USA 50 States Tour

We're BACK!

2010-09-26T18:51:00.000-07:00

The Because Tour hit the road, er...the sky, again and we're excited to be adding a bit more red to that ALMOST covered map to your right. (google readers, click on the title to see the map!)

I have lots to share, but I'm not sure if I still have an audience. If you there, leave me a comment. I'll update this thing if I know you're there!

Home for now

2010-01-07T13:50:00.000-08:00

I will be blogging all the missing adventures still yet to be shared very soon. Getting back into the swing of things after travelling for 4 months has been a little tricky. Stay with me.

..for a little more, go HERE.

Friends on the Island

2009-12-23T11:18:00.000-08:00

Talk about good timing! Diana and her groovy husband moved to Hawaii in October. Diana is my old roomie from college and we haven't seen each other in YEARS. I've had such a good time catching up with her and spending time with her sweet little family. Her little girl, Marley, is a perfect playmate for Oliver. She's so smart and sassy. Her baby, Cohen, is squishy and edible and makes me want to have a baby. (WHAT?!) Conway (groovy husband as mentioned above) oozes "cool" and called me a lady. Love that. He and Alex kept each other entertained so I could gab with Diana. (Did I just say gab?)

They also have their house all decked out, festive for the holidays. We keep forgetting that it's Christmas time! Without them, I think we'd have let the holiday go by without thinking about it. Seriously, I'm used to smelling cinnamon and shoveling snow during December. Right now I smell the ocean and the only shovel I pick up these days is a tiny blue thing meant for building sand castles. Thanks West Family, for making sure we get a little bit of Christmas! We love you guys!

Diana, BOW CHICKA BOW WOW!

More pictures of these pretty people to come. Super hot photo session on Monday! :)

Thinkin' Thoughts

2009-12-15T10:25:00.001-08:00

I have thoughts spinning around in my noggin’. It’s time to blog.

We left for our big adventure almost 3 months ago. We have seen so much. There is still so much to see. (And blog about! I’m a slacker!) We are more than half way through the 50 states. We'd planned to be finished by now, ending our trip in Hawaii, but we changed the course.

After rushing through some beautiful states...I'm talking 8 states in 2 days kind of rushing...we realized that we were missing it. We set out on this adventure to SEE the country, to EXPERIENCE its many wonders. At the rate we were going, we were only catching fleeting blurbs of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine (to name a few.) Truthfully, the time we spent seeing the first half of the country didn't leave enough time to see the other half.

Making the commitment to finish in 2010 and rather than speed through 20 more states, we headed home from PA and made it in 2 days. (That is A LOT of driving right there!) You see, we had flights to catch! After gathering ourselves together, recuperating from RV life, tying up some loose ends at our jobs, we headed to Hawaii.

And here we are.

While the people I love are freezing their patooties off in Utah, I am getting tanner by the minute. We're here till January and I predict I'll be a nice "medium-well" by then. Sizzle.

Hawaii is special to us. Alex proposed on our first trip here together. We were married here and we’ve been back every year since. The north shore feels like home.

Having Ollie with us this time has redefined “our” Hawaii. Now I have TWO boys to keep track of in the waves.

The basic TO DO list looks the same:
1. Wake up early—Hawaii is 3 hours behind Utah time! We don’t miss a minute of daylight.
2. Eat breakfast—Usually something covered in coconut syrup
3. Don our swim suits
4. Head to the beach
5. Get sun and sand all over our 2000 parts
6. Create some sort of sand creation for Oliver to destroy (sand castles, snowmen, forts, turtles and other various sea creatures, towers, mountains…Alex and I build them and Oliver attacks them, full body contact, destruction.)
7. Eat lunch
8. Nap
9. Head back to the beach, or make our way to the pool.
10. Repeat steps 5 and 6.
11. Eat dinner
12. Early to bed.

I’m a list maker. At home and at work, I make lists of my daily intentions, my daily to-do’s. I like to be busy. I like to be productive. I thrive on being creative. If I’m not running in 20 different directions, head spinning, I find it difficult to breathe. Chaos is sanity. Sometimes I can control that chaos, and everything feels balanced. More often than not though, I’m consumed with my projects and plans and something (or someone) suffers.

One of my goals for this trip, found on another long list I’ve made, was to find balance.

“Oh Baaaalance, where arrrrrrre yooooou? Come out, come out wherever you are!”

To find it, I would need to CHOOSE it. I would need to fight the starving monster in me…the monster who tells me it’s a good idea to paint my house at 3 in the morning. I knew I would need to slow down. Hawaii has a way of forcing me.

Slowing down takes some getting used to.

The first few days in Hawaii were difficult for that reason. I wake up and feel like I need to be somewhere. I feel like I’m late for something. I feel panic and worry that I’ve forgotten something. I fight the urge to say, “Come on! Let’s go! We need to get to the beach right now!”

We certainly don’t need to be at the beach RIGHT NOW.

I really WANT to just relax. I want to vacation. I want to soak up the sun and relish in every moment I have with my little family. I want to go slow.

But I like to go fast. (Just like Ricky Bobby)

I was talking with my sister, Trish, a few months ago about this thing in me…this need to hurry. As I talked and she listened (because she’s really good at that) I finally was able to make some sense of it.

I’m scared.

I fear and so I hurry.

What am I afraid of?

Simple.

Death.

Huh?

Since I was itty bitty, I have had a nagging fear of death. Death in all forms. Death of the people I love. Death of my beloved animals and pets. More recently, my own death. Even death of a time in my life, an ending to something fun.

We’ve dealt with a lot of death the past couple years. My sister, my friends. I knew we’d been to too many funerals when I was shopping with Alex and found a dress and said without thinking, “This would be really good for a funeral, it looks comfy and has pockets for Kleenex.”

Enough. Really, enough.

This fear is so real. It doesn’t consume me in a typical way. I can be logical about it. I don’t lie in my bed and wonder if I will die in the night. I don’t stay holed up in my house waiting for the inevitable. Quite the contrary.

I never leave the people I love without saying “I love you.” I’m driven by the thought, “This could be the last time you kiss Oliver goodbye, make sure the last thing you say to him is love.”

Morbid, this fear of mine. Irrational at times, yes. But somehow it serves me. I’m able to live in the moment. And sometimes I don’t, for fear I will miss the next moment, or the next. I rush from one thing to another…I have so much to see and do before my life on earth is over. The reality that life is short lives for me. I see it. I get it.

I keep a bucket list (another list, of course) and in the last 3 months, I’ve been able to check off dozens of items on it. I’m so lucky. No, lucky isn’t the word. Blessed doesn’t feel sufficient either. Maybe I don’t have words to sum up what the past 3 months has been.

I guess what I’m realizing in my “lazy Hawaii-ness” is that I have TIME. For whatever reason, I have been given time to love, learn, live, laugh. And the time I have is enough. Whatever I do and how much I give during that time is also enough.

I trust that my hurried nature won’t settle down too much. It’s so deeply who I am. But I do believe I can choose to push the pause button every now and then.

Like today.

The beach is calling again. The beach and my three year old.

2009-12-04T09:56:00.001-08:00

Hi I'm boarding a plane to Hawaii. I'll be in touch. ;)

Are you still there?

2009-12-02T15:33:00.000-08:00

Blogging has been on the back burner. Have we lost our audience or do you want some somethin' somethin'?

Our taste of Fall

2009-11-20T20:15:00.000-08:00

Upstate New York is simply gorgeous in the Fall. Lucky us! Here's a peek at our day at the farmers market.

Pickin' punkins...

Feeding the animals was my most favorite part of the day. I don't love animals in cages, but I DO love animals that let me smother them with my love. These guys were all happy to oblige...

Liz was freaked out by feeding the animals. She'd get close, looking brave and ready, and then as soon as the sheep/goat/donkey/deer would get near her hand to nibble she'd squeal and drop the food. A sissy, that Liz.

Oliver, on the other hand, would have shoved his hands down the animal's throats. :)

I wanted to marry these donkeys. I was in heaven, I'm telling you.

Hay Ride...a SPOOKY hay ride even.

Fresh...Organic...Goodness....

Witches Brew...

A chill in the air, the smell of cinnamon, and so much to see.
What a perfect day.

One day

2009-11-16T19:17:00.001-08:00

Oliver and Lillian did some of this:

We all played this game:

We stayed safe:

We went on a walk:

We laughed in a fun house:

We climbed some walls:

We rode on this:

And we hung some blinds till the wee hours of the morning:

And that was just on Thursday.

More to come. Quit your belly achin'.

So what if they're awesome!?

2009-11-15T21:24:00.001-08:00

That's just who they are.

I'm talking about these people:

We stayed at their house while we played in New York.

Liz. She's my sister. Love her.

Trent. He's her husband. He's a very important lawyer, you know.

Lillian. She belongs to Liz and Trent. They're keeping her. I approve.

What will come next is a series of posts about the fun we had with these awesome people.

You ready for some awesome?

Are you?

ARE YOU?

I swear on these donkeys

2009-11-06T18:49:00.000-08:00

...that an update is coming.

I fell in love with these two in an instant. More on them SOON!

There's so much to share. I knew if I got behind on blogging, it would be a ridiculously difficult task catching up. Please don't go anywhere. I will deliver some awesome-ness soon.

The Proof is in the Pictures

2009-10-27T21:58:00.000-07:00

This is my short post about Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio.

Thrilling.

I know.

(Self timed pictures are always my best work.)

Now we are here:

And we have been here for almost 2 weeks. Yowza! We are leaving the wi-fi zone which means these shnazzy (and often posted) blog posts are going to slow down.

Stop crying.

I have more tricks up my sleeve.

Preview of Coming Attractions

2009-10-27T19:25:00.000-07:00

Jumping ahead a few days.

We're in New York.

We met a frog.

And my sister Liz is a sissy.

Chi-Town

2009-10-27T18:38:00.000-07:00

We made it to Chicago late in the evening so we stayed at a lovely little rest-stop just outside the city. We slept in (thanks Ollie!) and had a pretty slow morning. We intended to use public transportation when we arrived downtown and we really underestimated how long it would take us to get from point A to point B. Taking 3 different trains proved to be such an adventure!

We found ourselves RUNNING down the streets of Chicago at 3:55pm in an attempt to make it to the museum before 4pm (last admission for the day.) We made it, but upon arrival I realized we were at the wrong museum! I had my heart set on seeing THIS ONE but instead we'd been directed to THIS ONE. Oops!

Oliver is so over all this museum c-rap.

The Field Museum was still fabulous, but I didn't get to get my hands dirty like I'd hoped. Next time, Chicago, next time.

Then it was pizza time. OF COURSE it was pizza time. Our friend sent us to Gino's East.

We were super hungry at this point, so Alex had some impatient toddlers on his hands.

(okay, my "grouchy" is totally staged. Whatever.)

No words. Just yummy goodness.

We left Gino's with full tummies, and a big ol' box of left overs.

Thanks Illinois. See you again soon.

Nauvoo, IL and a "Hello" for Iowa

2009-10-27T08:27:00.000-07:00

Like I've said before, some states don't get the Boulters for very long. Iowa didn't get to enjoy us for more than about 2 minutes. (Alex can maneuver an incredibly quick U-turn in the RV. It's amazing, really.) We feel like we're running out of time and in order to stay true to our original goal of ALL 50, we've had to hurry a little. Poor Iowa, you would have loved us!

We drove over the border. Blew a kiss or two. ("One for me, one for Jan.") Then we turned around and went to see what Nauvoo was all about.

Nauvoo was quite fascinating. It's a charming little town that is nestled on the border of the Mississippi River. Read about it HERE.

Off to CHICAGO. I want pizza.

Happy Birthday Sara

2009-10-22T20:53:00.000-07:00

We stayed at a hotel in Missouri. I wanted to be lazy. I watched a ridiculous amount of television and Alex brought me breakfast, lunch, and dinner in bed.

Best birthday EVAR!

Will drive for football

2009-10-22T20:23:00.000-07:00

10:30pm: Left the Mall of America

10:45pm: Destination unknown. Driving aimlessly.

11:10pm: Still no idea where we're going. Let's take a Facebook break.

11:19pm: (SARA)"Hey Alex, my brother John just posted on his FB status that he is in St. Louis for tomorrows Vikings game at noon. That would be fun. Too bad we're not in Missouri."

11:20pm: (ALEX)"We should go there! Tonight. Let's do it."

11:21pm: (SARA)"Yes. Let's"

11:30pm: Stop at the store. Load up with Red Bull, Rock Star, and Diet Coke.

11:50pm: Get on the freeway. Headed south-east.

12:25am: Arrive in Hudson, Wisconsin. Stop at a gas station to fill up with water. Hook ourselves up with some Wisconsin cheese.

12:40am-11:15am: 10 + something hours later. Arrive in St. Louis, MO. We made it! Just in time for kick off. We showered in the parking lot and headed into the game.

TOUCHDOWN!

My brother John and my nephew Michael. It was so great to see them! John bought us dinner too...cause that's what brothers do. I love him. And not just because he looks good in purple.

We are crazy and we know it. We drove all night and it was totally worth it.

And the Rams suck.

Oh Minnesota

2009-10-22T19:46:00.000-07:00

Ask me if we spent 10.5 hours at The Mall of America.

YOU BETCHYA!

Watch this short video. It's a boring little slide show of a few of our adventures. We are so easily amused.

Pay close attention to the following:

1. The sheer joy on Alex's face while riding the big swings.

2. How hard I'm laughing when riding a ride with Oliver. (At this point, you may be wondering if the parents or the child had more fun.)

3. Oliver's impression of BRUCE from FINDING NEMO. It's spot on.

4. The gal from Build-A-Bear with her rad Minnesota accent. Oh my. I love her. Oliver named his Moose "Fargo" by the way. :)

5. The mirrored maze adventure. Ever done one? That is a ca-razy time right there, I tell you what.

6. Oliver and the CRASH. The one you see is the only one I got on film. The other 5 times he did it...oh man...so sad. He hit hard. His face was bruised. Bad. HILARIOUS.

7. Oliver at the end. Totally zonked. He was almost asleep in Al's arms as we were leaving. We stayed till they closed. Awesome.

Easily amused is an understatement, but it really was a fun day. We shopped and played till we we could barely walk. We set out to entertain Oliver but had a fantastic time ourselves.

Our adventure didn't end when we got back to the RV. Stay tuned for what we did when we left Minnesota.

Enchanted Highway

2009-10-21T22:27:00.000-07:00

Taking the back roads has its perks. :)

Like THIS (click it. Do it.)

We were thoroughly entertained by this craziness. The sculptures are pretty spectacular and quite the unexpected surprise.

Dear North Dakota,
You are A-Okay, you know that?
Love,
The Boulters

Rest Stop...without the "rest"

2009-10-21T22:00:00.000-07:00

Again, the advantages of travelling in our "home" are many. Being able to stop wherever, whenever....super cool. We've set up camp at RV Parks, churches, Wal-Marts, dark alleys, driveways, hillsides, campgrounds, and even a MacDonald's parking lot. Rest stops have been great but not always easy to find on the map when it gets to "sleepy time." When the stars align and we find that "perfect" place, we pull in and sleep with all the other big rigs. (Not with them, just by them. You understand.)

This night was one such night. It was perfect.

Dark. Free. Quiet.

Until THIS rig showed up.

It was a LONG night. :)

Fort Collins, CO

2009-10-21T21:08:00.000-07:00

Just a random little stop on our journey. We've had to tweak our plans from time to time. Some states get our full attention, for days and days. Other states get a wink or a nod. Colorado was such a stop. We did some walking, some shopping, some napping, and some ice-creaming. We also got the oil changed in the RV. I love knowing we've put that many miles on it already. :)

After all that walking, shopping, napping, and ice-creaming, we had our first OOPS!

Getting "Punked" in Nebraska

2009-10-21T20:45:00.000-07:00

I double dared him to do it. Deep down, way deep down, I'm a good wife.

I'm gonna get it. And it's probably gonna hurt.

Jellystone-Part Two-with video

2009-10-21T20:20:00.000-07:00

Yellowstone is the bomb dot com.

And it's full of wildlife.

I love animals. So much.

In my heart, I'm Snow White in the forest. You know the scene...she sings and the animals come and sit by her. The differences between us are few. I don't sing. I don't sleep in a dress. I have more than 7 friends. And I'm real. But animals seem to flock to me. I'm seriously comtemplating becoming a vet. Or a cartoon.

Buffalo and elk encounter.

Rather than stay in Yellowstone, we spent the night in Jackson Hole. What a groovy place Jackson is! It's on the "come back here soon" list for sure. We also stopped in Island Park to drop our bikes off at the family cabin. I love me some Island Park.

Oliver cracks me up in the background of this video. The poor kid is always freezing.

Oliver yelling again about being freezing

Some Randomness

2009-10-17T18:58:00.000-07:00

This was taken somewhere in North Dakota, around 2am. I know I'm not the only person to do this. I can't be. This sign is begging passers-by to show their "bearness."

You love it.

And don't even think about seeing the uncensored version.

This is the first RV injury. Alex didn't see that darn pole a' comin'.

And this is Oliver being cute. My kid rocks.

South Dakota

2009-10-12T09:45:00.000-07:00

I've really looked forward to this leg of our trip. We knew weather was going to be an issue at some point so when we hit North Dakota and felt the "brrrrrrr" it wasn't a huge surprise. It's actually been fun trying to navigate through the snow, wind, and rain. Crazy Horse monument was a happy accident. We've been living under a rock (what a clever pun that was...) and had no idea this place existed. It was started in 1948 and the pictures below will show it's progress. Go HERE for more details, and then get yourself there. It's really quite incredible. This is what the monument will look like when carving is complete. Oh Oliver. We love you so. :) I found a kitty! She was snotty though. She bit me. So I pet her till she stopped. I needed a band-aid after this encounter. Little brat. I love her.

We spent so much time at Crazy Horse that we were a little late getting to Rushmore. The visitor center closed just before we arrived so we made the trek up to the monument to stare and oogle at it. Oliver was in rare form and for a second there we thought we'd found a buyer for him. Of course, right before the transaction went though, I found I couldn't part with my beautiful little rug-rat. It really was freezing so I can't blame him for whining. Our visit was brief but Rushmore is truly majestic. I still haven't decided if it inspired me to love my country more or to carve a mountain. I'm pretty sure Oliver would look good on Mt. Timpanogos. Hmmmmmm, your thoughts?

Yawn....
This video sums it up for O...

Give it up for Rushmore

2009-10-10T08:34:00.001-07:00

Two words:
FREEZING
INCREDIBLE

I'll spew the details later. Promise.

We're off to the Mall of America!

Consider the buffalo

2009-10-08T17:56:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting in the passenger seat, staring out the window at the gorgeous, rolling hills of Nebraska. We are approaching South Dakota. Have we really been gone 3 weeks? 12 states! Wow. And there is still so much more to see.

The demon that posessed Oliver's little body has left. Alex is happily working his way through the last of the sunflower seeds. (Is it odd to find his spitting the shells out attractive?) Everything is right again. The funk is gone. Well done, everyone, making us laugh. It definitely helped.

I'm feeling warm and fuzzy this morning. (Note to self: it's time to shave your legs again.) My heart fills full. I read c-janes blog (who doesn't?) this morning and took her advice. I stood with Oliver in the middle of our "home" and we danced ourselves silly. I feel lucky to love and be loved today. Oliver and I have really bonded on this trip. I wish that I could replay every moment we've shared in the past three weeks. I've laughed and cried so much over how much I adore him. He forces me to live in the moment, to slow down, to play.

Case in point...
Wyoming is huge. Rather, it felt huge. Sort of like we would never be able to drive far enough to leave it. Along the way, we saw herds of antelope grazing quite close to the highway. The first herd we saw was special. Special enough to pull over and take pictures of. The second herd was almost as special as the first. The third and fourth, well, we just pointed at those. After that I started to not even notice them. They blended in with the scenery and the dozens of cow herds. Hours went by. Ollie came up front and sat on my lap (to snuggle and break the law, yes.) He started pointing at the antelope with grand excitement. He also pointed at the cows with as much enthusiasm as he had when we saw the first herd of antelope.

I heard myself say, "those are just cows honey."

He said, "No! Look!"

I looked.

He was right. There in the field was a huge herd of buffalo! I had become an antelope snob, a mama who ignored cows. Was I already beginning to take this adventure for granted? Shame on me.

My sweet Ollie opens my eyes. He reminds me to SEE the buffalo. I feel a new excitement this morning. I mean c'mon, I'll be standing in front of Mt Rushmore in less than an hour. I can't wait to see it. And all the cows along the way.

Mama said there'd be days like this

2009-10-06T17:18:00.001-07:00

We are in a funk. A good ol' fashioned FUNK. We can't seem to shake it either. Nor can we put a finger (or broken thumb) on the reasons why. We've all been on edge the past couple days. I'm feeling feisty. Ollie is being extra naughty. Alex is grumpy. In an attempt to disect the problem, we talked about all sorts of nonsense and concluded that it must be due to all the miles we've covered in the past three days. And we've had a tinge of bad luck and a taste of some really cold weather---enough to dampen anyones spirit, right?

Solution:
We need to laugh. The kind that makes ones belly hurt. The kind that brings tears and snorting. The kind that makes us worry we'll pee a little.

Can you help us?
The first one to make us laugh hard gets a prize. Seriously. A good prize too.

Go.

We are waiting.

But not patiently.

Because no one is patient in a funk.

2009-10-05T20:41:00.001-07:00

Yellowstone day one...

Elk. Check
Grizzley. Check
Bison. Check
Pronghorn. Check
Deer. Check
Wolf. Check
Eagle. Check
Moose. Still looking.

It was a good day spying on wildlife.

This just in-

While I was typing this blog text....(have I mentioned how much I love mobile blogger?)

We planned to stay here tonight but just got a wild hair to go to Jackson hole. We are soooo spontaneous. ;)

Off topic: Oliver might go up for sale on Ebay tonight. (Free shipping) He was one crazy three year old today!

The kiddo is asleep. Time for some night driving for the mama and the dadda. Ahhhh, hello Quiet. I've missed you.

A series of unfortunate events.

2009-10-04T10:22:00.001-07:00

A series of unfortunate events.

The past 48 hrs have been a little nutty. Here's how it all went down.

My camera broke (wouldn't turn on) and I had to ship it to Canon for repair. No worries, we have the point and shoot!

The point and shoot breaks. Hmmm. iPhone pictures of our trip for a while. Crap. We will make do.

I slammed the rv door on myself and broke my thumb. Ouch! Call me for the hilarious story.

We got back on the road and headed right into a severe wind storm. It was really scary! We crawled along the highway until we finally reached a safe place to pull over. We spent the night but slept little. I thought for sure we were going to blow over. 45 mph winds! We started driving again this morning but didn't make it far before we had to pull over again. We drove to a starbucks where the clerk told us there was a 14 car pile up (3 fatalities) at 2am right at the pass where we pulled over in the night. We feel so thankful we are safe. They've closed the highway. We're snuggling in close till the wind and dust are gone.

Yowza.

What an adventure!

Alaska...a few highlights

2009-10-02T23:20:00.000-07:00

Again, can't post every picture! Take what you get. Or like I say to Ollie, "You get what you get and you don't throw a fit!"

We began our adventure here. If you go to Alaska you MUST stay with these fine folks. Such a fantastic place.

Two reasons I love this picture. No, three.
1. The scenery. Hello!? Amazing stuff in that state Alaska, I tell you what.
2. Oliver's hair. It's lush. It's bouffant. It's awesome. You know it. I know it. Nuff said. (though I did just cut it yesterday...only a trim of course. Yowza.)
3. Alex's closed eyes. I can count on one hand how many pictures I have taken of him where his eyes were open. So funny though, in this picture he looks "blissful" instead of blinking. As he should. This place was GORGEOUS!

Da Bears. Seriously couldn't get enough of these guys. We went two nights in a row to the first place we spotted them. We waited and they came. We waited longer and more came. So cool for us!

This shot was taken when it was completely dark outside. I didn't have my flash with me, so the quality is poor and I had to brighten it up a bunch in PS, but we were SO close to this n'. He was right next to our car. Woohoo!

Oh Alaska horizons...nothing like them.

We boarded a ferry from Valdez to Whittier, our car and all in tow. It was so much fun. It took 6 hours, but we saw lots of wildlife and the scenery was breathtaking.

A dolphin, doing his thing.

Mama and O catching a nap. We have been so tired lately! The time changes have been funky and we GO from the minute we wake up in the morning.

Recapping Alaska is simple. We had a very relaxing few days there. We spent our nights searching for animals to spy on, and spent our days going on lazy drives in the mountains. Alex and I both agreed that when we return to Alaska it will be for a fishing trip (with THESE guys)and we'd come in the summer. We came this time at the end of the season and everything was closed or closing. I can't wait to go back though. We met groovy people and ate yummy food and snuggled close in the cold. All in all, another great leg of our journey.

We are in Bremerton now with the Frandsen family. We've been recouping and gathering ourselves together to head out again in the RV. Tiffani has done a great job of taking care of us. She even made us chocolate cookies for breakfast this morning like a good mama. :) AND we got to go out on a double date tonight thanks to G'ma and G'pa Frandsen who were willing to watch our crazy children. THANK YOU! This stop definitely goes down as one of my favorites so far. It's been so wonderful to reconnect with Tiffani. We've had fun playing "remember when" about college days, and sharing all the girlie details of the last 10 years. You know those friends that you can go a long time without seeing and then meet up again only to pick up right where you left off? That's my Tiffy. I do love her so.

Our plan is to head to Seattle tomorrow and then off to Yellowstone. It means I'm going off radar for a bit till I can find wi-fi again. Mobile blogger is awesome though, I must say. Being able to text in my blog posts is so great. That is, when I have cell service. Ugh. It's been so much more frustrating than I expected. Isn't AT&T's tag line, "more bars in more places"? I guess I need to find the right places eh? Blah. We'll see how it goes from here on out.

So until next time America...
Prosperity to you and yours. (For you Scott Gage)

G'nite.

It's all about WE

2009-10-02T16:28:00.000-07:00

Gakona, Alaska-taken just after the Midnight Wrestling Match-9.26.09

What's on our ipod? All sorts of goodies. Here's a song that keeps coming up on shuffle.

.WE.

Want to take you to that great unknown
Show you to a place you've never been
Down a road where only lovers go
But before we leave, I want to repeat again
It's not about you
And it's not about me
Love is all about we
All about we

With a string you can tie a knot
But you gotta have somethin' to tie it to
Otherwise all you've got is a knot
When it ties me to you,
It's a whole other thing
Cause Love is all about we
Love is all about WE

-Neil Diamond

Hook us up ye travelling fellows

2009-09-29T18:43:00.001-07:00

Hey you.
Yes you.
We need YOUR help.
We need some advice. The rest of our trip is completly unplanned. We know we are heading east. We know we'd like to be in New York before it gets too cold. Here's what we are asking for...

What must we see along our way? What do YOU know we can't miss on our journey? Please, take a minute and leave a comment for us. Include every state or city you've been to that was memorable or worth visiting. Maybe it's a zoo. Maybe it's a little diner where you ate yummy fish n' chips. Maybe it's your Aunt Edna's house and you know we would love to meet her. Maybe it's a groovy campground, or a museum, or a record breaking ball of yarn. What should we see? Tell us. We don't want to miss anything.

Our future is in your fingertips.
Get typing.
Go.

We love you.

Trying to take it all in (updated with a picture)

2009-09-27T21:04:00.001-07:00

Sitting watching a mama bear fish for her two cubs. I'm 20 feet away. She gets a salmon and brings it to them on shore. They wrestle for it and she brings more. Papa bear and one that appears to be same size as papa (Uncle Teddy?) are up on shore watching. Of course this far exceeded my hopes of seeing a bear! I'm staring at 5! Wow. Amazing.

Picture Fest-Alaska DAY ONE

2009-09-27T10:50:00.001-07:00

We flew in, grabbed our rental car and headed to Glenallen to meet up with our friends (see their awesomeness HERE)

We spotted our first mama and baby moose on our way. I don't know why, but I stepped off the plane expecting to see animals everywhere. We came at the end of the season. Everyone is closing up shop and getting ready for winter. I think the animals are also taking cover from the snow. We went out on Josh's boat to find some caribou but didn't have any luck. We are off to Valdez today to find me a bear. I'm not leaving Alaska till I see one, so help me. :)

Alaska is gorgeous. I'm freezing though! It's crazy knowing that it will get 80 degrees colder here. I won't be here to feel what that's like! :)

Here's some of our fun so far.

Josh and Jamie breed malamutes, so we helped feed them. Okay, ALEX helped feed them. I stood there with my knees knocking and teeth chattering. :) Oliver played in the snow.

Oliver was soaked. We got in the car to warm up. Ain't he yummy?

This was an incredible site. I wasn't in a position to get any closer, but wished I could have climbed the tree to get a better look at her.

We boarded Josh's boat to go find some caribou. SO FUN! And SO COLD!

Picture Fest-Washington (round one)

2009-09-27T10:24:00.000-07:00

Tillamook was actually our last stop in Oregon. Alex has such a fondness for cheese. The factory was closed, but the sign was just begging us to stand by it for a picture.

Driving into Washington on this gorgeous bridge. The weather was such a drastic change from the Oregon coast!

Oliver is obsessed with "Scoobie Doobie Doobie Doo" these days so when we saw this on the side of the road, we had to stop. That's what's fun about our trip so far...we have no plan, so when we see something we want to do, we stop!

We'd planned to go to Forks. Then we scratched that and planned to go to Seattle. When we came upon this place (by accident) in Lake Sylvia, we decided to stay and camp. We'll do Seattle when we are back from Alaska. We set up a tent next to the lake, rode bikes through the hills, roasted dogs and mallows, sang songs, went hiking with our head-lamps and had a blast.

Tiffani and I were roomies in college. Oh how I love this girl. She took us to the airport on Friday morning. Off to Alaska! We will fly back into Seattle on Wednesday and I'm excited to spend some more time with her. Don't have your baby before I get back Tiffy!!!! I will deliver him with my bare hands...I'm a doctor, you know. I never went to medical school...I just watched a lot of Greys. See you soon!

Picture fest-Oregon Coast

2009-09-27T00:51:00.001-07:00

Our first glimpse of the coast....

Stopped to visit the sea lion caves

Bandon, Oregon

Sunset.

Beautiful.

Whoa.

My favorite day so far.

Playing on the beach in Yachats...

A little friend came to play with us!

Picture Fest-Redwood Trails

2009-09-27T00:36:00.001-07:00

Before we headed up the Oregon coast, we stopped to get some sleep at an RV park in northern California. (Redwood Trails) When we pulled in, we had no idea we would see this!

It was incredible! A huge herd of elk, just hanging out, unphased by our big rig. It was after midnight and we stayed up for over an hour just watching them. When we woke up in the morning we were surprised to find them still grazing in the same meadow. We found out later that they stick around most of the year and as long as we didn't get too close, they'd be nice. :)

I tried to get as close as I could. Alex kept warning me to stay back. Here's a shot of me photographing the buck from Alex's view...

Here's my view...

And here's a random shot of Ollie being stinking cute that same morning. I like him so much.

Picture Fest-Redwoods

2009-09-27T00:13:00.000-07:00

I have taken over 2000 pictures in just over a week. Of course I can't post them all here. I don't have photoshop either, so they are pics from my phone, point and shoot, or straight out of the camera. Nothing too spectacular, but a little taste for you anyway. Enjoy. More to come.

Our rig amongst the trees

Going for a walk...

We are so much alike. Sometimes we fight. So what?

Tree kisses

The redwoods are a pain in the neck...

Har har har har....(insert laugh here)

Three little speckled frogs, sitting on a speckled log.

He tried to climb every single tree

2009-09-25T21:59:00.000-07:00

No phone service. But the cabin we are in has wi-fi. Go figure.

We are in the boonies. Amazing. Hung out with some moose earlier. Still looking for my bear. We are here till Wednesday.

Here's a convo between me and Ollie tonight. There's a real teepee outside our cabin.

Ollie: What's that teepee for?

Sara: It's where Indians used to live. (yes, I could have used this moment to teach him some great American history but I was tired from a 10 hour day of travelling and was mostly pacifying him.)

Ollie: Where'd the Indians go?

Sara: They left.

Ollie: Why?

Sara: I dunno, the "white man" came I guess. (at this point I'm trying to make Alex laugh with my sarcasm)

Ollie: Who's the white man?

Sara: Us. (laughing now)

Ollie: Me?

Sara: Yeah. We are white man

Ollie: No I'm not. (he then proceeded to take off his shirt to examine his chest and arms.

See?! I'm yellowish.

True dat Ollie. True dat.

More to come from Alaska!

2009-09-25T10:25:00.001-07:00

ALASKA!!!
We are on the plane, waiting to take off. I feel so excited! I just want to see a bear. One bear. Anything beyond that is just a bonus. Uh oh... No time. I have to turn off my phone. I love you all!!!! Taking off!

Wednesday 9-23 recapping the last few...

2009-09-23T13:10:00.000-07:00

I'll need to get in the habit of writing every day, even if I can't find an Internet connection. Each day the trip gets better and better and I'm finding it tricky to remember what we did on what day etc. The days are beginning to feel jumbled together, each day flying by.

We seem to be developing a routine. We wake early, eat our oatmeal, shower, gussie up the RV (fill the water tanks, empty the poop tanks, vacuum, make beds, etc) take a walk, and then we head on our way. It's simple. It's easy. It's care-free. I dig it. Who knew we'd be RV people?

The Redwoods and Oregon coast far exceeded my expectations. I had no idea they were so beautiful! The view from my bedroom window on the morning we woke up in Humboldt National Forest was amazing. The trees are straight out of a fairy tale. I felt like I was walking around in a magical forest. The trees talked to me, I swear it. Seriously, when I die, sprinkle a bit of me there, okay?! If we didn't have a lot of miles to cover in order to make our Alaska flight on Friday, we would have spent more time there. Amazing, I tell you.

The Oregon coast is breathtaking. Miles and miles of "holy cow!" When we reached a place to pull over for lunch, we walked down to the beach. Just off the shore was a sea lion playing in the waves. Oliver was in heaven, building sandcastles and running from the tide. It was a really peaceful day. I kept staring at the scene in front of me....feeling really lucky, pinching myself, thanking every moment.

We are now in Washington on our way to Bremerton to see my old roomate from college, Tiffani and her family. We will fly from Seattle to Alaska on Friday. We'd planned to go to Forks to see if Edward and Bella could go to lunch but decided to skip that and hang in Seattle for a few days. So far Washington is grey and stormy...a drastic change from Oregon...but still gorgeous.

I'll find some wi-fi and get pictures uploaded. So much to see and share. Just you wait, my pretties.

5 of 50!

And it's only day 5!

2009-09-22T00:00:00.000-07:00

Finding Jesus in Starbucks

2009-09-19T11:23:00.000-07:00

Making our regular Starbucks stop this morning turned out to be anything but ordinary.

Enter a man named Scott Gage. He approached our table to praise and adore our "full of personality" son. We said our customary "thank you" and "we know!" This exchange happens with everyone we meet. Ollie is something to be adored for sure. But this exchange wasn't like the others. Scott had more to say. In fact, Scott had A LOT more to say.

The wisdom he shared with us was special. He quoted scripture. He shared of visions and revalations he'd received in the middle of the night. He told us that once the Lord told him to have breakfast in Sacramento and so he got up at 3 am to make the journey--because God said so. He said he'd been told to pray for people he didn't know. He once sat on the side of a highway and prayed for every car that passed. He told us that his brother had grown 2 inches of missing bone in his leg in an instant when he prayed for it. He said he blessed his daughter when she was young and now she is a wise and obediant 15 year old. He told us many stories, one after another....examples of how God has worked miracles for him.

And we listened intently.

Then Scott said this...

"You have been blessed to be able to make this trip. I've never met anyone your age who was making such a journey. Will you do something for me? Will you declare peace and prosperity upon every state you visit? Every highway you travel, will you bless it and the people who travel it? Will you declare God's kingdom upon this country? "

Then Scott held our hands, in the middle of a busy Starbucks, and he prayed for us the sweetest prayer.

I've never met a man like Scott Gage. I don't think the people that come into our lives enter by accident. It IS a blessing that we are able to make this journey.

So to our new friend Scott, YES. We will bless this country as we travel. Promise.

America, consider yourself blessed.

2009-09-18T09:01:00.001-07:00

And we're off!!

Determined to finally leave no matter what, we launched late last night....destination unknown. We've stopped now, but I'll get to that in a minute.

We postponed our departure two whole days. Lame. We could have postponed it another three or four with how much we have going on. Yesterday we looked like two headless chickens running around.

Our goal of a 4pm departure came and went, the RV still not packed. We rolled out of Centerville at 9:30pm...only turning around once for a forgotten item. I remembered 10 other things we forgot before we were on the freeway, but who cares? "Let's GO!"

When the excitement settled and Oliver had drifted off to sleep, Alex and I agreed that WE needed to sleep....it has been a while!

So here we are in Wendover. Camping at a truck-stop ain't so bad! I slept a good 7 hours and am now listening to Alex and Oliver snore in perfect harmony. We didn't make it far but we are on our way! ;) I guess that's the point right? It's all about the journey, not the destination.

The alarm on Alex's phone just went off. Old habits die hard.

I gotta go check out Wendover.

-Sara-
(Blogging with my phone...pictures coming)

Getting Ready to GO

2009-09-01T14:31:00.000-07:00

The motor home is here. She's a beauty.

(these were taken in Arizona)

LATELY...
I'm getting excited for the "simple" of it all. I feel excited to leave the chaos and the crazy behind for a bit. (Not to say there won't be a bit of both on the road.) I'm excited to pack a weeks worth of clothes and call it good. I'm realizing the past few weeks, as we've been preparing to leave, that the thing I'm most looking forward to is letting go of my possessions. Our trip isn't contingent on selling our stuff, but the idea of selling everything feels so liberating. I suddenly don't care about this or about that. I feel ownership of nothing. I love it. I get emotionally attached to things ...and right now everything seems silly and unimportant. I've been walking around my house saying goodbye (and thank you) to all my belongings. It feels like a re-birth. And it feels gooooood. :)

If you want some of my crap...er, my stuff...come to my house on Saturday (9-5-09) where it'll ALL be for sale. What doesn't sell is being donated. New stuff, old stuff...my stuff can now be your stuff. C'mon. :)

Home on Wheels

2009-08-27T14:30:00.000-07:00

If this trip is gonna happen, we'll need transportation. Lucky me. I know a guy with mad skills at the auto auction.

Snagged this n' at the AZ auction. I'm anxious to get in it, jump on the mattress, touch the wallpaper and make it smell better than the last guy who owned it.

It's lame to name a vehicle...even more lame to name a vehicle that will double as a home! But I feel the need to give it a gender. For instance, when I'm driving up a huge hill should I say, "C'mon old girl! You can do it!" Or should I say, "You're gonna make it dude! Atta boy!"

I think it's a sheila. I'll know for sure when it gets to my driveway on Saturday. T-minus 19 days till blast off. I want to go NOW! C'mon girl. Let's git!