We're Here!

After spending a few days with my mother-in-law, we headed straight east along interstate 20, passing right through Louisiana and Mississippi. We crossed the border into Alabama Sunday night, stayed at the Welcome Center rest stop, and then continued the rest of the way on Monday morning.

We are finally here.

We immediately began to set up our trailer to stay awhile. We hooked up the power, refilled the water tank, attached a hose to the water inlet and turned on the propane water heater. I then began to catch up on the dishes and take a shower.

That's when Meredith noticed a leak. One of the supply lines to the water heater had a pretty steady drip, which had managed to soak the edges of one of her rugs. We hung it outside to dry, and I checked under the trailer, where I noticed waste water gushing out the bottom of the holding tank.

And then it started to rain. Just like the last time the rugs got wet, despite the drought. Maybe God hates shag carpets?

Anyways, it seemed to us that all the plumbing had waited until we arrived before deciding to fall apart on us. It was pretty stressful, finally arriving here, just to find we couldn't use any water, but the next day we took it to an RV repair shop called RV Roadway a bit south of Alabaster, AL, and they were very friendly and helpful.

They weren't able to fix all the leaks 100%, but they charged us honestly for what they were able to complete, even though they had put far more hours of labor into it then I paid for.

At least we are no longer gushing sewage. That would stink.

Other than that, our stay has remained fairly uneventful. We've explored the town a bit, applied at a few places, but mostly just waited around, surviving, eating, sleeping and reading. Bored and eager for Sunday to roll around, so we can start checking out churches, and finally start meeting people.

The adventure is far from over.

I suppose that's all I have for this week, so until next time, take care and thanks for all the prayer!

Shipoopi

The white Sands National Monument was quite an interesting place. The sand was white, which messed with my head a lot because it resembled snow, and it had a decent amount of water mixed in (which is why the dunes stay intact, appearantly). So, everytime I saw a puddle, I thought it was the mush from where the sand melted, and then I'd have to remind myself that unlike snow, sand doesn't melt.

To make things more confusing, they rented out sleds, so you could slide down the dunes like some sort of winter wonderland. Except that it wasn't a winter wonderland. It was a desert, and it was really hot outside.

The boys loved sliding down the dunes.

Another thing to add to our confusion that day was that we had passed into a new time zone and were just getting used to our clocks being an hour behind the local time--which our cell phones reflected--but then all of our clocks suddenly synchronized that day. We had no idea that daylight savings time had just ended.

But we weren't the only ones there who were confused. We also ran into a couple from Texas who asked us about the local time, and after explaining that we were from Washington, they realized that we were just as confused as they were.

We then saw a camel, which was giving its owner some difficulty until the Texan came over and bossed it around a bit.

The Texan is the one wearing red shorts.

We all had fun, though. The boys were very upset that we had to go... and that it wasn't windy enough to fly the kite.

From there, we headed south into El Paso, so we are officially in Texas. While in El Paso, we decided to stop at a zoo, but we arrived just a couple hours before closing on a Monday, so the zoo was dead quiet. But it was nice to let the boys run around a bit before they put all the animals away for the night and shooed us out of the zoo.

Look, Ethan, everything the light touches is our kingdom.

And then we headed east. We also crossed another time zone, so our clocks desynchronized again... Bummer, I guess I will have to reset them after all.

One night, we stopped at a truck stop and--while looking for a good place to park for the night--we hit a massive pot-hole, which knocked the end pipe to our waste system clean off and all of our waste water gushed out. So, that rendered our plumbing useless for the night. Luckily, the truck stop had wonderful restrooms and showers for us to use. We just couldn't do any dishes.

The next day we learned that Trump had won the election, which I had predicted earlier in the year, but still took me by surprise. All the polls seemed to project Hillary as winner. Personally, we weren't able to vote this year, being far from our registered state. I don't really have anymore to say on this matter here, but if you are interested in my thoughts on the election results, and what they mean to me, feel free to leave a comment or send me a message.

So, from there, we had to find a place to fix the plumbing. I have never done plumbing work before, and wasn't going to give it a shot on the side of the road, especially dealing with sewage of all things. So we found this nice company called Billy Sims Trailer Town in Odessa, Texas, and they did a good job of piecing it back together. They even let me watch, so I could give it a try if it happens to us again.

Let's hope it doesn't. This trip has tested enough of my skills already.

I'm going to be honest, this trip has been stressful, but so far it all seems worth it. Yes, a trip like this can take its toll on your marriage and family, it can make you physically sick as you move from climate to climate, it can seem like everything is falling apart at times, and it can be dang expensive. But it'll be worth it.

I feel like this sort of cross-country trip should almost be a coming-of-age requirement. Not only to learn new skills and boost confidence in one's abilities, but also to find a culture and a climate where it seems you fit in. For us, that wasn't Port Angeles, WA. We're not even sure if it will be Alabaster, AL permanently, but we at least have a better idea of what's out there, and we know we can make it happen.

And even if we failed miserably, the memories, which may have been stressful at the moment they occured, will be worth every cent.

If I stayed in Port Angeles all my life, I never would have stories about the time I burnt all my facial hair, or the time I flooded the trailer, or the time I busted off the sewage pipe, or the time we were coming down a mountain and realized we had no more brakes, or the times the kids puked and pooped on my pants every time we had them washed, and how I had to ride the shuttle bus back to camp while smelling like baby-vomit.

After the initial event, the stress fades, and these become funny stories we'll never forget. And on a trip like this, they are almost a daily occurance. I can't wait for the next mishap!

Today, we are in Fort Worth area--over two-thirds of the way into our trip--spending time with my mother-in-law before we take the last stretch to our new home.

And the adventure won't stop there. We will still need to find a church, make friends, find jobs and eventually move into a new place. We'll be starting over on our own, and it won't matter then who is President, they don't have the power to make the big changes in our lives, like we did.

Only you and God can make those changes happen.

Until next time, take care, and thanks for all the prayer!

There and Back and There Again

I have decided to simply start updating on Saturdays. So I'm technically not late anymore.

Now, where did I leave off last week?

Ah, that's right! The Grand Canyon!

So beautiful... And the Canyon looks nice too!

We spent the weekend there, and just when I was feeling better from my cough, I became sick again, this time with what the kids had.

However, someone must've been praying for us after my last update because the illness only lasted the one night, and the kids only puked upon my lap one final time since then--unfortunately, while waiting for the shuttle bus ride back to camp.

That was a tad embarrassing...

But we are all better now, so your prayers are appreciated!

We left late on Monday, and managed to make it to a Wal*Mart in Flagstaff. It didn't really feel much like Halloween down here in Arizona. The creepiest thing I saw all day was probably this tarantula.

From there, we continued eastward along I-40, until we saw signs for Meteor Crater. Being the tourists we are, we decided to check it out.

Admission seemed a bit pricy at first, but they had more than just a giant hole to take pictures of. They also had a gift shop that sold anything from toy space shuttles to fossilized dinosaur skulls, a small theatre which played an informational movie on Craters, an entire museum dedicated to meteors, and a Subway resturant (where you could exchange a coupon for a free cookie with purchase of a sandwhich).

And, of course, a giant hole to take pictures of.

From there we continued east and passed through the Petrified Forest National Park, which closed roughly 45 minutes after we arrived, so we only had time to make a few stops and take some pictures of the sunset.

We eventually made it to a truck stop on the edge of Arizona, where we spent the night before moving on into New Mexico.

Once in New Mexico, we headed for Albuquerque, where we dined at a Chick-fil-A (the first one we had ever been to was in Alabama, and we had a good experience, so we couldn't resist).

The boys seemed to have a good time there.

And then we headed south to a town called Truth or Consequences, which happened to be just south of Elephant Butte. We stayed the night there, and in the morning I did some much needed work on the trailer. We even installed the solar panel we bought in California, so that we could charge the battery on the go.

We then headed to Las Cruces only to find that the pass to White Sands was a bit to steep for our car to take while towing the trailer...

So we turned around and headed back north to Albuquerque.

There, we managed to cross the mountain range in the center of New Mexico, and have since headed back south.

Today, we were able to stop and see a few ruins from the days of Pueblo Missions. And have stopped for the night at a Wal*Mart near the White Sands National Monument. So, that's where we will be headed tomorrow morning.

The ruins seem like they belong somewhere in Ireland, rather than New Mexico.

And that brings you up to date, so until next week; take care, and thanks for all the prayer!

A Grand Ol' Time

Remember my last update, when I said that it seemed everyone seemed to be feeling better?

It seems I spoke too soon.

The boys' health seems to be going back and forth. One seems fine, the other vomits, then diarrhea, then they swap again.

And to top it off, we only brought enough clothes for maybe two weeks under normal circumstances. So, we've been doing laundry pretty much every other day now.

In fact, yesterday, Ethan vomited at night, but seemed better in the morning. However, that morning, while Asher was sitting in my lap, he vomited on my pants. We then decided to stop by a nearby laundromat, and just after the load was done washing, Asher suddenly over-filled his diaper, again while sitting in my lap.

Sadly, I can't even say that was the worst diaper I had to change so far. Every time I think I've seen the worst possible diaper, the boys find some way to out-doo themselves. Pun intended.

This has indeed kept the trip... eventful. It's also made it pretty difficult to keep track of the days. Not that this is my only excuse for another late update.

We also were out of cell service while staying at the Joshua Tree National Park.

Camping here felt like stepping into an oversized bearded-dragon terrarium.

I can finally say I've been to a desert. And, within minutes of entering the park for the first time, I saw a tarantula... which I promptly ran over. We also saw some small lizards, birds, insects, kangaroo rats, some flying thing that kept buzzing our heads and squeaking at us (most likely a bat, it was dark), big round rocks in piles that looked like giant droppings, cacti and of course, the Joshua Trees.

Here's a picture of Meredith taking a picture of a Joshua Tree. Possibly the weirdest tree I've ever seen.

After staying there a couple nights, we headed northeast. We took a brief detour through Route 66, where we paid $25 for 5 gallons of gas and saw a lot of trains, which Ethan enjoyed. However, we must have missed most of the historical sites, as most of the road was deserted.

We then crossed the border to Arizona and stayed the night at a Wal*Mart before making the trip to the Grand Canyon, where I am currently sitting at a lodge, enjoying the free WiFi while typing this post.

I took a picture of it first, for your viewing pleasure.

So, I suppose that brings you all up to speed. I had better head back to camp to relieve Meredith of the boys, so until next time, take care!

On the Road Again!

Sorry for the lack of an update last week. I'm trying to finish these posts Wednesday nights, so they can be published and shared Thursday mornings, but last week there just wasn't much to write home about.

After landing in San Francisco in my last post, we found that there wasn't a lot of parking, or things one could do in town while hauling a 19 ft trailer. So, we decided to pass right on through San Francisco and head to my old friend Bill's house.

Ethan plays on scooters with his cousin Jaxon.

There, we had a place to detach our trailer so we could drive around without all the extra weight. We back-tracked to San Francisco for a day and visited Peir 39, where we caught Snorlax and a load of Magikarp. We also saw the aquarium and wax museum, but our phones had died by that point, so we couldn't get our pictures taken with any of the celebrities. (Though they were kind enough to photoshop us into some pictures, for $25.)

Here we are at a concert with Jimi Hendrix.

After that, we sort of just loafed around. Our weekend stay ended up extending into over a week. Not that the whole time was unproductive, or unintersting. We are especially grateful for the Hammond family for their help, hospitality, and their "well, you don't have to leave tomorrow" attitude.

We did have fun, especially playing Apples to Apples and watching some old home videos which Bill and I had made back in high school, which helped us realize just how much one can completely forget in 10+ years.

Wait. Has it really been that long?

...Anyways!

Using Bill's house as our home base, we finally decided to visit Yosemite before heading back on the road, so we didn't have to tow the trailer up and down any more hills.

That's when we all got sick, so we extended our stay at Bill's by a couple more days. However, we all managed to recover fairly quick (mostly, I'm still relying on some daytime cough medicine to make it through the day). So yesteray, we decided to head back on our way, again.

We stopped just south of Fresno, CA, and today, after detaching our trailer at a campground, took off eastward to check out the Sequoia National Forest. There we met Sherman, the world's largest (not tallest or widest, but largest by volume) tree.

Ethan is not impressed.

We then returned to our trailer, and now I am typing up this blog post. So, I suppose that's all I've got to say about that. I imagine I'll have more to talk about later this week, as we move on toward the next state!

Take care!

If You are Going to San Francisco

You're going to meet some gentle people there.

...Or so I've heard, though the people along the way have seemed kind, so far.

As you may have guessed by the title, we have finally made it to San Francisco, and yes, we did cross the Golden Gate Bridge.

Here's a blurry picture as proof.

And gee, has it been an adventure! This post is going to be a bit long, because something exciting has happened to us almost every day since last week. So, I'll start from the where I left off:

The night after my last post we finally landed in Fort Stevens State Park, Oregon. We stayed there two nights because we had a lot of laundry, shopping and exploring to catch up on. The first night, however, I flooded the trailer.

See, there's a shut off valve to the drain system of our trailer, which I assumed was to block water from gushing out before you remove the drain cap and attach the drain hose, but for some reason beyond my comprehension, this valve was installed between the drain from the sink/shower and the septic tank, rather than just before the drain cap. So, shutting the valve doesn't keep all the water in the septic tank from gushing out. Instead, it keeps the water from the sink/shower from going into the septic tank.

For all those who I just lost with seemingly random details, the story is actually fairly simple. I had this valve shut under the wrong assumption, and did the dishes. The valve prevented the water from going where it was supposed to, so instead of draining into a nice big waste water tank, it filled the pipes and backed up into the shower.

...And with the shower door shut and it being mostly clear soapy dishwater, I didn't notice it until after doing the entire load of dishes (which emptied the entire 20 gallon tank of potable water, so there was a good amount of water floating around the trailer [if anyone from ServiceMASTER is reading this right now, I can hear you facepalming]).

At least our trailer wasn't as flooded as this sunken ship we visited off the coast of Oregon.

Fortunately, the trailer was slanted at an angle, which meant that most of the water that did escape the shower ran to one end of the trailer where we had some thick rugs laying to soak it all up. Unfortunately, these were brand new rugs that Meredith had just bought for our trip, and we weren't even a week into it yet.

Now, that night in Northwestern Oregon it was raining pretty heavily, and Meredith was a bit distraught with her new rugs being completely soaked with dishwater, so I decided to set up the canopy that one of her clients had given her for our trip, to protect them from the rain and let them hang to dry.

Being a used canopy, it was of course broken. So it didn't slope perfectly and ended up collecting rainwater until it was too heavy and collapsed. It was totalled when we found it in the morning, but the rugs did remain mostly protected from the elements, and Meredith was able to launder them with the rest of our dirty clothes the next morning.

Stopping at a rest area on our way through Oregon, we were excited to find our state tree among the "Grove of the States."

Other than that, we made it through Oregon without much problem. We did end up missing a turn and backtracking quite a bit, but decided to take I-5 south anyways, rather than stick to the coastal route. After another day or two, we made it to California.

After passing through Redding, we decided to turn back toward the coast along HWY 36, which turned out to be a very rugged, curvy, mountainous route. About halfway through, we realized we were nearly out of gas and there didn't seem to be any more towns coming up for awhile. So, we detached our trailer and backtracked roughly half-an-hour. Meredith said a quick prayer and we made it, with maybe a single gallon of gas left in our tank. Had we towed the trailer all the way back, we likely would not have made it.

But that wasn't even the worst of our adventure on HWY 36. As we were coming down the other side of the mountains, the brakes went out. Turns out those curvy downhill roads are notorious for overheating brakes, or just wearing out entire brake pads. Ours were completely worn out.

A comparison of new brake pads (above) to the brake pads on my passenger side (below). The driver side brake pads were even worse.

We were able to make it safely to a large enough turn-out and, also luckily, we have AAA, thanks to my dad and step-mother back in Port Angeles. Unfortunaletly, by the time anyone arrived to tow us, it was almost 6pm, so all mechanics in the area were closed.

However, I did have some experience replacing brakes on an older car of mine, with the help of a coworker. It is kind of strange how everything I learned during my years at ServiceMASTER seems to have been preparing me for this trip, from demolishing and rebuilding the trailer, to the long drive hours, to dumping a waste tank. I feel confident with just about everything I try on this trip, due to my experiences from that job.

Mushy rant aside, I decided I would do what I could to fix the brakes and get back to our trailer that night. So, I asked to be towed to the O'Rileys Auto parts store in Fortuna. I bought all the parts and tools I would need and fixed the front brakes right there in their parking lot. I didn't finish until about 11pm, but I still did it and made it back to the trailer that night, like I had decided. And all for about $70.

So, the next morning we left HWY 36 behind, (good riddance) and made our way back down along the coast. We saw the Redwoods, which strangely looks a lot like Endor. We saw the "World Famous Tree House," the Drive-Thru Tree (which we couldn't fit through with the trailer), and the Glass Beach at Fort Bragg. And then we stayed the night at Van Damme State Park last night.

The World Famous Tree House is a living hollowed-out tree converted into a home. You can stand inside for $5.00.

The Drive-Thru Tree is, as its name implies, big enough to drive a car through... for $5.00. Kids don't like standing still for pictures.

The Glass Beach in Fort Bragg doesn't require $5.00. But there are no large trees. Ethan is not pictured because he is cowering at my legs, afraid of the "Big Juice," or toddler speak for Ocean.

Now, I wish I could say that that is all, but there is one last story from this morning. Meredith likes to leave her purse behind, and I like to lock things, especially when somewhere unfamiliar.

So, as we're about to head out for a walk around the Van Damme State Park, I lock up the trailer, but Meredith decided she needed another coat, so she asked for my keys. She then grabbed her coat, tossed my keys into her purse and locked the door behind her. As she shuts the door, I turn and ask her for my keys back, and she gives me the "uh-oh" look.

So, we are locked out of both car and trailer. All the windows are locked, and even if they weren't, they have built-in screens, so they can't be opened from the outside. Meredith decided to go and ask the park workers for help, since there are a few remodeling a nearby bathroom.

Just as they step out to see our situation, the guy driving their tool truck drives by, so they stop him and direct him our way, and we all proceed to unscrew and remove the entire window from the trailer, so we can reach in and grab Meredith's purse and unlock the trailer. Fortunately, I decided to bring the caulking-gun and extra caulking on this trip, so I was able to re-reseal (I've already removed and resealed the windows once) the window right then and there.

And now, after almost running out of gas a second time, we are finally here in San Francisco. I will likely be seeing my old friend Bill tomorrow sometime, and it seems nothing has yet been able to stop us completely. If things continue rolling at this pace, we will likely still make it to Alabama, albeit not anytime soon, and with much more life experience under our belts, and probably some well-earned bags under our eyes.

But I'm sure it'll be worth it.

A special mention for all those who've helped us along our way here so far: the AAA tow truck driver, the random stranger who gave me his headlamp in the O'Rileys parking lot, and the Van Damme State Park crew who helped me disassemble the trailer! Thanks for getting us this far! God bless!

Barbecue

We started a little late, but we are finally off on our journey! Three days in, and we are camping about 40 miles south of Olympia. Haven't gotten too far from home, yet.

We set out late on Monday; arriving at Fort Worden in Port Townsend around 9:00p.m. We stayed the night there, of course, before taking the ferry to Whidbey Island to bid farewell to some of my family in Oak Harbor.

While camping at Fort Worden, I decided to test the water heater on the trailer. Since the water pump was one of the last things we figured out on our test run, I hadn't had the chance to try it before.

Now, it's propane operated, so I grab the lighter and walk around to the back side of the trailer. I open up the hatch and start reading the directions. I get the pilot light lit and turn the knob to adjust the temperature and "foof."

The pilot light went out.

I scan through the directions again, but it makes it seem so simple and doesn't mention what to do if the pilot light goes out while adjusting the temperature, so I think to myself, "Maybe it'll work if I just re-light the pilot light?"

So, I take my lighter and reach in to reignite the pilot, and "BOOM!"

For a split second, the pilot burner turned the tube-thingy into a jet engine and barbecued my facial hair. The heat melted parts of my beard, eyelashes, eyebrows and even part of my bangs.

However, the pilot light stayed lit.

Meredith, my wife, heard the noise and thought our youngest boy had fallen off the sofa or something. I walked back around the trailer, laughing slightly at my stupidity, and she scolded me, "It's not funny, he might've been hurt!"

I told her that, no, I was the source of the noise, and I at least thought I was okay. She then noticed my melted beard hairs, and I explained myself.

Here's a picture of the ancient propane water heater.

I was able to trim off most of the melted facial hair--except for my eyebrows and eyelashes--and after a quick shower (at least the water heater works!), my wife said I no longer smelled of burnt hairs. Though, I could still smell it for the remainder of the day and occassionally I still get a wiff of it, even now (I'm assuming it must've burnt my nose hairs, too).

The rest of the trip has been great. We stayed in Deception Pass on the island the following night, and had campfire-cooked barbecue chicken and burgers, with baked beans, followed by hot dogs and s'mores with my family.