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.

Our first view of PARADISE! Welcome to San Diego!

Ramona Oaks RV Park–our home for 3 weeks

Happy 22nd Anniversary! This is the view out the back of our campsite! The hugest palm tree I have ever seen! We have seen hawks, hummingbirds, a woodpecker, bats, and…a RATTLESNAKE! But NO BUGS and LOW HUMIDITY! John sits out here to read his bible and I sit our here to write my blog.

A hike in “99 degree” heat (shown by our finger signs) on the Fourth of July. Great idea, Mom! I was disappointed to not see any butterflies, but the smell of the wildflowers was delicious.

Julian, CA–“Apple Pie Capital of the World”–self proclaimed, but really good! We are currently on pie #4, hee, hee!

Super Johnny installed a 60-gallon diesel tank and pump in the truck so now we won’t ever run out of gas!

There was a fun reunion with friends we knew in MD. These are all that remain of Daniel’s foam sword arsenal.

I drove 3000 miles to make green smoothies with my favorite 5-year-old at her family’s new home in Rancho San Diego.

Fruit Orchards on the way from Ramona to Santa Ana–really cool! I didn’t realize the trees were so short and squatty. Learn something new every day 🙂

Visiting with my Cousin Jim and his family in Santa Ana and bringing greetings from the whole Tellier clan back east!

Cousins 🙂 I was thrilled to meet my cousin’s beautiful family for the first time!

Visiting with my mom’s college roommate and longtime friend at her lovely home in Rancho Cucamonga (I can finally spell that!) Dry heat = good hair days (woot, woot!)

OYAN SW 2017 Pictures

June 28, 2017 by Christina 4 Comments

We pulled onto campus and the kids were off on a run!

Mrs. S calls Lilly up to the stage to explain the interesting thing that her family is doing this year

Sarah on the phone with her cousin Luke back on the East Coast

Wyatt and Sarah–happy to have a pal at SW!

Kathryn–typical OYAN combo of outfit and weaponry

Charlotte showing off her engagement ring

Jeff Gerke speaks dressed as a character from Monty Python

Fitzsimmons girls on Open Mic Night–beautiful!

Daniel and Eesie–they were “first pals” at their first SW 4 years ago

This OYANer brought her own seasings to jazz up the cafeteria food. #culinarygoals

Mekon preparing to share his swords for the last time.

Evening gown + foam sword hanging out of purse = perfect OYANer

Sarah reads a sweet letter from her new OYAN friend.

Visitors! But where is the STUFF that was on that couch??

This city boy has never gotten this close to a gun this size!

Kids enjoy the “story” behind this treasured heirloom.

Pump-Hugging, OYAN Writing Workshop, and a Celebration of Friendship

June 27, 2017 by Christina 23 Comments

That Story I Promised (Why is this man hugging a gas pump?)

(Mom, you can scroll down to the next headline…this is not a pretty story)

I mentioned in an earlier post that we have a lot to learn about driving this 42-ft monstrosity. On one of our first days traveling, we saw a sign for a gas station and took the exit off the highway. The town that housed said gas station was a bit…small for our big rig, and well, turning into the station was…tight. So tight, in fact, that between the low clearance over the pump area, our back end sticking into the intersection, and our axles straddling the curb, John was a little…stressed.

After pulling out of the street and into the station as best we could, we put into action our quickly-developing problem-solving skills. We purchased a plastic gas can from the wide-eyed gal at the station and John proceeded to tote 6 gallons of diesel back and forth from pump to truck. I sat on the curb with the dog who was seriously freaking out. (Might have had something to do with that curb we hopped coming into the station.) I had to wrap my arms around her in full “thunder coat” style to keep her from running to her daddy across the lot. I admit I wondered at that moment if they make a man-sized thundercoat 🙂

The pump shut off a few times and no one knew in the end just how much we owed for the fuel, but the gal at the station was pretty ready to be done with us, so I think she may have just made up a number. We made it out of that gas station in one piece and a minute or so down the road, one of us had the brilliant revelation: “Maybe we should just get gas where the trucks get it.”

Soooo….we googled the nearest Pilot. 40 miles away. The fuel range gauge said 35. Oh boy, were John’s knuckles white as we rolled along with no AC, praying that we would not run out of gas before we reached the truck stop! He will tell you that we were on fumes when we pulled in and found A LINE of trucks waiting to get fuel. We turned off the truck to preserve what we could. There was much rejoicing when our engine started up again and we pulled up to the very pump you see in the photo below.

AND THAT IS WHY THIS MAN IS HUGGING THIS GAS PUMP!!

From now on, we will get gas where the big rigs get it

OYAN Summer Workshop 2017–Where We Belong

June 12-17 our oldest three participated in One Year Adventure Novel’s annual Summer Workshop. Five years ago we brought our son to this life-altering event and after that for the sisters, it was all about being old enough to be an OYANer! I suspect we will attend until the youngest ages out in college. Or maybe we will have some more children so we can attend some more!

The welcome sign at the Bell Center of Mid-America Nazarene University where the Summer Workshop is hosted.

The friendships we have made here are amazing.

Here is Daniel about to give away his arsenal of foam swords. His prized possessions, but no room on the RV 🙁

Jeff Gerke, one of the guest-authors who taught several of the sessions. “Cosplay” is really big at OYAN.

Mrs. S invited Lilly up to the stage to tell everyone the “interesting thing” that her family is doing this year 🙂

The Blessing of Friendships, Old and New

After West Virginia, our next stop was Trenton, Illinois at the home of Ray and Julie Swogger, friends we had gotten to know in Maryland. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit with them and their girls. One day a number of years back, Julie stood in my kitchen in Maryland and said to John and me, “You guys aren’t (cut from) cookie cutters.” Those words have stuck with me all these years. The Lord knew I needed to be encouraged that my family was not meant to do things the same way as everyone else. And here we are camping in their driveway!!

Precious longtime friends Ray and Julie Swogger who have dreamed with us over the years and cheered us on.

Here the “”Swoggeeney” kids participate in an object lesson devotional and demonstrate how “love covers over a multitude of sins”

Scott and Meriah Bradley got engaged at our first OYAN SW. We took a liking to them and now make time to visit with them every year.

We are so pleased to be getting to know Dan and Carrol Schwabauer, the creators of the OYAN curriculum and the ones who run the writing workshops.

Even our youngest, though not an official OYANer yet, found a kindred spirit in Eve Fitzsimmons while at the workshop.

Houston, we have lift-off!

June 11, 2017 by Christina 24 Comments

A beautiful send-off

The McSweeney family officially began our One-Year RV Family Adventure at 6:40pm on Thursday, June 8, departing from my parents’ home in Derwood, Maryland. The weather was picturesque, the hugs and well-wishes were warm and meaningful, and the dream we’d worked toward for many, many months finally became our reality. See our video of what is involved in closing the outdoor kitchen and pulling in the slides.

My mom is the master of capturing the family memories.

Cousin Jill helps John pack the “basement” with needed supplies.

Patti and Gene (my parents) “relax” on their porch with HoneyBelle as they await the hour of our departure. Mixed emotions all around. HB provides a moment of comedic relief 🙂

The RV is “trash-compactor ready”. No worries, we will put all that stuff away once we are on the road. For now, we just gotta get moving!

First Stop–Masontown, WV!

Late Thursday night, we arrived in Masontown, WV, at the home of my childhood friend, Regan. Her husband, Jason, wins the prize for the most encouraging, gracious, and helpful middle-of-the-night rig-parking coach. Quote of the night: “So they really didn’t give you any kind of course on how to drive this thing?”

After a good night’s sleep, a sweet morning visiting with Regan and Jason, letting our kids get their doggie and kitty-fix, thrill-riding in Jason’s Razor, and watching Sarah drink her body volume in sweet tea, we headed toward our next stop–Trenton, Illinois.

So good to see one of my childhood friends for the first time in 30 years at her lovely home in beautiful West Virginia.

This boy’s eyes lit up when asked if he’d like to go for a ride! Thank you, Jason!

Bethany with Tater, getting her kitty cat-fix.

Sarah drank enough sweet tea to keep us stopping at every rest area between WV and Illinois. Gotta find out what kind it was 🙂

Walmart Parking Lot to the Rescue

After a few hours of driving, the cumulative effect of so much lost sleep began to catch up with John and he informed me it was time to find a Walmart. We’d heard that Walmart will let RV’s spend one night in their parking lots if you go in and get permission from the manager. Once we found a spot that we had confidence we could extract ourselves out from in the morning, we set up for the night and went to bed. Seriously! From “exhausted and uncomfortable traveling in the truck” to “pajamas and my own cozy bed” in under an hour. My giddiness was uncontainable!! Of course we made three requisite trips INTO Walmart for supplies and groceries–I think the deal is a win-win for travelers and Walmart both 🙂

We got such a kick out of pulling the cart right up to our front door! Simple pleasures for simple people 🙂

The learning curve is steep…

Let me just say, our rig is big. Really big. This is not an easy trailer to haul, and we are new at this. Forward is much easier than backwards, truck stops are more accessible than regular gas stations, and mailboxes do best to move out of the way. We are learning quickly, however, and the Lord has His hand on us!