 2 adults, 2 kids and 2 dogs (one of which is the side of an adult, being that he's 150lbs of lovable doggieness) -- you try that out with no grey tank and only a 16 gal black tank sometime!

Needless to say, we rarely "camp" anywhere that doesn't have full hookups, or at least water and electric, and most of the parks in this area are dry or maybe electric only. When I'm not working, perhaps we could do this, or if it's just for an overnight -- but not for the whole week (which is how we roll -- week on, 1 day travel, repeat).

Windy Wending Words

2011-09-12T16:04:00.007-05:00

We are horribly behind in our posts. Truthfully I'm not entirely sure why we haven't gotten the pictures uploaded but it might have something to do with this. We are fans of the original UK Top Gear and just got addicted to the US version as well. Top Gear US has both united and divided our family. It has united us with a love of the TV show but divided us down gender lines as to our favorite host on the show. Some of us live in Tannerland and others like to visit Rutledge World and every body likes to laugh when Adam The Vehicle Assassin attempts multiple counts of murder on his chosen ride. Anyway, there will be pictures from last week's field trips, I promise.

After a gorgeous drive down 101 from Netarts, OR to Crescent City, CA (Hiouchi RV Park) we spent Sunday and Monday collecting pictures for you guys & gals. Crescent City was both a stress filled week (school wise) and a recuperation period. Our visit in Netarts & Tillamook was not exactly restful. Peaceful, yes, but we were on the go too much to feel rested. So the slower pace we adapted at Crescent City was a blessing.

However the Monday off for Labour Day got us off to a late start on schooling and work. I hadn't realized until last week how important that Monday start was to school. Having Friday off from school (we are on a four day academic week with the fifth day, usually Sunday being dedicated to educational field trips) allows us all to really recharge our batteries and get Minerva ready for moving on Saturday.

As often happens with children and school, just as one adjusts to something the other one hits upon a snag. We had a few snags to deal with which led to some LONG school days. One thing I've learned about homeschooling - how little I remember from Elementary School and just how many faults I have. Ok, make that two things I've learned.

The long school days led to some intense late day packing on Friday for a 9am departure for Red Bluff, CA. As we were pulling out of our spot (literally) at Hiouchi a man asked us where we were going. When we told him, he laughed and told us what the temps had been two days prior and we became concerned.

For the first time, I didn't take a single picture of the drive. Once we exited 101 things got hairy. Honestly, I was trying to hold onto my small/limited breakfast of Chips-a-Hoy. How bad was it? Shawn had a headache from altitude and concentration. Not to mention the heeler hurled in her crate. Granted the reason she rides in the back of the truck is because she gets carsick if she's inside the truck....but she's a seasoned traveler. She's been going on trips for 6 1/2 years and never hurled when riding in her crate with the wind blowing smells into her nose, except for the colitis she had on the way to Montana. The roads were twisty, had nasty little switchbacks and plenty of up and down. We barely fell under the recommended trailer length by 3 feet. Frankly, next time I want a different road! My ears are still trying to figure out if I am up or down or all around.

We arrived in Red Bluff to find it's 106. We had not done our weather research prior to booking the campground. We decided to pay for an overnight stay and got online to find the temps were forecast to be around the upper 90's all week. We have suffered through temps this high and higher before. It's not fun. Minerva's A/C will barely keep us cool and having all 6 of us stuck in the trailer, due to high temps, for a week really wasn't on my to do list this week. After some careful research and discussion we decided not to hook up anything but the electricity and head out again on Sunday...and yes, we (as in Shawn) had to bathe the dog!

Sunday morning we rise and head out. Let me just state that it's on these quick overnight stops that I regret that we don't have grey water tanks. The other 99 percent of the time the lack of them doesn't matter but on the short overnights when it's not worth even getting your blue boy out much less hooking up the slinky... I long intensely for grey water tanks.

Five hours later we arrive at our destination, somewhere near Yosemite. It's a heavenly slice of land. The RV park roads wind around allowing for more than your usual amount of privacy. Although, it's sites are level it's roads are not. It's more like a state park than the usual RV Resort.

The heeler still had not recovered from her stomach problems. She had another accident, requiring another bath, in her crate and then proceeded to puke on her bed, Drake's bed, two floor mats and a shoelace from a boot. Unfortunately, very few RV parks allow you to wash your pet's bedding and the puke had soaked into the foam cushion. The Dane becomes extremely unhappy when he doesn't have a nice cushy bed. In your face, do something about it unhappy. With his large rib cages beds are a necessity. Petco here we come. Sasha is currently on home cooked rice to help her stomach recover. We are also contemplating hanging out here for an additional week to get a break from the traveling since we did two weeks worth in two days. Sometimes I think you have to stop and take a break, it's just needed.

We had to make a stop at Walmart in order to replace the floor mats. We got rubber backed and water hose washable this time. While there we took a stroll around the store. These strolls are funny to us as they remind us of all the stuff we "had" to have in a regular house but don't require in Minerva. As I was strolling through the craft section, as is my habit in any store containing one, I had a sudden homesick feeling.

I wasn't homesick for a house but for my crafting. Ok, so I miss my treadle quite a bit. It seems that since we've departed, I have hardly made time for crafting of any kind. Suddenly I realized how much I miss it and how lost I'd been feeling without it. Crafting, quilting in particular, is a need. Like all needs it comes and goes. Most of the time it's a steady stream, other's it's a gyser, but lately it's been a dried up creek bed. I decided to get out that ole hexagon quilt and get to stitching. I've felt better all day. I will post some pictures, for those interested, once I get the blocks ironed.... yes, I iron but only quilts blocks.

That's it... I'm done... for now...

Except to say a huge thank you for the person that invented the daisy chain water outlet. Thanks to this person we did not have to let the heeler inside to bathe her. Whomever you are.... I hope you are blessed! Although, we still ended up with puke in the trailer.

Now someone just needs to invent a device that gives you at least a five minute warning that your dog is gonna hurl!

Traveling Tinkering

2011-09-04T22:25:00.003-05:00

As many of you know, things that work for weekend trips might not necessarily work for the long ones. Here are a few things we've added along the way.

Hooks. There are never enough hooks.

I know it's not the pretties thing in the world but our kids love stuffy toys. They play and sleep with them. Even the few small stuffy toys we allowed them to bring take up lots of storage space and this is our solution. Sometimes the practical has to out weight the aesthetic at least until the kids grow out of this phase.

Yes, even more hooks. However, this helps to keep the galley uncluttered and frees up space in the pantry.

Our kids have a special space all their own for putting mementos.

As promised, but never delivered, the new toilet.

For as long as we've had Minerva we've had one huge problem. After showering you had to wipe down the entire bathroom counter. The water collects there faster than a great dane can snatch a treat. Shawn found a thread on Airforums with this idea on it. Granted if you need to move the shower head for some reason it takes a bit of effort but the result is a lot less water left after a shower.

And finally, if there is one thing I miss about sticks and bricks it's Roses. Now it's ironic that I miss roses since I've not had a living bush in the last 4 years but I do. So about every 6 weeks I go pick me up some clearance Roses.

And that's all for now folks...

On The Coast Of Somewhere Beautiful In Oregon

2011-08-31T10:45:00.004-05:00

This place is a paradise of nature. Here is Minerva looking out upon Netarts Bay.

This is Munson Creek Waterfall. It requires a quarter mile hike in and another out to visit these falls. Sadly this was a close as we could get to them since the rest of the trail was blocked off but still worth the effort since both the falls and the hike were gorgeous. We did this first thing in the morning and had no company on the trail until we were almost back to the truck.

Next up is our visit to the Air Museum. This had been recommended to us twice by people at the Evergreen Coho in Chicacum, Wa. Since we saw it on our way to the waterfall we decided to visit it on the way back. Get ready all you plane junkies!

The Air Museum is located in a World War Two blimp hanger. One of a handful still standing of the seventeen(I think that's how many I counted on the map) built. I am not going to pretend I know which planes are which but if you are a plane/WWII/Blimp buff this is a must see for you. This isn't a hands on museum as many of these planes still fly so no touching. These pictures are of just a few of the about 20-30 planes in there.

This picture will give you an idea of the size of the building. And yes those rafters are all wood. The entire building was built using just wood.

Here is the sight we see as the truck pulls away and the sight that awaits us when we return. Although that little piece of tongue sticking out is not the norm.....

Next up we decide to swing in to see our first lighthouse. First you have to hike down to the lighthouse and once again a beautiful hike. These were taken on the way down and isn't that fog gorgeous.

Now the lighthouse... which has an interesting story. The coast guard came in more than a few decades ago and automated it. Which means they stuck a new smaller light on the top of a building and left the rest alone. Over the years many people visited and, like with so many other abandoned buildings, took a few pieces of the light for themselves. When the word got out that people were investing time and money to restore the lighthouse pieces started to magically reappear. Important pieces such as the lenses.

Then in 2010 it was vandalized again by a couple of residents who lived near here. According to the volunteer taking questions at the lighthouse, these weren't your normal run of the mill vandals but respected members of the community in good standing who might have made a few questionable decisions on that fateful night. One of which was shooting a gun...the second of which was shooting the operating light, and the third.. well I think you can probably guess what led to the shooting to begin with.

So we are looking at many years of clogging the justice system, the inability to fix the lighthouse until the resolution of the trial which in turn will cause deterioration on the already messed up light house, and a lack of funds to fix the damage, the families that would be losing a livelihood because of some poor decisions. The judge on the case, who well understood the dilemma of all involved, came up with a unique resolution.

Here is my understanding of the resolution:

Instead of the 40 years in prison for a federal crime, for which we the tax payer must support them, they would spend their vacation time from work in prison. They were fined $100,000 to help repair the damages and got a heavy dose of community service. Granted the total cost to fix the lighthouse was above $250,000 but that would be to replace all the lenses. However the committee that restored the lighthouse to begin with just wanted to stabilize the existing lenses since it isn't a functioning light house. From our talk with the volunteer it seemed that most were happy with the judge's decision... except maybe the Coast Guard.

All this meant that we didn't actually get to walk up to see the lenses since it is proven that walking up the stairs causes vibrations that make small pieces fall off the lenses. However, they believe in just a few weeks it will be reopened.

The view from in front of the lighthouse.

It is amazing what the sun can do. Here are pictures taken from the same spots as on the walk down.

If you take a small hike in the opposite direction from the lighthouse (same parking lot) you will find the Octopus Tree.

These pictures where taken from the view point just past the Octopus Tree.

Here is a picture of the spit of land that separates Netarts bay from the ocean.

We took the children to play on the beach and both of them got soaked and covered with sand. As you can imagine it was quite the spectacle. Sorry no pictures of that since we don't post those online.

Chance Encounters

2011-08-29T13:27:00.005-05:00

First there was SteSpot in OKC who were camped just across the street from us. Second there was Kingfisher24 who was three trailers down from us on the Olympic Peninsula. Then there was this one:

There we were just going about our business shopping for food. We'd shopped at the Fred Meyer store in Tillamook and driven out of the parking lot. We'd headed over to the Tillamook Diary/Cheese Factory/Ice Cream Parlor/Cafe to get some cheese. After all if you've got a Cheese factory in town why not shop there... right? However it was Sunday and you couldn't find a parking spot so we decided to save ourselves some hassle and just head to the Safeway for the cheese that is until we saw this beautiful shiny thing in the Fred Meyer parking lot.

We had to have driven right by it on the way out. How in the world did we miss it? So we pulled in to the parking lot and low and behold we saw something we recognized on the back window.

"Airstream Hobo"

No, we'd never met them before but we knew who he was. He's the clown, "Obie", that does the parking at the Birthday Bash. We'd check out his pictures from the Birthday BashII and talked with him via Airforums. Shawn went inside to get the cheese and I waited to ambush the unsuspecting Airstream owners. Which I did!

We enjoyed more than a few minutes to talk before wishing them safe travels and watching them drive out to continue their journey. Chance encounters are truly delightful.

Hurricane Ridge - Olympic National Park

2011-08-23T21:10:00.003-05:00

This week saw us make a hellishly long drive towards the West Coast. We'd been trying to break the long drives into two days and it was killing us. Apparently, we don't sleep well in parking lots. Shawn decided that we would get up early, leave, and drive straight through. Eleven hours and several hitching/unhitchings later we arrived in Chimacum, WA. We setup and headed out to find us some food. Although tired everyone was a lot less cranky with this method.

The next day saw us visiting with some of our fellow residents including a lovely period with an Airforums couple. Pleasure to meet them and thanks for the advice on the campground.

After lunch we headed out to see Hurricane Ridge at Olympic National Park. Here are some pictures from the drive.

We got stopped in a traffic jam caused by a bear eating on the hill. Shawn almost hit a woman who stepped directly in front of the truck while hurrying to get a picture of the bear. But then suddenly you come around the corner to see this.

We took a small (yeah right) hike up a nearly vertical trail with multiple lookout points. Well.... some of us finished it but I decided that half way was far enough and since my legs were shaking pretty violently I might want to turn back.

As you can see below, there was still some snow left from the 44 feet they got this year.

I have to admit that after Glacier National Park I secretly believed that I was ruined from mountain views. I'd seen it all. Been there, done that, let's move along. I was so wrong. Yes, gents you can mark it on the calendar. I am admitting I was wrong. Shawn will tell you that's a monumental occasion and often needs an Act Of Congress. Then again, when you look at the pictures below you really don't care about anything. This is what I've always wanted mountains to look like and finally I have seen it. Nuff said.

A part that I didn't get to see because I didn't finish the hike -

On the drive back down -

The irony is that this wasn't the reason we came to the area. We came to see the fish market in Seattle, which we won't be seeing this trip due to (what some might call) inadequate planning. I, however, think it was something else intervening.

One more note-

Once again we had to do a Ranger led program for the kids to get their Junior Ranger Badges. I cannot tell you how much you miss if don't do at least on of these in every park. Truly, another wonderful experience.

PS. We learned that scientist are coming to believe that bears don't hibernate during winter.... everything we know about bears thrown out the window!!

Go Ahead... You Can Laugh.....

2011-08-18T09:59:00.004-05:00

Shawn has a certain tone of voice I have come to dread. All of us who have Vintage Airstreams know and have used this tone of voice. It has come to signify when something is wrong with Minerva. Yesterday morning I was awoken, after two nights of poor sleep, by this tone of voice. Shawn had stepped into the kitchen and a puddle. He found it spanned the floor from galley cabinet to our daughter's chair/bed soaking into the dogs beds as well.

I was ordered to stay in bed, oh the hardship of laying in for another hour or so. I could hardly bear it. When Minerva leaks, Shawn always wants to be left alone with her and frankly it's for the best. As I stayed where I was ordered, I have no idea exactly what the problem looked like but apparently one of the PO had clamped ANOTHER hose to a pipe which had come undone. Remember the Disney trip?

Over an hour and a half later the fix was done, the dogs beds were drying in the sun, we were all finally allowed to get up :(, Shawn had a crick in his neck, and I needed to do laundry(towels and mats used to clean up the water). To cheer everyone up Shawn decided to cook cinnamon rolls for breakfast. I decided to get the kids started on school work and then start a load of laundry while the rolls cooked.

Although my morning start was not ideal I was still in a good mood. After all, another leak had been fixed which means we are one leak closer to not finding any more PO fixes. I headed over to the laundry room carrying my basket full of towels, bathmats, the few clothes, and bottle of detergent. I get to the washing machines and calamity strikes... again. I dropped the bottle of detergent on the floor (again), breaking the lid (again), and spilling about 1/4 of it on the floor.

I throw my bathmats on the detergent in an attempt to sop up my mess. Then I run to the office to see about getting a mop but it doesn't open for 20 minutes. I headed into the bathroom and start using the thin brown paper towels in an attempt to clean up my mess. As you can imagine it was futile. To make a long story short I was still at it when the office opened, a mop and water came out, and well you could see the unusually clean spots on the floor where the laundry soap had fallen and soaked up the dirt.

Finally I started my washing machines and went home to check to see if breakfast was cold. It wasn't ready yet so I headed back. Does anyone know what happens when you put a bathroom mat on the floor to soak up laundry detergent? Yep, that's right, you get about ten times the normal amount of soap in your load. I had two mats in the same washer with way too much soap in them. I checked and the rinse water was soapier than when most loads are being agitated for the first time. I had to spend another $1.50 just to rinse the soap out.

Finally, around 10am, the laundry is done. I come back to find the kids working diligently on their school work. However, we were about 2 hours behind schedule with kids who simply didn't want to work and the dogs were letting us know how unhappy they were about not having their nice cushy beds to protect them from the mean evil floor. It seems that some days school work just flies by and others it like a marathon endurance of your patience. Guess which yesterday was....

Upon finishing everyone's work for the day we decided to put off our scheduled hike and just allow the kids to be kids. They really seemed to be craving some simple unscheduled toy play time in the dirt. They had so much fun and were so dirty they took showers upon reentering Minerva. Their toys even got showers. We had dinner and then spent the evening with a Top Gear night. It was then off to bed and hopefully some peaceful sleep.

So go ahead and enjoy the laugh. I am already grinning about it. Maybe next week I'll work up to a chuckle and the week after a small laugh until I get up to a real laugh. After all it's not the good days you laugh about later in life... it's the small mishaps along the way.

Ps. As I write the last sentence, Shawn has just found another leak under the kitchen galley....

Overwhelming - Glacier National Park, MT

2011-08-15T15:04:00.000-05:00

For me there is simply one word to describe Glacier National Park. Overwhelming is the word. It has an overwhelming number of hiking trails. It is overwhelmingly large. It has an overwhelming number of visits during peak season. It has an overwhelming number of views but mostly it is overwhelmingly breathtakingly beautiful.

We drove the "Going-to-The-Sun" road from west to east starting about 9am. By the time we reached the visitors center on the other side I was completely sure I simply could not process another beautiful view. I knew they'd be playing like a slide show on my eyelids when I tried to sleep that night and I was not mistaken. My eyes actually hurt from looking at all the beauty and trying to keep up with the next view coming in sight.

The road itself is quite something else. It's twisty and windy with scenic turnout and hiking trails along the way. There is 24 miles section that does NOT allow any rigs over 21 feet long and honestly who'd want to pull their silver beauty through it. It took us about 2 hours to get to the east side and we also took a look at Many Glacier as well as the Two Medicine Campstore. Shawn has stated that if we ever came back he wants to do one of the Red Jammer tours. As the driver he did not get to enjoy the road as much as the rest of us. Some of the pictures I took were a surprise to him as he had so much concentrating to do.

It was awe inspiring to an overwhelming degree but overwhelming meant in the best way possible.

Skirts and Petticoats Day

2011-08-11T19:34:00.005-05:00

Today was the day. I didn't know it would be the day but every so often the need hits. The lift her skirts and wash the petticoats spur of the moment clean. The one where you pull out every bin, stuffy toy, and Boba Fett helmet cleaning day. Instead of 20 minutes to clean Minerva it took about 45. The kids were kicked to the curb (really inside the truck to clean up their own mess) and the gaucho was fully extended with cushions removed. Shawn screwed in a couple of replacement screws to the front gaucho. Now Minerva has the homey smell of lemon about her and her gaucho disposition is more stable. I might feel a bit dirty, nasty, filthy but my home is clean.

Yep, folks that was exactly as exciting as our day was. Housecleaning with a bit o'laundry thrown on top. However, tomorrow is moving day and that's all the excitement one needs in two days..... well really three day.

Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument

2011-08-09T21:12:00.000-05:00

What to say about The Battle of Little Bighorn National Monument? Once again we took the kids through the Junior Ranger Program and you learn quite a bit searching out the answers with your children.

If there is one thing I would recommend everyone do at a National Park or Monument site is the Ranger led walk. If you get the right ranger the story will come alive for you. We got an excellent one. He told the story from several sides:

The immigrants coming to America that needed somewhere to go and were not wanted on the east coast. Some of them would end up in the Army maybe even the 7th Calvary. Then there were the American Indians who'd left the reservations, the 7th Calvary whose job it was to subdue and return them to the reservation, and the Indians whose reservations the other Native Americans were now living on. This was not a simple matter but this explanation is a simplistic one. As much as I would love to, I won't go into the entire story but it is fascinating and devastating on both sides of the coin. I will give a few links to a more detailed explanation.

At the top of Last Stand Hill stand the white marble headstones. The bodies of the calvary were temporally buried until they could be moved. Some were moved months or years after and buried elsewhere the headstones were placed in remembrance. These headstones can be found throughout the park but Custer's is located on the hill, as well as many of his family members. The headstones are placed where the soldiers fell.

Monument to the soldiers, the enlisted men are buried here. Custer was moved to West Point.

Here is the view Custer would have had from the top of the hill. Can you imagine looking down and knowing there were over a thousand Native Americans looking up at you? That you were trying to send them back to the one place they didn't want to go?

According to our Ranger, Custer ordered the men to kill their horse to use them for protection. This marker is for all the horses that died.

The red marble are the headstones marking the Native American deaths. The exact number of Native Americans who passed is unknown as the tribes had their own rituals for burial, so there are considerably fewer markers for them. I believe the Ranger said the ones that were placed in the park were put their by request of the family... but don't take my word on that.

In 1991 the name of the park was changed and prior to this there had been no monument for the Native Americans. In the paper work to change the name, a monument was ordered. The monument is a circle which has permanent marble panels(not yet carved) which include the statue below. This place has a very spiritual feel to it. Somehow it really made me feel and understand the Native American plight. In everything I knew (which was little) about this battle, somehow the Native American side was just missing.

These were taken on the walk to the ravine.

There is a 5 mile drive (with audio tour) from Last Stand Hill to the locations of the battles in which Benteen and Reno participated. Along the way you pass through private ranch lands. There are herds of gorgeous horses along the way.

Along the five mile drive:

Later in the day we went to the Custer Museum in Garryowen. It was 5 dollars per adult and kids were free. Though small, it had an amazing collection of artifacts and pictures. I would call this a must see place. They also have a movie to watch on one of the controversies surrounding the battle. It presents the idea that if Benteen and Reno had gone to Custer's aid he might have survived. Personally, I don't think so but that's just me. Sorry the pictures didn't turn out well.

As we were finishing up at the museum a freak storm blew in and we rushed home to find our awning pulled off it's poles and rolled over the top of Minerva. We hurriedly pulled it down and went about trying to help some of our tent camper neighbors. After the storm passed we spent an evening talking to our Sturgis bound neighbors and Shawn got some pictures of the sunset.

National Park Service Site

Wikipedia websites:

National Monument

Battle of Little Bighorn

Road to Montana

2011-08-09T13:14:00.000-05:00

After spending a week in Canon City, CO, we finally moved through Wyoming and on to Montana. Neither one of us have ever been to Montana, and we can now cross this off both of our collective "Things to do" lists. Aside from almost running out of gas (we were hyper-mile-ing and coasting up and down the hills upon entering the state) and dealing with the winds, it is (so far) one of the most beautiful states I have ever been to.

Driving along the road, just on the outskirts of Fort Collins, CO.

Welcome to Montana!

The view from our campsite in Garryowen, MT!

The stream all unfurled and ready for some fun.

This is the sunset from our trailer...gorgeous!

Royal Gorge, CO

2011-08-09T13:09:00.000-05:00

So, one of the things that we wanted to do in Colorado was hit one of the numerous mountain trains....when I was a kid, my family and I rode the Cumbres and Toltec line, which was fantastic and I totally figured that our son would appreciate it. Unfortunately, we're not going to be in that area until much later in the year (around October) so we wanted to make sure we could get on a train while we still had a chance. Enter Canon City, CO, and the Royal Gorge. So everyone probably knows about the Royal Gorge....white-water rafting, the highest suspension bridge, etc...but there's also an old train line that runs parallel to the river and has fantastic views of the river, the bridge and the gorge...I highly recommend it, and it won't break the bank, either!

The train station, still in use to purchase tickets and trinkets at the shop.

The current engines pulling the train...restored 50's era locomotives.

The view from the front open car just after starting.

Another view from the open car going around a bend -- look how close you are to the water!

A view of the bridge in the distance.

Another closer view from below.

The bridge from directly below -- remember, this photo is 1,000 feet below the bridge!

A photo of the bridge above, and the suspension bridge for the train as well -- at this point in the gorge, it is only 30 feet wide, and there was no where for the engineers at the turn of the century to run the line on, so they engineered (still in use today) these struts that suspend the train track actually above the water cantilevered off the sides of the gorge itself!

Lots and lots of rafters -- plenty of wild-life viewing!

Another thing we saw was fly fishermen and gold panners (shown above).

Beautiful backdrop at the end of the run.

The Tale of The Missing Items

2011-08-06T11:35:00.003-05:00

Shawn and I have been losing things lately. We lost both of the Deluxe chock lock metal chocks and our pipe for hooking up the weight distribution bars. I am not sure exactly when we lost the first chock put we noticed it while hitching up at the RV park near his parents house. At first we thought someone had stolen it at the RV park. The park is remote enough and we were gone often enough to make it possible but we figured it was our fault for only using one chock and leaving the other in a bag outside the trailer. For some reason at the last two stops I'd forgotten to put the second chock in place. Lesson learned.

The same day we stop to get gas and let the dogs out to stretch their legs/do their business. I put the chock in (sans lock) and take the dogs for the walk. Shawn returns and we hitch up. As we start to drive off Shawn see something fall off the wheel. Yep, we forgot to take off the chock. I jump out and grab it. A week later we stop in Raton, NM for the same reasons. This time I run to the store while Shawn hitches up the truck. I return with my hands full and start fiddling with stuff in the truck. Shawn is left to do all the things I usually do - chocks, putting up the steps and the pipe for the weight distribution bars, checking the lights, etc. I fail to check with him to make sure he got everything done when he gets back into the truck.

So about 45 minutes later I peer out the window and I happen to catch a glimpse of Minerva's tires. It's not the first time I'd looked back there but suddenly I think about the chock, which obviously isn't on the tire anymore. I ask Shawn if he remembered to pull it out. Can you see where this is going? He hadn't since it's not usually part of his job. He had glanced at the tires but since the chock was silver he'd missed it.

Anyway, after a bit of heated discussion and eventually some rueful laughing at our stupidity, we headed on to Canon City, Co. After checking in, driving to our site, and leveling Minerva we go to unhitch. I rifle through the bag looking for the pipe for the weight distribution bars. I can't find it so I ask Shawn what he did with it. He put it on top of the tail gate just like he always does for me to put it up. We end up using the ratcheting wrench to lower the bars. Apparently we'd left it on the tailgate and it fell off.

Luckily we carry some of those plastic yellow chocks around. Before last week I really wasn't sure why... now I know. We found an RV store and bought a plastic yellow wheel lock chock(all they had) until we could get to camping world to get new ones. Thursday saw us at ACE hardware getting a pipe cut in half (we now have two of them) to use with the WD. Yesterday on our way out of Colorado we made it to camping world to purchase some BAL X-chock locking tire chock.

Shawn is threading to paint them highway orange... the pipes too.

On the upside maybe someone will pull into a gas station in Raton, NM having left their chocks and WD pipe behind somewhere else... if so, your welcome to borrow them until they decide to find another owner.....

And we don't really believe that someone stole the other chock. We believe there is a very real possibility that it fell out at some nameless gas station somewhere between Hutchinson, KS- St. Joesph, MO- or OKC. To the nameless imaginary person we accused..... my sincerest apologies.

Families And Pet Owners Beware

2011-08-05T10:36:00.006-05:00

**I will be posting a link to the RV Park Reviews website page for this campground at the end of the article. Although I do not wish to discourage people for staying at the park, I think that people considering it should be forewarned.

Usually we do extensive research into picking a campground. Rv Park Reviews, Goodsam, Escapees and google are used to find a campground. Shawn has some specific work requirements such as we must be able to use one of our two mifi's or cell phones. I have certain safety and family requirements as we generally stay for a week at a time. This was the first time I didn't do the research. We'd had quite a bit of difficulty in deciding where to stay and were getting a bit desperate. We finally found the website to the campground and it looked wonderful.

I will be very up front and honest here. Nothing bad happened to us or during our stay (that we know of) but the potential was always present. It has spectacular views, is well taken care of, and is unnaturally quiet most of the time. It is setup for children and pets: pool, mini-golf, playground, horseshoe pits, doggy "park". It looked to be paradise. So with much enthusiasm with left Amarillo for the cooler temps of Colorado. As a matter of fact, if you don't have pets (dogs in particular) or children/grandchildren this campground is probably your idea of paradise.

Upon arrival Shawn went to check in. We are the only ones in line to check in. It was 93 degrees outside. We were all still loaded in the truck... dogs in the heat. I go in the trailer for a minute, come out, still sitting. Fifteen minutes after he went in Shawn comes back out. There is now a line to check in. We head to our spot, got unhitched, hooked up, walked the dogs. Shawn notices that the truck is sticking out into the road by about 6 inches. We head up to the office to check out the laundry and ask them about the truck.

Laundry was $3.00 for the washer as they have to haul water up the mountain which I suppose is fair enough but the laundry matt 8 miles away in Canon City is $1.75 to wash and about $0.75 to dry. They also charge about a dollar for 7 minutes in the shower. There is a $3.00 deposit on the mini-golf clubs and balls.

Shawn asked them about the truck and the owner specifically stated you have to be within the lot. Shawn pointed out that you really couldn't tell where the road starts and the lot ends. The guy was totally rude and unhelpful just repeating it had to be within the site but he could come look at it. We declined. To solve this we backed the truck up to the picnic table leaving just enough room for me to open my door to get inside and just enough room between picnic table and A/S door to get in and out.

On travel days I prefer to wear old jeans mostly (grease and dirt from hitching up) and a light summer sweaters as Shawn prefers a cold truck while driving long distances. I also have to protect a few areas of skin from the sun and light sweaters are easier than sun screen. As stated before, it was 93 and we'd just unhitched. I was fanning myself with some fliers. The woman was giving me a slightly off look (being nice here). I was taught not to do ANYTHING that could possibly offend and if you thought someone was taking exception you should explain/apologize. So I explained to her it had everything to do with the recent unhitching trying to avoid her thinking it was the lack of A/C. I should have saved my breath. She looked at me and told me I should probably wear something other than jeans and take that sweater off. I gave an answer and promptly left. Sometimes it's just better to walk away.

However it did get me curious so I headed online to RV Park Reviews to take a look. The first review confirmed my fears about the personality of the campground hosts. The other new reviews weren't too bad then I clicked on "read older reviews". To be fair they have more good reviews than bad but if you read the bad they are bad and really bad. The bad ones mirrored our limited experiences with the owners. We wanted to avoid the REALLY bad ones. Although we've not confined everyone to the trailer we have been more cautious than usual. We even started homeschooling a few weeks early to keep the kids occupied.

Most people who read this blog know we have a Great Dane. Great Danes are quite large. The barking rules here are strictly enforced. Great Danes barks are quite deep and loud. There is a funny thing about little dogs and big dogs. In our experience, little dogs (anything under mid-thigh level) love to bark at big dogs. Honestly, I think it's a "Oh that thing is huge and might hurt me if I don't warn it off" type of thing but we were on guard every time we came across another dog trying to ensure our boy didn't bark.

Royal View at RV Park Reviews

Just click on the link and scroll down till you get to Royal View.....

The 1st Day Of Home School - The Hard Way

2011-08-02T13:07:00.004-05:00

Some of you might know that we decided to homeschool the children for a year. It was a decision we made long before we decided to take Minerva on an extended trip. Although it has allowed us to plan a much longer trip, the decision had little if anything to do with traveling.

After months of internet research, we purchased our curriculum in May. I separated out about 4 weeks more school work than I'd planned the trip to last, packed it into bins, stored it in Minerva, and the rest is waiting for us in our storage room.

I know some of you parents or grandparents are thinking, "Why start so early? They just got out of school." For now will just say that it seemed a more prudent to occupy the kids minds at this particular time (I am sure there will be post at a later date - after saturday- to explain). We started the handwriting courses a few weeks ago just to get a feel for how it would effect the kids care free days and my sanity. The 15-20 minutes didn't take much from their day and they actually enjoyed the work.

Before I start on the run down of the school day, I should also put out there that less than 5 years ago I was one of those parents who thought public school was my reward for making it through the previous 4 years with 2 toddlers. IT was my right as a parent to have 6 hours a day of free time.

So yesterday we started the full homeschooling deal. I'd suffered from the occasional bout of bad insomnia the night before so I was exhausted before the day started. I'd read through most of the Teacher's Guides, more than once, but felt that I'd just have to jump in. Sometimes, well most of the time, I do things the more difficult way. I jumped and for a few hours it felt like I'd jumped off Pikes Peak or Everest with a broken hang glider, twisting and tumbling through the day.

Granted I'd done absolutely no preplanning. It would take as long as it took. In hindsight, I probably should have at least read the assignments for the day. Lesson Learned - The hard way. I did all the individual parts first which meant ALOT of waiting around at the end of an activity for one of the children to finish this or that. Lesson Learned - Again - The hard way. For some reason I'd also done every subject in one day. Art and Music should be alternated but I'd thrown them in the first day just not thinking. In the end, we were "In School" almost as long as regular school when it we should have been finished by lunch. I still had laundry to do, errands to run (things we needed for school - like notebooks), groceries to buy, and about 15 pages of reading aloud to do with the kids before bedtime. I was plain discouraged but not with the kids or with the schooling. I was discouraged with how long it had taken, how much there was still to do, and how my brain refused to kick into gear.

Fast forward to this morning. I slept pretty well. I was up and about before Shawn (really rare). I decided to start the read aloud pages while the kids ate their breakfasts which ensured a captive and unresponsive audience. I proceeded to do all the group activities first and then we worked through the individual items. I learned something new today. Trying to teach two kids math on two levels at the same time isn't good for my sanity.... lesson learned - The Hard Way. We made it through in a much shorter time frame with a lot fewer emotional issues. We only had handwriting to go after our exercise and lunch break, 5 pages of reading aloud (during Lunch-I like a captive audience) and some journal writing tonight.

Currently I am writing this blog, Shawn is working, my son is pretending to blow things up in his imagination, and my daughter is hanging Repunzel from the awning by her hair(I'm not asking). I still have laundry to do as Drake the Dane decided my bed (quilt) was a good place to lay down. We still need groceries (can't seem to get the list right) but school is done for the day and the rest just means a reason to get out on the town.

Amarillo, the Yellow City- We Hardly Knew Ye

2011-07-26T09:11:00.006-05:00

Yes, driving into it, the grass is actually yellow. When I say we barely knew Amarillo, I mean it. The heat still kept us inside except for the days I took the kids to the pool, the grocery store, Target and Walmart. Amarillo was a test of patience in many ways. After 3 weeks of intense heat that coincided with incredible work stress for Shawn, we will be so glad to have the option of getting outside without turning into a burning pile of flesh.

On a happier note, The Amarillo RV Ranch is a lovely park. I have to say that the amenities at Amarillo RV Ranch are wonderful. They have clean laundry and at $2.00 to wash and dry a load not bad at all. The washers aren't tiny either. Even though the pads are gravel ours was perfectly level. They have an indoor swimming pool, hot tub, and sauna. The pool was very, very cold. Perfect for a bunch of hot weary travelers who've just unhitched in 99 plus temps. A thirty minute float in the water and we were refreshed. For obvious heat reasons we did not use the sauna or the hot tub. The only downside is that if the wind blows the wrong way during the day you get the ever so pleasant smell of cow dung but even that only lasted for a few hours on a couple of days. And as Mrs. Minor, my 9th grade english teacher, taught me to end on a positive note..... They serve donuts and coffee every morning from 8am -10am. Sorry Bash attendees... no bacon donuts.

I spent 4-5 hours in the laundry room on two different days. Shawn had requested that I sew the sheets together to make bed making easier for the kids. I tried two different methods. One worked well and ... well, I had to buy new sheets and sew them together. Live and learn. I also started working on a quilt since the sewing machine was out and I was waiting on the sheets to get clean. I sewed 252 squares into pairs one day. Then 65 pairs into strips of 4 on another day. Quilting is always a good thing... for me.

Birthday Party Weekend

2011-07-26T08:33:00.005-05:00

Where did we leave you? OH, yes.. the birthday party and no internet connection. I am sightly disappointed that I got no applause for my black tank dump but I'll just have to get over it.

Anyone wonder why it is we left the much cooler South Dakota for the burning hell that is Oklahoma. Birthday party. Now let me state that usually I'd have just said sorry not happening we are traveling but I had the Birthday Boy WITH me and he was insistent about the location of the party. We decided to indulge him since we are pretty sure he won't be able to have it at his Memaw's next year as we are planning on visiting the east coast.

It was a splashing success of a weekend that saw me riding water slides into three feet of water. My niece learned to dive badly (frog style) but she learned to dive and my bouncing baby girl (7 yr) learned the joy of running off the diving board (over and over and over again). My husband learned that we have the support of his parents for your extended trip but not mine (shocking...not really).

It was a good thing we dumped some stuff off in storage as well. Since both kids ended up with more stuff. One lost a tooth and got paid (overpaid) by one of the grandparents to let the other pull it. $20.00. The kids promptly took all the money to Wal-Mart and spent it. The toy bins are almost to capacity again.

We are getting a 3rd miff device for Shawn's work. To be fair the first device was Virgin, it has unlimited usage and is pay-as-you-go. We bought it to use when we were still in OKC and stationary. It has a limited range, cities and a few miles from the interstate. We then got us a Verizon MiFi and it works so much better but still occasionally comes across a few dead spots. For instance, Shawn's parents house. AT&T just got coverage at his parents house which, in the past, we have spent a fair amount of time at. They also have coverage at our next stop which the other two do not. We are waiting for the local AT&T store to get a device in. Just a little insurance against not being able to work.

We had a blessed night of no A/C last night, just the slight hum of the fan and the windows open. My ears are still thanking me. Although last night, when we got to listen to someone driving in donuts nearby.... but eventually quiet reigned supreme. I am longing for a more rustic atmosphere. I have had my fill of big cities and am ready for some gorgeous scenery.

My daughter lost another tooth sometime between last night and this morning. She doesn't have a gap so much as a canyon between her remaining teeth.

You Can Applaud Now

2011-07-21T16:49:00.004-05:00

I know the men are going to laugh and the women are either going to say "way to go" or "gross" but today was a monumental, if disgusting, day for me. I dumped my first black tank. I am not sure what all the fuss is about but then again I just had to pull the lever. I am not to be trusted with the stinky slinky yet.....

Yes, ladies not being trusted with the slinky is something to be thankful for.

Doesn't that deserve some applause?

PS. As we were departing from OKC another 2000s model Airstream pulled into the RV park.

PPS. To the guy in the black nissan car, flipping us off does not negate your stupidity of cutting off on the freeway... just saying.

PSS. will be out of internet contact for a few days......

PPSS. trip planning is not going so well.

PPPSS. Shawn is muttering about wind, roads, and other drivers.

Storage Dump & Airstreaming

2011-07-18T12:24:00.005-05:00

As most of you know we are fairly new to Airstreaming. We knew before we set out on this epic trip that we'd end up swapping things in and out of storage but I thought it would be clothes. Instead it's been household things and swapping would be misleading. We've been adding to our storage.

The corelle plates we bought and used on previous trips. We even bought an extra box "in case we ever had company". We have used it less than 10 times because we found some really cute melamine Mickey Head plates at the Disney Store which don't require anything extra other than stacking on moving days. I now have two sets of dishes in storage.....hmmmm.

The Disney Resort mugs that took up too much space got replaced by 4 melamine coffee mugs (coleman), that almost match the Mickey plates, we found at walmart.

The toys... oh, the toys that never got played with. The kids found the toys that were small and easily accessible to be their favorites. The boy actually asked to put his nerf guns into storage. We, the parents, placed a stuff toy limit - 3 a piece unless you traded an annoying one in. then you got 4. Yes, stuffed toys can be annoying.

A few books, but they got replaced with a few more from the kids school curriculum.

One tent and two sleeping bags were stored. I won't sleep in a tent (just call me princess in a derogatory tone) and the rest just didn't get around to it so why carry them... right?

One game of RISK as nobody in the family will actually play the game with shawn.

A computer backpack filled with some excess crafting supplies:

The backing for the hand pieced quilt I'm only half finished piecing.

My Knitting needles that are not in use, or more accurately, not currently in a project I've still not finished.

misc, etc......

Some kitchen paraphernalia - you'd have to ask my cook. I just know he cleared out some floor space in the panty.

We did pull out some more clothes without returning any. However, my daughter is about to purge some jeans that are worn out with jeans in storage.

The carpet attachment to the vacuum went into storage but kept the wand and the pet attachment.

While actively hunting for things to purge we spent some time reorganizing the trailer. To be fair when I say we, well Shawn was doing most of the work, I was supervising from the couch with my foot propped up above my heart.

We've been unable to visit any of our friends while here due to more than one extenuating circumstance.

Shawn did met some new airstream friends. SteSpot is directly across the road from us. They invited Shawn in to see SteSpot but his hands were filthy so he declined. We've seen the photos online and maybe they'll extend the invite again. He also met a lady new to airstreaming. She's down the road but in sight of our trailer. I still haven't met anyone.

I've only ventured out to do laundry or sit a few minutes under my awning since the infamous day with the doctors. Frankly the crutches just drive me crazy. I won't even go into the excessive heat....

Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center

2011-07-14T11:09:00.000-05:00

So, one of the "must see" stops for us on this first loop (at least for the boy, anyway) was to go to the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center, located in Hutchinson, KS. As odd as it might sound, this museum in the middle of no where is second only to the Smithsonian in space craft, artifacts and displays -- crazy right?

Also, it is current resting place for the actual Apollo XIII Command Module (which they actually restored -- apparently something they are quite good at, since they are the only place outside of the Smithsonian allow to do such work).

The kids had a great time there, and I have to admit it was a total blast and worth the trip (although the 112 degree temps when we arrive were a bit much). There's a lot of stuff to see, and they don't necessarily make good pictures (for example, they have a section of the mission control panels from Houston, they have the original white room from the Apollo missions, an actual lunar rock from Apollo X, etc), I can't do it justice.

For more information and to see what all is in their collection, visit their website: http://cosmo.org/index.cfm

Outside of the Cosmosphere....seen here is the Titan II rocket used in the Gemini program.

Another outside shot, this time displaying the Mercury-Redstone rocket, America's first manned booster.

Inside the main lobby, you're greeted with an SR-71 Blackbird reconnoissance plane.

Another view of the SR-71.

A NASA training plane.

The original flight-ready backup of Sputnik I

Closeup of Sputnik I.

Another view of the Titan II rocket.

A close-up view of the Gemini X capsule.

The real, original, restored Apollo XIII command module.

An interior shot of the Apollo XIII command module.

Another closeup of the command module.

More Apollo XIII...

A stained-glass window located in museum.

2011-07-13T09:54:00.004-05:00

Finally! I can't understate how wonderful it is to sit outside, under the awning, drinking coffee, and watching the kids play with matchbox cars on the sidewalk.

I wish I still had the serenity to finish the post in the manner it was started. It's been a long trying day that included a clinic visit and a hospital visit. Not long after typing that first sentence my leg started aching really badly. I called my old doctor here in OKC and his nurse thought I might possibly have a blood clot and he would need to see. Just one catch, he didn't have any appointments until tomorrow. You've just told me I could have a life threatening blood clot but you can't see me for 24 hours.......We decided to head down to one of the walk-in clinics.

The clinic took some X-Rays and determined the leg was not broken but she felt there was a 50/50 chance I had a blood clot. She scheduled me for an emergency ultra sound at the hospital, which would call me. Not knowing if it would be an hour or a day we headed the 30 minutes back to the trailer. We were home long enough to feed the kids and get slightly hysterical(just me not shawn) and the phone rang. They wanted us there immediately.....

To make a longer and more boring story short, it would appear I don't have a blood clot just a very bad bruise. I was told that if I did have a clot I would be admitted immediately. I was sent home but I have not heard back from the doctor yet. I am on crutches, when outside of the trailer, for the immediate future just to alleviate some of the discomfort caused by walking.

We still had a birthday party to attend at my all time favorite party mecca.... Chuck E cheese. We were in denial for many years that it existed but the kids enjoyed it and passed out very quickly. We managed to surprise the birthday girl by bringing one of her favorite people, unexpectedly, to the party. The adults got to sit and relax.

Lastly another trip to Target to stock up on hand soap, dishwashing liquid and cleaning supplies before returning home. At least we get to rest here for a few days. We've moved 5 times in nine days and had much drama. Soon we will depart for the family visitation.... isn't that just plum exciting.

The Next Stop...

2011-07-12T16:57:00.004-05:00

We finally stopped in Hutchinson, KS. Our intention was to stay for the week. What is it they say about good intentions.....

Our campground was the Kansas State Fair Grounds and it would be just great at any other time of the year. The campground is located in a field with no shade in sight. There were about 4 other RVs at the campground. There would have been plenty of room for the kids to ride their bikes. Just one itty bitty problem. It was 112 upon our arrival. It reached about 105 yesterday. The new a/c managed to keep it just below 90 degrees but with 2 kids, 2 dogs, and 2 adults in 27ft trailer.... we'll let's just say we are once again on the road. I found a campground in good old OKC that has a pool and a/c club house. They might even have a bit of shade.

I long for the days of sitting under my awning, reading my book, watching the kids play, and not to have the need for the A/C 24/7.

Due to all the extra moving we are several weeks ahead of schedule. I decided to move the August B-Day party up 2 weeks so that we'd only have to suffer through 1.5 weeks of hideous summer heat. Yes, I think South Dakota spoiled us just a bit with it's mild summer temps. I am counting the days until we can escape back into cooler climes. You can call me a wimp.. I am ok with it now that I know how the northern half lives.

Shawn will be posting pictures soon of his outing with the kids to the Cosmosphere.

Will We Ever Stop?

2011-07-10T14:31:00.005-05:00

We left a perfectly acceptable campground this morning. We thought (and yes I know that's the problem) we'd head into Kansas early and slowly (1-2 hours of driving a week) meander back towards the burning inferno that is Texas.

We headed out on our first 2 hour drive. Six miles from the Kansas line we found ourselves turned around again due to flooding. Exactly one hour later we made it back to the highway we had started on around 6 miles across the border. At this point we started to look for some lunch it was about 11:15am. We finally got lunch at 2pm after two unsuccessful tries at RV parks.

One was so "Exclusive" that Minerva was made 29 years too early to enter and the other... well if I open the washer door and I can see the mold growing inside....... There was a third but Shawn wouldn't have wanted to leave me and the kids alone there. Although anyone who wanted "adult entertainment" would have been right at home.

For now we are once again headed west bound on some freeway in Kansas hoping the next destination can:

1. be gotten to

2. be free of "interesting" entertainment

3. have mold free laundry machines

4. allow us to enter

Did I mention Kansas is trying to take Texas's burning inferno reputation away.....

Now I am going to cleanse my chakras, affect to change our karma, or something that could possibly help. Accepting ideas......

The Stop That We Didn't Stop For

2011-07-09T22:15:00.004-05:00

Today was a bit hellish. It started with a South Dakota storm at 2am. It continued with hot breath in my face, a 145lbs of dogs crawling backward on it's belly to get out from between the bed and the wardrobe and two cranky adults. Great combo...right?

After one poor cranky husband got EVERYTHING done by himself and one cranky wife got some tylenol and food it started to look up. Until Iowa that is.

The flooding is something horrible in parts of South Dakota, Nebraska, and Iowa. We drove by parks with water up past the slides. Trees buried up to the tops in places. Fields of crops covered in a sheet of water. Sometimes in Iowa but especially in South Dakota you could only tell if it was originally a pond or a field by the GPS pictures. We saw some dirt roads in Eastern South Dakota that we'd swear had been raised up about 6 feet just to combat the water. Some of the flooded fields even had ripples or waves on the water. We drove down one such road as they were building the road. Dump trucks, bulldozers, and something strung in the water right along the side of the road to break the waves to help with the erosion.

Then in Iowa the freeway was shut down. I29 was shutdown north of Omaha and according to the Iowa DOT radio did not open again until Rockport, MO.

Here's where the funny kicks in. Our GPS device is notoriously stubborn which is fitting with his Scots voice. He tried to reroute us back to I29 for about 45 minutes. We tried to follow the detour signs but somewhere around 30 miles EAST of I29 they disappeared. I tried to route us around to a place to cross over the river only to find I'd chosen the wrong road. I called the campground for help as soon as my cell phone coverage kicked back in but I was 45 minutes south of the road I needed to be on. The campsite was still about 20 minutes south of the road I needed to be on.

At this point we've been on the road since 9:17 am and it's just after 4:30. My driver was tired, cranky, hungry, low on gas, low on patience and we weren't turning around. I wasn't about to argue. The nearest open campground was still an hour away but that was ok. We could do the Omaha Zoo another year. A potentially less wet year. A potentially less heartbreaking year for those affected.

For now we are somewhere in Missouri... again. There is a pond behind us, a playground in front of us, the A/C is turned off, the vent is turned on, the windows are open and nature is chirping. Once you've arrived at a campground, had your dinner, and settled in for the night it doesn't seem to matter about the stop we didn't make or the Zoo we won't get to go to. Even the occasional sound of a car driving by is comforting.

The Toilet and The Prairie Hole

2011-07-08T07:38:00.003-05:00

From the title I bet your really curious. What does the toilet have to do with the hole in the prairie? Honestly not much, except that Shawn just got dumped with two people's pre-hitch up chores.

We will start with the toilet. Our toilet is the original, except for the house toilet seat someone put on, and we new that eventually we'd have to replace it. Not unlike the a/c, we just weren't counting on doing it this trip. We were wrong...again. The fresh water is leaking. A few hallelujah that it's not the black water... right? So this very morning we are headed up to Watertown, SD (ironic?) to get the toilet replaced. I have to admit I am a bit excited by this as I hate that house toilet seat. It just looks ugly and out of place. Mmmmm.... vanity about my airstream bathroom.... problem or natural? Picture of the new one to come later.

Now for the hole in the prairie, it was hidden and deep. My leg went into the hole almost to the knee and I was lucky it didn't snap in half. I was also fortunate that it happened on our last day on the Homestead. As it stands, the phone in nurse thinks I have a deep tissue bruise. Very lucky! She has ordered minimal use and movement. Goodluck on the movement part, I have yet to figure out how I can stop the occasional jarring from a pot hole. Shawn has been saddled with all my packing and hitching/unhitching chores for a few days. The only thing he's allowing me to do is stand in one stop to direct the trailer.

Let me just say, the Homestead owner brought in a bulldozer with a bucket full of dirt and Shawn said they filled every hole they could find. And we still managed to get in one more covered wagon ride to the school.... the daughter had specifically requested one family trip when Shawn got off work. I couldn't disappoint now could I?

Twin Lakes - There is a Reason For the Lack of Pictures

2011-07-07T23:00:00.003-05:00

Anyone who's read the book "These Happy Golden Years" should know what the Twin Lakes are. These are the lakes that Almanzo and Laura took buggy rides between. There is actually a road going between Lake Henry and Lake Thompson called the Twin Lakes Road.

Lake Thompson was our intended next stop. However a certain bathroom complication made it necessary for us to change our intended destination. Since we wouldn't be visiting the campground I wanted to take a drive on the road going between them. Just one itty-bitty complication…. water.

We tried three different roads and ended up backing up all three times. One might be able to get there from a different side of the lake but I would not be surprised if the road between lakes was under water. After more than one hair raising 3 point turn and plenty of eroded roads we threw in the towel and headed back home.

According to the lady at the laundrymatt the road is indeed under water. Although our neighbor swears he just came through those very roads today.... I'll take the local lady for $200 Alex.

Custer State Park and Needles Highway

2011-07-07T13:22:00.000-05:00

So, I know I've already blogged about Custer State Park, but here's more stuff from within the park (we took multiple trips into the park, and where surprised by new things each trip).

Driving on the Needles Highway within the park....here's a picture of said "needles".

More needles from a scenic outlook.

This is one of two "tunnels" that we had to drive through -- let's just say that the tow mirrors had to be pulled in just to get through, and I think I had at most 3 inches on either side of the truck!

Here's the second of those tunnels....white-knuckle driving at its best!

Within the park, there is a lake (Sylvan Lake)...which is completely beautiful and peaceful.

Custer State Park and Jewel Cave

2011-07-05T17:23:00.000-05:00

So, while in Custer, one of the best experiences (IMHO) is Custer State Park -- absolutely beautiful place! In the park itself, there are winding byways, "improved" gravel roads for that backcountry feeling, awe-inspiring vistas of the black hills, lots of wildlife (including buffalo) as well as lakes and streams.

In addition, you have Jewel Cave, currently the 2nd longest cave in the world (I've often wondered if Wind Cave and Jewel Cave are connected, as they are only like 20 or so miles apart, but apparently it's "unlikely"). Anyway, I preferred Wind Cave over Jewel Cave (not that it matters, unless you can only see ONE of them), but it was interesting non the less. Jewel Cave is "newer" in that it was only recently discovered and incorporated into the National Park System (I believe it is currently a Monument rather than an actual park), and this newness is evident in the nice metal steps, scaffolding and "disney-esqe" pristine-ness of the tour (as opposed to Wind Cave where you feel like Indiana Jones -- constantly ducking and watching your head and you slide sideways through narrow openings and low ceilings.

View of the Black Hills inside Custer State Park.

More views from one of the scenic outlooks.

A buffalo (there's actually a whole series of photos of it rolling around in the dirt).

A beautiful old stone bridge within the park.

Some prairie dogs doing their thing -- there's actually whole fields of them "chirpping" away!

A momma deer and a few fawns.

In the second highest "peak" in South Dakota (within the park) there's an old fire watch tower (still in use) that you can look out over the hills (quite an interesting drive up to it if you're in a large tow vehicle).

Here's the view from the top!

More views from the top!

Last one from the top.

Jewel Cave entrance.

Somewhere within the cave.

A photo of the striation in the rocks.

I don't remember what they're actually called, but my kids thought that these looked just like Davey Jone's face from the Pirates movies!