August - October 2018

Back on the road again, we visited The South, where we gained new appreciate for the history of this country and an even fonder appreciation for people of the South today. We visited the birthplace and home of my grandmother and her side of the family and visited the cemetery of the small church where my relatives and ancestors are buried.

We then met with friends we met in Texas while we were all out of the road, converging and spending a week together in Vidalia, LA. We explored Natchez, MS and Vicksburg, MS together before heading to New Orleans.

While in New Orleans, we opted to leave a few days early under threat of Hurricane Gordon, but not before walking a dog at Villalobos Rescue Center and seeing historic homes.

We retreated New Orleans, setting sights toward Montgomery, but made it was far as Mobile before bad weather caught us. We stayed in Atmore, AL for a few days before heading south toward Gulf Shores, where we spent a HOT week in paradise, even touching foot for a day in Florida, where we saw the Pensacola Lighthouse.

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The end of September found us in Georgia on the Chattahoochee River and then Tennessee in Chattanooga and then Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg.

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After a wild couple of months, we finally found Fall weather in Waynesville, North Carolina.

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Louisiana: Natchitoches, Vidalia, New Orleans

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Mississippi: Natchez, Vicksburg, Port Gibson, BIloxi, Buffett Beach

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Alabama: Mobile, Atmore, Gulf Shores

Florida: Pensacola

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Georgia: Newnan, Chattahoochee Bend State Park, Peachtree City

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Tennessee: Hixton, Chattanooga, Marion County, Lookout Mountain, Pigeon Forge, Sevierville, Gatlinburg

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North Carolina: Waynesville, Asheville, Leicester, Blue Ridge Parkway, Cataloochee Valley, Maggie Valley

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July-August 2018

We found ourselves in the thick of the heat and humidity in Texas through July-- who'd have thought?! We watched over the RV park while the owner took vacation up to Wisconsin. Mid-way through July, Kristi's parents arrived in their RV, haven taken a trip to spend time with us half way across the country. We showed them around Central Texas: San Antonio, New Braunfels, Red Rock, Wimberley, Shiner, Gonzeles, and of course McMahon while they were here.

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August 1st found us in Oklahoma after a tearful departure from Falling Star in Texas. We spent two weeks in Mead, OK helping to train Papa Butch's border collies and spending time with family before setting off for Louisiana.

June 2018

We had an offer we couldn't refuse: stay in a friend's family home in Wisconsin. On the spot, we packed some things into the car-- diapers, clothes, some snacks, the dogs-- and took off on a 21 hour drive north!

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Oklahoma: Mead, OK to visit Dad and Linda

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Missouri: Rolla, MI for the night and a stop in St. Louis, MI for some pics.

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Illinois: No stops here but for a church parking lot somewhere far east of Chicago for a stretch break. They had some Kailyn-sized playground toys, swings, and lots of grass and trees. We could see the skyline of Chicago in the distance as we got back on the highway. We quoted lots of "Wayne's World" as we drove through Aurora!

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Wisconsin: Drove through Milwaukee and Green Bay on our way up to the peninsula. Stops in Door County include Sturgeon Bay, Sister Bay, Efraim, so far!

April-June 2018

We arrived in Austin, Texas late March and found ourselves without a reservation going into Easter weekend and Spring Break time. We were lucky enough to have found Falling Star RV Resort in McMahon, TX, where our RV wheels have remained still far longer than ever before. We've made friends in the park who are now like family and have been asked to stay through July to help run the park.

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In our time here, we've visited San Antonio, New Braunfels, San Marcos, Gonzalez, Bastrop, and Smithville in Texas.

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We flew home to California from San Antonio in May to renew Brent's driver's license and enjoyed working in a quick visit with family and friends, getting to spend a day at Huntington Beach with Memaw and Papa as a bonus! It was Kailyn's first plane ride!

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We also took a roadtrip in our Suburban, leaving the RV in Texas, for the Wisconsin peninsula, where we are enjoying two weeks staying in a friend's family home-- a HUGE blessing and quite possibly the highest point of our adventures for more reasons than one.

March-April 2018

California: Gordon's Well

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Arizona: Yuma, Quartzite, Tuscon, Tombstone

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New Mexico: Las Cruces

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Texas: Fort Stockton, Fredericksburg, Austin (Emma Long Municipal Park on the Colorado River), McMahon, San Antonio, San Marcos, New Braunfels, Red Rock, Bastrop

November 2017- March 2018

Back home to California, bouncing between Jurupa Regional Park in Riverside, Ca. and Prado Regional Park in Chino, Ca. We stayed in Parker, AZ for Brent's dad's memorial and took a two week trip to Williams, AZ to ride the Polar Express, stopping through Quartzite, AZ to visit family. We spent a majority of these months planted near home and spending time with family.

September-October 2017

After August brought us the life-altering loss of Papa Jerry, we pressed on with our travels as we knew he'd have wanted and thought to head east into Montana. With the entire state of Montana on fire and most of the northwest, for that matter, we set our sights on clear skies instead. It took us six days of traveling our re-routed direction into the south of Idaho, but it was a detour we're glad we made. We made two kitty rescues and saw some of the most lovely and astounding landscape we'd seen thus far. 

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We visited Yellowstone and enjoyed all that we saw of Idaho. We parted ways with a kitty rescue who traveled with us for nearly three weeks and ventured home through Utah, where we visited Best Friends Animal Sanctuary again-- a year after our first visit.

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Mid-October found us home in California staying with family while we parked the home in storage. We extended our stay in Southern California through the holidays and will pursue our path east after the first of the New Year.

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Washington: Ellensburg, WA

Oregon: La Grande, OR

Idaho: Emmett, ID; Glenn's Ferry, ID; Twin Falls, ID; Idaho Falls ID; Ashton, ID

Wyoming: Yellowstone Park, WY; Jackson Hold, WY

Utah: Logan, UT, Salt Lake City, UT; Eagle, UT; St. George, UT

California: Calico, CA; Santa Paula, Ca.; Ontario, CA

August 2017

Longview, WA; Kalama, WA; Portland, OR; Aberdeen, Ocean Shores, South Beach, Forks, La Push, Port Angeles, Sequim, Gig Harbor, Seattle, Monroe, WA.

May-July 2107

In May, we returned home again and stayed on a friend's property for three weeks, due to family emergency. When we set back out, we set our sights on Oregon, but unhitched in a few places heading north in California on the way.

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California: River's Edge at King's River, Fresno; Durango RV Resort, Red Bluff; Redding; Shasta; Jedediah State Park (Redwoods)

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Oregon: Valley of the Rogue; Grant's Pass; Crater Lake; Harris Beach, Brookings; Humbug Mountain State Park; Port Orford; Bullards State Beach, Bandon; Tugman State Beach, Lakeview; South Beach State Park, Newport; Florence; Sand Lake Campground; Pacific City; Seaside; Warrenton; Astoria (and though we didn't unhitch everywhere, we enjoyed all the views, highlights, and lighthouses up the coast)

March-May 2017

We ventured out again after several hard and heart-breaking months stationed back home.

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California Coast: Emma Wood State Beach, Santa Barbara, El Chorro Regional Park (San Luis Obispo), Hearst Castle, Morro Bay, Ragged Point, Monterey, Salinas, Big Sur, Half Moon Bay, San Francisco, Lompoc

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Central California: Visalia, Sequoia National Park, Lake McSwain (Snelling, Ca.), Yosemite National Park, Casa de Fruta, King City

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December 2016-March 2017

We returned home for Christmas and then extended our stay after the girls' grandpa fell ill. It was a tough time for more reasons than one, and we spent a majority of the time living in campgrounds close to where home once was. We did, though, squeeze in a few trips.

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Extended Stays: Prado Regional Campground, Chino, Ca. and Jurupa Regional Park, Jurupa, Ca.

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Get-a-ways with Family & Friends: Doheny State Beach, Dana Point, Ca.; Skinner Lake, Temecula, Ca.; Glamis Sand Dunes, Brawley, Ca.

October-December 2016

Arizona: Laughlin, Kingman, Williams, Sedona, Flagstaff, Lee's Ferry, Karchner Caverns, Quartzite

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Utah: Lake Powell, Kanab, St. George, Bryce Canyon, Escalante, Green River

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Colorado: Gypsum, Denver, Loveland, Estes Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, Boulder, Fort Collins, Manitou Springs, Colorado Springs

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Kansas: Syracuse Sand Dunes, Dodge City

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Oklahoma: Mead, Lake Texoma, El Reno

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Texas: Sherman, Abilene, Monahans Sandhills, El Paso

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July-October 2016

We sold our house in July 2017 and were officially moved in to the trailer July 17, when we left our house and checked in at Doheny for our annual camping trip, now official first "home" for a week. After this week, we began our dance of bouncing between local-to-home campgrounds waiting for the birth of our second baby. Eight months pregnant while making the transition to birthing mommy to newborn mommy... I saw a lot of transition in these months.

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California: Doheny State Beach, Dana Point; Prado Regional Park, Chino; Jurupa Regional Park, Jurupa (where we were when our baby arrived!); Yucaipa Regional Park, Yucaipa; My mom's house, Ontario (where we lived for several weeks while the trailer was in the shop getting ready for the much anticipated-at-long-last LAUNCH)