Our last week in San Diego was SO nice! The weather was GORGEOUS and the company was wonderful! It's so nice to stay with family...when it's the kind of family that feels seamless. Jaime and I have grown up together, we've been through a lot together, our relationship has transitioned over the years many times...and now as adults, wives, moms and women...it's a real, true and effortless friendship. I'm so grateful for relationships like that. The Launais were so accommodating with our family of five and let us park the camper in their driveway for the week. We went to the beach on Kipper's birthday, he and Owen went surfing (Bodhi stuck with the boogie board and Sawyer and I stayed on the sand). We got a sitter and went out for dinner and drinks like a bunch of young cool people! It was fun. We did some hiking, visited several museums in Balboa Park and worked on catching up with some home school. Also...I hate to admit it, but we were REALLY missing tv. I know...I've said many times that this trip was about disconnecting...but I can't help it...I was dying to know what happened on Scandal and Downton Abbey...so we did some binge-watching as well. I will never take a fast wifi-signal for granted again! We also visited the Jeff & Julie (and Erin & Ryan) Jones...some second cousins and wonderful family we don't get to see often enough. They welcomed our brood with open arms and the boys really enjoyed their new pool!
Anyway, we stayed for the week and were genuinely sad to leave....and almost decided to stay longer but we found out a tree in our front yard in Denton had fallen so we needed to get back.
Jeff & Julie's new amazing backyard!
Owen at the Automobile Museum (he found the DeLorain from Back to the Future!)
The Railroad Museum of course...
San Diego Natural History Museum
Hiking in the state park along the beach with Jaime
Bodhi, Ava (Eric's daughter), Owen and Sawyer
We headed east, stopped in Scottsdale, AZ to visit Eric O'Neil and his wife and new (adorable!) baby Ava. We've known Eric since elementary school, and he's one of those "salt-of-the-earth," "would give you the shirt off his back" kind of guys. It was lovely to see his family and Scottsdale was so cute! (I liked it better than Flagstaff, which we drove through after the Grand Canyon...and have added it to my "future girls' weekend trip" list.) Cute, quaint, artsy, good food and cute shopping.Wish we could have explored Scottsdale a bit more, but we really wanted to see the Grand Canyon, so we had to move on.
Honestly, I thought the Grand Canyon would be a total Griswald moment. We'd drive up, see it, get back in the car and head to Texas. But...after seeing this magnificent place...I can't tell you how ridiculous it felt to leave without exploring it more. You can't walk away...it sucked the air out of my chest when I first saw it. It is indeed grand...SO much bigger than I anticipated. We all sort of stood there amazed at how overwhelming it felt to see if for the first time. We've seen some pretty cool stuff on this trip...and I guess I expected the Grand Canyon to be sort of a generic-you-gotta-see-it once kind of thing...but it's so much more than that. If you go there...give yourself a couple of days (at least one whole day) to check it out. The views from every angle are equally intense. While Kipper worked, the boys and I took a bus tour down the length of the canyon to all of the viewpoints (on and off again bus tour with small hikes down to each look-out), which took up most of the afternoon. Owen and Bodhi worked on their Junior Ranger books along the way, attended a Ranger Program and received their badges by the end of the day.
We decided to book it home over the next couple of days. We slept in Flagstaff one night and this stretch of land was so interesting. Arizona has all landscapes...one moment you are driving through the desert...I kept having flashbacks of Walter White's car parked out in the distance (ha!). But then an hour later, you're surrounded by evergreens and mountains. It's a beautiful place with such a variety of climate and terrain.
We ended up sleeping in Amarillo one night before our last stretch of road to Denton. Kipper joked that we should park at the KOA again...which I didn't think was funny. We ended up at a hotel because I just didn't have another night in the camper in me. Don't get me wrong...the Airstream has been so good to us, and it's all we "need." But...after almost two months in 200 square feet together, I was feeling ready for a break (I think we all were).
Since being at our little Denton home, we've learned to appreciate the little things. Such as...showering standing up, going to the bathroom alone, sleeping in a separate room from each other, not having to plug in your house so you can turn on a light and baking. I miss baking. This time of year, it's almost against the law to not bake something...so the timing is good. Bring on the pumpkin bread!
I've been reflecting a lot about the trip. It was different from vacations I've taken in the past because we were living our everyday life within it. It's interesting to be somewhere with no agenda other than to just be there and feel it, see it, learn about it. In some places, we had local attractions on our list, but mostly we just "lived there" for a few days, and it was a different way to travel than I've ever experienced before. It is kind of nice to not feel that sense of urgency about when your stay is coming to an end. You come to a deeper state of relaxation and a more calm state of mind. I was still homeschooling, cleaning, doing laundry and disciplining my kids...it was my real life...but again, I wasn't focused on much outside of our present moment. My aha moment here was that I am the best version of myself when I can live in the moment entirely. I know in the future, I will get busy again...but knowing this about myself from experience is something I will hear in my head forever.
More FAQ's
Does Cary drive the truck and pull the camper?
Yes! But, I don't back up.
How did the camper do on this trip?
Great! Kipper did some maintenance on a few plumbing leaks, changing a couple of fuses, mostly for our comfort. For example, at one point, our hot water heater stopped working. Let's face it...if you can't take a hot shower or wash your dishes in the sink (cold water just doesn't do the job) then you are camping. Just call it camping! But...if you have hot water, it kind of changes the game...and you feel refreshed, you can get warm and it makes you feel like you are "living in a camper," which is different from camping...right?! Also...we made that whole trip in a 1972 Airstream Overlander...with no spare tire. Can you believe it?!
What was your favorite part of the trip?
This is tough. No one place for me was my favorite...but watching the kids see things they've never seen before, and hearing them refer back to what they saw has been so rewarding for me to watch. The beaches along the coast were truly beautiful and the Redwoods campground was amazing. We loved Taos and Fall in Colorado was pretty beautiful. Seeing family and old friends along the way were wonderful. I don't ever need to drive through Nevada again...and I was sad to miss the wine country in Oregon. Overall, it was an education for all of us...and that's my favorite thing about it.
How is school going?
For the most part, homeschool is getting done...but my honest answer is that it's hard. I realize I am not in the traditional homeschool scenario...and perhaps this month while we are in one place it will get easier. It has been easy to integrate all that we've seen and there's a huge advantage to traveling while teaching...but the more day-to-day stuff is hard to get done without a consistent schedule. And of course I have set the expectations for myself too high...and as their mom I have a huge sense of responsibility to make sure they learn "everything," so if I was channeling my girlfriends right now, I think they'd tell me to stop worrying so much and cut myself some slack. Wow...I feel better already, glad we had this talk! Also, Sawyer is going to begin a mother-day out program a few mornings each week while we are in Denton...so I hope to feel more caught up with that traditional schedule soon. Wish me luck!
So, for now we are enjoying Fall in Texas with family and friends. Welcoming the downtime and enjoying the little Denton house. Speaking of which...I know I promised pics, and they ARE coming...but not today. Soon! After I clean house again. ;) It continues to be a work in progress...but it's coming along!
xoxo
Sending love,
The Stiever's
