Home Again, Home Again

It's been nearly one month since we rolled back into Greenville, home, schedules, and normalcy. 

By the end of our summer adventure, we had spent over 100 days in the RV. 

For this big, busy (and loud!) family, that is certainly something to be proud of. 

We've had our ups, we've had our downs. There were times I felt like I couldn't take another second of RV life, and times when I almost dreaded the conclusion of our time together. 

"Overall," people asked, "what was the best part of the trip?" After pondering the question a moment, we'd probably answer that it was being able to spend so much time together.

"And the hardest part?" another may wonder.  Ironically (or maybe not so ironically) the answer is one and the same - so much time together. 

We saw some amazing places, experienced some incredible things, and got to see parts of our country we will likely never glimpse again.  Though some of my most sought after times were relatively quiet hikes through the mountains, my most cherished moments were the times we all sat around a bonfire reading, talking, laughing... as a family. 

Now that we're home, regular life has begun setting in again. Eating dinner all together - something that happened every day on our trip - is rarely possible.  Schedules are filling back up, routinely checking the calendar is becoming necessary, and the pace of life is picking back up.  Our RVing season has come to a close... for now.

A little walk down memory lane... 

Month One

Month Two:

Month Three:

Month Four:

It's been an amazing journey. Thanks for joining us on it! 

Week 13 and 14: Missouri to Virginia

After running into our generator problems in Colorado, we began heading east a little more quickly and directly than we had originally planned. We traveled a day and a half before stopping at a campground deep in the heart of Missouri.  Despite ending up there partially by accident and because of a broken generator, we certainly didn't fare too poorly. Actually, it was one of the nicest campground we've stayed at.  It was located on an enormous property with two lakes, countless little playgrounds, a jumping pillow, basketball and tennis courts, indoor and outdoor pools and even a little movie theater. 

We celebrated Dad's 50th birthday here - not a bad place to celebrate either! David's 13th birthday came later in the week, and though we were traveling for the day, we stopped for a fun dessert and then dinner several hours later. Yes, in that order. 

 busy making happy birthday banner for Dad

 David at the mini movie theater

Whitey got a bath in the little RV shower and was not happy about it!

After staying there for a week and not having any luck with generator repairs, we packed up and continued east.  After a couple days on the road, we arrived in Blacksburg, VA, excited to visit family.  Kaden has been talking about visiting our cousins over and over again throughout the trip, and we decided not to tell him our plans until we had arrived. Boy was he surprised! We had a wonderful couple days visiting with them, and then headed to the lake to visit grandparents for a few more days. 

 I joined Nathan and Justin (yes, both younger but SO much taller) for their job at an apple orchard. Unfortunately, it was rainy and quite chilly outside.  We pulled through, however. Picture for proof!

 We found the cutest cupcake samples while grocery shopping. Seriously amazing forms of sugar.

The end of our trip is quickly approaching, and as thankful as we are to have had a wonderful few months, we are more than ready to get back home.  Here we go, week 15. Finish the trip off well.