DrivenToEducate

Driven to Educate...In Africa?

2009-07-08T13:31:51-07:00

After being home for several months we have now moved out of our motorhome and into an apartment (our house is still rented). Life is moving toward some semblance of normal and we’ve had some time to process our journey. It seems the farther away we get from it, the better it becomes. Funny, I guess we tend to gloss over the bad and hold on to the good. I know for sure that our tour of the US had moments where one or all of us wanted to “turn this bus around” and go home, but overall it was one of the best years of our lives and none of us would trade it.

Coming home was strange. It was almost like we had never left. We jumped right back into the things we had always done. I started teaching a 14 week US Geography class for our homeschool support group and the boys picked up basketball, then baseball with the church leagues. The only truly difficult part was finding work for my husband, but there was no way to predict that our economy would be in such dire straights when we left. That’s just a chance we took.

In no time at all we were as busy as we were before we left, and my heart sank, feeling that we hadn’t learned anything, or at least what we had learned hadn’t stuck. My husband was doing freelance IT work and was gone all the time. I was ferrying the boys from one activity to the next and spending hours planning and teaching 20 other kids. We were being sucked back into that same old rut. It was time to refocus.

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For Sale - Diesel Motorhome with custom Bunk Beds

2009-03-17T22:00:00-07:00

We are now offering our fabulous, family-friendly 2005 Holiday Rambler Ambassador 40 PLQ for sale to the next adventurous group. It has served us well and we have been very happy with the modifications we made (read about them or see some photos here ). If you are considering traveling in a motorhome for an extended period of time with children, this is the perfect rig for you! Contact us for details and more pictures of this one-of-a-kind RV. We are asking $109,900 OBO.

A Look Back...Places We Went

2009-03-15T21:55:19-07:00

Just for fun I compiled a list of the places we'd visited. It could be useful for people in the planning stages, wondering where to go or what to see, particularly if they only have a short amount of time. Just listing the places we've been brings back so many great memories it makes me want to do it again. I'm sure I've left out several places. I went through my planner to get the information, which was often filled in after the fact. I'm trying to do better with that, but in the meantime, it's a pretty incredible list. Take a look...

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Last stop...Chattanooga

2009-03-03T12:31:04-08:00

Our last stop. The end of the road. We've been to Chattanooga before, but we really like it, so we decided to stop on the way home. We made it back in Tennessee, finishing our trip just in time to celebrate Christmas with the rest of the family. We had planned to "See Rock City " and the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park. Unfortunately, it rained the whole time we were there. So, we exchanged those outdoor activities for indoor ones, including the Creative Discovery Museum, which is Chattanooga's children's museum. The kids beg to go to the children's museums and this one was really fun. A great way to spend a rainy day. We also explored the Tennessee Aquarium, one of the best in the country. There are 2 buildings, the River Journey and the Ocean Journey, which divide the wildlife into freshwater and saltwater animals. When you enter you ride a very long escalator to the top of the "ecosystem". Then you begin making your way from the surface deeper and deeper into the water. As you spiral down the fish get bigger, more colorful, and stranger. It's really impressive. The kids even got to feed stingrays!

Packing up to leave was bittersweet. We were anxious to see our friends and family, but knew that our once-in-a-lifetime journey was coming to a close. Beyond that, we had no idea what we were going to do next. Three months later, we still have no idea and no job. I remain certain that God has a plan for us. He has given us some things to think about, but for now...it's one day at a time.

World's Largest Painting in Atlanta

2009-03-03T12:08:36-08:00

Atlanta. There is so much to do. We stayed for a week and barely scratched the surface. For starters, we stayed at the Stone Mountain park campground during the Stone Mountain Christmas celebration. We had lots of fun watching live Christmas shows, the 4-D Polar Express Movie, drinking hot chocolate and riding the Christmas Carol Train. Later, we visited Centennial Olympic Park for some ice skating. It was the first time the boys had ever been, and they came away with a few bruises, but smiles on their faces. For dinner we sampled a burger from the Varsity and heard the famous "What'll you have?".

Along with the fun and games we hit a few history highlights. First, the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site. We toured the museum and Dr. King's boyhood home, then the boys completed the Jr. Ranger program. The next day we visited the Atlanta Cyclorama and Civil War Museum. In the Cyclorama is the largest painting in the world, depicting the Battle of Atlanta. It was painted by German artists in 1885-86, covers more than 15,000 square feet and weighs more than 10,000 pounds! There was a 3-dimensional foreground added to the painting in 1936 that really brings it to life. To view the painting, you sit on a rotating platform that slowly turns you around. It's really stunning, and the story told by the tour guide as you make the journey really adds to the painting. If you look closely you'll find a soldier that looks like Clark Gable and amazingly only one African American. It's very unique and definitely worth seeing.

Ft. Sumter - Civil War Beginnings

2009-03-01T22:00:00-08:00

We left Georgia and made our way north to Charleston, South Carolina. We had already seen several major Civil War battlefields and the Lincoln Museum in Springfield, IL, so we knew a little bit about the Civil War, but Fort Sumter, in Charleston Harbor, is where it all began. We had to see it.

We visited the Fort Sumter National Monument at Fort Moultrie . This fort is no longer in use and has been restored to show how it looked through every phase of history that it was in service. You see how it looked when it guarded the harbor from submarines during WWII all the way back to when it was first built from Palmetto logs in 1776, plus all the different types of artillery used. It's a great tour. Just off the coast you can see Fort Sumter, and during the tour you get a great explanation of what happened at the start of the Civil War. We completed the tour, then went back to the museum to complete the Jr. Ranger program. Very worthwhile.

According to the handy little map on our RV window, South Carolina is the 39th state on our tour! Wow. It's hard to believe it's almost over. What an amazing blessing this trip has been.

Walking Tour of Savannah

2009-02-21T22:00:00-08:00

Downtown Savannah, Georgia is beautiful. It is everything that comes to mind when you think of southern charm. Lots of big shade trees surrounding inviting squares throughout the city (24 of them, in fact) that make you want to sit a while. This place is full of history - the original capital of Georgia, birthplace of Juliette Gordon Low (founder of the Girl Scouts), home of the First African Baptist Church (stop on the Underground Railroad), and the final stop of "Sherman's March to the Sea" during the Civil War. Because of the incredible amount of history and beauty here we decided to take a Civil War walking tour.

I wish I could tell you it was great, but it wasn't. The tour guide was dull. Really dull. And she spoke way over our boys' heads. They didn't understand anything she was saying. To tell the truth, I didn't understand half of what she said (she was from overseas and had a heavy accent). I was so disappointed. Maybe if we had taken a different tour it would have been better. Oh well. You can't always pick a winner.

Exploring St. Augustine

2009-02-21T18:34:34-08:00

We followed I10 from Houston, along the Gulf Coast, all the way to Jacksonville, Florida. We had come full circle - from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific and back to the Atlantic. Unfortunately, the timing of our trip kept us from really enjoying the beaches. It was too chilly most of the time, and early December in Florida is nice, but again, too chilly for swimming. Instead we settled for searching for seashells, exploring beautiful St. Augustine, and visiting with our favorite former neighbors.

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Thanksgiving in Tallahassee

2009-02-19T22:00:00-08:00

We spent Thanksgiving in Tallahassee, FL. Early in the day we made our own cornucopia. After a late lunch with the typical Thanksgiving fare, we headed to a nearby park to enjoy the beautiful weather. We had scoped it out the day before and found a really cool BMX track. The boys were itching to try it. I, on the other hand, was a little nervous. I have vivid memories of Griffin doing a headder off his bike into the curb, dislocating his jaw and knocking a tooth out. It was very scary. Standing at the top of the course with its hills and jumps, I was doing a lot of praying and trying not to show fear. Mason went first and made it once, slowly, without incident. The next time around, after a little coaxing from Dad, he went faster. Sure enough, he bit it. All three of us came running down the course toward where he was tangled up in his bicycle screaming. I feared the worst, but he was OK. Dan kept telling me not to baby him. "You're alright," he encouraged.

Next up, Griffin. I kept replaying the tapes of his mangled face from the last wreck. Even worse...he is fearless. One of our friends calls him a "bulldog in a chihuahua's body". It was frightening to watch. He hit the course at full speed and wobbled through several turns, but finally made it through. They had a blast. We have so much to be thankful for...our safety and the spirit of adventure in our boys. They keep us young.

Bayou Swamp Tour

2009-02-18T12:41:37-08:00

Although we considered stopping in New Orleans, we decided to bypass it and drive all the way to Biloxi, Mississippi. After our visit to Las Vegas we weren't particularly interested in visiting another city that caters more to adults than children. It just wasn't a good experience for the whole family. The second reason we kept going was that our friends Dave and Sharon were already in Biloxi saving us a spot. They are retired and are fulltiming in their own motorhome. We've been able to meet up with them a couple of times on the road. Our kids LOVE Dave and Sharon. They are so much fun. We pulled in late at night, after driving all day, and Sharon and Dave came running out of their RV to help us get parked. The next day we went to church with them. After a moving sermon a few of us donated our shoes to be sent to South America and left in our sock feet. From there we tip-toed over to the Katrina Memorial and took a good look at the collage made from items collected in the debris.

Since we were on the bayou we decided to take a swamp tour, riding in a swamp boat looking for alligators and other creepy creatures. Unfortunately, it was so cold that the gators weren't out. They were hidden, trying to stay warm, which is where we should have been. It was FREEZING! The swamp tour would have been really cool in the summer, but in the winter it's not really worthwhile. Regardless, we enjoyed the good company.