This Thanksgiving we are traveling to Texas, back home, to be with both sides of our families! I can hardly wait to get there and see everyone and to start cooking!!! I love to cook holiday food and I have some great fun things planned to do with the kids...like marshmallow turkeys and a vegetable Mayflower ship...this should be FUN and I know Landyn and Lexye are chomping at the bit to get started! We may just go to the store today and get all of our goodies!
It has been half a year today since we started this journey of living "on the road" and it's real easy to start feeling like we are overflowing our "little nest!" Christmas is right around the corner and we have been wondering what we should do, where we could go and how we are going to celebrate in our small little space. Being HOME for Christmas is important to me, but HOME is where your HEART is, that's the famous quote that I truely believe in! We are so used to a big tree, tons of decorations, lots of presents, a big kitchen to prepare the holiday feast and so on and so forth, but it just isn't possible this year with our limited space. So, we have kicked around the idea of going snow skiing or heading to Branson to see some of the great shows of the holiday season...we may just stay here in Kansas and see how our RV Christmas turns out! I have already put up our new perfect sized RV Christmas tree and the kids have hung a few window clings to deck our halls, I am thankful for this opportunity to live outside the box and to relax and try no to sweat the small stuff. I praise God for the blessings He continues to bestow upon me and my family!
I pray that He does the same for you and yours...Happy Thanksgiving!
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Friday, August 20, 2010
Thursday, August 19, 2010
In the Beginning...
It's hard to believe that we have been living in our 41 foot home on wheels for 3 months now, but here we are and I am happier than ever! Let's start way way back in 2007 when Aubrey and I decided to start taking year long contracts and leave his permanent job with Bell Helicopter behind. Since 2007 we have lived in Raleigh, NC, Seattle, WA and Tulsa, OK...that is 3 states in 3 years, 5000 miles and one move a year for three years straight and quite frankly WE were sick of all of the packing and unpacking that goes with that territory...jump to May 2010...we knew that Aubrey's contract in Tulsa wasn't going to last forever and we were already thinking about another MOVE, so we just kicked around the idea of buying a large enough RV for us to live in comfortably...key word "buy"...note that we were renting all of these houses all over the US and really just throwing that money away...so we started researching what family life on the road in an RV would be like...I came across this great website, Families On The Road, and I was overwhelmed by how many families are doing what we were pondering! I read their stories and I was truely inspired...the idea of us living in an RV was so exciting to me before I read those stories, but even more so that I saw how it is working for so many other families! So, Aubrey, the kids and I went shopping...within a week, we had found our "NEW HOME!" We purchased a 41 foot Sierra "Tree House" Fifth Wheel with 2 bedrooms, 2 bath rooms and a loft for the kids to play in! We had a huge garage sale, sold most of our furniture, stored the rest of our belongings and moved in to our home on wheels! The first 2 weeks, we lived in our new home on our driveway in Skiatook, OK! I believe that GOD is always in control of our lives and He has completely orchestrated every move that Aubrey and I have taken, within 2 weeks of us buying our fifth wheel, Aubrey accepted a new contract with Boeing that would have us on the road...the contract stated that we would have to be in Everett, WA for 3 months and then trek all the way to Charleston, SC by September for the rest of the contract! Have home on wheels, will travel, so on June 4, 2010 the Collins' pulled out of Skiatook, OK headed for Everett, WA! We planned a stop in Amarillo, TX (our hometown) to pick up our oldest son Lane and also to meet up with my mom and dad who, as fate will have it, just sold their home and were heading for the full time RV life too! We had some much needed family time with all of our family, and then on Monday, June 7, 2010 Aubrey, me, Landyn, Lexye and Lane ( we had to leave our oldest daughter LynDe behind for cheer camp....but don't worry...she flies out later to catch up with us!) along with my mom, dad and Uncle Donnie all head toward Colorado Springs, CO to stay at Garden of the Gods Campground, a place where my parents had taken me many times in my childhood and I really wanted to share it with my kids! We planned on staying there for two days to take in the sights. June 8, we were off to Garden of the Gods and the Anasazi Indian Cliff Dwellings, which was a surprise to us, because Landyn and Lexye had studied these same indians and cliff dwellings in homeschool this past year, so this was a great educational hands on experience...they already knew facts about them and they thoroughly enjoyed it!
June 9, 2010...we head out on the road traveling through the rest of Colorado, into Wyoming where we stayed the night in a neat little campground on a plateau surrounded by mountains in the distance...it had a putt putt golf course, and a neat little playground that we had a lot of fun on and I also caught up on some laundry there.
June 10, 2010...up early and headed for Jackson Hole, WY...another one of my treasured childhood memories...a beautiful drive, we hit some rain and bad weather and it was really chilly...we arrive late in the afternoon...it is so cold that the pool hasn't even opened...we ate dinner in the camper and then toured the main streets of downtown Jackson Hole, shopped a little and then turned in for the night...tomorrow we had a BIG day planned.....YELLOWSTONE here we come!!!
June 11, 2010...We headed off through the Teton National Forest and made our way to Yellowstone...you can only drive about 20 miles an hour once you get in the park...but we saw some BEAUTIFUL scenery and an embarassing event. I pulled a trailer with my car and I always took the lead, then Aubrey followed, it was my job to make sure that Aubrey wouldn't get in a pickle pulling our big trailer, but I really got him in one. Yellowstone has different places to pull off and view various sites, well I followed a 40 foot passenger bus down this pull off, thinking to myself that if the bus can make it, we can too...I failed to see the sign that said NO TRAILERS...needless to say, Aubrey pulled halfway down that road and ended up having to back the whole way out, holding up a lot of people and receiving tons of bad looks and hearing words of "didn't you read the sign"...Sorry people we are HUMAN and we made a Mistake...but it was hilarious...good job honey, I am so sorry!!! Landyn and Lexye were both excited because we let them sit in the front seats of our cars while we drove through Yellowstone...a treat for little kids as young as them!!! We also stopped and let them do the Junior Ranger program, Lane didn't want to participate...but Lexye found all of her animals and Landyn has to finish his and send it back to them to earn his badge! We saw an awesome waterfall and then of course OLD FAITHFUL...the kids loved Old Faithful, we saw her erupt three times and felt the water droplets one time, we walked around and looked at the thermal pools and took a hike up a loooonnnnggg trail where we were worried about bears the whole time! We toured a log lodge that was a highlight, and then we were off to our destination for the night, we did have to wait for a bison to cross the road...the campgrounds in the park were full, so we stayed all night in West Yellowstone, we were lucky to get a spot there and it was still COLD!!! The kids couldn't even enjoy the playground, it was way cold, here it was the middle of JUNE!
June 12, 2010...up early again for another day on the road. What a beautiful drive this day would be...we left Wyoming into Idaho for about 20 miles then we looped back around into Wyoming...driving by a beautiful lake and picturesque mountain highways...I absolutely love the mountains! We passed through the Lewis and Clark National Forest, narrow roads along rivers and beside cliffs...just amazing! We spend the night in Montana somewhere, this is where we meet back up with Mom and Dad...I think we were somewhere outside of Bozeman, MT.
June 13, 2010...Aubrey had a piece of wood fly in his eye the night before when he was chopping wood, so we had to stop and get him something to wash his eye out...I still don't know how he drove the first part of the morning, but we quickly got that taken care of. Mom rode with me and Lexye, Landyn rode with daddy, and Lane rode with Aubrey the rest of our journey to Washington. We drove into Idaho this day and the beauty of this whole drive was astonishing...we made it to Spokane and stayed at a great KOA that was so hard to get to! We rented these cool bicycle things and had a BLAST...they were so much FUN...Lane really enjoyed them ( I think this was a highlight for him)...the KOA also had a doggie park for Zoey and Landyn and Leye had fun trying to train Zoey to do dog tricks through the tunnels and jump through hoops and walk over bridges....it was a very memorable stop!
June 14, 2010...We make it the final way into Seattle this day, but not without a hitch. On the next to the last mountain pass, before Seattle, I had a blowout on the trailer that I was pulling...nearly at the top of the mountain, it took a long time for Aubrey and dad to get that tire changed because they just couldn't get the lug nuts loose....FINALLY after laying on their backs (bless their hearts) and one pushing one way with his legs and the other pushing the other way, we got it changed and we back on the road! Excitement was building because we were getting so close and we were getting a little road weary...we pulled into our campground about 6:00 that evening in Stanwood, WA to find a beautiful scene of a campground right on Lake Goodwin and a beautiful double rainbow in the sky! Home at last (for awhile anyway)!
We spent the next day setting up camp and running errands, getting ready for Aubrey to start work.
LynDe flew in on the 16th of June and we all went to pick her up at the airport and on the way we drove by our old house in Washington and visited with our old neighbors, who were so shocked to see us! This is Matt and Jody Steen and their kids are all the ages of our kids, their youngest daughter (Abby) just happens to be Landyn's girlfriend! They were so excited to see each other, but unfortunately, that was the only time we met up with them while we were in WA! On the way back from the airport we met our very very dear friends Sahar and Shahaab and their daughters Arianna and Kianna for dinner! We were so happy to see them! The days that followed entailed Aubrey working, the rest of us exploring and the kids and I playing with all of our friends in WA that we love. We had Jenny Camp and Sidney, Grant, Samantha and Baby Ella out to the lake for several swim play dates and then we went to their house for a playdate, Sahar and Shahaab hosted father's day at their house, they are such gracious hosts, we took mom and dad to our favorite places, of course we took the Amtrak train into Seattle to Pikes Market, the Ferry from Mukilteo to Whidbey Island where we played at our favorite playground, visited Meerkerk Gardens, Hiked under Deception Pass and then crossed the Deception Pass Bridge, ate at Ivar's, had a wonderful birthday party for Lexye and me with all of our best friends in WA, took LynDe to the opening Midnight showing of "ECLIPSE" (we are die hard fans), followed that weekend with a scenic trip to Forks, WA where the movie is set! The fourth of July was cold to say the least...the first time in my life that I had to wear a jacket on the 4th, but the fireworks display was amazing...everyone all around the lake were shooting their fireworks off and our campground had a professional display...imagine all of the fireworks reflecting off of the lake...it was quite a sight! Somewhere around this time we learned that our stay in WA would be cut short...they were sending us to Charleston early! We were saddened, because we thought we had so much more time in Seattle, and summer in Seattle just can't be beat!
We left Seattle on July 14, 2010 headed for Charleston, SC and a whole new journey begins!
June 9, 2010...we head out on the road traveling through the rest of Colorado, into Wyoming where we stayed the night in a neat little campground on a plateau surrounded by mountains in the distance...it had a putt putt golf course, and a neat little playground that we had a lot of fun on and I also caught up on some laundry there.
June 10, 2010...up early and headed for Jackson Hole, WY...another one of my treasured childhood memories...a beautiful drive, we hit some rain and bad weather and it was really chilly...we arrive late in the afternoon...it is so cold that the pool hasn't even opened...we ate dinner in the camper and then toured the main streets of downtown Jackson Hole, shopped a little and then turned in for the night...tomorrow we had a BIG day planned.....YELLOWSTONE here we come!!!
June 11, 2010...We headed off through the Teton National Forest and made our way to Yellowstone...you can only drive about 20 miles an hour once you get in the park...but we saw some BEAUTIFUL scenery and an embarassing event. I pulled a trailer with my car and I always took the lead, then Aubrey followed, it was my job to make sure that Aubrey wouldn't get in a pickle pulling our big trailer, but I really got him in one. Yellowstone has different places to pull off and view various sites, well I followed a 40 foot passenger bus down this pull off, thinking to myself that if the bus can make it, we can too...I failed to see the sign that said NO TRAILERS...needless to say, Aubrey pulled halfway down that road and ended up having to back the whole way out, holding up a lot of people and receiving tons of bad looks and hearing words of "didn't you read the sign"...Sorry people we are HUMAN and we made a Mistake...but it was hilarious...good job honey, I am so sorry!!! Landyn and Lexye were both excited because we let them sit in the front seats of our cars while we drove through Yellowstone...a treat for little kids as young as them!!! We also stopped and let them do the Junior Ranger program, Lane didn't want to participate...but Lexye found all of her animals and Landyn has to finish his and send it back to them to earn his badge! We saw an awesome waterfall and then of course OLD FAITHFUL...the kids loved Old Faithful, we saw her erupt three times and felt the water droplets one time, we walked around and looked at the thermal pools and took a hike up a loooonnnnggg trail where we were worried about bears the whole time! We toured a log lodge that was a highlight, and then we were off to our destination for the night, we did have to wait for a bison to cross the road...the campgrounds in the park were full, so we stayed all night in West Yellowstone, we were lucky to get a spot there and it was still COLD!!! The kids couldn't even enjoy the playground, it was way cold, here it was the middle of JUNE!
June 12, 2010...up early again for another day on the road. What a beautiful drive this day would be...we left Wyoming into Idaho for about 20 miles then we looped back around into Wyoming...driving by a beautiful lake and picturesque mountain highways...I absolutely love the mountains! We passed through the Lewis and Clark National Forest, narrow roads along rivers and beside cliffs...just amazing! We spend the night in Montana somewhere, this is where we meet back up with Mom and Dad...I think we were somewhere outside of Bozeman, MT.
June 13, 2010...Aubrey had a piece of wood fly in his eye the night before when he was chopping wood, so we had to stop and get him something to wash his eye out...I still don't know how he drove the first part of the morning, but we quickly got that taken care of. Mom rode with me and Lexye, Landyn rode with daddy, and Lane rode with Aubrey the rest of our journey to Washington. We drove into Idaho this day and the beauty of this whole drive was astonishing...we made it to Spokane and stayed at a great KOA that was so hard to get to! We rented these cool bicycle things and had a BLAST...they were so much FUN...Lane really enjoyed them ( I think this was a highlight for him)...the KOA also had a doggie park for Zoey and Landyn and Leye had fun trying to train Zoey to do dog tricks through the tunnels and jump through hoops and walk over bridges....it was a very memorable stop!
June 14, 2010...We make it the final way into Seattle this day, but not without a hitch. On the next to the last mountain pass, before Seattle, I had a blowout on the trailer that I was pulling...nearly at the top of the mountain, it took a long time for Aubrey and dad to get that tire changed because they just couldn't get the lug nuts loose....FINALLY after laying on their backs (bless their hearts) and one pushing one way with his legs and the other pushing the other way, we got it changed and we back on the road! Excitement was building because we were getting so close and we were getting a little road weary...we pulled into our campground about 6:00 that evening in Stanwood, WA to find a beautiful scene of a campground right on Lake Goodwin and a beautiful double rainbow in the sky! Home at last (for awhile anyway)!
We spent the next day setting up camp and running errands, getting ready for Aubrey to start work.
LynDe flew in on the 16th of June and we all went to pick her up at the airport and on the way we drove by our old house in Washington and visited with our old neighbors, who were so shocked to see us! This is Matt and Jody Steen and their kids are all the ages of our kids, their youngest daughter (Abby) just happens to be Landyn's girlfriend! They were so excited to see each other, but unfortunately, that was the only time we met up with them while we were in WA! On the way back from the airport we met our very very dear friends Sahar and Shahaab and their daughters Arianna and Kianna for dinner! We were so happy to see them! The days that followed entailed Aubrey working, the rest of us exploring and the kids and I playing with all of our friends in WA that we love. We had Jenny Camp and Sidney, Grant, Samantha and Baby Ella out to the lake for several swim play dates and then we went to their house for a playdate, Sahar and Shahaab hosted father's day at their house, they are such gracious hosts, we took mom and dad to our favorite places, of course we took the Amtrak train into Seattle to Pikes Market, the Ferry from Mukilteo to Whidbey Island where we played at our favorite playground, visited Meerkerk Gardens, Hiked under Deception Pass and then crossed the Deception Pass Bridge, ate at Ivar's, had a wonderful birthday party for Lexye and me with all of our best friends in WA, took LynDe to the opening Midnight showing of "ECLIPSE" (we are die hard fans), followed that weekend with a scenic trip to Forks, WA where the movie is set! The fourth of July was cold to say the least...the first time in my life that I had to wear a jacket on the 4th, but the fireworks display was amazing...everyone all around the lake were shooting their fireworks off and our campground had a professional display...imagine all of the fireworks reflecting off of the lake...it was quite a sight! Somewhere around this time we learned that our stay in WA would be cut short...they were sending us to Charleston early! We were saddened, because we thought we had so much more time in Seattle, and summer in Seattle just can't be beat!
We left Seattle on July 14, 2010 headed for Charleston, SC and a whole new journey begins!
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