Oklahoma nights

It gets cool when the sun goes down in Grove, Oklahoma!  Don't get me wrong, it's nothing like a Minnesota night.  But it's pretty chilly when we're talking thin RV walls.  Upon arrival, Travis opted to sleep inside Nana and Papa Jim's house.  Linda (Nana) offered to blow up her queen bed and have our typical sleeping arrangements inside their house.  They've got two spare rooms with queen beds and we usually add another queen blow up bed in the dining room and just move the bed out of the way during the day.  Instead of making an inconvenient mess I told kids they could sleep in the RV.  The boys jumped all over that!  Trav was against this idea not wanting to unnecessarily waste all the propane for the RV's furnace.  I told him we wouldn't turn it on.  So now we have children who want to sleep in the RV and a promise of no heat. 

I went out to assess the situation and found a small space heater packed in a cabinet.  Perfect!  We'll use electricity instead of propane and have the boys sleep in the back bedroom so we just have to heat one small area.  But I wasn't comfortable with the boys out there by themselves so I opted to sleep out there with them.  Parker (my barnacle) wanted to sleep wherever I was sleeping, so now 4 of us are planning to sleep on the queen-size bed in the RV.  Calla - the only logical kid of the bunch - chose the other spare bedroom's queen-size bed.  She had it all to herself.

As you stand at the foot of the bed looking at us, Parker is cozy-ed up on the left wearing Calla's giant purple 2-layered winter coat and feety pajamas.  I'm in the middle with a sweatshirt, SmartWool socks, and a scarf.  And Lincoln is on the right with his feety pajamas.  We are all covered with two thick, heavy blankets my sister crocheted for us and a comforter.  Where is Taite, you wonder?  He's at the end of the bed...like a dog.  He rolled himself up in two more crocheted blankets and plopped himself as close to the space heater as possible.  As you can imagine, I didn't have much space to straighten out.  So I either slept with my legs crunched up to my chest - fetal-like position - or I straightened out and slept crooked.

The most unique part to the sleeping story is that the RV was parked on a slope in Jim and Linda's driveway.  Last night I was woken up by Lincoln pushing my face and yelling, "Parker!!  Move over!!"  He was at the lower end of our sloped bed.  It was our second night sleeping together in the RV.  Anytime I woke up either night I found myself lifting Parker and moving her toward her side.  Then I would scoot myself over and re-adjust my covers and pillow.  Then I would drag Lincoln over so he didn't fall off the bed.  I guess this time I had remained sleeping for too long and hadn't rearranged us soon enough.

Nana experienced something similar with Calla.  They weren't on a slope, but Papa Jim was snoring too loud for Nana.  She decided to slip into Calla's bed and cuddle up with her for the night (unbeknownst to Calla).  Nana woke up to Calla pulling her hair and yelling, "Lincoln!!  Stop it!!"  I guess Nana's hair was tickling Calla?  Calla says she was having a dream (or maybe a nightmare?).  Nana asked us to check her head in the morning to see if she was a missing patch of hair.

Who would our family be without our drama queen and king, Calla and Lincoln?  As I pray for my children, I pray that Calla and Lincoln receive the spiritual fruit of self control.  I also always pray James 2:19-20 for all of us.  "...be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires."  I would prefer if God could magically change us, but apparently that's not how it works.

Travis is flying to Nashville tonight for some meetings.  We'll have a bit more indoor sleeping space here so I think we'll try to squeeze all of us inside without a blow up bed tonight in hopes of kindness toward each other all night long and into the morning.  Oh, the adventure of bedtime.

Oklahoma - Trip days 2 and 3

I love warm weather!!!  As I packed the RV last week I asked Travis to please turn on the RV heater so the place warm enough to stand on the carpet without shoes.  (You can't wear snow and mud-filled shoes in the RV.)  Some of the days were so cold and the wind was so swift I couldn't even bear bringing the loads of belongings from the dining room through the garage and out to the RV parked in the driveway just 45 feet away.  I mean...-9...and that wasn't with windchill.  I still had to change some light bulbs on the front porch.  Every time I thought of it, I shivered.  I procrastinated until the very last moment hoping the weather would change.  It did.  The temperatures hit positive numbers Wednesday...5.  (That's f-i-v-e.)  Not much of a windchill either.  A great day to pack and change light bulbs.

DAY 2
Fast forward to Oklahoma (the first stop on our trip).  We crashed the Christmas party at Uncle Gail's house Sunday.  Much of the Boots family (Trav's mom's family) was there including Gail's daughters, Ti and Jackie, and their families.  Their kids are all about the same ages as our kids.  It was GORGEOUS outside!!!  In the 50's!  I stood in the backyard facing the sun, soaking up the Vitamin D.  All nine kids ran around playing football and tag.  They climbed trees, had a tug-of-war, and jumped rope.  Taite and cousin Landrey took Uncle Gail on a nature walk and Taite taught them about petrified wood.  With the snow and rain they've had in Claremore, Oklahoma, the ground was covertly muddy.  Of course Taite and Lincoln were a mess and didn't even notice - they had mud from head to toe!  The girls, on the other hand, noticed and did their best to enjoy the outside without becoming a disaster.  Parker hurried desperately toward me to show me her now-muddy sparkly silver shoes.  No tears, but she was concerned.  We'll work on getting them clean.

Our day was wonderful.  I'd like to say that the weather was the best part about it - because that was a big deal.  But the bigger deal was spending time with such a fabulous family.  Grandma Boots (or Nanny Boots as the rest of this southern family affectionately calls her) is now 90.  Here is a photo of her with 9 of her 17 great grandchildren.  The Boots' family is wonderful and we thoroughly enjoyed our time with them.

DAY 3
Monday's weather was even better...60's!  I sound like a true Minnesotan, I'm still talking about weather.  But it was really nice outside.  So nice that we decided to wash the RV!  And boy did it need it!  The Flyer needed a washing before we left but, as you can imagine, it was just too cold.  Today we were outside in t-shirts, scrubbing away.  We played cribbage and colored pictures outside, too.  We had a hard time bringing ourselves inside.

Inside or outside, Lincoln and Parker entertained us Monday.  They've always been the best of friends/worst of enemies.  Monday they were the best of friends.  They did everything together.  Lincoln would decide to do something and Parker would 'decide' to do the same thing.  Then Lincoln would ask Parker if she wanted to play something else and then she would choose the next activity.  They made up songs.  They played with the farm toys in the garage.  They both helped wash the tires on the Flyer.  They colored together and played UNO.  They even spent time seeing how goofy they could be.  Everything.  I can only hope the rest of the trip is like this!  It's heart-warming to see siblings enjoy each other's company like this.

Parker looked at me and said, "Mommy!  Look at my microphones!"  I corrected her only after she showed everyone in the family her microphones.  ;-)

December 14, 2013 - We left.

“How does it feel?” Travis asked as we crossed the Iowa border.  He was wondering how it felt to leave 15250 Nautica Circle, Prior Lake, to embark upon our 6-week journey.  I wasn’t sure how to answer. 

It’s been a month since we made the commitment to put our house on the market while we are RVing for these 6 weeks.  It sounded logical at the time - then we don't have to worry about keeping our house clean for showings, right?  What better time is there to put your house on the market than when you won’t be in it?!

It was jury duty that brought me back to Minnesota after our trip to Cancun, Mexico, mid-November.  Originally my plan was to stay in Oklahoma for the following two weeks until Thanksgiving.  Then Travis’ brother and his wife would join us all in Oklahoma at Jim and Linda's (Trav's parents) house for the holiday.  A call to jury duty changed our plans.  Travis and I flew back to Minnesota while our children remained in Oklahoma with Jim and Linda for those following weeks.  Yes, Jim and Linda had the kids and dog for 3 weeks without us!  (Lord, bless them immensely!!) It made sense that I would use the time I was without kids and dog (as long as I was not on a jury) to prepare our house.

Scott County has a fabulous jury system.  Potential jurors are divided into groups.  They then call in at 4:30 pm and listen to a recording to find out if their group has to show up to court the following morning.  If not, they are required to call in again at 11:30am the next day.  I abided by all the rules and called twice daily.  Never once was I called in!!!  Instead I spent the entire time with my mom (and some with my sister) spackling, painting, and Magic Eraser-ing walls.  We de-cluttered and organized every room…and every closet.  We used Old English or Aulwood on every cabinet door and piece of wood trim.  Windows were washed.  Carpets were cleaned.  I mean, my mom even had a toothbrush and the Resolve scrubbing every stain in the carpet!!!!!  (We got her something extra nice for Christmas.)  The handyman and our favorite cleaning person both came to our house Thursday.  Our children and dog were no longer allowed in our house.  They all stayed at my mom’s house Thursday and Friday nights.   

Our friend Teri came Friday to take pictures of our house.  She sent them to our realtor and the house is now officially listed…for these next 6 weeks.  I could barely handle the small messes Travis and I were making.  I told Travis he couldn’t shower in our bathroom because it has a glass door and I didn’t want water stains on the door.  Can you imagine the toys, clothes, artwork, and school messes?  Mail and meals?  Bathrooms?  And KC’s hair!!!  No thanks.  I will not be able to keep up with it.  We won’t be able to have the house on the market while we are home.  How do people do that?!?! 

Amidst the house preparation we packed the RV for this trip.  I have no idea if I’ve packed everything we need.  I guess we’ll find out as we go.  Besides preparing a house and packing for a 6-week trip, we continued with school.  Both Taite and Calla had their biggest-school-projects-of-the-year due last Tuesday.  There were Christmas preparations for the Wilson’s Christmas and Christmas at school (homeschool school).  Our Christmas card/letter got 50% done (you probably saw the Facebook post or received an email).  And, on top of all of that, there was still MonaVie business to take care of.  I’m stressed out just reading about all this.  I’m sure my health score has dropped a color.  MonaVie just came out with a new herb capsule to manage stress and anxiety.  I learned it works!  As long as I take it. 

"How does it feel?” Travis asked an hour and a half into our drive.  Well, when I saw a for sale sign in my yard Thursday my jaw dropped and I almost cried – I’m not sure if it was tears of sadness or joy.  It all became a tiny bit more real.  Today when we got on Interstate 35 driving south it again became a hair more real.  Just a hair.  Just give me an entire day where I don’t have to plan, prepare, organize, clean, or search for any piece of rogue fuzz and I’ll be in a completely different place.  

Embarking our next adventure,
The Wilson's

 

(Notice the "For Sale" sign in the background.  Yikes!)

Christmas Card 2013

Our family just keeps getting weirder.  We know it.  We’re fine with it.  It was just two years ago that we were feeling like God was calling us to homeschool.  “Why,” you ask?  We still aren’t 100% sure.  We were perfectly pleased with our public schools and I was counting down the days until all four kids were gone all day!!  Boy life changed...and now we can’t imagine it differently.  One of our favorite parts of homeschooling is the flexibility to travel.  Last year we bought a 1999 Itasca Sunflyer RV (affectionately named the Nautica Flyer) and lived my dream of being snowbirds!  We flew south for six weeks and traveled Route 66.  We were studying Native Americans so we examined that culture along the way.  The Flyer eventually landed in California.  If  you can’t find us during a Minnesota winter, check San Diego.  It was an unforgettable trip!  http://priorlakewilsons.blogspot.com/.

We’re feeling God calling us now, too.  So...here goes...we’re being called to farm.  It’s true!  What a perfect addition to homeschooling.  Does anyone have a jean dress I could use?!  Teach me how to put a bun in my hair with a bonnet?!  Seriously!  Never in my life have I wanted to farm.  I never even contemplated it until I married Travis, he’s the farm boy.  I told him I would not move to acreage.  Travis has traveled often for work and I was the lawn manicurist.  No way would I spend days mowing!  Now roles are changing.  Not only does Travis mow with Taite’s weed-whipping help, but he has read every book possible about organic farming (a Joel Salitan groupie).  He has a new plan on how to mow the lawn...with animals! 
   
Are the kids excited about this?  Nobody wants to leave our fabulous, huge, lake access, tennis/basketball court, sand volleyball court, wrap-around front porch, best-neighbors-ever home.  That being said, Taite is already planning how he’ll make a football field at this new place and how he’ll divide his friends on opposing teams.  Calla is trying the latest farm fashions.  She’s got all of us wearing our cowboy (or cowgirl) boots and more.  She is also reading up on horses.  Travis says there is no way we are getting horses, but Calla’s preparing a convincing pro-equestrian argument.  Lincoln is excited to find the best hiding spots (I think he’s planning ways to get out of farm work).  Parker is excited for animals.  If she can hold them that’s a bonus.  Then she can play house with them.  KC is ready to roam.  Is it possible to transition a house dog into a farm dog?  We’ll try.  I’m excited about planting lots of fruit and nut bushes/trees.  I am freaked out about the work it takes to run a farm.  Thankfully God has already sent us some farming angels.  Our friends, the Backlund’s, have agreed to partner with us.  Travis is excited about the whole thing, but, like me, he is committed to his business.  Unlike me, his business is a full-time gig and he won’t have much time to farm.  The Backlund’s are a key ingredient to this farm.  
   
Seven years ago we moved into our Prior Lake home, we had two kids, sent our kids to public preschool, planned to open a wine store, I was a pharmaceutical sales rep, and Travis was working tirelessly to get an insurance business going.  We were set in those ways and would not, could not have written this plan.  It is obvious to us how God has beautifully orchestrated our lives for our good and for His purposes.  In those moments of fear and anxiety we remind ourselves that His plan is much better than our plan, and that He’ll only give us what we can handle.
   
It was in that same way He sent Jesus, the Savior of the world.  Nobody could have planned it the way it happened, and the people of that time expected something much different.  But it was perfect and our family is eternally grateful.  We are also grateful for you and will plan to invite you to the new farm...once we know where it is...and once we make sure a house is on the farm.  ;-)

Christ’s love to you,
Travis (40 in April!), Kate (29 as always),
Taite (9), Calla (7), Lincoln (5), Parker (4), and KC (14!)
Wilson

Lesson #19 ~ We Learned A Lot!

Lesson #19 ~ We learned a lot

In 1997 I participated in a University of Minnesota foreign exchange program.  I went to Venezuela for three months to study Spanish.  My eyes were opened to so many things while I was there.  So many unforgettable experiences are etched into my memory.  And I learned so much about myself.

Just like my experience in Venezuela, this 6-week RV trip is unforgettable.  We see possibilities like we’ve never seen them before.  We saw things we didn’t even know existed.  We felt soft and fuzzy things.  We felt pokey, painful things.  We smelled things that made us want to pass out and things that made us want to eat.  We heard soothing sounds.  We heard ear-piercing sounds.  We tasted delicious things.  We tasted disgusting things.  It was amazing and I pray God lets us experience something like this again.  We are returning to Minnesota a slightly different family - we learned a lot along the way.

We learned:

Our children are very funny and fun

Lincoln is hilarious

Becoming a better person equates to a better marriage and a better family

We can really enjoy where we are

We have incredible friends all around the country

Mindy is the best sister ever

KC is the best dog ever

It’s really fun to travel with Jim and Linda in an RV

We miss Grammy when we are away

Parker is a cuddle bug and has a magnetic pull to my leg

Taite is very responsible

Calla is very helpful

Everyone needs their sleep

I stress easily if I’m paying attention to my phone and get interrupted

The kids can get along with a lot less (one toy each for six weeks!)

The adults can get along with a lot less

Humans need to take better care of animals

Humans need to take better care of the environment

If we want to be healthier, spend time with healthy people

If we want to be more like Christ, spend time with Christ-followers

Pray about everything

Know that our money isn’t our money - it’s God’s

Know that God can do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine

Our kids are cute

There is a lot to see and do in our own country

Our family can do well in a confined space for over a month

Quantity time with our kids is as important as quality time

San Diego’s cold 50 degrees is still warmer than Prior Lake’s -2 degrees

Our cheap or free excursions are as, or more, fun than the expensive ones

We don’t lose as many things in our confined space

Our children can play hide and seek anywhere

Taite often gets ‘sick’ when he has to do schoolwork

Lincoln really likes Perplexus

Taite loves to draw, he doesn’t like to write

All of our kids can remember a lot

All of our kids are very intelligent

Lincoln is unbelievably intelligent

Everyone likes animals

Lincoln likes motors and fast things more than animals

We know God has blessed us with much, but it might be more of a blessing to have less

Minnesota is beautiful - even if it's cold

We have a great church family in Minnesota

We have great friends in Minnesota that we miss when we are gone

God makes all things work for good for those who love him and are called to his purpose

Once home, I noticed our kids bickering over their ‘things.’  While it’s important to take care of the things we have, I was disappointed to see them fighting over toys or yelling at a sibling for breaking a toy.  We hadn’t experienced that in weeks.  My friend, Amy Rogers, mentioned a great book she read called Seven.  It’s about a woman who did an experiment in her family, getting rid of all the excess in seven different areas of their lives.  Ultimately it proved to her that the excess is more of a problem than a blessing.  I consider.

We are still living in a place of, "Wow!  We really just did that!  Some people dream of doing that."  Long story short, our family has been impacted for a lifetime.  We are grateful to be back.  We are excited to see what lies ahead for our family.

Lesson #18 ~ We Have Incredible Friends Around The Country

“I can’t see the gas station.  Which way do I turn?” said Travis as we exited in Omaha, Nebraska.  The fog was thick!!!  We couldn’t see more than 20 yards in front of us.  We’d rather have fog than freezing rain, though.  We stayed in Lincoln, Nebraska, for an extra night due to Des Moines’ icy forecast.  Better safe than sorry.  

Our extra night in Nebraska was well worth the stay.  In fact, our entire weekend was fabulous!  We arrived Friday within 3 minutes of Amy, Elijah, and Aleni Rogers pulling into their driveway after school.  Let the fun begin!!!  Nine-year-old Aleni is a popular girl to our family.  "I get to sit by Aleni!" all three of our youngest children called in unison in hopes of sitting on the recliner with her.  Elijah and Taite took the couch while we all drove the Flyer to the YMCA to meet “The Other Wilson’s.”  The Other Wilson’s are one of our favorite families.  Like Travis, Brian is a Family Heritage director.  He and his wife Amanda have been our friends for more than a decade.  Their family has grown from no kids or dogs to six girls and two dogs in less than 6 years.  (Wish I had a pic of them to add.  Beautiful family.)

The kids swam and played at the Y.  Some of the big kids, including Brian, played a pseudo-volleybal game working to keep the ball out of the water while counting the hits/bumps.  Taite was fired up to be part of the record-holding team at 30 hits.  

We all parted ways to have dinner then the Other Wilson’s re-joined us at the Rogers’ home.  The kids ran and played while the adults laughed and talked.  Elijah, the Rogers’ 7-year-old son, recently brought home some math worksheets from school.  He was excited to have the kids over to play 'school.'  Of course our kids, who have now done school on a Saturday, raised an eyebrow at the thought of Friday night school.  Usually Calla plays the teacher, but that night 10-year-old Hailey Wilson announced herself as the teacher, grabbed her whip, and told everyone to put their heads down on their desks.  Thankfully nobody got hurt and all the kids had a grand old time playing together.  Everyone crashed at bedtime, exhausted and full from eating the delicious meal Amy had prepared.  

The Rogers are another of our favorite families.  Curtis, too, is a director in the insurance business.  (There are only 35 directors for Family Heritage in the United States.  Kind of fun to have three of them in the same room.)  They enjoy sharing ideas and Curtis is a great Christian mentor.  Amy has become a dear friend of mine.  She has a strong listening ear and is great at sharing ideas.  We spent time with their family while we were in Tucson, Arizona, just a few weeks ago, then again in Vegas.  We got to see them this weekend, and they hosted their business group’s new year party so we spent time with a few of our other Nebraska and western Iowa friends as well.  (Again, wishing I had done a better job of taking pictures this time. ;-))

“The word is ‘cute,’” said Lena Beelek as she dropped her green Disney Apples to Apples card in the middle of the living room floor.  Eleven of us checked the red cards in our hand in hopes of laying the perfect card for our judge.  

“Oh!  Oh!  Who has the card that says ‘Hailey Wilson’???!!!  That will be the winner!!!” exclaims Hailey.

“The word is ‘exciting,’” said Lincoln.  I knew which one would be the winner.  There were  a lot of great choices - Brian Wilson put down Lightning McQueen.  Usually you can’t go wrong with any Cars character...unless ‘Underwear’ is one of the choices.  Sometimes Lincoln just walks around saying ‘underwear.' He might yell it out in the middle of a conversation.  You just never know about him.  Lincoln chose my 'Underwear' card as the winner and the game continued.

Besides being fun and funny, another great thing about the Rogers and the Wilson’s is they are families walking toward Christ.  We’ve been able to spend time with so many people who encourage and lead our family in a faith journey.  These two families are no exception.  We joined the Rogers’ for their church service and class Sunday morning.  It was like God was holding me by the shoulders, shaking me and saying “Wake up!!!  I’m trying to tell you something!!”  Ephesians 3:20 was the sermon topic for us two weeks in a row now - and the previous week we were in Reno, Nevada!  

Ephesians 3:20 says, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.”  Boy have we experienced that on this trip!  How funny to think that what I wanted for our jobs, school, lives - which sounded so good when I was drumming it up on my own - pales in comparison to how He’s blessed us.  And all we had to do was say yes and be obedient.  If Ephesians 3:20 is His message to us, I can’t even imagine what He might have in store for us these next 11 months!  January has been pretty spectacular!

The Sunday school class focused on God’s money loaned to us.  It was just as impactful as the service.  What was impactful for the kids was all the falls they took on the ice later in the day as we once again went ice skating - this time at the Ice Box in Lincoln, Nebraska.  Taite counted himself falling only 6 times.  He’s getting better!  Lincoln was really good on skates (for a four-year-old who’s never been on them).  Once open skating was over we all stepped off the rink to watch the zamboni resurface the ice.  Lincoln was mesmerized.  I’ve tried to avoid hockey as a sport for my children.  The Ice Box experience did not help.

One thing Lincoln doesn’t avoid is food.  The boy can eat!  Due to poor weather conditions in both Lincoln and Des Moines we opted to accept the Rogers‘ invitation to stay another night. For dinner Travis made two ground almond and mozzerella crusted pizzas.  (We’ve really gotten into this no-wheat thing.)  Amy made fondue - a first experience for our kids.  We all loved it - even the kids enjoyed the pizza.  The cheese fondue was super fun.  Watching the kids eat the chocolate fondue was like watching ants gather on a slice of watermelon.  Lincoln announced he was not going to let there be left overs.  “I’m never gonna be full.  I’m gonna eat all the strawberries and bananas and cuties and chocolate.”  True to his word he finished every last drop that the other nine of us couldn’t even think about since we were so full. 

Dinner, dishes, baths, stories, and bedtime.  Early to bed Sunday night for everyone.  Monday morning came fast.  It was tough to roll everyone out of bed - Parker and Calla slept until we woke them at 9:15!  We drove the seven hours home in thick fog - at times only seeing 50 yards in front of us.  But we made it!  Ferrari-driver Travis had no problems.

One of the things we have incorporated for our family’s health is seeing our incredible chiropractor, Dr. Kuntz.  We go to him for most things health-related.  We have missed him dearly.  We can’t just go to any chiropractor because very few of them can do what he does.  After driving 5,850 miles around the country we were all in desperate need of an adjustment.  We didn’t even drive home.  We went to see Dr. Kuntz first.  We took up two spaces in the parking lot and walked in disheveled - Lincoln in two mismatched right-footed shoes, Parker in pajamas and no shoes, and Calla in pajamas.  We just happened to run into my sister there, Auntie Mimi.  The kids were fired up!!!  

Mindy (aka Auntie Mimi) went to her house to change and load KC into her car after leaving the chiropractor.  Little did she know that she would wind up helping us unload the RV when she got to our house to drop off KC.  But thanks to her and my two best helpers, Calla and Taite, Travis and I unloaded the RV in less than an hour.  My kitchen, dining room, and pretty much every other room in the house are disasters, but the RV is unloaded and ready to go to Brambilla’s RV sales and service for an oil change and other maintenance work.

“Taite!  Where are you?  I need your help,” I hollered up the stairs.  

“I’m exploring,” responded Taite.  After being gone for six weeks you’d probably have to explore to grasp your surroundings.  KC spent 20 minutes sniffing the yard to be reminded of where he was.  Parker started crying in the middle of the night.  I awoke to her cries, but it took me a minute to get out of bed.  I had no idea where I was, or how to get to Parker.  I guess I should have done a little more exploring before bedtime as well.  

Our family has talked a bit about the things we learned on this RV trip.  We’ll take the weekend to lament over them.  The kids will be with Grammy (my mom).  Both parties are mutually excited for the weekend.  Travis and I head to Orlando.  He’s joining me for a MonaVie event.  Sunday we return.  We’ll take a deep breath and plan to enjoy our time in Minnesota for the coming months.

    

P.S. The professional pictures of my kids are taken by someone Linda hired in Grove, Oklahoma.  Ummm...I'm a little biased, but aren't our children so stinkin' cute!?!?

Lesson #17 ~ Super Heros Are Super Cute

Lesson #17 ~ Super Heros are Super Cute!

“A-wimoweh.  A-wimoweh...”  We sang our way through the Sierra Nevadas toward Lake Tahoe.  (Swiss Family Robinson, right?!)  Thanks to the San Diego Zoo’s Little Critters show and a cute hippo and dog video on YouTube, we have been singing ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’ for a week.  It entertained us for quite some time along the drive Saturday.  I promise our rendition will never go public.  

Our resident Wikipedia (Travis) interrupted our songs a few times to introduce us to the sandstone and granite surrounding us along the drive.  He pointed out the various pine trees and shared with us his experience with sugar pine cones.  We learned about the tree line - the noticeable difference where you’ll find an abundance of trees compared to where the lack of water or the elements stunt the growth of the vegetation.  We drove through a few passes.  Yuba Pass’ 2009 fire was started by a hawk hitting a power line.  Still today we could see the black bark, fallen trees, and pine trees with a bare bottom half showing us the remnant of the forest fire.  Snow tubing was a popular sport up high in the mountains.  We reached a peak elevation of 7,252 feet.  Our ears were popping!  

Tahoe is a place to which I’ve never been, but have desired to go.  I can see why Mark Twain says it’s the second best lake in the world next to Lake Como in Italy.  Lake Tahoe was clear blue.  Beautiful pine trees surrounded the area.  Quaint towns were scattered around the lake.  The clear water reminded me of being at Rum Point in the Cayman Islands.  You could see through the blue water down to the sand on the very bottom.  Lake Tahoe was much clearer than our own Prior Lake.  Taite wanted to touch the water.  

We found a roadside stop and pulled over to get a closer look.  Snowy, icy, slippery.  The walkway to the water had me nervous.  It was 40+ degrees out - so our Minnesota kids went without hats and mittens, Calla even went without a jacket!  Everyone landed on their bottoms at least once.  We got as far as I was willing to let the kids go, then Taite wanted to go farther.  Ten more feet brought you to the water, but you had to maneuver snowy, slippery rocks to get there.  I told Taite he could proceed, warning him that I would be staying with the other kids.  Visions of a freezing, soaked Taite danced in my head.  He carefully balanced his way, reached down to feel the water and see it close-up, and took a moment to enjoy it.  Thankfully he returned to us dry.  We walked back to Travis and the Flyer (where Travis stayed to protect the rig as we were not parked in an official parking spot).  Our friend Sarah Fierro encouraged us to look for pogonip in the mountains, we think we found some at Lake Tahoe.

Lake Tahoe rests on the border of California and Nevada.  There was no question where the Nevada border was!  There was a giant lighted sign flashing “Casino” right at the border - it seemed to be in place of a “Welcome to Nevada” sign. ;-)  The commerce might have changed, but the beauty of the area didn’t.  I was so glad we took the time to drive around the northern half of the lake.  Beauty etched into my memory.

My memories of Cash Fierro are of his passion for super heros.  “Do you want to be Spiderman?” was one of the first things we heard when we arrived in Reno.  We’ve known the Fierro’s for over a decade, Travis works with John, Sarah has become a great friend of mine, and our kids get along very well.  Saturday they welcomed us with open arms, warm hearts, and a delicious meal.  Pasole soup and chicken enchiladas - YUM!  I had never even heard of pasole soup.  It just became a new favorite.  We all attended their church service Saturday night.  It was nice to change things up from the Nautica Flyer Community Church to Hope Community Church.  We were grateful to share that with them.  Sunday was a Spiderman birthday party at the Discovery Museum, football, haircuts (Sarah is a trained stylist), the Lorax, games, and lots of chatting.  

We hadn't yet had our fill of fun and learning so we stayed in Reno for more.  Nevada currently mines 79% of all the gold in the United States, which is why I wanted to visit a gold mine while we were there.  I found one (just one) that was open this time of year and available for tours.  While John went to work Monday, Sarah and the boys joined our family in the Flyer.  We drove to Virginia City to relish in the remains of the Comstock Lode.  The Ponderosa Saloon and Mine gave us that glimpse.  (Yes, we’ve now brought our children to a winery in Los Gatos, bar in Vegas, and Saloon in Virginia City - yikes!).  Today the Ponderosa is a saloon, but it started as the Bank of California before anyone attempted to mine for gold.  The tour was fun.  Our toothless tour guide was very informative.  It was great to see how it all worked.  The Gold Rush is one of our upcoming school units.  How fabulous to have real-life visuals for it.

“Look at those snow popsicles!” Lincoln says as we are walking down the street of Virginia City.  The snow was melting in the mountains.  Lots of icicles had formed - to the point of having to post signs to beware of icicles!   Lincoln is a very observant child.  He is also very vocal - about everything.

“Cash!  Look at that puddle!  Step in it!” says Lincoln.  Normally he would say such a thing to Parker, but she happened to be riding in a backpack and unavailable to participate in his schemes.  I can’t decide if he purposely tries to get other kids in trouble or not.  Thankfully I had Travis to help me keep Lincoln in line.  After a couple of hours in Virginia City the parents had had enough.  Time to head home.

It was perfect timing for us to leave so Cash could get to his karate class on time.  Once Cash returned from karate we ate another scrumptious dinner - lasagna.  The kids ate and ate and talked and ate.  “Whose favorite number is 1,012?” yells Lincoln out of nowhere.    Five people raised their hands!?!  

“Cash, what would happen if there was syrup on this yazasta (lasagna)?” asks Lincoln.  The rest of us gave Lincoln that look of “What?!?”  But not Cash.

“No!  What if there was bugs in it?!” was Cash’s immediate response.  Lincoln and Cash get along very well.  They seem to often think alike.  This conversation went on.

Tuesday morning came quickly.  Cash and the kids were sad to part.  We said our goodbye’s and started traveling east once again.  We stopped in Winnemucca to have lunch with John at Chihuahua's.  John is a ‘foodie,’ so we were not at all surprised that our lunch was incredible even though Winnemucca is a rinky-dink town off Interstate 80.  He'd recommend the chicken soup if ever going through.  Exceptional!

Just east of Winnemucca we finally spotted some wild horses.  Sarah has mentioned her experiences with wild horses.  I was determined to spot a mustang since we were in one of only four states where you could encounter them.  There are over 30,000 mustangs living in the mountain plains of Nevada (more than all the wild horses in the other U.S. states combined).  It was fun to see them in the wild.  We also saw more pogonip - when stopped at a gas station we saw the ice crystals gleaming in the sun.

We drove and drove and drove Tuesday - eight hours entirely through mountains.  We saw only mountains and snow.  Even though we saw the same terrain for eight hours somehow it’s more interesting than the cornfields we typically see.   We stopped in Utah for the night.  It’s cold...like Minnesota cold.  Single digits.  "It's so cold my ears are going to pop off!" said Lincoln.  I think he's confusing the cold with the pressure of driving through the mountains, but cold just the same.  We must use our generator to keep our furnace running all day or our water will freeze and we won’t be able to use the bathroom.  We learned the cold weather in northern Utah is due to a phenomenon called inversion.  Cold temperatures, snow, and the encircling mountains cause the areas warmer air to move to higher elevations.  The result is a great haze or fog hanging in the valley trapping pollutants.  It made it hard to see and not pretty.  Normal for SLC in January.

The border was very distinct between Nevada and Utah.  Not just because of the casinos on the Nevada side.  The moment we crossed over the Utah border we saw the salt flats.  Another wonder of nature.  And again, so different.  

We chose to have something different for dinner...Rudy’s Roundup BBQ.  Another winner from urbanspoon.com.  Taite enjoyed an entire 1/3 pound burger called the Button Buster.  True to it’s name, Taite about busted his pants at the end of our meal.  Our eight-year-old eats more than an adult.  Our monthly food bill is already a mortgage payment!  After dinner we plopped ourselves just west of Salt Lake City in order to see the Great Salt Lake before moving on to Wyoming.  

Travis and I have been to Salt Lake City and Park City before.  Both incredibly beautiful.  We were disappointed we couldn’t share that with the kids.  It was just too foggy.  We could barely see the car in front of us.  The Great Salt Lake was calling our names, though.  The Salt Lake Marina was nearby so we parked and got out of the RV in this 16 degree weather.  Calla got out without zipping her jacket.  

"Calla.  Please zip your jacket.  It's only 16 degrees out here," I said.   

"Sixteen degrees!  It feels like...20!" reasoned Calla.  Maybe the fog clouds our senses too.

Despite the cold, we put our hand in the water.  Chili, but warmer than Lake Tahoe according to Taite.  Travis said it was really soft water.  His hand felt soft and looked white once the water dried on it.  As we all went down to touch the water, Travis said, “Don’t taste it.”  Immediately we heard spitting noises from Lincoln. ;-)  Of course he had put his hand in his mouth right away.  He didn’t like the salty taste.

We had time for one more SLC activity - either the Mormon temple (which you can’t go in unless you are Mormon) or the MonaVie corporate headquarters.  MonaVie won and Christina, the front desk receptionist, led us on a tour.  It was fun to see where everything happens.  At the end of our tour, an incredibly kind executive support representative named Tim offered to buy lunch for us.  While we didn’t need lunch, we chose to share a hot chocolate with him and got to pick his brain about the inner workings of MonaVie.  He brought out Lindsey, our dedicated executive support representative, so we could meet her and he brought out the View - the antioxidant tester.

In early September and again in October I scanned yellow - putting me at average health.  Not what I had hoped for, but I’ve learned “That which is measured can be improved.”  I increased my MonaVie dosage, removed wheat from my diet, decreased the amount of sugar I ate, increased my intake of sunshine, and added more sleep each night.  This time I scanned blue - having moved up two colors on the health scale and very close to optimal health!  Yea!  I’m headed in the right direction.  Travis and Lincoln scanned green, Calla scanned blue, and Taite was purple.  Parker was afraid of the pencil-sharpener-looking machine and chose not to get scanned but claims that she is purple because that’s her favorite color, “well, pink and purple.”  

We brought our green, blue, and purpleness back to the RV so we could return to Interstate 80.  We cracked open the school books.  Every once in awhile we stopped to enjoy the view, but Wyoming didn’t have much of a variety for us.  The things we have liked about Wyoming so far are the temperatures - above 32 so our water lines are useful - and gas prices.  In California we paid just over $4.00 per gallon.  Here (only one week later) we are paying $2.89.  When you are buying 50 to 100 gallons of gas in a day that adds up.

Tonight we are enjoying our Flying J ‘boondocking’ experience (as Travis calls it).  We took a spot in the RV section of the parking lot hoping all of our batteries work tomorrow.  Hoping for sweet dreams, too.