Adventure Mobile

2016 Review

2016-12-31T11:59:00.001-08:00

For the past few years (minus 2015 apparently) I've done a year-end review based on an article from Whole Living magazine. Here's this year's.

THE PAST YEAR:

How have you spent your time?

I have spent most of my time re-thinking our homeschooling practices, thinking about new house things, acting, directing, and reading books.

What are you grateful for?

I am grateful for unconditional love and the many ways it has been shown to me and the many ways I have learned to live it this year.

What were your sorrows and disappointments? How did they change you?

There were sorrows in dealing with mental illness - mine and those around me. There were little disappointments for the kids - not making the pre-pro ballet class, starting OT. Small things.

What books, films, etc., moved you?

Books:

Sex at Dawn by Cacilda Jetha and Christopher Ryan

Films:

Ghostbusters (2016 version)

THE PRESENT:

How are you different from the way you were a year ago?

I'm quieter. I'm louder. I'm more sure of myself and so much less sure. I feel more comfortable in my skin. I'm able to state things more directly. I'm able to ask for what I need and sometimes for things I want. I've stopped thinking wanting is selfish.

How can you integrate the lessons of the past year?

Continue doing the things that work. Keep noticing and releasing the things that don't.

Is there anything you're trying to force into existence right now? If so, what would happen if you stopped?

A fully realized manifestation of all of my past life lessons. If I stopped trying to force it, I suppose it would happen just the same.

THE FUTURE:

What do you want to focus on in the coming year?

Taking care of myself without feeling guilty. Saying what I mean. Keeping my feelings to myself until I get to the bottom of what I'm feeling - then speaking calmly and with as much wisdom as I can. Eating well all the time. Stop apologizing for being comfortable.

If you could sum up your desires and longings in one simple statement spoken from the highest aspect of yourself, what would it be?

To maintain the honest and unconditional relationships that I have, and to surround myself with more of them: focus on authentic community.

Change in the Air

2015-07-13T08:34:00.002-07:00

Well ladies and gents, it's been quite some time since I posted anything on our adventure blog.

We've moved in to our new house and we are quickly adjusting to life in our new location.

Indeed, I am in love with just about everything in this area and plan to stay for a very long time.

In a few weeks, this blog will make a big transition from The Adventure Mobile to something new. It will still be about our family happenings, but it will be all about rooting down and growing different things. I am certain that there will still be a ton about travel, unschooling, food allergies, learning everything, big dreams, and loads of photographs. We hope you will continue to join us on this amazing and fatabulous journey through life!

Kindle Edition of Our Year on the Road!

2015-01-18T22:06:00.001-08:00

We are excited to announce that Our Year on the Road is now available for Kindle! It is currently FREE on Kindle Unlimited!

Here is just one great review of the piece:

"Your book is wonderful. I've had it on the kitchen counter for days. Susan and I have been taking turns reading it, looking at it, thinking about our own lives. I haven't finished it yet. (I will today.) But before I do, I know I can already say that it is beautiful. It's a very thoughtful piece that inspires mindfulness." - Trish Cole

Several readers are already planning their own modified road trips inspired by the book.

We hope that it can inspire you too! (Click here to get your Kindle copy)

Thanks so much for being such loyal readers and friends.

Sincerely yours,

The Bell Family

PS - There are still hard copies available here.

The Moment You've All Been Waiting For...

2015-01-09T08:35:00.002-08:00

Our Year on the Road: Finding Peace and Place in an Old School Bus is officially out on Amazon.

We're looking into getting it into tons of indie bookstores, but this is our first step as we put a photo journalistic log of our journey into the world. We've included many photos that will be familiar to you blog readers, and some you haven't seen. We included the best of the best of the blog entries you know and love to chronicle just what happened to us over the 2013 - 2014 journey.

The book is full-color, glossy pages, easy to read print, and we are extremely proud of it.

You can purchase it through the link on the right hand side of this blog page or you can click here right now! We're still working the kinks out of the Kindle edition, so it is not yet available, but I think you'll find this hard copy worth every penny. The first 100 copies are signed. There are still a few of those left! Grab one while you still can!

Thank you for being our loyal readers.

With Love,

The Bell Family

2014 Review

2014-12-30T10:52:00.000-08:00

For the past few years I've done a year-end review based on an article from Whole Living magazine. Here's this year's (read last year's review here):

THE PAST YEAR:

How have you spent your time?

It's hard to believe that this time last year I was in San Antonio, TX with frozen pipes in a campground filled with frosty cacti. It's hard to believe that at the beginning of 2014 I was still on the road with my family. It seems like yesterday and yet... so far away.

Near the beginning of the year we were exploring Petroglyphs and sledding at White Sands. We made our way to San Diego and up the Pacific Coast to Washington. We spent most of our time exploring, living, breathing deeply in the stuff of life.

In the spring we bought a piece of land in Asheville, NC and in April, we ended our trip when we moved here.

Since then we've been rooting down slowly. Still living in the bus, we've managed to establish some semblance of community, move the bus to the land, and begin building a house. It should be finished by the coming spring.

We've been through some financial crisis as Michael changed jobs. We spent a lot of time reassessing our lives and putting the pieces of who we became on our year on the road together into something that makes sense in "polite society". I've spent a lot of time just thinking. Thinking and thinking about who the heck I even am and what the heck I'm even doing. I've spent a lot of time feeling like parts of myself needed to catch up to other parts.

What are you grateful for?

I am grateful for the home and community we are building here in Asheville. I am also intensely grateful for the relationships I have been able to maintain (sometimes poorly) around the country and the love I feel from those people.

What were your sorrows and disappointments? How did they change you?

There was so much disappointment about Michael's job. We were told that he could continue to telework as we lived here and once we began to actually build our house we were told he couldn't telework any longer, so he spent a lot of time commuting to Maryland, leaving me and the kids here alone. We eventually decided after much turmoil that the arrangement was simply not sustainable, and he quit working in Maryland and found a new job here. It was not an easy transition. I have felt helpless in parenting Maeryn sometimes. She is different from Jonah, obviously, and requires much attention and extra affection. I am still trying to reach her.

What books, films, etc., moved you?

Books:

The Nature Principle by Richard Louv

Films:

Into the Woods (it's always been my favorite musical.. maybe my favorite story)
Mary and Max

THE PRESENT:

How are you different from the way you were a year ago?

I understand a lot more about who I am. Some of the parts are scary. Some of the parts are confusing. At least I know they're there now. At least I'm admitting it to myself. I'm not running from myself anymore. I'm not running from painful things when the end result is more and better when it comes to relationship. I'm trying hard to embrace the life-death-life cycle that is the way we must live.

How can you integrate the lessons of the past year?

Continue to explore internally even when it is painful. Pull the weeds and cultivate the good plants - the ones that feed me and the people I love. Never stop exploring - the world is infinite and so is the mind.

Is there anything you're trying to force into existence right now? If so, what would happen if you stopped?

I'm trying to force the things I've learned into perfect and immediate manifestation. If I stopped it's possible they would fade away. I realize that I am clinging extremely hard... perhaps to stars.

THE FUTURE:

What do you want to focus on in the coming year?

Loving people better. Cultivating authentic and beautiful relationships. Wading through the pain to the depth of the person. Learning how to love and nurture the things I want to bloom in my life.

If you could sum up your desires and longings in one simple statement spoken from the highest aspect of yourself, what would it be?

To love. To love genuinely and fully and beautifully and with a hint of perfection.

Lessons Learned

2014-05-27T22:03:00.000-07:00

I learned far more on our bus trip than I could ever put into words, especially in a limited space for others to read, but I thought it would be prudent to go ahead and make a list here, so that others could garnish for themselves, and so that I could look back for myself.

So here they are, in no particular order, the things I can articulate right now, in this forum, that I learned during our year on the road:

1. Hospitality is necessary for community.

2. You aren't really friends until you've lived like family.

3. It doesn't matter when you celebrate holidays, as long as you celebrate them.

4. It is okay not to have a plan.

5. Not all hitchhikers are scary.

6. There is always someone who has less than you do and someone who needs more.

7. Age has no bearing on maturity.

8. Passion can be cultivated about anything.

9. People long to share themselves with others.

10. Crashing with someone isn't about "leaving no trace" but about leaving positive and beautiful traces.

11. Clean is relative.

12. The world is vast. You can never see it all. It goes infinitely outward, and inward too.

13. Humor is priceless.

14. Social media is wonderful. It does not rot your brain. It is a powerful tool for connection and maintenance.

15. When you go away, and you are "out of sight, out of mind", you have a lot of revelations about who your friends are and to what lengths you should go to be with them physically.

16. A campfire is almost always the right answer.

17. You really only need two pairs of jeans.

18. Cars are nice. So are bikes. And walking.

19. Try everything.

20. Safety is relative.

21. Your fears are personal, subjective, and mostly irrational.

22. Many people are good.

23. Some people are bad.

24. A huge percentage of people still haven't figured out that saving the environment is important.

25. People are not the same everywhere.

26. We assume too quickly and listen too little.

27. It is important to see as many stars as possible.

28. There is nothing wrong with hugging people.

29. If you are afraid to be vulnerable it's probably not worth your time.

30. Art is easy. We just like to make excuses about why we can't.

31. No person is more or less important or special than any other person.

32. You might not have a huge special purpose. You might just be supposed to live your life the best you can and love people the best you can.

33. Constant goal setting is missing the point.

34. If you have an extra dollar, you should give it away.

35. It is important to find the place where strangers smile at you as thought they are welcoming you home.

36. You can do anything you want to do if you make it your only priority.

37. There are not many things worthy of being your only priority.

38. Respect the people who have learned to live in the desert, for they will have water when you have run out.

39. Drink tea.

40. Get up earlier.

41. Stay up later.

42. Eat local food.

43. There are lots of different types of Mexican.

44. Your beauty is not tied up in your physical appearance, but your way of being in the world.

45. People who offer vehement advice early in your relationship are likely insecure and terrified.

46. More women should wear ties.

47. You should stop being embarrassed when you dance.

48. Fill up the water bottles before the pipes freeze.

49. There is good Pilot food, and there is very bad Pilot food.

50. There are solutions to everything, if you are willing to unclench your fists.

51. Money is powerful. So is trade. So is being interesting. So is compromise, leftovers, and having basic life skills.

52. Buses are mostly magnetic.

53. You are just as important as you present yourself to be.

54. I am allergic to most types of ice cream.

55. The likelihood of being eaten by a shark is pretty low. Especially if you never go swimming.

56. You are braver than you think you are.

57. Know your limits.

58. Don't go up unless you can see the way down.

59. It's okay to be wrong and fail hugely. To fail is to be human. To never fail is to be boring, frustrated, and to learn nothing.

60. Everyone needs a little space of their own.

61. Mason jars. Not just for hipsters.

62. Somewhere around the age of 60 most people stop caring what other people thing and just start doing what they wanted to do in the first place.

63. No matter how much you love Mother Earth, there are still times when it's more important to use paper plates than to fight over the dishes.

64. You have to make traditions.

65. Much of my ability to bake comes with the ability to use a dishwasher.

66. There is no shame in asking for help, expressing your need, shopping at the Thrift Store, or tipping more than 50%.

67. When something amazing comes up, you need to remember what you really want out of life, and sometimes this means you have to change your plans.

68. There's no such thing as "successful".

69. There's a reason you have a bedroom door.

70. Making the animals dependent on us for food is terrifying.

71. Everyone loves to show you what they know.

72. You will not live long enough to do all of the things you wish to do.

73. Desperation is unattractive.

74. Tip.

75. Jump in the cold water, for the river will never be the same again.

76. Carry a bandana.

77. Carry a backpack.

78. Cell phones are not stupid.

79. You are going to disappoint your parents.

80. Don't do things to be "cool" or "original". There are 1,000 other people out there who have already done the same thing. Do things because that's what's next on your path.

81. There is no shame in renting a stroller.

82. It is sometimes appropriate to drive like an aggressive maniac.

83. You can get away with more when the police aren't bored.

84. Children and old people have a kind of wisdom you cannot understand.

85. You need something thermal.

86. And a pair of wool socks.

87. Sometimes it's worth being uncomfortable for a few hours.

88. Drive barefoot.

89. Pack a towel.

90. Bathing suits are overrated.

91. Just keep the sandbuckets in the car.

92. Bring water.

93. Telling someone to "grow up" is stupid. You're still a child yourself.

94. Your inner child deserves the very best.

95. People want to feel important, intelligent, and in control.

96. You are most appealing to everyone when you are most fully living into the person you are.

97. "Good" is relative.

98. The "Purity Movement" was/is mostly a harmful lie.

99. Knowing something about yourself that you cannot tell some who are closest to you is a special kind of pain.

100. You can live with even less.

101. Pull over when you see something cool - you may never traverse this road again.

102. "Junk" is relative.

103. Isolation is the antithesis of humanity.

104. Hatred is counterproductive and generally annoying.

105. Something that is soul-crushing for you, may not even blip on the radar screen of someone else.

106. You can't fault people for that.

107. Always be prepared for a potluck.

108. If you weren't prepared, eat and be joyful.

109. Lowes has free WiFi.

110. Nurture the dreamers, for there lies all the potential for change.

111. Cabot cheese is the best cheese.

112. Read the Sermon on the Mount. Again.

113. Surprising people is inconvenient for them.

114. Surprise them anyway.

115. Bring ice cream.

116. A game of war can last four hours.

117. Las Vegas is the new Ninevah.

118. Fear is the greatest perpetrator of violence.

119. Do your best to keep everybody fed.

120. Travel is a grand beginning.

121. Try the fish tacos.

122. Don't rub your eyes after slicing jalepenos.

123. Send postcards.

124. Don't blink.

Final Destination

2014-05-09T04:00:00.000-07:00

We drove several hours from Michael's parents' house to the place we're calling home.

It's... breathtaking to think that we've ended this journey and we're already stepping out into something completely new.

We started this trip to find our spot.

The place where we would put down roots. The place that fit us best.

Of course we also wanted to see more of the world, to show our children more and more dazzling adventures than they could ever imagine...

But always we were searching for the place. The one where we would end the journey and begin something totally different.

In California we decided that we needed to move things along a little faster. Maeryn needed stability and we were no longer able to provide it on all of the necessary levels. Fast forward to our trek through the snow storm and our shortened visits with just about everyone just to get here.

We bought a piece of land and we're going to build a house on it.

I'm looking up activities for the kids and we're easing back into the use of a calendar to plan things.

It's sad and surreal and terrifying and magical and exciting all at once and more feelings I can't yet grasp closely enough to describe.

Yesterday we bought groceries. We went to the land and met some of our neighbors. The kids made friends. We attended our new church. I'm putting together a photo book for publication about our trip.

Life is a strange thing.

You always know just what you want but you never know how it will happen or if it will happen and when it does happen it is never quite like you imagined. Sometimes better. Sometimes not. Always different.

This trip has taught me so many things.

I wish I could express them all in this small space.

I wish that I could relive the entire journey for each of you with you inside my head so that you could really see...

I wish that you could all go on your own journeys. The ones you need to take.

You know the ones.

Not all of them involve logging over 16,000 miles in a converted school bus.

Some of them involved making amends or cleaning house emotionally or just driving down the block.

This trip has changed me.

I am more resiliant. I am stronger.

More than anything I've reconnected with pieces of me that I'd forgotten existed. My own inner strength. My love of silliness and laughter. The wide eyes of a child. Listening for the Voice of God. Embracing change.

There have been several layers of skin shed. A New Me every day.

I hope that you have enjoyed sharing this journey.

I will likely continue to blog here as we establish our new life and step out on this new path, but it might not be for awhile.

We're calling our new house Taproot, because we want our roots to grow deep.

Neither of us have allowed ourselves that sort of luxury before.

We'll need some time to start that tree growing.

Thank you for taking this trip with us. Thank you for reading and commenting and giving so much support to our family in so many ways. We love you. We miss you. And we have learned that you are really never too far away. Expect us for coffee. We'll bring dinner. And probably photographs.

Visiting Grandparents Part 2

2014-05-08T04:00:00.000-07:00

For some reason the photos of Maeryn's birthday party at the Bell grandparents didn't come out quite as well as the others, but we did snap a few decent pictures to capture parts of our visit.

Maeryn and Jonah went to the Dollar Store and splurged on party stuff for Maeryn's birthday and got a few small things for themselves. They each also went on individual dates with Grandma to Chuck E. Cheese and Michael and I went on a date to Lowes (in our defense, the mall was closed...).

I got some new pants (much needed - I was down to one pair, so laundry day was a bit embarrassing) and a jacket that was on clearance when we finally did go to the mall the next day (Maeryn came too and helped me choose things that looked best).

We also received a mail drop from friends in Maryland that included these awesome clips. They were for Maeryn, but she decided they looked best on me.

As we prepared to leave and do our final long haul, we all felt a little tired. A little anxious. A little scared.

Visiting with Grandparents

2014-05-07T04:00:00.000-07:00

Maeryn celebrated her sixth birthday three times this year.

The first time was at my parents' house. We decided to haul to northwestern Pennsylvania in time for Easter Celebrations. This was likely insane.

We arrived from Indianapolis at around 1 AM on Good Friday.

My parents were sleeping, as they should be. The dog greeted us. She's a little blind now in her old age, but she knew who we were and was excited as ever to see us there.

We enjoyed all parts of our visit with my parents, including theological debates surrounding the Noah movie and the famous egg roll at my Uncle Duane's house. Maeryn won this. She also found the $1 egg during the egg hunt. I have never found the $1. I have been to Easter with this side of my family approximately twenty-five years. Maeryn found it on her first Uncle Duane Easter Experience.

Indianapolis!

2014-05-06T04:00:00.000-07:00

Heather and Stacy were my roommates in college back when I was a senior and living in a apartment with four other women. I don't recommend this. It was hard to maintain friendships in close quarters with lots of different preferences and needs... That beings said, I love all four of those ladies and wouldn't trade my friendships with them for the world.

I don't get to see Stacy and Heather very often since they have always lived what seemed so intangibly far away. I'll likely be visiting them more now that my perspective on distance has changed hugely.

We met them at a neato burger joint that specializes in homemade rootbeer and chatted it up for a couple of hours.

What's wonderful about friends like these is the "never miss a beat" sort of way that we fell back together. We haven't kept in the best of touch - just facebook posts and the occasional Christmas card, but it was as though we'd never really been apart. It was so easy to know how to just be.

After dinner we went back to Heather's adorable and cozy house for some more conversation and so the kids could chill out and watch some Pokemon.

After hugs all around it was back to our campground to prepare for travel again.

Our trip was now a fast paced race to the finish.

Into the Storm (and Kansas)

2014-05-05T04:00:00.000-07:00

We made the right choice skipping out on South Dakota (add that to our future travel bucket lists). The storm was pretty intense.

We ended up stopping in Kansas at a campground to wait out the weather for the night (and so we could have some electricity/heat in the freezing temperatures). Of course the pipes froze... but that's old hat now. Michael dug Sally out with a hammer. The night was still cold.

Denver and Family

2014-05-02T04:00:00.000-07:00

Jonah and his singular cousin, Jeremiah, eating giant lollypops from the Garden of the Gods

One of the last stops on our trip was a visit with Michael's brother and sister-in-law and their son, Jeremiah. It was a relief to park somewhere for a relatively extended period and to have a house to have dinner and sit around a big table with family. Jonah and Maeryn loved playing with the dog, Rosie, and we had a multitude of adventures the too few days we were together, including a double date where our children had an actual babysitter for the first time in almost a year!

One of the first things we did was to take a walk around Golden, CO. We stopped for ice cream and fudge and the kids climbed trees and threw rocks into the river at the park. They were so excited to have a playmate who was as active as they love to be.

That night, Maeryn lost a tooth, but it happened after every else was asleep (after midnight). She was disappointed in the morning when the tooth fairy did not come. We assumed it was because she'd lost the tooth on the next day, technically, and we tried again that night. She was gifted with a note from the fairy explaining her absence the previous evening and quadruple the silver coins normally found under her pillow.

One of our day trips was to Garden of the Gods, where we climbed rocks and Maeryn and Jonah got to take turns walking the dog. They cannot wait to get a dog to call their own. I have some trepidation...

The next day we went to Boulder, CO and toured the Celestial Seasonings Tea Factory. Jonah purchased his own kids' version of Sleepytime Tea with grape flavoring. We all got free samples of their mint tea and had fun exploring the gift shop after our tour.

Also in Boulder we got some bison hot dogs and browsed the shops while serenaded by a variety of street musicians.

We also saw this awesome sign:

On Sunday we decided to stay a bit longer so we could attend church with family and have some sandwiches before headed out into what would be our first experience with driving through a snowstorm.

As a result, we decided to skip our planned visit to South Dakota, and continue east to Missouri.

Everyone was a little sad that our time with family was ending, but looked forward to the quickly coming future.

Four Corners

2014-05-01T04:00:00.000-07:00

On our final day in the Moab, UT area we made the trek to Four Corners.

It's a truly unique place where you can stand in four U.S. states at the same time (Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah). This was another of Michael's bucket list places. Again totally worth the trip.

The site is run by the Navajo Nation which was really fantastic in and of itself. We were able to see tons of Navajo arts and crafts all around the Four Corners area. Jonah was especially impressed with the hand crafted bows and arrows and knives made from buffalo rib bone.

Once we had our fill of arts, crafts, and snapping pictures of ourselves standing on the actual four corners, we stopped at one of the vendors areas and sampled a taste of Navajo fry bread.

It was delicious!

Arches National Park

2014-04-30T04:00:00.000-07:00

Arches was on Michael's trip bucket list.

It's one of the national parks that you think of when you picture a national park in your head - at least it was that way for me. I didn't know what it was called, but I had grown up seeing it pictured in textbooks and movies and brochures and talked about as a wonder in this country.

Michael was far more excited than anyone else until we actually arrived.

We started at the visitor's center, which is our tradition.

There were some bighorn sheep and mountain goats...

We also all got drinks of water before heading out on a hike through the Windows Area, which is the most famous area of the park.

We took an abundance of photographs, did some climbing, and hiked about three miles total. It was a good day.

Foxy came with us on the trip. Maeryn informed us that she is a desert fox and she was excited to be in her natural habitat.

Foxy took several baths in her natural habitat. Foxy took a last bath in a washing machine after this particular excursion.

Dead Sea Scrolls and The Mormon Tabernacle Choir

2014-04-29T04:00:00.000-07:00

The Dead Sea Scrolls were on display at one of the museums in Salt Lake City.

The kids and I really wanted to check it out.

It was a bit on the expensive side, but I felt like this was a once in a lifetime sort of thing and our plans for the next few weeks were on the cheap side (lots of boondocking and crashing with family and friends), so we splurged and did it.

It was totally worth it.

We all learned an incredible amount about the Bible, the scrolls themselves, and ancient history. We saw pottery on display from King David's palace, ruins from the Babylonian invasion, old stones from the Jewish Temple, and of course pieces of the scrolls. The exhibit was packed with information.

Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to photograph anything beyond a certain point, so I don't have the photographic evidence I'd like from the tour.

The museum also had a kids area where they could make their own pottery, so we spent a bit of time there.

After we had our fill of the museum, we had just enough time to catch a bit of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir rehearsal!

I was thrilled to be able to witness it.

We had a little trouble getting there. We first went to the Tabernacle, but there was no choir. I was so disappointed I almost cried, but I asked one of the tour guides who let us know that they were rehearsing at the Conference Center today, so we booked it over there.

The kids and Michael were allowed inside right away but I had to go and check my backpack at their coat check place because they don't allow backpacks inside the Conference Center. This was extremely frustrated for me because we'd already missed a good portion of the rehearsal and I use my backpack as my purse. Plenty of ladies were allowed to keep their purses - they weren't even examined! My backpack was thoroughly examined inside and out, all of the contents, and even after they'd checked it, I wasn't allowed to have it back!

I tried to get over it as I reunited with my family and we found our seats in the Conference Center's auditorium.

The rehearsal was worth all the hassle. I loved the discipline of the choir and the no nonsense attitude of the directors. The 300 person choir is all volunteer and rehearses up to six hours every week.

We took a few videos, but I haven't yet had the chance to upload them. I hope to share them with you soon.

Salt Lake City and The Mormon Temple: Exploration

2014-04-28T07:08:00.000-07:00

The view from our campsite in Salt Lake City

My mom suggested that we visit the Mormon Temple while we were here in Salt Lake. I was on the fence about it. How cool could it be? Would it be worth the drive? Maybe we should skip it and do other cool things - like hiking or going to the actual Salt Lake or looking for elk or something.

But... while this is our trip, I also know that there are people who are living sort of vicariously through us and who want to see certain things they might never get to see themselves. We've done lots of hiking already in all sorts of places and we camped with elk and I went to the Dead Sea when I was twelve... so maybe the Temple was the sort of new and exhilarating experience we really needed today.

So we went.

The city is truly picturesque: clean with wide walkable streets and low stress driving, 19th Century creative architecture and large iron street lamps with all the charm of gaslights.

We parked in the secret bat cave parking garage that exits the middle of a busy street to an underground world of white lines, elevators, and meters.

The way to Temple Square was sort of through a shopping mall plaza.

I was a little worried we wouldn't be allowed on the square at all, since we aren't Mormon, but we found everything accessible to the public barring the inside of the Temple itself.

The grounds were a cacophony of color.

There were flowers everywhere, sublime sculptures, and a menagerie of fountains.

The Temple itself stood high above the promenade, towering over everything, stalwart and white, a gold angel trumpeting on the steeple.

Next to the Temple was the Tabernacle and Assembly Hall. We were allowed to enter the Tabernacle, home of the famous Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

The choir wasn't there at the time, but we learned that their Thursday night rehearsals are open to the public and I made a mental note that I wanted to try to go.

We chose not to go into the Assembly Hall. I'm not sure if it was open to the public or not. We were sort of ready to go, but I took a few pictures of the Hall itself.

The kids hung out around the Assembly Hall fountain while I got my photo fix.

Then we started on our way back to the car.

The shortest way was through a mall.

Fountains everywhere. Salt Lake City loves fountains.

On the way home we stopped at a vegan bakery and everyone got something yummy.

A rare treat for Jonah.

This was once shaped like a rabbit...

That night, as the temperatures dipped below freezing, we made good use of the propane heater.

Just Chillin' in Salt Lake City

2014-04-24T06:00:00.000-07:00

It was nice to settle back into a campground with proper heating and me not driving.

The first place in Salt Lake where we had a reservation reneged when they found out we were a bus conversion. I tried not to be upset about this.

There was another place relatively close to town that said they had no problem taking us.

It was better anyway. The new place had a great playground, a cute yard for each RV, and an indoor hot tub + laundry facilities and a fully stocked camp store.

Everyone was feeling pretty refreshed and peaceful.

Maeryn decided to take a turn washing the dishes.

Those are her feet up there on the stool.

Jonah donned Michael's headphones and delved back into the world of Skyrim.

I got out the good camera and took a lot of pictures.

No one seemed to mind.

I Drive the Bus

2014-04-23T05:00:00.000-07:00

We left Seattle shortly after Michael returned.

We were hauling over two days to Salt Lake City, breaking up nights at a Flying J.

The first day Michael drove several hours without help.

The second day he asked if I might be willing to drive.

I have never driven the bus and I have never wished to drive it.

It's one of those things I could go my whole life without doing.

But Michael was so tired and this particular road seemed pretty tame.

So... I offered to do it.

He pulled over.

I hyperventilated.

And I slid into the driver's seat.

I got a crash course on the control panel in the dash.

Michael slumped down onto the couch. Maeryn wanted to snuggle.

I tried not to scream out loud... too much.

I drove about 45 minutes.

That was enough.

No one died.

This is winning.

In the Absence of My Other Half: Part 4 (Missy)

2014-04-22T06:00:00.000-07:00

It rained.

We read a LOT of Inkheart.

I tried not to be depressed when I heard about Michael seeing so many of our Maryland friends; I miss them so much!

As a pick-me-up, I tried to make a campfire, but it was far too wet.

I started crying, because I'm the girl who can make a campfire in any weather under any circumstances with just one match.

Two hours and an entire book of matches later, still no luck.

I didn't earn my Girl Scout Gold Award in Washington State near the rainforest, alas.

I gave up and tried to get over it.

We spent the night playing "War". You know the game. You love the game. All. three. hours of it.

And then there was ONE.

One day remaining.

I wrote it on the board but I guess I forgot to take a picture.

Michael made his way to the airport and slept there for the night (sort of).

I texted him encouragement.

On the day before he returned, we made a party.

Both kids made cards.

Maeryn and I went to the store and got some balloons.

And Maeryn made a cake.

She chose blue frosting because it's Daddy's favorite color.

The design on the cake is a dolphin.

It was hard to go to bed the night before he came back.

Maeryn crept into my bed around midnight.

"I need to sleep, Mom. Tomorrow is going to be a big day."

In the morning, Jonah erased the number "1" and wrote a big "0" on the white board.

I washed a last load of dishes and cleaned off the table and swept the floor.

Then we dragged Maeryn out of bed. I packed blankets and snacks and computers and movies. We found the Laurie Berkner Band CD. We stopped at Burger King for breakfast and filled the gas tank at Shell. I took a deep breath, and drove onto the giant freeway.

At the airport, the GPS had no clue what was going on. Most roads were under construction, and the signs weren't clear. I followed the hotel shuttles toward the runway. I figured if I couldn't find parking, at least I could text Michael and tell him I was parked in the shuttle circle.

Lucky for me the shuttles led me straight to the parking garage.

I found the floor for and aisle for Southwest Airlines after about fifteen minutes of aimless driving and we still had time to spare before Michael's plane was to land. I rechecked the email he sent me about the gate. B10.

We parked in the seats in front of the luggage return until Michael texted me that he'd arrived. We moved to the escalator moving people from their terminal into the airport.

It took what seemed like forever before he appeared.

When he did, Jonah and Maeryn ran for it and attacked him with hugs and kisses.

It was... wonderful.

Michael at the airport, showing the kids video he took of take off and landing.

In the Absence of My Other Half: Part 3 (Missy)

2014-04-21T06:00:00.000-07:00

I planned a big excursion for today.

We were going to Mt. Saint Helens, and we were going to crawl through lava tubes.

Yes. We were.

I programmed the GPS on my phone and packed snacks and computers and movies and music and waters and jackets and off we went.

I wasn't actually sure where I was going. Once we got to the mountain GPS didn't really matter much because most of the roads were closed. I remembered from reading about the park online that there were a few places to do the lava crawls, so I tried to follow the signs to what I thought would be right and accessible.

There were cars in the parking lot when we got there. Score!

We walked a very cool 1/4 mile trail that took us down the path a flow of lava took down the mountain.

Tree mold.

Lava tube accessible through a tree mold. We didn't have a flashlight, so we didn't get to do the whole crawl, but Jonah was brave enough to make his way down the hole first.

Maeryn eventually joined him :)

After crawling into the tree mold and checking out the lava tube, we finished the path and thought we might try and check out Ape Cave, which was just a few minutes walk up the road (closed to automobiles for the winter).

Maeryn got too tired to walk before we got to the cave.

It wasn't all that important for Jonah or me, so we went ahead and turned back.

Michael wasn't able to read Heroes... tonight either.

I was sad.

I tried to perk up.

We read Inkheart until almost midnight.

When my voice got tired the kids went out to the kitchen and made me a cup of tea so we could read more.

And then we crashed.

And slept.

We decided on more Mt. Saint Helens awesomeness for the morning.

We got up relatively early and headed for the mountain.

This time we hoped to go to an overlook so we could get a good view of the volcano itself.

All of the visitor's centers owned by the National Park Service were closed.

But... there was a private center opened with a gift shop, postcards, and a playground! So we stopped.

You can see the mountain in the picture above, in the distance.

My mom told Maeryn to let her know if she saw Bigfoot while we were out west. We found him in the gift shop!

I sent Mom the above picture.

The playground was pretty neat.

It took all I had to convince the kids to keep going to we could get to the lookout before dark.

Maeryn really wanted to hike the trail next to the visitor's center.

I gave in.

It was 3/4 mile downhill - then of course 3/4 a mile back up.

We piled back into the car invigorated and ready for the look out.

Breathtaking.

We stayed for about twenty minutes, just taking it in.

I tried to keep Maeryn from climbing over the wall and falling to her death.

When we left, we were all hungry and I needed to stop for gas. I decided to do gas and dinner in nearby Toledo. I'd seen a kitchy looking local place on the way in, along with two gas stations.

As we drove toward town, we saw a man hitchhiking along the side of the road.

I know.

It's dangerous to pick up hitchhikers.

The guy was walking alone with a huge hiking pack and guitar strapped to his back.

When I sped past him, he looked disappointed and sad.

So I pulled over about a hundred feet in front of him.

He smiled for a minute and then looked around, unsure as to what he should do.

I got out of the car, opened the hatchback, and asked him where he was headed.

"Hoping for a ride into Toledo," he said, "but I'll go as far as you can take me that direction."

"I'm headed for Toledo! Hop in."

I moved my backpack and he helped me load it into the back. He sat in the passenger's seat and introduced himself as Ray. We shook hands. He said hi to the kids. They said hi back.

Off we went.

He told me his story.

He was a musician who had been in a band in Pennsylvania with his son. They were getting good play there, gigging a lot, and making a name for themselves locally. His son was seventeen. His wife left shortly after his son was born. They planned on moving to L.A. and sent some of their stuff there to wait for them. After the shipment and changing hands with insurance, their apartment and studio burned to the ground. They lost everything, and their insurance wouldn't cover the damages.

Ray's son killed himself a week later.

Not knowing what else to do, and unable to rebuild alone, Ray tied up loose ends in PA, sold everything he had left, bought a laptop and iPhone with chargers and packed all his worldly possessions onto his back. He bought a train ticket west to start over and make a new life.

He's currently homeless, but has some money, and is looking for a new job and a place to settle down.

In spite of his losses, he feels like God is with him and blessing him along the way.

He asked about our story, and I told it to him.

By the time we'd both finished talking, we were in Toledo.

He asked if he could take my picture for his blog, and said he could if I could take his for mine.

He gave me a copy of his album for free. He planned to camp out under a tarp for the night and watch Netflix, then meet up with some friends in the morning.

I should have offered him dinner, but I felt I'd been daring enough today.

Here's Ray at the gas station where I dropped him off. He felt a little awkward being photographed. His pack and guitar aren't in the photo.

He gave me his email address and asked me to follow him on Facebook.

I did, after making sure he wasn't a mass murderer.

He isn't.

He's just a guy trying to make his way in the world with God's help, and the help of his friends - old and new.

The kitchy restaurant was open, and I was happy about it.

We were all pretty hungry.

Ray hiked down the road in the opposite direction.

Here's the inside of Betty's:

Neither kid finished the footlong hot dog.

I finished my veggie burger in all of its glory.

I called Michael that night to tell him all about picking up a hitchhiker. I thought he'd be worried about me, but he was proud.

In the Absence of My Other Half: Part 2 (Michael)

2014-04-18T06:00:00.000-07:00

I'm not always terribly verbose, but when I am, it takes me a long time to write.

I will try to be succinct on this one, especially since I've waited until the day of to write mine ;)

-Michael

Traveling by bus across the country (72 hours of butt-numbing excitement) can give you interesting insights into a pretty deep cross-section of American culture and society. And I use "deep" purposefully.

I started my trip in Washington state, but soon found that what I considered the "pacific North-West" is really only west of the Cascades. East of them, Washington looks a whole lot more like Kansas.

I found it funny that one of my lay-overs was at a Pilot, our bus trip stop-over of choice, so I sent Missy this picture.

Missy likes clouds, so I was sending her pictures like this a lot. I also wanted to feel connected to her and the kids during my 9 days away from home.

I honestly couldn't tell you where this is, but it was a cool picture. The bus depots all run together in my mind. This one might have been Boise. Missy later asked me what Boise was like. All I could come up with was 'dark'. We did get to drive through Boise in the daytime later in the trip, though.

Salt Lake city. Looked forward to going back since it was so pretty.

Once over the mountains from Salt Lake City, it was a return to the high plains.

Some of the mountains back east. This was sunrise after my third night on the bus. It was a welcome sight because it meant I was close to getting off the bus. My butt hurt.

I had the pleasure of hanging with many old friends while I was back 'home'. It was a really nice time; I ended up eating out almost every night with a different friend(s). I missed my family, though, and called them every night (which was a bit interesting with the three-hour time difference), told the kids 'Harold' stories (which this time was Super-Harold stories), and generally tried to be a good Dad/Husband from far away.

When it was time to head home, I was happy to be taking the 'short' way and flying back to Seattle. A co-worker was kind enough to drop me at a DC Metro station by which I was able to catch a bus to Dulles. It was a nice bus. I took a picture.

After "sleeping" at the airport in a few shifts, I boarded the aircraft and returned to Seattle in less than 1/10th the time it took to get back east. But, I saved $300 taking the bus, so it was worth it, right? Right??

In the Absence of My Other Half: Part 1 (Missy)

2014-04-17T06:00:00.000-07:00

We used this magnet to follow Michael's journey across the country.

We knew it would happen eventually.

Michael told his work back in Maryland that if they needed him in the office he was willing to go back from wherever we were whenever it happened to be.

One of his bosses requested that he come back this week.

We researched the most cost-efficient methods for him to get back to Maryland and we settled on a three day journey by bus and then flying back to the Seattle airport.

He would be gone nine days total.

I admit that I was a bit panicked.

I knew no one in Seattle. I knew no one in the state of Washington!

I would have to get out of the heart of the city after leaving him at the Greyhound station and on the crazy big highway back to the our campground.

The people at this campground were kind of mean.

There were no other kids around.

I felt overwhelmed.

And March, when this happened, is always the beginning of my seasonal depression.

I know that there are plenty of women and men who deal with the absence of their spouses on a regular basis. Military wives whose husbands go on tours of duty and into scary situations for months - sometimes years at a time. I know there are husbands and wives who go on business for weeks and months in foreign countries. I know I'm one of the lucky ones. In fact, this would be the longest we've been apart in the past eleven years. That all by itself just made it... well... hard.

I tried not to cry at the bus station.

I made it out of the city without killing myself or anyone else.

I even figured out stopping for Maeryn to pee and got food for the kids on the way home.

When I got back, I told myself: You cannot panic. You cannot get depressed. You have to be strong.

I wrote down a long list of activity ideas on our white board.

I went outside to play with the kids.

We got out some movies we hadn't watched yet and watched them.

And we made our own ways of waiting.

I kept track of how many days until Daddy came home on the white board above the list of activities and below the weekly menu.

I send Michael a picture of the number each day.

I will say this: texting and sending pictures makes life about a zillion times easier than when I was trying to maintain long distance relationships in college. A ZILLION times easier.

Michael sent me pictures as he passed through each state and we moved his magnet along the cloth map on the ceiling of the bus. We texted a lot.

I sent him pictures of what I was doing with the kids.

We went on a hike and played on the swings.

When we were tired and cold we came inside and I got out some paper, taped pieces together, and we made our own board game.

First we made one all together.

The next morning, I got up and Jonah was already at the table making his own board game. Maeryn and I soon followed suit, and we had four fun games to play together.

Once everyone was dressed, we decided to check out the Family Lodge at the campground. It was supposedly open today.

It was pretty big!

We also took advantage of the cool wooden playground outside the lodge. We played all sorts of modified tag games. I made sure we stayed until everyone was completely played out.

The next day both kids wanted to go back to the lodge to make crafts.

There was a craft activity listed on the calendar for the day for $3/person. I grabbed my wallet and backpack and we drove over to the lodge. Unfortunately, the craft had been canceled for the day.

Both kids still wanted to make a craft. At the lodge.

So we went back, packed a bag full of crafty stuff and then drove to the lodge again.

We spent a few hours making snowflakes (okay, failing at making snowflakes - Michael is the snowflake maker in the family) and creating cut-out puppets.

Each night, before sleeping, we called Michael and read the first book in the Heroes of Olympus series aloud over the phone.

This night, he wasn't able to participate.

I wasn't sure what to do. I was sad not to be able to hear his voice over the phone, but trying to keep it together and figure out some other fun thing. I asked if they wanted to go ahead and read without him but they didn't want him to miss the next part of the story.

"What should we do?" I asked.

Jonah smiled and ran to his bed. He'd been reading a book in secret the past two days and had gotten most of the way through the first chapter. Now, he brought it out to me and offered it up as the "read-aloud" book for while Dad was away.

The book was called Inkheart.

Mom and Jonah Road Trip: Hoh Rainforest

2014-04-16T06:00:00.001-07:00

I did a report on the rainforests of the world when I was in 8th grade and that was when I learned that we have one right here in the United States.

It's not what you think about when someone says "rainforest". It's not a jungle. But it is a rainforest and a valuable and beautiful thing.

It was almost a four hour drive from our campground.

I figured I would just go by myself. No one else seemed interested, and it would be nice to have a day on my own.

However, a few days before we left, Jonah expressed some interest in going, and plans changed.

I was actually really excited. Hanging out with Jonah is pretty awesome.

We brought all the music.

Michael instructed us to take lots of pictures.

We did that.

For most of the drive, Jonah did the talking, which was fine by me. Often it's hard for Jonah to get a word in with the rest of his talkative family and his especially talkative sister. He loves to talk too, but he hates conflict, so he sometimes just stays quiet.

We discussed Minecraft, Skyrim, getting married, and jobs. Not necessarily in that order.

We stopped at Subway for lunch.

About an hour later, I saw this:

I had to stop.

Anytime to see the Pacific Ocean is a good time to see the Pacific Ocean.

Jonah was a little reluctant to get out of the car, but he was glad in the end.

It was cold and windy.

There was a short hiking trail through the woods to get to the shore. We saw these crazy bulbous trees. I'm sure it's a parasite of some kind. Does anyone wish to enlighten us? Do you recognize these sorts of growths on trees?

There were a lot of them.

The beach was covered in driftwood. We had to step across it to get close to the water.

A scientist was at the shore taking water samples. It was neat to watch her.

It really was windy.

We had fun touching the sea foam and talking about Greek mythology.

Then we made faces.

And headed back up the trail to the car.

It was late in the afternoon, and we still hadn't seen the forest!

It was a long drive.

We were both ready to hike when we finally found the right location in the midst of the National Forest. All of the Visitor's Centers were closed. Many of the roads were closed.

There was a parking lot next to several trail heads that we finally settled on for our exploration.

We saw this tree on the way.

And decided on this trail.

It was...

Just lovely.

It was also getting late.

We were both hungry.

So we left and drove toward food.

I had to pull over to catch this:

Jonah waited in the car.

After two hours of driving we finally found an open restaurant.

Jonah brought my computer inside to play some Terraria and show me what he was doing on the game right now.

I got a fantastic veggie burger.

Jonah got chicken fingers and fries.

Oh...and I got this cute dessert.

It's just adorable, isn't it?

After dinner it was very much dark, very much night, and we were very much tired.

I showed Michael all the pictures and we all crashed into bed.

Oh yeah, we're in Washington now... did I mention this?

Thousand Trails

2014-04-16T06:00:00.000-07:00

This is one of the campgrounds where we stayed in Oregon.

Awhile back, we decided it would be worth it to become members of Thousand Trails.

It's a membership organization that gives discounts to campgrounds. You pay one fee, and then you can stay in their campgrounds for up to four nights free. You can stay longer if you like, but there are some loopholes and things. The Pacific Northwest is riddled with these campgrounds, and there was one everywhere we wanted to be. We saved a ton of money through our membership, and they are pretty reliably nice places to be.

So... if you ever decide to go on a crazy excursion like this one, or RV for an extended period of time, here's my plug and recommendation for this particular organization.

Happy Trails!

Unschooling and Spelling

2014-04-15T11:11:00.000-07:00

Writing, reading, grammar, and spelling: life skills.

One of those things people worry about when they start down the unschooling path: How will he learn to read? What is she never learns to spell? What about proper grammar?

Reading, writing, and spelling have, of course, been ongoing journeys in our household for both of our children.

Jonah is nine years old. He was working on writing today, so we'll focus on his journey for now.

Jonah began reading and writing at a very young age. He expressed interest in both things around age two, and so we began offering opportunities for him at home. We read aloud to him often from high interest material, and I admit I played the teacher a bit on our home blackboard and we talked about cat, mat, hat, and rat. He was progressing really well until he went to preschool, which was really the beginning of our unschooling journey.

Since pulling him out of institutional education, we have had our share of worries about his progress.

At first he fell rapidly behind.

He was not reading at all. He said he "couldn't read" and writing was absolutely out of the question.

I agonized over this but I tried to focus on relationship. I tried to focus on love and passion and follow Jonah's own path.

As a former public school educator this was tough.

But we managed with a few setbacks.

We focused on what he wanted to do right now, and what he was interested in right now.

He had never lost his love for story, so we read many of them.

Never forced. Always offered or asked for. We read the entire Harry Potter Series, The Chronicles of Narnia, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, and many others. For the most part, this was enough. He didn't wish to read on his own and we didn't force it.

We did allow him to play video games that caught his attention.

We did read for pleasure while he was around.

We did comment on articles and about how much we were learning personally from reading on the internet or in magazines.

We did read those things aloud to him when he wished it or asked.

We did make grocery lists and ask for his input.

We did buy MAGIC: The Gathering cards when he asked and took him to the local comic book store to play with adults and teens and kids around his age.

We did get him a DS when we had the money and his own computer.

We did sometimes put closed captioning on movies we were watching.

And all of these things were observed, processed, and tucked away.

And then we noticed: he was reading.

He was reading captions on movies and he was reading instructions on video games and he was figuring out what his Magic cards could do without asking for me to help him.

This didn't happen over night.

There was a lot of in between.

Panic on my part: what if he never reads? Should I be pushing this?

Oh but every time I pushed he went backward.

Every time.

So reading happened slowly and on its own.

A few months ago he finished reading his first novel independently.

About a month ago he wrote a postcard to friends back home without asking for my help.

He wanted to write to them. He saw the importance of communication: I write postcards to a list of eight people every time we change states. Sometimes I add more friends or family members to this list. He saw that. He wanted to participate. He wanted to do it privately and independently. And so he did.

One of the toughest things about this process is the asking.

There is a lot of asking around this place.

I hear the words, "How do you spell...?" many times each day.

Some days more than others.

Jonah doesn't have lists of spelling words. He spells the words he wants to use when and as he wants to use them.

He reads fluently now and his vocabulary is voluminous. We still read a lot of books together. Right now we're reading Inkheart (and by together, I mean I read and he listens to as many chapters as I can muster and when I run out of voice sometimes he makes me tea so he can hear more of the story). He is reading The Adventures of Tin-Tin. He knows many words.

Today he decided he wanted to write a spell book and create a wizarding school for his sister to attend.

He worked on the book for about an hour this morning. He knew some of the words but most of them he asked me how to spell. He wants to get it right. He wants to spell it perfectly. He doesn't want to guess. And so he writes in pencil and he asks a lot of questions. And in the end he has something useful that he can be proud of.

He and Maeryn have been outside most of the morning practicing the spells he created with their Magi-Quest wands from Great Wolf Lodge. They made capes out of their fleece blankets. They are using Jonah's book as reference material.

When Maeryn says "I don't know how to read," during their lessons, Jonah patiently points to a word he wrote with his own hand and tells her what it says. They help each other. They grow together.

We all do.

That's how unschooling works.