Traveling can be an adventure!

Well we packed up and headed southwest on Sunday. Although it was only a 6 1/2 hour drive it felt like 16 hours. We hadn't gotten 15 miles from home when we stopped to fill our tanks then start the trip. I decided to get something from the RV while we were stopped. I walked in and smelled the familiar smell of fingernail polish. Baffled, I looked around and discovered the pink nightmare. A bottle that had been neglectfully left out was broken all over the bathroom floor and tub. It had stained my new rug and new shower curtain. I was horrified but proceeded to clean the luscious pink polish in a frenzied attempt to contain order. I was unsuccessful at cleaning the fabrics but was successful in covering my hands in the pink enemy. By this time I was out of paper towels, polish remover, and my husband was wondering why I was taking so long in the RV. I emerged with my pink stained hands and severely aggravated mood. So much for starting the trip off right.

Another milestone for this trip was that we were taking our new cat on his second car ride ever. I had started him out in a carrier but quickly found that he definitely hated it. I decided to test the waters and let him out. He did wonderfully, at first. He laid in my lap or my daughter's lap but at some point he decided the best view was on my head rest and my shoulders. After driving for about two miles I finally dislodged him from his perch. For the next 4 hours he continued to try and reclaim the prized position. Now he's a laid back kind of cat so it wasn't that much of a free for all brawl but still fighting a cat while your traveling at 75 mph can be a bit hairy. He finally gave up and found a spot with the two dogs. (Here's a picture of Jinx chilling today.)

I guess when things like that happen to you that you should just learn to laugh at it or you'll go crazy. Here's to happy traveling!

10 states in 4 days!

One tire blow-out, 13 + gas fill-ups, 2,700 miles, tons of junk food, and three time zones. We are definitely jet lagged, worn out, and ready to not move for awhile. The scenery was amazing though. Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Arkansas we've traveled numerous times. New things we saw were the plains of Kansas, Colorado's Rocky Mountains, Wyoming's rolling hills, and Utah's Salt Flats. It was great. I wish we could have taken the trip a little slower but we were on a deadline.
Well we're here now and before we leave Nevada we plan on taking a trip to San Fransisco and hopefully Napa Valley. I love traveling!

What's normal anyway?

My kids have been homeschooled going on two years and they love it. Each has been in public school and we all decided that it just wasn't worth it. My husband travels for his job and we decided to pack up and go with him. We live in an RV full-time and although it is sometimes inconvenient it has really made our family closer (literally). I don't understand why people still raise their eyebrows at us when they find out that how we live. They may say nice things but you can see it on their faces "that's just not normal". So tell me what is normal anyway? Before our lifestyle change we lived day to day stressed out, over worked, and never had anytime to spend as a family. Now (besides my husband) we have no set schedule, no gotta go here, no gotta do that, it's just a slower pace of life. We have time for exploring, time to just sit and wonder, time to be kids. But of course that's just not normal. We don't each have our own rooms to hide in and vegg-out in front of the the tv. We have to sit down and eat together, we play outside together but that's just not normal. Most people have told me that all that togetherness would drive them insane. Why? You married your spouse to spend all your life with, you had those kids to take care of and love, so why is it so hard to spend time with them? I think people have become so dependent on other distractions like, meetings, church functions, ball games, dance recitals, karate, etc. that they don't know how to just be. Now don't get me wrong I do like to be alone at times but my kids are 10 and 8. I can let them go play without me and we do have friends that travel with us but I still keep a watchful eye. That's my job. Before we homeschooled we hardly ever were asked "how are the kids doing in school", but now it's like they assume the kids are struggling. Why would they? We get to go as fast or slow as we need. My kids are excelling and learning life experiences too. Besides the regular academics I teach them music, Spanish, art, computer skills, and we go to the library. We don't have to worry about being held up by unruly kids or sticking to a cookie cutter education. We make our learning environment the world around us instead of a classroom of 25+ kids. I guess most people have forgotten that some of our most influential people have been homeschooled. But of course it's just not normal.