On the Way to Tough Mudder- Central Texas!

Around last April, I saw a Facebook post by a friend fishing for companions to join her in a 10 mile mud-and-guts obstacle course on October 9th in Central Texas called Tough Mudder. Supposedly, the obstacles were designed to replicate British Special Forces training – complete with head games. I didn’t even blink before I was in. I just had to convince Chris. I mentioned it. Done. That was easy! We were in. Second thoughts have entered, mind you. For Chris, it’s the iced water obstacles. His mind can’t wrap itself around putting his body, particularly his testicles, through the numbing pain of swimming in ice. For me, it’s electrocution. I’m claiming sanity on that one and reminding myself (like I did during childbirth and on the Tower of Terror at Disney) that hundreds of thousands of people have done it and lived through it. I will feel supremely badass when it’s over… if I live. I did have to sign a death waiver, after all. Come to think of it, I had to sign a similar waiver for my wisdom teeth extraction so whatever.

Chris and I (like you, I’m sure) have watched those bullshit armed forces commercials that show obstacle courses and teamwork and make the whole military experience look like ropes-course-sleep-away-camp for adults. We dreamed of being able to participate in the time-limited physical challenge as it is depicted – teamwork, heart, strength, pain, drive… ultimate challenge – without the rest of the military committment.

We read everything on their website and various blogs of others who had participated in various locations throughout the country, signed up, and paid our money. Shit. Now we’d have to train- hard. We’re physically fit people but the prospect of this (we hoped) would take us to an entirely different plane. We were in South Carolina at the time. We immediately began training using the program on the Tough Mudder website.

Tough Mudder is not a race. It’s a challenge and focuses on camaraderie and teamwork. I have to say that Chris and I have bonded tremendously with ourselves and each other over this experience. We have trained 5-6 days a week through eighteen states – all in and around the RV using playground equipment, picnic tables, and household items. While in New Hampshire this summer, I found a book called, “You Are Your Own Gym” by Mark Lauren. We were getting bored and feeling a bit of a plateau settle in with our workout regime. This book has been a big turning point for us. Some major nutritional revelations have been the other key but that’s really an entirely different post. Long story short (in case that post is delayed in coming)- we are thriving on a no sugar, no gluten, no processed flour, low glycemic diet. It’s strangee to even describe it in a way that I’m only telling you what we don’t eat. What we do eat is so freakin’ fantastic! I often post what we’re eating on Facebook so friend me!

I’m writing this post on the way to Austin, Texas where we’ll be spending the six days surrounding the event. Stay tuned! Soon we (and our team of 4 other badass homeschooling parents) will be Tough Mudders! Oh, and did I mention that they’ve lengthened the course to 12 miles with 29 obstacles? Bring…it…on.

Butterflies!

Last Christmas, Sadie wanted and received one of those insect kits to raise butterflies.  We’ve been so busy traveling and visiting that we just haven’t used the voucher to order the larvae and start the process.  She recently pulled the box out of her cubby and it seemed the perfect time.  So we went to www.insectlore.com and used the voucher from our box to order the larvae.  We paid only shipping because the kit included the voucher but you can order and pay for a variety of insects there without the kits as well.  Sure enough, 2 days later we received 5 little black caterpillar-looking larvae.

They grew like mad!  It seemed everytime we walked by their little cup, they were significantly bigger to the point that they ended up greenish, brownish, fat, fuzzy caterpillars.  The cup had tiny air holes and included the food they needed to get to their chrysalid phase so we didn’t do anything but watch for about a week.  They made silk strands criss cross the cup and walked around on them and one day one of them attached its rear end to the paper lid liner of the cup.  The other four promptly followed.  That was about a week ago.  We watched them change from soft and squishy looking to covered in hard, dry casings that had iridescent gold spots on them.  According to the instructions, we removed the paper lid liner from the cup and safety pinned it to the lower inside edge of the net butterfly house.  In the process, one of the chrysalids fell off.  Yikes!  I was able to gently rub the silk remaining on the top against the cup and it stuck back on.

 

Yesterday I got a call while I was out from Chris.  “We have a butterfly!”  Indeed, we do.  And it is a beautiful miracle of nature!  So awesome.

Sadie picked the heads off of two of her potted petunias, mixed the sugar water, and dropped a few droplets on the petals.  We all watched this morning as our butterfly friend extended its proboscis and drank the sweet mixture.  It was visibly disturbed by our hands, our presence, and household noises.  Before our bumpy drive to Austin this morning, we decided to set this one free.

We have four other chrysalids remaining.  In the process, the same chrysalid that had come detached before fell again.  We picked it up and examined it and could see the butterfly wings inside!!!  This time it would not stick back on.  I took a piece of dental floss and tied it to the silk hanging off and tied the other end to the strap on the top of the net house then zipped the zipper closed over it.

Guess what?!  As I’m typing this post, that butterfly has emerged! Phew. I was kind of worried about that guy.

We are all excited to observe other insects from www.insectlore.com. Having read just about everything about butterflies we have gotten our hands on, it’s positively awesome to watch their transition first hand. I think any other observations may have to wait until spring weather… The nights are getting chilly here in Texas already!

Sadie’s Fashion Show

Sadie decided to stage a fashion show last week as a surprise for Daddy.  She painstakingly chose four outfits (off to France, evening wear, sleep wear, and beach wear) for each of us, choreographed our moves, and helped to edit the video clips to music.  What a fun project!

Our Year in Pictures

We started our full-time travel in July of 2010, selling our suburban home in Ft. Worth, Texas and everything in it.
People keep saying, “Can you believe it’s been a year already?!” Yes. In fact, it feels like so much longer. We have lived, experienced, and explored so much in the last year that I am floored that it has only…been…one…year. We rarely felt rushed. We traveled on a timeframe of our own choosing and adjusted according to how we were feeling. We have grown so much in so many ways. This video is a brief overview of our travels from July, 2010 to September, 2011. Enjoy.

It doesn’t get easier.

We cried when we left Texas. We cried when we left California. Arizona. Texas again. Florida. And now we’re crying as we leave New Hampshire. Family, old friends, and new friends that quickly become old friends. It doesn’t get any easier to say, “goodbye.” We’ve been in NH for two and a half months. That’s the longest we’ve stayed in one place since we embarked on this RV journey one year ago. This is where Chris and I began our journey together with the loving support of our families; where our babies joined our lives; where we met and fell in love with a handful of other families who shared our desire to parent in a connected way and to support our children in pursuing their interests and learning in their own individual ways.

So when you ask me, “is it hard for the kids to say ‘goodbye’?” I’ll tell you the truth. It’s hard. Sometimes it’s beyond hard. Today it’s unbearable… for all of us.

I don’t have a way to make it easier. I have hashed this out over and over in my brain wondering if this was somehow damaging or mean to do to the children. Like with most things, though, the light dawns through our communications with them. We feel the emotions together. We talk about the people we love. It’s raw and honest. We even wonder aloud if traveling is the right thing if it hurts this much to leave.

Here’s what we came to today: We love our friends and family here so much. Time spent here is time spent wrapped in the comfort of the fold. These people are our people. When we are here, we are home. But our home moves. And that is amazing. It means that we have the ongoing opportunity to nurture and develop relationships with people along the way and at our destinations that we would never be able to do if we lived full time in one place. We have adventures and excitement beyond our wildest dreams. And we maintain these heartfelt connections made and grown until we return to throw another log on the fire in person.

We love our life. But saying ‘goodbye’ doesn’t get easier.

Oh My-ami!

From Orlando we headed down to Miami. Our goal was to visit the three national parks of south Florida and we found an absolute gem of a campground. I would go back to this one over and over and we just might. The weather was sunny and warm- gorgeous for visiting Miami Beach, snorkeling and exploring John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park on Key Largo (on my 35th birthday- how cool is that!), Biscayne National Park, Everglades National Park and Big Cypress National Preserve. The kids earned Junior Ranger badges at all 3 parks and have sent away for their South Florida National Parks patch indicating as much. The badges are no small feat for such small fries but it’s a great opportunity for us to learn as a family and for the kids to work toward their goal of having a souvenir from each national park that we visit.

On our travels there are also many days that we hang around the parks and play. Our older neighbor asked if she could take the kids’ picture on this day. There was some fierce princess and knight stuff going on.

We had the pleasure of meeting two cousins of mine for the first time during our Miami stay! What a wild adventure that we can spend time with so many people that we may never have met otherwise- including family! Lloyd and Leighton are 1/2 Cuban and were delighted to share their cultural heritage with us. We ate some pretty darned amazing food. The kids still talk about how much they like Cuban sandwiches! The significant difference in our ages (I am 13 and 15 years older than they, respectively) led to some very interesting conversations about dreams, life, histories, passions, and experiences. I was quite taken aback by their similarities in mannerisms, humor, and pensive nature to our grandfather with whom I was very close but they didn’t have the opportunity to get to know well. There’s just something about family.

On a day when parking was not to be had for Miami Beach (we drove around for over an hour searching), we headed to the Miami Children’s Museum. Our disappointment here was twofold in retrospect. We didn’t find anything interesting or well-maintained about this museum and it seems that we may be outgrowing most of the exhibits at children’s museums anyway. Glad we recently found the list of the science and technology museums that are also included in our Association of Children’s Museum membership! Check out what’s included. You can get a reciprocal membership from your local (traveling families- make sure it’s your local museum- it matters that your ID address match the location on your museum card) children’s or science and technology museum and be a roving connoiseur as well!
Association of Children’s Museums reciprocal museum program brochure
Association of Science and Technology Centers travel passport program

The Art Deco style of downtown Miami is funky and cool. The palm trees, bronzed bikini bodies, and bicycles give it a sultry, smokin’ hot flair. Being there definitely felt like a vacation.

In order to take in Big Cypress National Preserve at close range, we moved the RV into one of their campgrounds at Monument Lake for a few days. We had it on good authority from our traveling friends, The Lundy 5, that, although Monument had no electricity or water to offer our RV, it did have a cell tower right across the lake. That’s the only thing we need! Chris can work and we can boondock to our hearts’ content. The first night the kids were playing Wii Rock Band, Chris was working on the desktop computer at his desk, and I was cooking a grand meal. We laughed at how decadent ‘dry’ camping is. The only differences for us are keeping an eye on our coach batteries and enlisting the RV generator occasionally for a refresh and limiting our grey water usage to ensure that we don’t fill our tank before we’re ready to move on- packing up to dump is a real hassle.

One of our goals was to take a canoe trip as a family which we did out of the Everglades City visitor center of the Everglades. We paddled what felt like a giant WWII metal battleship the one mile mainland to Sandfly Island. Holy cow, it was hard. The wind blew us off course continually, we paddled against the tide all the way there, and there was recuping of patience needed on all accounts at different points on the journey. The hike around the island itself was so cool! It is aptly named, though, and we don’t generally use bug repellant so there was a lot of itching and slapping! Despite our difficulties we would do it again- next time in kayaks like the ones that were gliding by us like we were anchored.

One of the most compelling pieces of these national parks has been living with respect for animals. It really changed our perspectives- even as people who honor and love the Earth and those with whom we share it. It stuck with me how ‘advanced’ societies live not only without regard for surrounding animal life but as though it’s a mere interference- relocating and killing animals that are deemed threatening or a nuisance to everyday life. In the parks, we are visitors and this is their land. What a switch! What I liked the most? That humans couldn’t betray this because the alternative to respecting the animals was to lose a limb or a life. Alligators have the run of the place and, with understanding of their behaviors, we were welcome and safe visitors. I love when we’re held accountable by natural consequences. So often, there are fences and rules and guards. It has taken away our natural ability to assess and act in accordance with our environment rather than by resistance and containment.

Remembering Orlando Magic

The five weeks we spent in the Orlando area were truly magical. We had a million cool adventures and learned and discussed lots of new things. But in the end as I look back, it’s the people we shared this time with that stand out the most in my mind.

Upon arriving in Apopka, Florida at a sweet little RV park, Chris noticed some issues with our electrical system.  The inverter wasn’t working properly and then proceeded to internally combust resulting in a 3-day RV blackout.  What’s worse?  The door of the inverter basement compartment then fell off.  Go ahead… laugh.  We did.  Sometimes it feels like National Lampoon’s RV Life over here. 

Enter Michael and Jeannette Brown and their pup, Hazel – our new neighbors.   We were feeling pretty pitiful and overwhelmed navigating and trouble shooting the electrical system of the RV.  It’s a vulnerable feeling stepping out of the RV with a tarp hanging off the side in lieu of a compartment door as the other RVers gather in droves to point and whisper.  Oh that didn’t really happen?  That’s what it looked like in our heads…  Michael spent time with Chris as moral support, idea man, and helping hand.  We quickly became friends and got the tour of their traveling livelihoods.  Michael is the baker, owner, salesman, and primary taster of his business The inFAMOUS Welsh Cookie Co.  He has a small, fully functional bakery in the front of their trailer and carries on his family’s tradition of baking Welsh cookies (his grandmother’s recipe) in 23 (and growing) flavors.  Jeannette is proprietor of The Scottish Tinker, selling authentic Celtic jewelry of all kinds - traditional to unique.  Together, they are The U.K. Market and travel the country selling their wares at Celtic Festivals.

(above- Sadie has her first paying gig helping Jeannette shine and prepare her jewelry for an upcoming show.)

We couldn’t have asked for better neighbors or friends.  The kids spent loads of time visiting with them and we all really enjoyed their company.  The end of our month in Apopka culminated in several challenging repairs completed (We knew something had to give when Elijah tossed a coin into the water at It’s a Small World in DisneyWorld and wished for electricity.) and lasting friendships formed.  We were very sad to leave the comfort of that bond.

All the while, we were squeezing in as much time as possible with Chris’ grandparents who have wintered in the Orlando area for the last 17 years.  At 81 and 82 (I’m pretty sure it’s OK for me to post their ages since it seems it can be worn as a badge of honor both up to one’s early 20′s and after about 75), they never missed a beat with one (long) day spent at Disney, one spent showing us around Celebration, one taking us to the Farmers’/Flea Market, many long walks, a few yummy restaurant meals, baking, board/card games, reading, seemingly incessant conversation from all sides, bicycle repair, a playground picnic, and a couple of cookouts.  We reveled in each other’s company.  It was simply perfect to spend SO much undivided time over such a long period with them.  There are very few such opportunities to celebrate and saturate in love and appreciation for others.  When we left Apopka, we had the priveledge of joining them at their RV park for an additional week.  What a treat to be neighbors!  We wandered back and forth between our homes at will – easily and freely.  We met their friends and got to experience the lifestyle of their Floridian winters which had previously just meant time apart.  We were comforted and thrilled to see what full, active, connected lives they have with their winter friends in their winter home.

As if that weren’t enough! We’d been talking since last year’s Rethinking Everything Conference about getting back together with John Stralecky and his wonderful family. Chris and John hit it right off at RE and we so enjoyed listening to him talk about backpacking around the world on $40 per day during one of his sessions. Cosmically enough, John has RV aspirations and wanted to pick our brains as well. Both of our families have come to the realization that life matters NOW and passions drive all. Sharing a couple of meals at each other’s homes and wandering downtown Disney was time spent with kindred spirits and brought to life that the same realizations about living a joyful life play out in so many different (and perfect) ways. If you haven’t read John’s books (Big Five for Life, The Why Cafe, Life Safari), I highly recommend them.

Sadie and Elijah had a grand time playing with their daughter and I, chatting with John’s wife, Cindy, who has so many interesting tales to tell. I enjoyed talking unschooling with her as they consider educational options and lifestyle based in their unique worldly perspective.

If you want it done better, do it yourself (bread)

We’ve pretty much eliminated all processed/packaged foods from our home (RV).  What remains:

- an ever-present jar of organic pasta sauce for busy or moving days

- cereal: the kids choose Autumn Wheats, Strawberry Fields, Kashi Go Lean and the like but the fact remains that they are packaged/processed.  I don’t have an alternative for this currently except that Sadie has mostly stopped eating cereal anyway (having switched to toast/fruit- see below for her favorite recipe) and Elijah loves homemade granola with rice milk or organic oatmeal (scratch recipes welcome!).

- bread: for toast, sandwiches, etc.  It’s always been whole grain, dark breads but…

I want to take back control from big corporations over what is put into our bodies.  I want to know the ingredients and how much of each is in what we’re eating.  And… it just feels good and ceremonious and loving to create in the kitchen and feed myself and my family.  At a park day a few months ago, I told my friend Barb about my frustration that I could not seem to make a loaf of bread that was tasty and would work for slicing.  She told me I just needed more practice.

She was right.  A few weeks ago, I decided to go out on a limb (the one in the back of the tree far away from the knowledge-about-yeast-etc. limb) and try my hand at combining a couple of my favorite bread machine recipes to see if I could tailor one to our desires.  I did it!  This recipe received two thumbs up from our resident bread aficionada, Sadie.  So it’s only fitting that it bear her name.

It’s in the machine right now! 

Sadie’s Crusty Spelt

In large breadmaker combine:

14 oz cold water*

3 cups organic unbleached white flour

1 1/2 cups organic spelt flour

1 Tbsp honey

2 1/2 tsps sea salt

3 1/2 Tbsps unsalted organic butter

2 Tbsps dry goats’ milk

1 1/2 tsps active dry yeast (chilled)*

Set bread machine to ‘wheat’ setting and you’re done!  Allow to cool slightly before slicing and store.

Homemade bread spoils before store-bought as there are no preservatives to enhance shelf-life.  It doesn’t matter because this bread is so yummy that it’s gone within three days.  We use it for garlic bread as well (butter, freshly minced garlic, onion powder, garlic powder- toast in oven).

* I’m no yeast expert.  This bread has risen out of the drum and into the machine (mess) twice recently and I realized it was because I had either used warm water or allowed the yeast to come to room temperature (or both) before baking which enhances the activity of the yeast.  If using room temperature yeast, decrease the amount used to eliminate major frustration, potential for cursing, and a foul smelling breadmaker.

What’s next? Milling my own flour? I just talked to a woman at a park day here in Florida that has her own grain mill. I thought about it… There a few reasons why I think it would make me insane- another small appliance in my RV under-storage, another appliance on my already miniature kitchen counter, more weight in the RV, another step in my process… I’m sure it will happen some day but it doesn’t seem likely or interesting at present.

Discovery: STS-133

This morning Chris and I carried two sleepy, smiling children to the car at 5:45 AM to make the 1 1/2 hour drive down to Spaceview Park in Titusville, Florida.  It was a needed 11 hours prior to the scheduled lift-off of the space shuttle Discovery’s much anticipated final flight of its 27 years of service with NASA.  We arrived to a significant number of tents, chairs, and people already marking spots for the late afternoon launch.  The energy was already electric even at this early hour as people eagerly anticipated the launch.

The kids and I spent a great deal of time yesterday reading up on the logistics of shuttle launches, the International Space Station, and reading and watching videos on the NASA website about the preparation for, goals, and crew of Discovery: STS- 133. 

We spent today playing games on our blankets, reading real-time NASA blog updates, and wandering with the Lundy family- a traveling family we first met in Las Vegas last October and were thrilled to hook back up with when we arrived in Florida. The kids and their dads had an afternoon visit at the Space Walk of Fame Museum and really enjoyed the interactive exhibits there.

It was truly amazing to witness such a historical event live and in person.  For my generation, this is the end of an era which we were able to share with our children.  What’s next?  Only they know.

Mexico Beach, Florida

Coming to the conclusion that we rather like traveling more slowly makes actually getting to a destination tricky.  Chris and I huddled up in Sedona many weeks ago and planned out our entire winter.  Albeit late, we were able to sneak in amongst the snowbirds and book a site in Florida nearby his grandparents for the month of January.  We’ve been anxiously awaiting our visit ever since.  After a really fun couple of days in New Orleans, we boondocked one night and arrived for a one week stay in Mexico Beach, Florida.  We were so excited to spend some time on the white sand beaches we’d heard so much about from some friends in Texas. 

But wait, isn’t Florida supposed to be warm?  Not this part, apparently.  This was a cold week.  Now I’m not talking cold like Michigan or Massachusetts or wherever you’re reading this from right now cursing at me as you wrap your hands around your cocoa and pull up the covers.  But for a family on the road in a not-so-well-insulated, lightly packed RV chasing warm temperatures and expecting warm sand between our toes, it was cold.  We stayed at Rustic Sands RV Resort- a lovely treed campground amongst beach cottages in a town 40 minutes from the closest anything. 

It made for a great week for ‘downtime’ (aka- doing less exploring).  Chris had work to catch up on after our 2 full days jaunting around New Orleans and there were plenty of projects and cleaning to be done around the RV.  We had replaced the fuel filter housing on the side of the highway in Alvin, TX (just before New Orleans) and took one of the afternoons here to clean the back of the RV, tow car, and bikes of the fuel (diesel and veg) that had escaped prior to our discovering the drain valve was stuck open.  It doesn’t take much to make a big mess.  Blech.  The kids played outside and spent time on their computer games.  Elijah is a World of Warcraft fanatic and Sadie became a potion entrepreneur with Fairy Godmother Tycoon.

There were two afternoons during our week that were not downright freezing or pouring and we made for the beach- about a mile walk from the campground. These kids are crazy. As Chris and I put up our hoods and turned our backs to the chilly winds, the kids ran straight for the numbing waves. They had so much fun that cold was an afterthought. Glad we brought extra clothes for the walk home!

Oh yeah- and I got a new camera! I’m having so much fun reading about it and playing with it and capturing all the gorgeous moments of our lives. I’m reading the manual, getting help from great friends, watching Youtube videos, and Googling. It’s definitely not enough to just have a fancy piece of equipment. Knowing how to use it and having an eye for composition are a big deal!