Maryland’s Eastern Shore, Vermont Family, and Fleeing to Florida

January 27, 2018 by Christina 12 Comments

Back to Our Roots on Maryland’s Eastern Shore

October was a month of reconnecting with friends from our college, single and early married days in Delmarva. We got to show the kids the Salisbury City Park and Zoo, Salisbury University (our Alma Mater), Bargain Bill’s flea market, and the church where we were married.

Salisbury University has come a loooong way, and so have the McSweeneys! Only a few months before two of our own will pose for a picture on their own campuses!

John and I stand on the steps of United Centenary Methodist Church in Laurel, DE. Only 8130 days and four children before, we ran through these doors dodging birdseed!

Make new friends, but keep the old…

Introducing the kids to my former church family and the precious friends who poured into us when we were just starting out was more emotional than I had expected. Somewhat sad to realize our lives have taken different paths over the last 17 years. But it was a thrill to get to share this part of our lives with our kids who are almost the age John and I each were when we first came to the Shore. We got our fill of laughter, blue crabs, and whiffs of chicken houses. And craft supplies from Hobby Lobby. Mwahahahahaha!

Sunday worship and a leisurely time to catch up over pizza at Grotto’s with this dear couple did my heart such good. Tom and Kim Birowski were my spiritual mom and dad in college, and Tom was one of the two pastors who performed our wedding. Good job, Tom. It “took” 😉

Fred and Debbie Antonelli dropped by our RV for some hugs. Fred was one of the pastors who married us, and was a huge influence in John’s early days as a Christian. He is now a counselor and author. I can’t wait to read Fred’s new book, Struggling Well

One of my fb friends has been posting pictures of what I’d been missing every summer, but no more! We finally got to the Old Mill Crabhouse and it made me SOOOO HAPPPYYYY!!!

Green Mountain State

We arrived at Mt. Ascutney just after the peak of the Vermont’s amazing foliage display. The weather was lovely, and spending time with John’s five aunts was lovelier still. Uncles and cousins joined in to share delightful stories about John as a cute little kid, and John’s parents as youths. This helped to fill in some of the picture of our children’s rich McSweeney and Hauck heritage, as both John’s parents passed away before their births.

Getaway Mountain Campground was lovely and gave us our first inkling that owning an RV campground just might be a good future for us…stay tuned!

Introducing THE AUNTS!

Aunt Ruth Ann took us to Star Farm, the “camp” where the McSweeney family spent their summers, and where John’s father and mother first met.

Aunt Liz in her new sweater from Ireland

Aunt Marilyn lives right on Lake Champlain and let us shower at her home. She also works at the Shelburne Museum where we passed two delightful afternoons!

Aunt Kitty with Uncle Jack at their lovely home in Stowe, VT. From here we visited Bingham Falls and cabins on the property that John’s dad and two uncles at one time owned.

Aunt Martha and Uncle Dean took us to Lake Mansfield Trout Club where many McSweeney reunions were held. Two weeks before our wedding, I wrote my vows in front of the fireplace in the lodge, then returned four years later with Baby Daniel!

More Apple Cider Anyone???

If anyone of us had received a flesh wound those three weeks, I swear we would have bled apple cider, thanks to the aunts who kept us amply supplied! We were also introduced to Vermont Cheddar Cheese. We will never be the same. Oh, yeah…and Lake Champlain. After I return to Echo Reservoir in Utah to retrieve the part of my heart I left there, I will need to make a trip to Lake Champlain to find the rest of it.

Lilly tastes Vermont Alpine Cheddar for the first time. Ruined, I say. The girl is ruined.

Lake Champlain as viewed from the cliff behind the Elk’s Lodge where we parked the RV for 2 weeks. Sharing this sight with my children is one of the highlights of the trip so far.

The Cold is Coming! Run Away, Run Away!

As October came to a close, the weather took a turn and we began to be concerned for the functionality of our RV’s heating and water systems with the dropping temperatures and forecast of snow. John and I looked at each other and said, “What are we thinking?! Our house has WHEELS! Let’s go to FLORIDA!”

I was grateful that we were able to keep our plans to briefly visit two friends in Upstate New York on the pathway of our evacuation. Also on our route to warmth was the Ark Encounter and land hunting in Williamstown, KY, a magical evening by the Tennessee River in Chattanooga, and a visit with a dear high school friend in Atlanta, GA.

We had an excellent day at The Ark Encounter in Williamstown, KY.

Sarah collects shells at the edge of the water at Chattanooga’s Riverwalk. Unhurriedly delighting in the wonder of youth. This is why we are doing what we are doing. This is living.

Tune in next time to find out where we went next, and to hear Grandma say, “BEST SURPRISE EVER!!”

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Three Rounds of Repairs, a Six-Week Pit Stop, & Back on the Road!!

November 17, 2017 by Christina Leave a Comment

A Season of Repairs

Sunday afternoon, August 13, about 5 minutes after pulling out of the campground in NJ on our way to MD, we busted a leaf spring on the RV. I will have to tell the story in a separate post, because it’s a great tale of God’s provision for us.

The dude from “Busted Knuckle Towing Company” removed the wheel and chained the axle to the remainder of the undercarriage so John could CAREFULLY drag our wounded home to the nearest dealer.

A week and a half later, John was so happy to be able to fix the leaf spring himself for only the cost of materials. But his jolly mood lasted about 30 seconds.

While backing out of the lot where he completed that repair, he turned the RV just a wee bit too far, crushing the roof support pillar and subsequently blowing out the rear window with an epic bang!

He had to call in the professionals at this point. To the tune of…a lot of money.

Our third round of repairs was the most extensive, but thankfully, entirely covered under the manufacturer’s warranty. Things like flickering lights, a door that fell off its hinges, the water pump that was defective, a soft spot in the flooring that needed to be reinforced… The hardest part of that week was having to move the contents of our fridge and freezer back and forth from my mother’s home.

Oh, and six people and a dog. And a bunch of our stuff. Thanks, Mom and Gene!

Once the rig was safely home and whole again, there was much rejoicing!

Six Weeks to Regroup

Our six weeks in my parents’ driveway in Derwood, MD were filled by visiting with friends and family, a few opportunities for making money, completing paperwork, preparing for the homeschool year, weighing and reducing the contents of our home-on-wheels, and going to appointments (chiropractor, dentist, hair dresser…).

A highlight was meeting with a counselor as a family and learning about good family communication and conflict resolution. (Because you know we are a regular family with conflict, right?)

Family dinnertime at my mom and stepdad’s in Derwood, MD.

Because of the broken spring, John wanted us to reduce our load to under 2000lbs. EVERYTHING was taken off and weighed before reloading.

On the Road Again

As good as it was to be back in MD with access to my van, free use of laundry facilities, long warm showers, and sit-down dinners almost every night, we were all eager to get back on the road. Being back in MD reminded me of the hectic lifestyle that made me yearn to leave it behind. My heart began to cry, “Take me west again!!”

Sunday, October 1 marked our official “relaunch”. We are lighter (as is my hair), rested, repaired, and ready to continue our adventure!

Follow our journey in real time on our facebook page!

A Lightning-Fast Trip Across the Country

November 10, 2017 by Christina 23 Comments

Greetings from the McAdventurers!

It’s been a looooong time since I made my last blog post–did ya wonder what happened to us?? My next two posts are a quick summary of the last few months to get you all caught up. There are A LOT of pictures in today’s post, but I tried to keep it short on words. I hope you like it!

From Northern CA to the Jersey Shore in 8 Days

Yes, we are nuts. No, we didn’t stop to explore anything. Yes, we were sad to have to pass by so many cool places.

But we were on a schedule to join my extended family for our annual vacation at the beach house in NJ, and onto MD for the church youth retreat, so we did not have the luxury of meandering.

We had lovely weather and very little traffic on Route 80 as we zoomed from Walmart to Walmart, taking advantage of their free overnight parking policy for RVers. On the way across the states, we took pictures out the windows. I have posted some below so put your seatbelt on and enjoy.

Scroll quickly for the best effect 😉 Just kidding. Please read the captions.

MONDAY JULY 31-MONDAY AUGUST 7

Something very different to us was the many different kinds of plants that grow in the hot dry climates. **Round Mountain, CA**

Piles of dirt in **Sparks, NV**. Excellent blue sky!

One of the things that surprised me was just how many different kinds of mountains we have in the US. And I know we have only seen a small number of them. **Sparks, NV**

OK, so we *did* stop to check out the salt flats in Utah, but it was easy because it just meant pulling over into the rest area. *So, so cool!* Can you guess which two family members decided to taste the salt? **Salt Lake Flats, UT**

I did not expect for my favorite place from the trip to be in Utah, but Echo Reservoir stole my heart. I think I’ll have to return to this spot to get it back one day. *Anyone wanna come??* **Coalville, Utah**

Christmas colors in **Coalville, Utah.** *Pardon the blur. As I said, we were on a schedule 😉*

We awoke to this sight in the Walmart Parking Lot. Pretty cool! **Rock Springs, WY**

We were captivated by the many trains we saw crawling across the landscape. Since the land is so flat without anything to obstruct the view, we could see all the cars at once, often with multiple engines. **Elk Mountain, WY**

In WY, we met the coolest lady biker on her way to a biker’s rally in Sturges. She and I were side-by-side taking pictures of the beautiful scenery. As different as two women could be, but joined in awe of God’s Creation. **Elk Mountain, WY**

Mooo! I love the contrast of the black cows against the golden field. **Carpenter, WY**

I don’t know what this is. But there are two of them on either side of an overpass in Iowa. Iowans’ tax dollars at work. **Council Bluffs, IA**

There are a ton of windmills across the country and they are a sight to behold. We saw mile after mile of windmills in the Southwest. You can tell these ones are not those because there is green on the ground. There is nothing green in the Southwest. These windmills are in **Anita, Iowa**. It is green in Iowa and I am very glad. I like green.

This is a SOY-BEAN FIELD. Not green beans. I said green beans on Facebook, but I got educated. SOY-BEANS. I had a lot of fun taking pictures here. We stopped at a real campground for showers and laundry. And a photoshoot of the SOY-BEANS. **Kellogg, Iowa**

M-I-SS-I-SS-I-PP-I River. I knew it would come in handy one day to know how to spell that! **Hampton Township, IL**

Messing around and having a snack at the truck stop in **Lasalle, IL**

So here is something a little different. A quarry in **Thornton, IL**. Does anyone know what kind of rock this is?

When I think of the Midwest, this is what I picture. Sweet little barn, fruitful fields and puffy white clouds pinned onto a blue sky. Is makes me happy. **Howe, Indiana**

This is me in front of a cornfield in **Genoa, Ohio**. It was a good hair day and I felt good so I took my picture 😉 All the other pictures in Ohio were just a rainy windshield. So this…is Ohio!

After seeing no rain all summer long, it was refreshing to find it again when we returned east. **Sugarloaf, PA**

Check out the fog hanging over the valley in **Sugarloaf, PA**

This is how we keep from losing our minds as we wait for Dad to level the RV. We finally arrived at our campsite at Belleplain State Park. (Notice that the RV door is open, unknowingly letting in about 100 mosquitoes that we spent the rest of the evening trying to exterminate.) **Woodbine, NJ**

A most peaceful sight. Our home for the week. Belleplain State Forest, **Woodbine, NJ**

From Sea to Shining Sea! We made it to the Atlantic Ocean! Lilly and Chris in **Wildwood Crest, NJ**

Stay tuned for more posts over the next few weeks as I get back to writing! Please say “hello” in the comments section. We’d love to know who is following our adventures!

TO KEEP UP WITH US in real time, find us on Facebook!!

CA Coast, Really Big Trees, and a Crystal-Hunting Story That Ended Well…Eventually

July 29, 2017 by Christina 10 Comments

The Pacific Ocean at Last!

After three weeks at the campground in Ramona, CA, visiting, resting, and regrouping, we were on the road again and heading north. Traveling along the California Coast was lovely, with a stop for drinking in the scenery at Avila and Pismo Beaches. We found a campground near San Luis Obispo where we could park for the day, detached the rig, packed up the truck and headed for Morro Bay.

Avila Beach. RV’s park all along the road, but it’s “first come first served” and much too congested for my taste. A little further inland we found a campground with day parking that had more space and fewer…cliffs 😉

Daniel was so happy to get to climb some ROCKS! Avila Beach, CA

John is the Master of Leisure as he waits under a tree at the campground for the kids and me to pack into the truck all that we think we could possibly need on our day trip to Morro Bay. That takes time, but when people need something unexpectedly, they are really happy that Mom thought of it!

A Relaxing Day at Morro Bay

Morro Bay. The beauty and calm of this view sang peace to my soul that day. The folks below caught a shark!

A lovely way to celebrate Lilly’s 17th birthday. Pictured here is Morro Rock. Lilly is an avid rock collector, but this one was a little too big to fit into her pocket…

An Elfin Forest? That Sounds Cool!

After Morro Bay, we had some time before we had to be out of the lot at the campground, so we found an attraction nearby called “Elfin Forest”. With visions of Lord of the Rings and getting swallowed up by a LOTR-style magical forest in mind, we followed the GPS and found said “Elfin Forest.” Not quite what we were expecting, but the trail of boardwalks leading through the stunted shrubbery (the actual reason for the name) and the sunset over the water were actually pretty neat.

Elfin Forest. Being charter members of the Lord of the Rings Fandom, our kids had expected taller trees. Apparently, these “elves” were of the “Keebler” variety.

“Mountain King” Monterey Bay

Continuing north, we found a very nice RV Park in Gilroy, the “Garlic Capital of the World”. Sure enough, the smell of garlic wafted through our open windows. All. Night. Long. Good thing we like garlic!

We were thrilled to be able to connect with John’s cousin Shawn McSweeney, who accompanied us on a lovely outing to Pacific Grove at Monterey Bay. More rock climbing, lots of shell collecting, and of course, an amazing photo shoot with so many breathtaking sights of God’s creation all around.

The McSweeneys FINALLY get to put their feet into the Pacific Ocean!!

Pacific Grove at Monterey Bay. Hot up above but nice and cool down by the water. Perfect for investigating the colorful shells and seaweed–SO different from what washes up on the Atlantic beaches that we are used on back in Maryland and New Jersey!

John’s cousin Shawn McSweeney met us for the day. Here she is displaying the coolest piece of seaweed I have ever seen!

Next Bucket List Item: See the Redwoods!

We were a little slow to get moving the following day, but we made it to a local garlic shop in Gilroy and produce stand on our way down to Big Sur, an incredible scenic drive along the California coast.

Sarah is REALLY happy that we found some delicious local peaches at a roadside stand. Juicy and sweet!

Breathtaking view along Big Sur. We took our time to stop and take pictures and just enjoy. And I tried really hard to not have a heart attack when my husband insisted on standing on what looked like loose dirt at the edge of the cliff. *How’d I do, Honey?*

Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park

We were saddened to hear that landslides resulting from record amounts of rainfall during the previous rainy season had closed the lower part of Route 1 along the coast. Thankfully, we were still able to get to Pfeiffer Park and the two short but delightful trails that were open. The trees we encountered were not the largest Redwoods to be seen, but they were impressive and scratched an itch for adventure in all of us!

Johnny Mac FINALLY got to see his Redwoods!!! This long-held desire kept him going through many, many weeks of labor to get us out of Maryland. The victory is sweet!

A refreshing family time in this cool creek at Pfeiffer State Park among the Redwoods. With no agenda, we felt free to stop and play in the water. Activities included poking at floating leaves with the end of a stick, dropping increasingly larger rocks to see how big of a *ploop* you can produce, filling your pockets with pretty rocks for future jewelry-making, redirecting the current with your toes ballerina-style, stacking stones in the creek like a tower, and my favorite–taking pictures to capture and preserve this magical moment in time.

A picture to show their children! Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, CA

OYANers Are Everywhere!

OYAN friends Christina and Julia met us at the RV Park in Gilroy for brunch on the morning of our departure. A brief but lively visit! And I learned how to light the gas stove for the first time 🙂

This is a somewhat random picture of all the things that did NOT fly out of our outdoor kitchen as we departed Gilroy and drove down the road with the hatch open! So thankful for the car that honked to let us know, and the angels that clung to all out stuff that whole mile!

Truckin’ to Truckee!

Ever since meeting and hitting it off with the Kent family at the 2016 OYAN Summer Workshop, we had planned to make their hometown of Truckee, CA, a mandatory stop on our RV adventure. As we saw the signs with the “miles to go” decreasing, our kids could barely contain their excitement. The sight of towering pines blanketing the mountains was comfort to my own heart after driving through so many miles of brown crispy brush.

TREES, glorious TREES! So happy to see this sight as we approached the Lake Tahoe area.

The long-awaited reunion with the Kent family in Truckee. The girls played and chatted to their hearts’ content on the floor of our RV bunkhouse.

This pine cone at Donner Pass Park near Lake Tahoe was more than half the size of Sarah–AMAZING!!

Sarah got a wonderful demo and lesson in making hot process soap with Mr. Kent. We even got to take some with us!

Hot soap! Thank you, Mrs. Kent, for the sacrifice of your crock pot! *You people just get more and more awesomer 😉*

John and Barry having male bonding at the grill. Is there any better way?

Lilly collecting rocks at Lake Tahoe. These ones fit into her little bucket 🙂

Daniel is content to sit and read his book in peace.

And Now That Story I Promised…

Let’s Go to Crystal Peak (take 1)

“Hey, I hear there is a fantastic crystal mine not far from here where you can collect BUCKETS of crystals!” Childlike excitement danced in Barry Kent’s eyes. “Wanna take the kids?”

“Sounds great!” John and I agreed.

“Cool!” said Barry, “I’ll lead the way!”

And thus began the adventure. Innocently and full of expectation for an afternoon collecting our fill of pretty rocks, pictures of nature, and memories that will stay with our two families for years to come. Well, one out of three’s not so bad 😉

So that afternoon Barry and his wife Audrey set out in their Toyota Tacoma. Their daughters, Delaney and Emma, along with our daughter Bethany rode in their back seat. John and I followed in our Ram 3500 Laramie. (Yes, in a minute you will want to know what kind of vehicles we were driving…)

With radio playing and kids singing, both trucks of teens and parents headed up the highway and crossed into Nevada. One day I will like Nevada. Maybe once I have a few more positive experiences there to speak of. A few minutes after passing the state line, we took an exit and turned up a road that did not appear to be well maintained. Barry pulled over, got out of his truck, and came to John’s window to say that we were going to go up a bit of an incline now, and the road might get a little bumpy. If we felt uncomfortable, we could honk or flash the lights and we would turn around.

Speaking of “bumpy”, I will mention here that our truck is built for hauling, not for comfort, hence my immediate purchase of a truckers’ style gel seat to absorb the road vibrations the first week John brought home the truck. But on the morning of this trip, SOMEone had gone for a ride in my seat, and had taken my seat cushion into the house. As we began to bump and bounce up the road, Lilly commented, “Bad time for Mom to be without her seat cushion!” Understatement of the year.

We were still singing and carrying on and taking videos of ourselves bouncing when ruts began to appear in the road. John had to hold tightly to the steering wheel and carefully navigate the most level surfaces of the road. Suddenly Barry stopped again. This time he walked ahead of his truck and began to lift and chuck large rocks off the road ahead of him. Hmmmm…I hoped there would not be too much of that needed…

When it seemed like the terrain was becoming worse instead of better, Barry stopped again, came to John’s window with a GPS in each hand to talk things over man-to-man. Barry wasn’t exactly sure where we were, but he hoped that the road was about to get better and it was not too much further to our destination. But we could turn back if we wanted to. Decision time.

Two men, two trucks with 4-wheel drive, and multiple GPS’s. What could go wrong??

Confident that we were just minutes away from BUCKETS of crystals, and just as much fun, we decided to plow forward. John was having such a happy heart about the whole episode and I told him how much that meant to me.

But even with the smiles between us, this was a decision that we would come to question rather seriously over the next 20-30 minutes as the road in fact did NOT improve, and there was no sign of any crystal mine in sight. We were now committed to this route as there was no place to turn around. In fact, the branches of the shrubs along the side of the road began to close in and I winced as we listened to them scraping along the side of John’s beautiful white truck.

John’s “happy heart” let out a few whimpers as he continued to weave through the hurdles, leaning forward in his seat and willing us to reach the other side of this difficult section of road. If you could actually call it a road at this point. The rocks had become so numerous that we appeared to be driving through something more like a streambed. Barry only stopped now to remove the largest of the rocks as we realized we’d need to keep moving if we hoped to be off of the mountain by nightfall.

At this point we decided we were no longer on a road, but had discovered a local streambed.

There comes a point in a rising crisis like this when your goal makes a shift. Suddenly buckets of crystals were the furthest thing from my mind and the thought struck me that we could possibly get stuck here on this mountain! I began to mentally list off our assets. One bottle of water per person, sweatshirts for the kids and me, one picnic blanket to fend off the cold… Oh my. Was there enough of a clearing through the trees for a helicopter to find us??

By the kindness of God, we never had to know what an emergency overnight or a rescue of our two families might entail. Finally the “road” we were on came to a “T”with a road that was significantly more level. We had made it out of danger! One last time, Barry stopped his truck. In one swift movement, he flung open the driver’s side door, leaped out, hurled himself onto the gravel, and embraced the safe, solid, rock and rut-free ground on behalf of all of us. We all jumped out, grabbing our cameras and laughing at the spectacle.

Enjoy the photos below and keep reading because I promised that the story ends well…

Barry’s sentiments were shared by us all.

All’s well that ends well. Barry pays homage the solid flat ground with even MORE enthusiasm than he had when he had talked up the BUCKETS of crystals!

And now the REST of the Story…

Let’s Go to Crystal Peak (take 2)

Over the next 24 hours, Barry and Audrey did a little homework researching a more accessible route to Crystal Peak and we tried again. This time we were also equipped with shovels, pick axes and BUCKETS. We were wiser and full of faith to find those crystals!

We finally made it to Crystal Peak, thanks to a little more research and an old fashioned paper map 😉

Crystal Mine was so cool! Look for Daniel at the top of the hill to the left of the tree.

Crystals!! OK, so not really buckets full, but they were pretty and we were happy 🙂

That’s all for this post. I hope that you found it “Authentic, Edifying, and Entertaining”. I have two more stories about parking our 42-foot monstrosity that I am excited to share next.

“Smalltown, TX”, Arizona Joy, Mars, and Paradise

July 10, 2017 by Christina 22 Comments

Welcome to Vega, Texas!

Our first taste of “Smalltown, USA” was the delightful little town of Vega, Texas. With a population of about 900, a darling old Main Street, and the friendliest butcher you’ve ever met, Vega begs you to forget your plans and just stay forever. Fortunately for all my blog followers, the excessive heat reminded me to get back into our air conditioned RV and keep moving. But not before we made friends and took pictures with the butcher, her sweet daughter, and the lady at the post office…who happens to be the butcher’s aunt. Gotta love small towns!

My new friend at USPS (who also happens to be the butcher’s aunt 🙂 ) The little girl, Ginger, gave me the sweetest hug!

Overflowing Joy at an Arizona Overlook

After several days of driving in the heat, sleeping in the parking lots of Walmart, and traveling hundreds of miles a day, we had about a 30-minute gift from the Lord at this scenic overlook in Arizona. As you can see from the photos, the view was breathtaking and we all felt our spirits lift. How kind of God to have given us this opportunity to travel the country as a family!

I am NOT a dancer, but on this day, my joy overflowed and I just had to dance. I’m working on getting this video set to music, but enjoy my silliness as is! (Mom, click on the underlined words above.)

Crossing the Surface of Mars

Good thing we were refreshed in Arizona, because as soon as we crossed into California, we were on a different planet. Some may call it the desert, but I am convinced we crossed the surface of Mars. Just as we began our ascent into the mountains, we were greeted with a friendly sign that advised us to avoid overheating our vehicle by turning off the AC for the next 10 miles. Oh boy. Friends, it was 111 degrees and we were pulling 28,000 pounds uphill at 30 mph. With the windows closed and no AC. For 10 miles. I don’t really know exactly where we were, but I think I remember some signs that said something about “devil” and “death”. The video of our trek through the desert mountains on Route 8 is a little long, but its a pretty good snapshot of a family experience we will never forget.

City kids see the desert for the first time. We chose the right time to buy them all smart phones, I think 😉

Holy smoke its HOT! Check out that temperature reading!

Wow, cool windmills! And those mountains! I wonder if we have to go up them at all…

Refreshment in Paradise (during the heat wave, but its a dry heat)

How relieved we were to finally see the palm trees and terracotta roofs of San Diego! My first thought was, “We have arrived in Paradise!” Sure enough, the last two weeks we have finally slowed down and rested in a lovely shady campsite surrounded by the sights and sounds of native wildlife. We have a fabulous neighbor who is a resident here and spends his quiet hours pursuing his own passion for writing. Daily we are the beneficiaries of all sorts of tips, not just on RV living, but on getting the kids going with their interests in writing and film making. Visits with friends and family, short day trips, and sitting around the air conditioned RV doing pretty much nothing has filled our days. I’m not sure what the staff at Ramona Oaks RV Resort thinks about the number of times we have asked to extend our stay, but we are getting some much needed refreshment and regrouping in preparation to head north this weekend. Please enjoy the photos, and comment below so we know you are following our journey! Knowing you are “with us” in spirit is a great comfort and encouragement as we adjust to our new life on the road.