Happy One Year Anniversary!!!

Today is DAY 365 of our Great Family Adventure!!!!! Hooray!! I can't believe we're already at this point! Just yesterday I looked over the pictures we've posted on our Instagram feed and was blown away by all the adventures we've shared over the past year. We are so thankful for everything we've experienced and are glad we decided to leap into the unknown to do this. As with anything, there have been bad days, good days, horrible days, and awesome days, but if we could go back and do it all over again, we absolutely would.

In honor of this milestone, my husband and I thought you might like to see an update from the kids.* Enjoy!

- Jen

Oldest Son
I think I have had a pretty memorable trip, from flying in Alaska to eating lobster in Maine. Here is a short summary of what I have seen and done.

In Alaska, I enjoyed my first discovery flight to see if I wanted to be a pilot and so far, I really want to be one. In Idaho/Wyoming I stayed in a log cabin near Jackson Hole and saw moose in the back yard. Arizona was very picturesque with its mesas and red rocks near where I was staying. Florida was the same as always since I visit every year but I did see Key West which was new and strange. In Maine, I was able to drive down to Virginia and see my friends and family for my aunt's wedding and my other aunt's graduation. And lastly in Kentucky, I haven’t been here very long but I can’t wait to see Mammoth Caves and try some new food.

Daughter
Over the past year we've been to many places and seen many things. Some of the things that I especially remember took place in Alaska, Idaho, Florida, and Arizona.

In Alaska I saw one of my friends and tried cultural foods like; pierogi, borscht, Kinder surprise eggs, and Canadian style sour cream.

In Idaho I stayed in a big house in a kind community. There was even a drive-in theater, except we did not go to it.**

In Florida we went to Disney World!! I loved going to Epcot the most because I got to try their food and learn about different cultures. My mom enjoyed going to a quilting group at the local library. While at the Magic Kingdom we tried a Dole Whip for the first time!

In Arizona I saw another one of my friends, though for very little time. Christmas was great because we learned a lot about the local culture and traditions. We also saw Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and now that it is out on DVD, we got it!

In Maine we had a lot of seafood. It tasted so good! Especially the crab. It snowed the day before we got there but the snow disappeared soon after. We drove to Virginia for a week or so for my aunt's graduation and my other aunt's wedding. We returned back to Maine and soon after left for Kentucky.

In Kentucky we saw fireflies! And again, at last, we have a good backyard for the dogs. It even has a playset! Unlike Maine, we can check out books from the library here. I got a lot of books about languages. They also have the Kentucky Derby here. We got to see a mini race at the Derby Museum.

We saw a lot this year but I am very excited to return home.

Youngest Son***
Instead of writing a paragraph, this is a list of the things I've done this year that I liked.

- I've been to Disney World
- I went to Chena Hot Springs
- I've been to the Musk Ox Farm
- Iditarod Museum
- Idaho Pizza
- Aurora Borealis
- Boy Scout Camp
- IHOP Chicken and Waffles
- Storm
- Yellowstone
- Cousins
- Drive Thru Tree
- Halloween
- Washington
- Four Corners
- Antelope Canyon
- Javelina
- Luminaries
- Snow
- Turkey (Thanksgiving)
- Fantastic Beasts
- Cars 3
- Beignets
- Epcot
- Rocket Launch
- Everglades
- Iguanas
- Key West


* The posts above are in the kid's own words and chosen format.

** It was closed for the season.

*** A few things on this list might be cryptic if you haven't been following our adventure for that long. If you have any questions, just ask. We'll be happy to respond. :-)

Celebrating!

Good morning from Harpers Ferry, West Virginia! At the moment I'm sitting at the historic train depot with my husband watching the trains go by. Have I mentioned that we like trains? It's beautiful and sunny, around 80 degrees, and we pretty much have the town to ourselves. The birds are singing and the river is flowing.

We'll be leaving in a few hours to head to Shenandoah Valley for my sisters wedding and driving  back to Maine on Sunday. I'll be sure to update you on this weeks adventures soon after. Hopefully the traffic will be better this time.... more about that later.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!

-Jen

Projects

This is a travel blog. The main purpose of it is for you to see how we prepare for our upcoming trip and then follow along when we go. That being said, you're inevitably going to see some of the things we're passionate about that have absolutely nothing to do with travel. For me, one of those things is quilting. I love the creative process. There's so much satisfaction in sewing that last stitch and stepping back to admire your finished project. I imagine the life it will live, how it will be used, and hope that it will be cherished. Each quilt takes planning, resources, and a lot of time- sometimes decades! It's like an everlasting hug from its' maker and if you are lucky enough to receive one, don't take it lightly. It was a labor of love.

I'm thankful to say we've had tons of good news this year. We have loved ones who are getting married, expecting babies, graduating from high school, graduating from nursing school, retiring, and a few who have received the welcome news that they are in remission from cancer!! Because of these blessed events I have projects galore to work on before we go. There won't be any room for me to bring my sewing machine or fabric stash, so I have to be realistic about how many projects I bring with me and how many I can complete before June. Oh, if only I had the time, money, and brain power to make a quilt for everyone...*sigh*

Here are a few pictures of some of the quilt tops (top layer) I've worked on this week. Please excuse the poor quality. They were taken with my phone. The first is for a very special teacher who gave birth to a beautiful baby girl on New Year's Day. This teacher is one of those gems within the public school system who work tirelessly make a difference in the lives of their students. If you are one of these teachers, thank you! Keep fighting the good fight one student at a time. <3 It's worth it.

This pattern is a half square triangle variation and it will soon be quilted (sewing the top, batting, and back together) by Vicki Stratton ( http://www.quilting-time.com/ ).

Top with the backing fabric- Why, yes, that IS Dick and Jane!
 

 

The project below is from a block swap I hosted a few years ago with some friends. The pattern is "Friendship Spools" by Edyta Sitar ( https://www.laundrybasketquilts.com/tablet/index.html ). I just love the spools with all the thread colors! It's being prepped for our trip so I can do the final appliqued border by hand whenever we have free time. 

 

 

This last one has been a work in progress for many years. My sister in law, who is wonderful at embroidery, embroidered the teacups and teapots with the intention of making them into a lap quilt for her mother. Long story short, I ended up with it and we are now collaborating on the final queen-sized version as a gift for my mother-in-law's retirement. The top and bottom borders still need to be made but this should give you an idea of the effect we're going for.

 

As you can see, there are many iron's in the fire right now. The kids have school (I'm homeschooling our youngest currently), my husband is getting his ducks in a row at work and with house projects, and I'm working behinds the scenes on all those little things that make leaving for a trip like this easier. Through it all, life sprints ever forward. I wouldn't have it any other way.

- Jen

 

P.S. In case you were wondering, we looked at trailers last weekend and narrowed our choices down to one floor plan. It's small, but as my husband puts it "We just need to be able to stop, sleep, and then hit the road again." The model we chose will do that job just fine. Now to find one at a good price and get the trailer hitch installed!

Preparation Begins

Today is January 1, 2016- New Year's Day. Our family thought it an excellent time to make the official announcement that we've decided to embark on an epic family adventure!

Starting at the end of June we will be leaving for 14 months of travel around North America!

“How is this possible?!” you may ask. Surprisingly, the logistics couldn’t have come together more beautifully. We plan to homeschool (roadschool, actually) our three children (14, 12 and 9) and my husband will work remotely. The timing is perfect because our kids are old enough to remember and participate, yet young enough to be free of the ties of life they’ll experience in just a few years. We will live in different states for approximately two month periods in order to rest and fully experience each location. As you can imagine, that kind of a life shift will take quite a bit of planning and preparation but we are excited to get started!

Goals:

1. To experience the many regions, climates, terrains, languages, foods, people, histories, arts, etc. that our beautiful continent offers.

2. To reconnect with long-unseen family and friends and give our children an experience that will stay with them for a lifetime. (I mean, really, what better way to connect with what you're learning about than to experience it for yourself?!) We welcome any suggestions along the way to help us plan.

Route (as it stands today):

1. Alaska
2. Idaho/Wyoming
3. Arizona
4. Florida
5. Maine
6. Somewhere in the middle ending with the August 21, 2017 total solar eclipse
7. Return home before the 2017-2018 school year

While in each location, we will be exploring surrounding states and areas as time permits.

Our kids are at the ages where their lives revolve around friends and trends, so we decided to create this blog so you can all follow along. The kids will be checking in with their own perspectives from time to time and we expect that they will have many experiences and opinions to share. Our plan is to check in at least once a week (Hey! A New Year's resolution!) so be sure to sign up for updates or bookmark this blog to stay current.

In the meantime, we are in the throws of preparation. We are thinking about things like storing everything we plan to keep after we return, getting our house ready to rent, deciding what we will need for a year and what we can live without. I suspect we'll surprise ourselves with how little we actually *need*.

We look forward to planning this trip and traveling with you.

Welcome to our adventure!

- Jen