Family on the Roads Rally 2010 was held at Jetty Park in Cape Canaveral, FL from January 14th – 17th. The weather was beautiful and it was a pleasure to leave the below freezing temperatures behind. We arrived on Thursday, January 14th around lunchtime after spending the night at Camping World in St. Augustine. We settled into our site and walked out to the common area to meet some of the other families. Since, we were out of milk and bread we made a quick grocery store run and then back to the campground to get ready for the bon fire, roasting marshmallows and Starbursts. Carson enjoyed roasting marshmallows but he did not eat the smores once I put them together, but he did enjoy a Hershey bar. Zachary enjoyed playing football with the older boys and girls while Carson found a hula hoop so he could show off his talent, he even talked me into trying and I sure was glad that no one was looking (although he said that he counted to 10 before I dropped it). We enjoyed meeting more of the families and kids enjoyed playing until 9:30. It was interesting to see that many of the other families had similar backgrounds and travel stories as ours.

Friday morning started with yoga on the beach, followed by other fun activities including a presentation by the Act!vated Storytellers which Zachary and Carson participated, and then wacky science experiments making gooey slimy stuff in the afternoon. The kids enjoyed making the gooey science experiments and it was neat making a solid turned to a liquid just by holding it in your hand. Friday night we enjoyed a pot luck dinner and watching a video of the families that were visiting the rally. The kids had more time to play and we enjoyed socializing too.

Saturday brought more fun including tie dying t-shirts and relay races on the beach. We had surprise visit from the Loeckin family whom we had been following their blog for over a year as they traveled the US doing random acts of kindness as they traveled. Jay, Beth and their family spent the afternoon with us and the other families and enjoyed the relay races on the beach. It was nice getting to meet them since their adventures sparked our interest in traveling in 2008. Even the rain on Saturday night could not keep us indoors since it was the premier of the move RV which we could all relate to at least one situation that Robin Williams faced in the movie. After the movie Zachary was invited by Kimberly and Dennis (the Act!vated Storytellers) to take part in a pod cast with which he narrated as three separate characters, Carson was too tired to participate and he was asleep before Zachary came in that night.

Sunday morning started with delicious pancakes along with eggs and fruit. The kids ran around spending time with all the new friends they had made over the weekend. The adults exchanged email addresses, phone numbers and website addresses, so that traveling experiences can be discussed after the rally. Most everyone was scheduled to leave for other destinations but we decided to stay a couple of extra days to enjoy the warm weather in Florida and leave on Tuesday morning for a meeting with one of our vendors in Orlando. By mid afternoon most everyone was gone except 3-4 families and the campground was much more quiet without all the kids running around. Sunday afternoon was a nice lazy afternoon sitting outside watching the cruise ships pass by heading out to sea. The kids decided that they wanted to take a Disney cruise, maybe when we finish traveling.

On Monday it was almost sad that most of our new friends were gone the boys had a few kids left to play with and we sat outside sharing stories on our adventures for the past 7 months. Monday night we decided to so we decided on one last “get together” before we left on Tuesday morning, so we setup the projector and played a movie on the side of the motor home complete with Monkey Munch, popcorn, and Coke with the Browski and DeMichiel families that were also staying until Tuesday. The rally was a great success thanks to Katie Evans & Kimberly Goza who have years of traveling experiences and lots of advice for a “newbie” family such as us. We will definitely keep in touch with many of the families while we travel and hopefully we can meet again in the future. We decided that our travels would definitely be more enjoyable spending time with other traveling families.

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We arrived back in Dunn on November 18th to help prepare for Thanksgiving. The first week we were in town we spent catching up with family and talking about the last six months of our lives. Brian had no interest in going to the outlets shopping so his mom and I went; it is much easier to shop without two boys who do not like to shop. We did manage a “girl’s day out” for shopping in Smithfield although I only bought two shirts, the boys got shirts and pants which were greatly needed. One other exciting occurrence was Carson losing his first tooth the day before Thanksgiving; he was glad that the tooth fairy does come (and leaves money) when you are staying at Grandma’s house.

The next week was the week of Thanksgiving and we started talking about what to take to Sanford for Thanksgiving. Pecan pies are always on the top of the list and I got my hand at making a couple of them this year, to be safe my pies were left at home. Thanksgiving at Janice & Donald’s (Brian’s aunt and uncle) house in Sanford was nice; part of the family was not able to attend, so the “gathering” was smaller than usual. We enjoyed sitting around talking to Grandma Ruby (Brian’s grandmother who is 91) and listening to her talk about growing up, bringing up five children and the things that have changed over the years. The day passed quickly spending time with family and Thanksgiving 2009 was over.

The week after Thanksgiving we returned to Asheville for doctors and dentist appointments, cleaning out the motor home and finalizing things at our office to be left for another 6-8 months. We did not expect anyone to have a cavity but Carson was the unfortunate one and had to have it fixed before we “hit the road again”. This was one adventure that I hope we do not have to endure again, although with the medicine that he was given he probably will not remember the ordeal. A few more play dates, birthday parties and visiting friends and we started making plans to return to Dunn for the Best Christmas Party on December 20th.

On December 20th, we had a wonderful time with a house full of family enjoying Christmas goodies. There were stories of old times, ping pong games, and lots of family pictures, then more eating and talking. There were tours of our home and questions on how we possibly could live in less than 450 sq feet and the consensus from most of the family was that they could not live in our home (for an extended period of time). I think that everyone enjoyed finally getting to see the inside of our traveling home, since most everyone had only seen the pictures of the outside.

Christmas Eve we grilled steaks, opened gifts and enjoyed a game of family football. It was Brian, Mark, Carson and Carter against me, Janice, Zachary and Ryan. The game did not last too long after a couple of minor accidents, so everyone ended up back inside to enjoy punch and goodies. The afternoon ended with a couple of ping pong games and some friendly Wii competition. Everyone had to get to be early so that Santa would not miss dropping off presents. Christmas morning the boys were surprised when they did not see any gifts inside Grandma’s house. Since, we had moved into the motor home, I guess Santa thought that was where the gifts were to be left and we found that all their Christmas gifts in the motor home. They found Wii games, Lego sets and Rock Band setup when they opened the doors to the motor home. Santa must have thought that we had more room than we really do when he left a drum set, a guitar and microphone in addition to the other toys, stuffed animals and books. Zachary, Carson and Brian enjoyed Lego Rock Band and they had the idea that we needed to start a band on the road. Brian will play guitar, Carson playing the drums and Zachary will sing Bella and I will be the audience.

The week after Christmas was spent cleaning up and organizing the motor home and trying to find a home for all the new Christmas toys. Our check list had to be finished- car maintenance and inspection, home school books ordered and any other necessities had to be ordered and arrived prior to January 12th, when we planned to leave. Everything except our new license plate arrived prior to us leaving, so that will have to be mailed before the end of January. I spend New Years Eve baking yeast rolls and French onion soup; this was my first try at making each. The rolls took all day to make since they had rise two separate times. We ate hot yeast rolls that tasted more like biscuits with butter just before midnight. On New Years day we had a traditional lunch of black eyed peas, collards, and salmon patties for lunch. We decided since we would be traveling we need to eat lots of peas and collards since it is said that these two will help you with money in the New Year.

The boys really thought that they would be staying with Grandma when we left NC, since she had satellite which included four different Disney channels. January 13th we left Dunn for Cape Canaveral, FL for our first Families on the Road Rally. We were really excited to meet other traveling families and see how our daily lives compared. We planned on stopping around Saint Augustine, Florida and then to Cape Canaveral for the rally which stated on January 14th.

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After we left Indianapolis, we had to stop to get one of motor home tires checked which had a slow leak caused by another nail in the tire (the first one was discovered when we were in Maine). We arrived at Indian Springs Campground on November 3rd after a five hour drive from Indianapolis. The campground had two addresses, one in Indiana and one in Ohio, so part of the campground was in each state so were not sure which state we were camping. We think we stayed in Ohio but we used the exercise room which was located in Indiana. The campground was situated on a lake and was home to many full timers but had few spots for those travelers who needed a week or less, since the amenities were few.

We stopped in Ohio to visit my sister and her family that lives in Harrison, OH which was 15 minutes from Indian Springs Campground. It was nice visiting with my sister who I only get to see a couple of times per year. We went out to eat, had a shopping night and enjoyed a night out while she watched Zachary and Carson. Brian and I do not get many “date nights” so we enjoyed dinner and a visit to a casino in Indiana. The dinner was nice but this was my first and most likely last trip to a casino, too much smoke and the possibility of getting “hooked” into thinking that the next pull on the slot machine will produce a large amount of money, turning my 25 cents into millions (ha ha!).

We also visited the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio next to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The boys really enjoyed the museum especially the interactive area where they were able to fly a helicopter, land an air craft carrier and wear a space suit. There was a reproduction of the Wright Brother’s 1909 Military Flyer which contained original parts donated by the heirs of Wright estate. We saw the original flyer in Washington, DC at the National Air and Space Museum, when we visited there in June. Dayton was an hour’s drive from the campground and we spent most of the day walking through the air hangers visiting the exhibits, our day ended with dinner at La Rosa’s Italian restaurant. We enjoyed an Italian dinner consisting of several half price appetizers and one dinner which Brian and I shared.

While in Ohio we planned on another museum which would be our last site seeing adventure of 2009. We decided that The Creation Museum would be our last museum which was located in Petersburg, Kentucky, only 15 minutes from our campground. The museum brings the Bible to life starting with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden through present day, relating Biblical history to every day life. There were very realistic looking dinosaurs, wax figures that seemed to be watching you as you passed and Carson’s favorite place a petting zoo. Our trip to the Creation Museum was a reminder of the enormous amount of information that is written in the Bible and how easy it is to forget small details that impact our Christian lives. Walking through a replica of the Noah’s Ark, the Garden of Eden and many other areas of the museum really made you think about Adam and Eve, the Tree of Knowledge of Good & Evil and how one small bite changed the world and our lives.

Our time in Ohio was enjoyable but it was really nice thinking about returning to North Carolina to see family and friends.

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We spent the middle of October 12th through November 3rd at the KOA of Indianapolis, Indiana. While in Indianapolis were had fun at the Indianapolis Children’s Museum, celebrated my birthday, played Monopoly on Halloween night, and treated two boys for strep throat. Indianapolis was one of our longest stays since we left in June but we spent most of the time at the campground working (since we had a reliable internet connection) on marketing and upgrades to websites for our business for the Christmas season and the fast approaching 2010 spring season.

Our main adventure in Indianapolis was The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis which is one of the largest in the world and we spent all day exploring the four levels of the museum. There were hands on activities with water activities, a planetarium, and an exhibit that taught the kids about Egypt. We rode in a pretend air plane to Egypt and learned about the lives of children in Egypt and how some aspects of their lives were not that different than American children. The museum included a section called The Power of Children: Making a Difference which Zachary learned about Anne Frank and her life hiding from the Nazis party and her life as described in her diary. The exhibit also included sections of Ruby Bridges, and, Ryan White. We discussed segregation and discrimination with the kids as we toured this exhibit in the museum. Carson’s biggest question was concerning Ruby Bridges and why the other kids would not play with her or allow her to sit with them in the cafeteria. We discussed segregation and why people wanted Ruby to be separated from the other children. He had a logical conclusion when I told him that the reason the kids were sometimes not nice to her was because of the color of her skin. He then asked me, “Mommy why does it matter if her skin is a different color?” I told him that it did not matter about the color of someone’s skin that everyone looked the same in God’s eyes. One of the most popular areas of the museum was the Scienceworks area which included water tables where the kids could control the water currents while sailing boats through the canals and locks along with a construction area where they could build towers with large Styrofoam blocks (which looked like bricks).

My 38th birthday was spent having lunch at Carrabba’s Italian Grill, which is one of our favorite places to eat for special occasions. After lunch we enjoyed a movie at the dollar theater where we enjoyed the Disney movie UP and large popcorn. One of our last stops before going back to the campground was a quick stop at Marshal’s where we purchased a coffee press and coffee so we could enjoy a cup of coffee for our late nights. We stopped and picked up a Red Box movie and enjoyed the rest of the night at the motor home. A very nice birthday spent with my family in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Before our trip to Walmart we used a gift card and a coupon to have dinner at O’Charley’s where we were able to eat for $18 and Carson got his favorite yummy yeast rolls with butter. The kids were able to wear their pirate costumes to dinner and Walmart, so even though they did not get to go trick or treating they enjoyed the costumes for the next few days. We did not have a neighborhood to go trick or treating for Halloween, so we took the boys to Walmart picked up a bag of candy and went back to the motor home and enjoyed a game of DVD Monopoly. Carson was winning when we stopped after 2 ½ hours, since he was able to buy the two most expensive properties and then put resorts on each.

The last adventure we had before leaving Indianapolis was a trip to Urgent Care with both boys. After three hours in a small lobby where I think that half the people had H1N1, they were checked for strep throat and we were told that they could possibly have the flu but they were not testing. Two days later we discovered that Carson’s throat culture was positive for strep throat, so both boys were given 10 days of Amoxicillin which meant that we would be extending our stay in Indianapolis. Once all the antibiotics were completed we started making our plans to leave Indiana for out next stop in Ohio to visit my sister and family.

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Elkhart, Indiana is known as the RV Capital of the US, since it is where a large majority of the recreational vehicles are built. Our motor home was built in Elkhart in 2006-2007 but since the manufacturer went bankrupt the new company has moved production to another state. We stayed at the Elkhart Campground which had wireless internet on the site and decent online reviews.

We had the pleasure of touring the Heartland manufacturing plant and even though this company builds travel trailers the inside production concept is very similar. The tour was very informative but we are still glad that we purchased a motor home instead of a fifth wheel that we originally thought about purchasing. If we ever decide to stop traveling full time and want to down size we will definitely consider purchasing a Heartland fifth wheel, most likely a toy hauler model.

Another outing in Elkhart was the RV Hall of Fame Museum; it is 50,000 square feet building built in 2007, housing vintage units from 1913 up to the 1970s as well as current models. Our favorite part of the museum was going into the older units and looking at the advancements that have been made over the years. The museum is operated by retired volunteers (most were rv owners) who give their time to show people around the exhibits and answer any questions.

After leaving the museum we rode to the American Countryside Farmers Market built by the Amish community. The log building was three stories, showcasing many of the local arts, crafts and foods including whoopie pies, organic vegetables, handmade rugs and candles. The only purchase that day was by Carson and Zachary who bought new Webkinz pets in one of the stores. They were not interested in most of the inside area but they really liked the petting zoo outside where they wanted to buy a baby goat to keep Bella company in the motor home. We had to break the news to them that we could not travel with a goat, even a miniature one.

We have been traveling since June but in Elkhart, we discovered what happens when your campground has really bad water. The shower, the toilets, and sinks all turned pink from the water. We did not wash any white clothes fearing they would all turn pink and we had to throw out our water filter once we left Elkhart.

While in Elkhart, we were able to pickup some parts that Brian needed to fix our inside control panel and a new water filter so we could replace the one that was now contaminated from the water in the campground. Next stop will be Indianapolis, Indiana to visit the Children’s Museum.

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