Category: Family

Day 9 – Arkansas

It’s our last day in Arkansas before we move on with our trip and I’m determined to hold every moment with so much gratitude.

Dalton had the day off today which was awesome. He, Xani and Jon hopped in Xani’s Mini Cooper and ran out to pick up eggs, bacon and sausage for breakfast. I’m sure we could have planned better but it was just another moment to be together and remember.

Jon and Dalton were in charge of breakfast and they did a fabulous job. It was delicious! Complete with grits and Jimmy Dean sausage. To be honest, I did not eat the grits; but I heard someone say they were delicious.

After breakfast, we tidied up and the boys headed to the range. Xani and I stayed behind. I was tempted to go but the lure of some quiet time was too much for this introvert.

The boys had fun and I took a shower, did a little prep for tomorrows travel and Xani made snickerdoodles. I helped her roll the dough balls and then we sat in the sun for a bit. It was a such a lovely day just being with the people I love.

We had talked about possibly having seafood for dinner but by the time dinner rolled around we decided to go to Waffle House. The boys were so excited because it’s internet famous for always being open no matter what.

Having never been, I was expecting more of a family restaurant but it was more like a diner. We squished 6 of us into 4 person booth with 2, on chairs at the end.

Before we arrived, I had figured that I didn’t want waffles so I’d probably just get a salad or something light. But the menu has waffles and eggs and hashbrowns and grilled cheese and basically it’s carbs with a few proteins like eggs, bacon and sausage to balance it out.

Jude said the waffle were spectacular. 10 out of 10 and it got an “S” rating – which I understand to mean Superior – for both the food and the service.

It was late when we arrived and by 8:30 the waitress suggested we not stick around as they would be closing at 9pm. We said that we understood they were open 24 hours so why were they closing; and she said that the drive through would be open but they closed the indoor dining as this was the ghetto and we’d be likely to get mugged if we stuck around. It was a funny way to round out the day.

We went back home and Siah checked in on his school work, we packed a few things up and went to bed a bit earlier as we were planning to get on the road to Bay St Louis early.

It’s bittersweet to be leaving my sweet girl but knowing how well she is loved by this incredible family makes it easier.

We absolutely enjoyed every moment getting to know these guys. They are such good people with great hearts; authentic and real and we hope to be able to see them again soon. We are so thankful that you opened your home and hearts to us. We feel blessed to call you family.

Day 8 – Arkansas

It weird to think that it’s been over a week that we’ve been “on the road” and that we’re not even half way through this adventure. It’s been a lot of fun, so far; and we have so much more planned!

It’s another gorgeous day. Not too hot but gloriously warm and sunny. This is where I sit in the sun in the morning and drink my coffee. I look out at the trees and every day the green fills in more and more; and it gets even more beautiful. This morning the woodpeckers were out. There were a couple of them flitting through the trees, pecking away. I also saw the brightest red bird that I’ve ever seen. No idea what it was; but it was sure pretty.

Jon made waffles. These guys have a fancy “double waffle maker” and we’re gonna have to get one of those. We only have a single maker and this speeds up the process significantly. Jon made “Dynie’s waffles.” We stopped by their house one day – 20+ years ago – and Dynie was making waffles and they were so delicious that Jon asked for the recipe. He’s been making them ever since.

Mac was sure that Xani was gonna share; but she didn’t.

After breakfast, I went out and set the trailer in order. I love trailer living because everything has a place and if you put it back where it’s supposed to be, then everything stays neat and tidy. I really like neat and tidy.

Front of the trailer

I did a load of laundry and put that all away too. After a week, we had one load and I’m a bit surprised at how many pairs of socks the 3 guys go through. I don’t often wear socks as I love my Birkenstock sandals but they wear at least a pair every day and sometimes more because once you’ve taken the old pair off, you can’t possibly put them back on! (Insert eye roll)

Back of the trailer

After the trailer was tidy, I grabbed the crochet dishcloth I had started the other day. I just needed to add the scalloped edging to it, so it was the perfect “sit in the sun” project.

Jude came out and asked if I want to shoot the BB gun with him. So we set up a table and some pop cans.

We hit some and missed some, and even hit the table and the bucket that the cans were in. I’m pretty wobbly and have a hard time holding the BB gun steady enough to consistently hit the cans. I like it when they are clumped together as I’m more likely to hit at least one of them, then. Ha!

Jon came out and joined us for a couple of rounds.

The bugs started to get annoying about this time but when you’re in the zone, you adapt, right?

Xani and I used to go together and get our nails done and I hadn’t had time to get them done before we left, so we booked an appointment at her nail place here. Little mother/daughter bonding time.

Jon sat in the sun while we were gone. It’s really nice to have some downtime moments, especially after the past crazy years.

I finished the edging on my dishcloth while sitting in the shade, in a rocking chair on the back porch.

Then I grabbed a glass of sweet tea and headed out the front to sit in the sunshine.

Can you see my little frog friend? I love the sound of frogs chirping. This little guy has some serious camouflage going on. I only noticed him because he hopped. I have edited the photo like crazy to make him stand out a bit.

Dalton’s dad asked if the boys wanted to drive the tractor and Jude was ALL over that. That boy would thrive out on a piece of property somewhere. But maybe somewhere with less ticks!

Jude had fun driving and Siah had fun riding. He only hit one smallish tree.

Jon made his ribs for dinner and while we waited for them to finish up, Jude and Xani and I played a game of Trouble. Xani won and I lost!

After dinner, we sat out on the back porch and chatted a bit. It’s been so lovely getting to know Xani’s new family. They are lovely, Lovely people. She is so well loved by them and I’m ever so thankful for how kind and caring they all are.

We headed to bed, did another tick check, and settled in for a good night sleep. It was another fabulous day and I’m so grateful!

Day 7 – Arkansas

We woke up to the beautiful sounds of birds chirping, roosters crowing and dogs losing their ever loving minds. Welcome to Arkansas.

The weather is amazing. It’s warm and sunny with a slight breeze. We pulled out some chairs, grabbed a coffee and sat. After a week of rushing, it feels luxurious to just sit and be.

The trees are just beginning to explode with greenery in a million different shades and it’s beautiful to sit here in this private forest oasis and listen to the sounds of nature and city collide. Woodpeckers and garbage trucks, the roosters and sirens, frogs and an RC car being played with on the property next door. And dogs, there’s a lot of dogs on the neighbouring properties and they all try to vie for dominance with their song.

Mac found this turtle a week or so ago and the poor guy gets put down, manages to crawl a few feet before being discovered again. We haven’t seen him open up and move around; but he’s pretty cute, all tucked up in his shell.

Jon has made pancakes for the kids – from his mother’s recipe – since they were tiny and it was fun to see him and Xani in the kitchen together. They were delicious, as always!

The boys are in dog heaven and I’m pretty sure the dogs think they have gone to heaven with the amount of attention and belly rubs and butt scratches and ear rubbing that they are getting.

We sat out on the back porch and chatted. I dragged my chair out into the sunshine; and it was glorious. I struggle with the amount of rain we get on the West Coast. Even though it’s all I’ve ever known, it feels like my soul washes down the drain with all the rain between October and May. I live for the warm sunny days of June, July and August but even as August winds down, I feel the sadness start creeping in and it’s hard.

Yesterday, we finally managed to get in some drawing. The prompt was mushroom. Jon created the psychedelic pencil drawing above and I drew the colourful version below.

It’s been fun to take the time to draw each day and we’ve missed it, in the race to get here.

Jon helped Xani run an errand and I tidied the trailer. We had a delicious meal of barbecued chicken, potatoes and Greek salad. Xani also made cinnamon buns for dessert. Everyone helped to get dinner cleaned up and then we went out on the property and built a fire.

It was nice to sit and chat and laugh and be with family. We pulled out the marshmallows and had some s’mores. Talked and laughed some more.

There’s something soothing about sitting around a fire at the end of the day. You can talk or not talk but just being with family fills your soul.

At the end of the evening, we put the fire out and headed back to the trailer for a quick tick check before climbing into bed. It was a pretty great day!

Day 6 – Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas

We weren’t sure if we’d split the trip between Kansas and Arkansas into two shorter days or just take the plunge and go for it but on Saturday night while in Hays, Kansas, we talked with the boys and decided to get up early and make a day of it and then we’d have extra time with Xani. We had plans to leave by 8am but when I woke up at 8 and everyone was still in bed, I figured that plan had gone out the window.

We did managed to get up and on the road by 9:30am. That 9 hour drive is deceiving because when you add in slower driving because of the Trailer, gas stops, bathroom breaks and food, it’s easy a 12 hour journey and in our case it was actually a 13 hour journey. (insert eye roll here)

Hays, Kansas

Hays was pretty and warm when we left but oh so windy and we wondered how that would translate into driving conditions. Our trailer is not exactly the most aerodynamic shape and a good gust of wind will shove you into the next lane or onto the roadside. It can be quite exciting!

These flowers were smaller than my pinky fingernail but so pretty.

Everyone was pretty eager to get going. Who wouldn’t be looking forward to a whole day of sitting around?

As we started our day, the weather looked a bit ominous up ahead of us; even thought the weather condition app didn’t show even any rain let alone a storm.

As we neared Oklahoma, this friendly guy welcomed us! There has been a few of these metal characters that we’ve passed along the way; a bear, a camel and one other animal that I forget at the moment but this is the first guy we’ve seen!

There was a whole lot of flat land as we drove through Kansas and Oklahoma. Not terribly exciting; but still beautiful in its own open way.

We stopped at this truck stop to let one of the boys use the toilet and I’ve got the say that this is the funniest and most wildly inappropriate gas station names we’ve come across yet!

I started crocheting a dishcloth to pass some of the time.

We hit a toll station that accepted credit cards and then we hit one that only took cash – which we didn’t have, of course. So they gave us and envelope and a ticket and told us to pick up some cash and pay both at the next one. We stopped in Muskogee and used Google Maps to find an ATM. It took us into town and to a bank headquarters that did NOT have an ATM nor was it open on Easter Sunday BUT, fortunately for us, one block up and one street over there was a bank with an ATM.

Not cool, Google! Not cool.

We had parked in an empty insurance place lot that was next to a Sonic so we thought we’d grab something quick to eat. It was not quick’ THEN, we desperately needed gas so we followed Google Maps again to a gas station that was unmanned AND we couldn’t pay with our card because we don’t have an American Zip code. So we had to find another one. Eventually we did, gassed up and were on our way to Arkansas.

We crossed into Arkansas about 7:30 and had a couple more hours to go. If you’re looking to pass some time just get Jon and Jude and Siah started on a conversation about protons and neutrons and electrons and atoms and energy and black holes and white holes and I don’t even know what else. The last hour or so was a riveting conversation that I didn’t understand even though they all tried to explain it, so well.

We pulled in around 10:30pm. Got our trailer set up, said our hellos and then went to bed. All in all, it was a pretty good day.

Day 5 – Kansas

We pulled into the Fort Collins KOA super late BUT….we specifically choose to stay at an RV park with SHOWERS. It was necessary, needed and just plain wanted.

We woke up and all ran through the showers and it was like we had a new lease on life.

My “Hi, I’m still alive!” photo that I sent my sisters on Saturday morning.

We definitely started the day later than normal and we are not typically a 6am family.

We hit the road around 11am and the plan was to have a short driving day because the previous day was so long.

Jon has done all the driving and I have been navigating; finding the best route, and where to stop for gas or food, and booking sites to stay at.

I’d say that have the better end of the deal as it seems exhausting to be carrying the weight of the trailer – ha ha ha! But seriously, ensuring the safety of the truck and trailer – and us – seems like a big thing to be shouldering.

Colorado into Kansas was a lot of flat, rolling land. We’ve had a lot of cloud coverage with moments of sunny breaks; but it was incredible when the temps jumped and it was all of the sudden warm.

It was windy; but hot and windy and felt incredible. It’s amazing that we could go from hot and sunny to cloudy so fast.

I had initially thought that we’d stay at one campground but it was only 3 hours away and I figured we could easy do 4 hours. As I tried to find a campground that wasn’t outrageously priced, it became apparent that our options were 3 or 5 hours. I chose the 5 hour option and as a bonus we went through a time zone.

So our short day ended up feeling like a sort of long day as we pulled into the campground in Kansas around 7:30pm. We set up the trailer and quickly made dinner.

After dinner, Jon and I played a quick game of crib while the boys zoned on their devices.

He won but didn’t skunk me. Phew!

The air was warm and breezy and it was a welcome change after how cold it had been. We had the windows open on both sides of the trailer and didn’t even need to turn on the heater.

My boys are weird and sleep with a bottom sheet and a comforter. I am glad that we brought our feather duvet. Our bed – aside from the “spectacular” mattress is like a fluffy cloud. Climbing into it at night is heavenly. It’s surprising how exhausting long travel is. It’s not like we are doing anything physical. Just sitting on our butts all day but we pull into a campground and just want to go to bed. I wish I had the energy to draw or read or something but I don’t.

For Day 6 – Easter Sunday – we plan to get up early and book it the remainder of the way to Arkansas. It will be another big day of driving but then we will stay for a couple of days and that will be lovely.

Day 4 – Utah, Wyoming and Colorado

When we woke up in Twin Falls it was -3 degrees. It didn’t actually feel that cold but that’s what the weather app said.

The boys burnt off a bit of energy while Jon and I readied the trailer.

Rock Creek RV Park

And then we hit the road around 11am.

Our goal was a BIG day of driving. We were aiming for Fort Collins, Colorado which was 9 hours and 45 mins not counting fuel stops, bathroom breaks, lunch and dinner.

The weather hovered around 0 degrees for most of the trip…..it did get as low as -7 through Wyoming and it was as high as 7 in Utah.

The scenery alternated between completely white out as far as the eye could see; to snow on the hills in the background to snow dusted mesa.

We stopped for gas once we made it into Wyoming and it was surprising how much snow and how cold it was.

Compared to the white knuckled windy driving of the day before; this leg of the journey seemed easy. The roads were dry and clear which was nice.

We saw lots of tiny deer while driving through Wyoming and even a couple of elk along side of the hwy.

I love seeing the wind turbines. They are SO huge and seem to move so majestically which feels weird to say about a metal structure but I just love the look of them. Like guardians watching over the land.

Because it was a huge day of driving, we ate fast food garbage for lunch and dinner but it was the boys first time trying Arby’s (lunch but no photo) and Sonic. Sonic was a bigger hit than Arby’s. We still have to hit a Jack in the Box at some point. Any other suggestions for these Canadian Boys to try?

Some time after the sun went down, the moon started to rise over the horizon. It was HUGE and so stunningly bright and orange. Pictures don’t even remotely do it justice. It was amazing.

It was interesting how late the sun stayed up but then how quickly night fell. It felt like you could actually see the darkness taking over and growing in depth.

We pulled into the KOA in Fort Collins around 11:15pm; were set up by 11:30pm and in bed by midnight.

We are planning for a much shorter day for Day 5!

Day 3 – Idaho

We woke up in Pendleton, OR; had breakfast, packed away the beds and Jon washed a few dishes before we hit the road.

We are getting pretty efficient at packing up and hitching up the trailer. We got on the road around 10:30am and headed towards Idaho.

Day 3

There has definitely been a learning curve to this whole RVing adventure. We encountered massive headwinds which drastically reduced our fuel economy. As we passed Baker City, we looked at our fuel and thought, we can totally make it to the next gas stop. Ha ha ha

Jon was white knuckling it as we swerved all over the highway. The wind was brutal and had massive gusts of crosswinds. We watched the gas gauge drop faster than the Hellevator on a summer day at the PNE. We cheered as we saw a huge GAS sign off the highway. We took the exit, pulled under the overpass and searched for the gas station.

Nothing! There was no gas station in sight. We saw a road crew truck and asked where the nearest gas was and he said it was either back at Baker City or possibly at Huntington.

We got back on the highway and Jude pulled out his phone and said there was a gas station at Huntington. Siah reached over and hugged Jude for finding the gas station. It was an epic moment of family bonding and panic.

Based on the info from Jon’s truck we might make it or we might need to park on the side of the road and unhook and just drive the truck in to get gas…..or the third option was to just drive as far as we could and hoof it maybe 2 kms to the gas station.

We had options. It was a glorious stomach clenching, breath holding 15 minutes. And the worst was when the truck stopped counting the kilometres left and just said low gas.

As we rounded the final corner into Huntington and saw the little old gas station with its one pump – but 4 Tesla charging stations? – we cheered, breathed a sign of relief and then all three of the guys hoped that it had enough for us to fill up.

We filled up, used the restroom, grabbed some food from the trailer and started the final leg into Idaho.

As an FYI, Jons truck holds 25 gallons and he filled it with 24.2 gallons. That’s closer than we’d ever like to get again.

Note to self, make sure you know where the gas stations are on the trip. And fill up earlier than necessary.

We made it into Idaho and hit 1000kms travelled. Pretty exciting, eh?

I am LOVING the scenery. The rolling hills, the blue skies , the open spaces. It’s so beautiful.

We made it to Twin Falls and had reserved a spot at Rock Creek RV Park. The boys said this was their favorite spot so far. It was less RV park and more parking lot with power but there was grass and trees and pathways and a tiny river and it was in a little canyon in the middle of town surrounded by rocky hills that Siah climbed. We got unhitched and plugged into power but there was no running water or Sani dump to connect to.

After dinner we went for a walk. That’s a weird aspect of travelling. I’m used to getting in 10,000 steps or more per day and I’d be surprised if I hit 4000, even with our walk.

We’ve seen a few tumbleweeds as we drove and Jude was excited to find one in the campsite. It was big and prickly and SO light.

It started to get cold so we headed back to the trailer, played a few games, made oven s’mores and got ready for bed.

The boys have always surprised me with how well they travel, given how much they seem to crave routine and familiarity. Jon has been a rock star of dependability and strength and it’s been a great couple of days. I’m looking forward to the rest of our adventure. We are aiming for Utah tomorrow. Woot!

Day 2 – Oregon

We headed southeast through Washington aiming for Oregon.

We drove up and over the Snoqualmie Pass. It was gorgeous and cold. There was SO MUCH SNOW.

We stopped and grabbed a quick bite to eat and shook out our legs a little before carrying on.

We needed gas and came across this fruit and antique mall that was right beside a gas station and while Jon and Jude filled the truck; Siah and I ran through all three floors in a time that would have made Grandma Rathjen proud.

It was huge and filled with amazing treasures. You could have easily spent hours looking through it all.

Dad, you would have LOVED looking through it all!

Siah particularly liked the jewelry and he’s pretty sure he needs a cowboy hat to go with his black trench coat.

Seriously! 3 floors of wonder and treasure. Amazing. We boogied down the amazing stairway and flew across the parking lot just as Jon was getting back into the truck.

As we got closer to Oregon, you notice the lack of evergreens as the land flattens out to more rolling hills and flat land.

I happened to be looking at Google Maps as we approached Oregon and was warmly welcomed by this little pop up. We made it to Pendleton, Oregon and had booked a reservation at an RV site at a KOA Campground. We pulled in, hooked up and the boys immediate jumped on the internet to “relax”. Ha ha!

Our site backed onto a gorgeous view of the Blue Mountains and after a late dinner, we shut it all down and headed to bed.

Everyone is still mostly happy and happy to be on this epic road trip; but there’s still time for that to change, eh?

Road Trip

Well, when adventure calls…….you answer?

We have talked about doing a road trip for a while and in the last week, we managed to pull it all together and we are on the road.

We bought a trailer on Monday, packed like coked out squirrels on Tuesday and actually managed to get on the road around 5pm. We had booked a space in Birch Bay for our first night and wonder of all wonders, we managed to arrive around 7pm which is when I had guesstimated that we’d show up. We unhooked, set up and settled in for the night.

The boys were in bed and down for the count before 9pm. Which, if I’m being honest, freaked me out a little because they are both night owls

Jude drew a mushroom – which was the daily prompt. I started and gave up because I was also too tired. Jon and I read for a bit before turning the light out.

Our mattress is spectacular and by spectacular, I mean that even with 2 fluffy blankets under the fitted sheet you can still feel the springs. I’m thinking we will probably need a mattress topper of some sort. It was an experience, that’s for sure!

Jude was awake for the day at 5am. The rest of us started the day around 7:30am.

Jon made our first pot of percolator coffee and it was amazing! There was a quick game of Spot it! to start the day and then we packed up and headed into Bellingham.

We stopped at T-Mobile and grabbed new SIM cards for the month and now we are headed to Oregon.

In That Space

I can’t keep track of the number of times that my life has shifted in ways that I didn’t expect. Times when I thought or expected things to just carry on or develop in typical ways and then, “BAM! PLOT TWIST!“

I guess in someways it keeps life exciting and yet, I feel like I’ve had more than enough “excitement” in my life and could actually use a little boring and mundane stability.

I’ve done a lot of thinking about contentment, recently. I’ve had very well meaning people tell me that I’m so strong and capable; that I seem to be able to “handle so much” They might mention that they don’t know how I do it; and although I believe they are good hearted people, it doesn’t exactly feel like a compliment.

Gah! I just don’t want to have to be strong enough or to have to go through difficult times. I don’t want the knowledge that I can handle weighty things. Sometimes, I just want to yell, “Enough already! I just want to breathe, rest and grow without the effort and pain of conflict and uncertainty.”

And yet, this is life.

There is pain.
There is uncertainty.
There is chaos.
There is struggle.
BUT…

There is also good and joy and love and peace and blessing and happiness and enough. Even in the midst of the pain and the chaos, of the hurt and discomfort; of the uncertainty and conflict – there is good.

How do we find that goodness when we feel overwhelmed by the hurt and pain? How do we be content?

I recently read this description of contentment and I love it!

Contentment is being happy with what you have.
Contentment is being happy with who you are.
Contentment is being happy with where you are.

Contentment is respecting the reality of the the present.

I love this statement. Read it again.

Contentment is respecting the reality of the present.

It’s not about settling. It’s not about giving up. It’s not about denying reality. It’s not glossing over or ignoring the difficult things. It’s not about toxic positivity.

It is about RESPECTING THE REALITY OF THE PRESENT in all its messy goodness, and horror. It’s holding or having space for the duality of life. Recognizing that there is good and bad. Life is full of contradictions and we have the honour and responsibility of choosing our responses in any situation.

I believe that, too often, we allow our reactions to dictate our responses, especially in difficult situations. I love this quote from Victor Frankl,

” Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space lies our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom.”

I believe that part of contentment is holding “this space.”

Being content requires self awareness. In order to be happy with what you have, who you are and where you’re at – you need to KNOW what you have, who you are and where you’re at.

Knowing WHO YOU ARE, allows you to build your life on a solid foundation. It enables you to see what you have, what you want, where you are and where you want to go. It’s easier to create the life that you want for yourself when you truly know yourself. Then, when your story has a sudden Plot Twist, you can stand in “that space” and choose your response in a way that aligns with values.

You can hold the reality of both the pain and the good; and make choices that align with who you truly are. You have the power to choose your actions and reactions.

There is something extremely empowering in recognizing that we have a choice. We get to chose our responses to the things that happen in our lives. We may not always have control over what happens because there may be outside influences that are out of our control, but we get to choose our response.

In that choice, in that space, in that moment – there is power, growth and freedom and there can be contentment, even in the difficult times.