Home Sweet Home

We made it home on December 18, 2011.  Lots of mixed feelings upon our return.  We all learned so much on this trip.  We learned that Michael has a strong desire to homeschool.  Once we got over the shock, we have embraced this new journey that Michael and I will be on.  God works in mysterious ways; if we hadn't taken the trip I don't believe Michael would be a homeschooler.  Sarah Rose learned that we have a really big house.  Joe learned that beds/mattresses are overrated and he prefers to sleep on the floor with Chloe.  Keith learned how to sleep-in til 7:00am!!  I learned that we can live a simple life and be very happy.  Living in a box with my family is my utopia.

There is not a thing I would do differently with our big adventure (except maybe make it longer :)  When life  throws lemons our way, we will be prepared to Make Lemonade!

Destin, FL

"We are home!"  that is what Sarah Rose wrote in the sand on the beach.  It was cold and rainy, but it still felt like Florida.  The first two nights in Destin we stayed at Camping on the Gulf which was right on the beach, but not a very pretty rv park.  The beach was amazing!  Sarah Rose and I spent an  entire day on the beach and we were the only ones there.  The second campground was a state park called Topsail Hill State Park.  This state park had full hook-ups and was beautiful.  I would say that this is the nicest state park in Florida.  Miles of paved biking and the sites are slightly wooded and there is a pool.

The boys made their own sleeping arrangements!

While in Destin, we surprised my cousin, Brett.  We showed up at the restaurant that he works.

Red Bay, AL

The highlight of Keith's trip is finally here!  A tour of the Tiffin Motorhomes plant.  We brought Big Red to her birth place to have a few things tweaked and fixed.  They offer daily tours of the plant at 9:30am.  They take you through the whole process of making a motorhome.  Yes, it was interesting, but not exciting.  However, Keith would disagree with that statement because he thought it was fantastic!  He took over 25 photos and was like a kid in a candy store!  I may have to return to this posting and add some of the pictures that Keith took while on the tour.

It was SNOWING!  As I have mentioned before, I am tired of being cold!  Dark, cold, snowy and gloomy.  That is the weather since we've left New Mexico.

Tupelo, MS

The birthplace of Elvis Presley!  Not much else here.  We did go to a Buffalo Zoo which had a variety of animals.  To get in the Christmas spirit we did spend an entire day baking Christmas cookies.  Fun was had by all.

As we prepare for our return home, a few things came to mind.  First, change is hard even if the change is bringing you back to what you were once familiar with (traditional school).  As Michael continues to say that he wants to homeschool, I feel a sense of comfort since that is what we've been doing all semester.  Second, our life on the road has been such a simple life (one toilet to clean, no volunteering at school, no fashion pressure).  Finally, it was a lot of work to prepare to leave and it will be a lot of work to come home (unloading the rv, home repairs, school/activities).  Changing back to the life I left behind is a little frightening. 

Memphis

We are staying right across the street from Graceland.  The Elvis private jet, the Lisa Marie, is right next to the rv park.  The rv park is actually part of the Hearbreak Hotel.  We had a pink limo pick us up for dinner at Marlowe's BBQ.

We would have gone on a Graceland mansion tour, but it is $31pp for a self-guided tour!  We'll just look at it from the curb :)

Little Rock

Have I mentioned how tired of being cold I am?

Our rv park is located right on the river (Arkansas River) in downtown North Little Rock.  Its a nice little rv park in the city.  We visted the Clinton Library/Museum which I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed it. 

Dallas

Good times in Dallas!  Tracy Dubois found us an rv park right behind her house (1 mile door to door).  As soon as the kids walked in the door, they were off running. Sarah Rose and Grace wrote songs and sang for us.  And, the boys hung out in the man cave. 

Matt, Tracy, Keith, and Erin spent their time solving the world's problems and coming up with a new career for Keith.  We can't share our ideas because we don't want anyone to steal our ideas :)  We took a fieldtrip to the 6th Floor Museum (Kennedy Museum at Dealy Plaza).  Matt even stood right on the spot where Kennedy was shot!

Nobody wanted to leave :(  We are already looking forward to the time when our paths will cross again!

Carlsbad Caverns Ntl Park and San Antonio

It seems to me that the trip has become a lot less eventful (less pictures and not much to blog about).  We visited White Sands National Monument and spent the entire day sledding down the sand dunes.  From there we went to Carlsbad Caverns National Park.  Keith was very bummed because the bats went south for the winter.  We still went down into the cave, but there were no bats :( 

Texas can be rather boring and BIG!  It was a long drive from Fort Stockton, TX to San Antonio (about a five hour drive).  Our rv park in San Antonio was rather close to downtown and not in a great neighborhood.  Planes, trains, sirens, and loud music until midnight!  Wow, am I getting old?  We spent a day in downtown, at the riverwalk.  The Alamo was of course a highlight, even if the kids don't fully understand the importance of this battle.  What the kids did enjoy was the Ripley's Believe or Not museums and attractions which were right across the street from the Alamo. 

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving because we have so much to be thankful for this year.  Here is what we are thankful for:  Keith- being able to do the trip

Erin- my siblings

Michael- no science fair and the rv

Sarah Rose- her cousins and Aunt Shanny were not hurt in house fire AND Tanque Verde

Joe-  going on our big trip

How could I forget that we celebrated Sarah Rose's birthday in Carlsbad!  We had her favorite food for dinner, McDonalds and her favorite cake (chocolate with chocolate frosting). 

Bi-polar

Only four weeks remaining of our trip and Keith has decided that I suffer from a condition known as bi-polar.  On one hand, I am ready to just go home (I don't care about LA, MS, AL).  Then again, I am ready to stay out on the road for another six months.  I even sense the mixed feelings from Michael.  He misses his friends, but he did tell me yesterday that he doesn't want to go back to Fort Myers because it is boring there.  He is now interested in buying a ranch in Colorado or Wyoming.   He says he could homeschool in the morning and work the ranch in the afternoon (just to clarify it is a cattle ranch).

I believe at this point we are all bi-polar in our final weeks of the trip.  We miss home, but our experiences on the road have been incredible. 

somewhere in New Mexico

We are staying at the Boothill RV Park in Alamogordo, New Mexico.  Tomorrow we will be going to White Sands National Monument.  The rv park is loaning us sleds so we can go sledding down the sand dunes.  Tonight I witnessed the most beautiful sunset ever.  I would have taken a picture, but I new it just wouldn't capture it.  For an entire hour I sat watching the sky turn different colors and the mountains were the perfect backdrop.  Thank you God for these little pleasures.

Santa Fe with Hans

Our visit to Santa Fe was made extra special due to our day with Hans Pastoor.  Hans was my boss, Director of Sales & Marketing, at the Sanibel Harbour Resort & Spa.  Hans has always been near and dear to my heart.  However, Keith holds Hans a special place in his heart too!  One day in the employee cafeteria at Sanibel Harbour, I told everyone at my table that I met a guy.  I asked everyone's opinion on whether I should call this guy or wait for him to call me.  Well....Hans spoke right up and said, "Pick up the phone and call him, what do you have to lose?"  So, I did and a year later I married that man!  Its a good thing I didn't listen to Joe Davis, Director of Purchasing, because he said "No way, do not call him, that is tacky."  By the way, Keith admits to this day that he would not have called me first! 

Hans had some special stories of Pits and his life travels with her.  Pits wrote a collection of short stories about her life when growing up and Hans is going to do the illustrations for this booklet.  I told Hans that I would like to receive a copy of this when completed.  After hearing all about Pits, the kids wanted to see a picture of her.  Luckily, I was able to find a couple on facebook.

Taos Pueblo

Our trip to the Santa Fe area included a side-trip to Taos, New Mexico.  We visited the oldest living pueblo in the world, Taos Pueblo.  Taos Pueblo has been occupied/inhabited for over 1,000 years.  This pueblo speaks "Tiwa" which is one of 14 dialects of the pueblo people.  Currently, there are about 100 Native Americans living in the Taos Pueblo.  The remaining 2,000 tribe members live outside the pueblo walls, but still on the reservation.  There is no electricity or running water in the pueblo, so their drinking water is collected from The Red Willow Creek.  The creek runs right through the middle of the pueblo.  The water flows down from the mountains, directly from the sacred Blue Lake.  Even though 80% of the tribe is Catholic, they still practice their traditional religion that is founded on nature/mother earth.  The Spanish conquered this area in the 1600's and forced Catholicism on these people.  As a result, even their burial customs were changed. 

San Geronimo Church

The traditional adobe home did not have doors; they entered the home from a ladder.  Each night the ladder was brought up to the roof.  This was one form of protection from invaders.

There were many dogs roaming around the pueblo and this one's name is Dutch.  If you asked the kids what their favorite part of visiting the Taos Pueblo was; they would answer the dogs!

Sedona Part 2

We're back!  Our second trip to Sedona was quite different, because there was SNOW!  The highs were in the 50's and the lows were about 30 degrees.  Keith and I found a new restaurant located near the Hideaway Restaurant and its called Ken's Creekside Restaurant...yum!  We also found some new hikes, ones that we have never hiked before.  First, we did Bear Mountain which is decribed as one of the most strenuous hikes in the Sedona area (over 150 hiking trails in Sedona area).  The elevation increase on Bear mountain from trailhead to summit is 2,000 feet.  The trail is five miles round trip with an average hike time of five hours.  We hiked about 50 feet below the summit (started the hike late and the sun was starting to set) and that took us about two hours.  The hike down took Sarah Rose, Michael, and Keith only 35 minutes!  They ran down the mountain with Sarah Rose in the lead.  I have never seen a person go down the mountain so fast and graceful.  What a hike!

view from Bear Mountain

view from Bear Mountain

almost at the summit of Bear Mountain

summit of Bear Mountain

biking Bell Mountain (only made it about one mile...too difficult)

The following day, Keith and I hiked Broken Arrow.  It is a hike that is in the same area as the Pink Jeep Tours' trails.  Our hike took us to "the submarine".  This was a great hike because there were no other hikers.  The sun was setting so I don't have good pictures since there were so many shadows.  The following day we hiked Doe Mountain which is right across from Bear Mountain.  This is a really fun, short hike (two miles round-trip).  This was suppose to be a moderate hike, but the kids thought it was more strenuous than Bear Mountain.  The hike was fun and the top of Doe is a mesa and the views are amazing.

gearin' up for Doe Mountain

Our favorite hikes in Sedona are all of them!  But, the extra special ones are:  Fay Canyon, Cathedral Rock, and Doe Mountain.  For our next trip to Sedona we will hike:  Long Canyon, Loy Canyon, Little Horse, Bell Rock, and West Fork.

only five more weeks....

It is so difficult to believe that there are only five weeks remaining of our big adventure, "Making Lemonade".  We took a trip home to Fort Myers for a wedding, Board Meeting, and of course Halloween.  What a beautiful wedding, Kiel and Beth!  It was fantastic to see family and friends and to refresh our memory on why we call Fort Myers home.  The first couple of hours in the house were very strange (not in a good way or bad).  It just felt weird to have so much space and to not have my children under foot!  Never a dull moment with the Richmond Cousins!  Kane, Angela, and Family stayed with us for the wedding festivities and we all enjoyed our visit :)  After a fun-filled week, we headed back to Arizona where Chloe was waiting for us.  Everyone was sad to leave their friends, but it also felt so good to return to our simply life of "roadschooling". 

Since we enjoyed Sedona so much three weeks ago, we decided to return for more hiking and biking.  Sedona is very special to Keith and I, but I am beginning to think it is now very special to our family.

Chivo!

Joker was the first horse I rode at the dude ranch.  He was a good horse. He is a painted horse with brown and white.  I wanted a more energetic hores so one of the wranglers gave me Chivo.  He is a really nice horse. I was able  to canter on him and that was so much fun! I met four friendsat the ranch.  Two were from England. Their names are Minty and Emma.  The other two are sisters.  Their names are Katie and Maggy.  I had so much fun horseback riding and meeting new freinds.

Sarah Rose loping on Chivo

Tucson and Tanque Verde Dude Ranch

Just about the best state park anywhere....Catalina State Park, Tucson.  We stayed two nights at the Catalina State and that was not enough.  We had 50 amp!  And the comfort stations were cleaner than our bathrooms!  Joe and I were on a bike ride and saw a bobcat and a coati.  Next day we saw an antelope jackrabbit.  The coyotes howled all night. 

One of our best fieldtrips ever....Arizona Desert Museum.  Yes, I said museum!  We planned on a few hours, and it turned into all day.  We learned about tarantulas, rattlers, cactus, birds, mountain lions, and coyotes (just to name a few).  We battled the 99 degree day and would highly recommend this "living" museum to everyone.

Teddy Bear Cholla

why its a large ear bat!

future archeologists

forgot the name??

Coati, this is what Joe and I saw on our bike ride.

action shot of an antelope jackrabbit

forgot the name??

The best creature of all....black widow.  This black widow was in our bathtub at Tanque Verde Ranch.  My mom's room had a nice addition to it, a giant wolf spider.  Nana, Papa, Mimi, and Annie met us at the Ranch.  It has been 24 years since I've been back to the Tanque Verde Ranch, and it is still awesome!  We all passed our loping test.  Michael and Keith went on mountain biking tours with Casey as their tour guide.  Mimi and Annie did water aerobics with Nancy leading the way.  Rick the snake man helped us identify our roomates, ie. black widow and wolf spider.  Sarah and Joe took tennis lessons in between their trail rides.  After the BBQ one night, we all took dance lessons with Wranger Johnathon.  Papa even took a watercolor class and painted a beautiful Kokopelli.  One of the many highlights was our "breakfast ride".  We were all on horseback up the mountain for a real cowboy breakfast.

Our roomate, the black widow

Nana's roomate, wolf spider

Wrangler Mike, Michael, and Mama

Joe with his best friend Whiskey

Sarah Rose on Chivo

Daddy passed his loping check!!  Yay!!

Roping lessons with Wrangler Mike

Thank you Nana and Papa for introducing me to Tanque Verde Ranch 27 years ago!

To quote Nicholas Gold, General Manager of Tanque Verde, "It was fabulous!"