Category: Family on the Road

2 min read

Port Charlotte, Florida

Jenn

2 min read

4621 views

2 min read

Who needs a campground when you can park in a yard. We spent over two weeks at my parent’s house in Port Charlotte. This is what we will remember. Visiting…

Who needs a campground when you can park in a yard.

We spent over two weeks at my parent’s house in Port Charlotte. This is what we will remember.

Visiting with my Junebug and Papaw (my grandma and grandpa) for four days. We were so grateful to have that time with them.

Going thrifting with my Junebug. What a hoot!

A boat ride across Charlotte Harbor.

Canoeing in the canals. Ooooh there’s a string ray!

Searching for shark teeth at Venice Beach, Nakomis Beach, and Blind Pass on Manasota Key. Blind Pass was the best beach for shark teeth by a long shot. Nakomis was a close second. Venice gets an F. Thing Two found over 500 teeth. I think we better start panning for gold!

Sunsets at Blind Pass Beach on Manasota Key. Majestic.

Thing Two and I had a special date. We searched for shark teeth and got a table for two at a Greek dive. Love.

A farmer’s market date with my love.

Idling on the boat through the Charlotte Harbor canals at sunset and watching the milky reflection of a tiring sky on the water.

Visiting my great grandma Nell’s home. It was where my family stayed when I was a kid. The current owner even let us in. Amazing how much bigger things seem when you’re a kid. Brought back memories of sunburns, bathing caps, and morning walks on the beach with my dad.

Nakomis Groves where you get tiny cups of orange juice and large cones of ice cream. Backwards and worth it. I also used to visit this Nakomis Groves as a child.

Spending time with my parents. Thank you Papaw and Weewah. <=== Cutest grandma name ever!

Love and Laughter,
Jenn

If you enjoyed this post you can follow one of three ways! 1. Subscribe to the RSS Feed 2. “like” Newschool Nomads on Facebook, or 3. Sign up to have posts emailed to your inbox. Simple dimple!

Like food and fitness? Follow along as I film a workout in every state and explore finding a healthy balance on the road at Girl Heroes!

Share this:

7 Comments

2 min read

Family on the Road

The Amusement Park Grinch

Jenn

2 min read

3872 views

5 Comments

2 min read

I’ll just say it. I don’t like amusement parks. There is just not much “magic” in the Magic Kingdom unless you count how quickly your money magically disappears. I’m an amusement park Grinch. However,…

I’ll just say it. I don’t like amusement parks. There is just not much “magic” in the Magic Kingdom unless you count how quickly your money magically disappears.

I’m an amusement park Grinch.

However, like most kids, our kids love visiting theme parks. When we left on our trip we weren’t sure if Disney World was going to be in the budget. As it turns out it wasn’t but we were fortunate to find out a friend of a friend of a relative could get three of us free tickets. Oh joy. I mean YIPPEEEEEEE! For the kid’s sake, I’m grateful.

So we went to Disney Hollywood Studios. And The Animal Kingdom. And Epcot Center. And The Magic Kindom.

All in the same day.

ALL. IN. THE. SAME DAY.

Insanity.

But believe it or not this amusement park Grinch had a blast even though it rained and our feet felt like we had been tap dancing barefoot on rocks for about three days nonstop.

↑ Look how much fun we’re having. ↑

How could you not have fun with these guys.

Brent’s and my favorite park was Animal Kingdom. Thing Two liked Hollywood Studios. Thing One liked Magic Kingdom. He’s a purist. We all loved Spaceship Earth at Epcot.

Over 15 hours later, we headed out to the last car in the parking lot. Not bad for an amusement park Grinch!

Love and Laughter,
Jenn

If you enjoyed this post you can follow one of three ways! 1. Subscribe to the RSS Feed 2. “like” Newschool Nomads on Facebook, or 3. Sign up to have posts emailed to your inbox. Simple dimple!

Like food and fitness? Follow along as I film a workout in every state and explore finding a healthy balance on the road at Girl Heroes!

Share this:

5 Comments

2 min read

Family on the Road On the Road

Days 86-89: Old MacDonald had a farm

Jenn

2 min read

6517 views

3 Comments

2 min read

And on that farm he had a miniature mule. Rainy days. Fresh eggs. Curious goats. Stoic horses. Few things make me as happy as the smell and velvety touch of…

And on that farm he had a miniature mule.

Rainy days. Fresh eggs. Curious goats. Stoic horses.

Few things make me as happy as the smell and velvety touch of a horse’s muzzle. As I was struggling with depression, 5 days on a farm was just what my soul needed to be able to soar again

My uncle works at a small farm at the foot of the Appalachian Mountains in Maryville, Tennessee. We played with the goats, gathered colorful eggs, stroked the horses’ woolly winter coats, hiked in the quiet wood, and cuddled, book in hand, as the rain poured outside.

Every morning, Thing 2 rushed for his boots the minute he heard the rumble of my uncle’s truck coming to feed the horses. Thing 1 got into “shoving matches” with Julie the goat. Nico and Nigel met new friends and enemies when Julie decided to give them a friendly headbutt. I think Brent was the only one to escape Julie. I have never met a more ornery goat. (Not that I’ve met a lot of goats.) She headbutted me into the wall within 2 minutes of our introduction.

I felt free. I felt alive. I felt at home.

Yet, the clouds move and I’m caught in their shadow dance. Being at the farm reminds me at how at heart I’m a country girl who ended up in a beach town. A girl who feels more comfortable in a saddle than on the sand. I’m all too aware that as long as we live in Ventura we will not be able to have goats, chickens, and horses.

Thing 2 keeps asking with excitement in his eyes, “Mama, can we live on a farm?” My little animal boy. How I want to gather him in my arms and say, “Yes we’ll have goats, chickens, and Arabian horses!” When God chiseled horses I’m certain his first was an Arabian.

Not now.

Now the road is our home but only time will tell where it will take us.

Love and Laughter,
Jenn

If you enjoyed this post you can follow one of three ways! 1. Subscribe to the RSS Feed 2. “like” Newschool Nomads on Facebook, or 3. Sign up to have posts emailed to your inbox. Simple dimple!

Like food and fitness? Follow along as I film a workout in every state and explore finding a healthy balance on the road at Girl Heroes!

Share this:

3 Comments

1 min read

Family on the Road

Clueless or Cozy?

Jenn

1 min read

4330 views

4 Comments

1 min read

We decided to wait out the storm. Alone. The morning of the storm we noticed the other three campers in the campground were packing up. By noon, the snow started…

We decided to wait out the storm. Alone. The morning of the storm we noticed the other three campers in the campground were packing up. By noon, the snow started falling and ice- the real problem- started forming on the roads.

So we waited because ~~we are clueless~~ we thought it would be cozy and (much to my amazement) it was. It was also cold, really cold, but that didn’t stop us from having little adventures.

Arrowheads and coins in a red handkerchief. So simple, so little boy, so sweet that it almost makes me cry. And stop time. Please God.

I think it’s time for these guys and us to start flying south.

Love and Laughter,
Jenn

If you enjoyed this post you can follow one of three ways! 1. Subscribe to the RSS Feed 2. “like” Newschool Nomads on Facebook, or 3. Sign up to have posts emailed to your inbox. Simple dimple!

Like food and fitness? Follow along as I film a workout in every state and explore finding a healthy balance on the road at Girl Heroes!

Share this:

4 Comments

2 min read

Family on the Road National Parks

Mammoth Cave National Park

Jenn

2 min read

3209 views

4 Comments

2 min read

We had our first overnight guests! Jeff, my brother, and his son drove down with us from Indiana. I can’t tell you how wonderful it was to have them with us…

We had our first overnight guests!

Jeff, my brother, and his son drove down with us from Indiana. I can’t tell you how wonderful it was to have them with us for the night and to share with them the mystery of Mammoth Cave. My brother is a very special person to me. Although we are not twins we share the same birthday and have matching tattoos. He has one of the biggest hearts you will ever meet. My nephew, Jensen, is a living testament to the grace of God. Jensen was born with a congenital heart defect and had open heart surgery at only a few weeks old. Almost three years later, Jensen is one of the sweetest happiest little fellows you will ever meet and you would never know that this little guy came into the world a warrior fighting for his life! We love them so much!

Years ago, my parents had taken us to Mammoth Cave National Park and while I don’t remember much of it I do remember the rooms being…well..mammoth. We opted to take the Historic Tour. It was a 2 mile and 2 hour long journey that focuses on what it was like for prehistoric people up to present day tours. We also learned how the the cave provided saltpeter, used to make gunpowder, during the war of 1812. You can still see the wooden pipes used today. One of the more interesting facts we learned was during the 1840’s a doctor by the name of Dr. Croghan, believed there would be medical benefits from the cave air for tuberculosis sufferers. He invited several tuberculosis patients to live into the cave (can you imagine!) and unfortunately several of them died in the cave.

In November, we visited Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Based on the tours we chose I would describe Carlsbad as a “visual” experience with it’s unusual and beautiful formations while Mammoth Cave is more a “physical” experience with it’s large rooms, deep pits, and tight passageways. Of course, each tour I’m sure offers a different experience. Later that evening, we looked at the weather forecast and saw a snow storm was on it’s way the next day. Should we wait it out or leave early in the morning?

Love and Laughter,
Jenn

If you enjoyed this post you can follow one of three ways! 1. Subscribe to the RSS Feed 2. “like” Newschool Nomads on Facebook, or 3. Sign up to have posts emailed to your inbox. Simple dimple!

Like food and fitness? Follow along as I film a workout in every state and explore finding a healthy balance on the road at Girl Heroes!

Share this:

4 Comments

2 min read

Family on the Road Museums On the Road Pets & Animals

Days 58-78: Hoosier at Heart

Jenn

2 min read

3910 views

4 Comments

2 min read

Traveling with our work and home in tow like a turtle time has allowed us an unusual amount of time to visit with family and friends. Our adventure started in…

Traveling with our work and home in tow like a turtle time has allowed us an unusual amount of time to visit with family and friends. Our adventure started in Santa Maria when we spent 10 days with Brent’s family. Afterwards, with short visits with friends and family in between, we traveled to Austin to spent 10 days at my best friend’s house. Now in the dead of winter, we just spent three weeks in Indiana.

Our visit in Indiana felt like we did so much and yet so little at the same time. We’ve been there many times so the pressure to “see things” wasn’t there and our first priority was family.

My parents still live in the same house I grew up in. The house sits on a hill that borders a wood, “the bottom ground”, that, as a child ,was everything from wild jungles to dangerous battlefields. It’s a strange and happy sensation watching our boys drive my mom’s golf cart through the paths just as, if I was lucky, I did with my brother in his golf cart.

Among the days hanging out “at home” we also…

Visited the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis. Always fun. Always magical. It’s a “must see” if you have kids and are in the Indianapolis area.

Visited the Indianapolis Zoo. I haven’t been in years and was excited to go on an oddly warm January day. I was especially excited to see the gibbons. Funny funky monkeys!

Visited Brookwood Farms. This is the stable where I spent ~~showerless~~ endless days grooming, feeding, water, cleaning, and riding horses. I used to happily sleep outside of my horses stall on a folding lawn chair. Brookwood is run by Rosie, a woman who has spend her life loving animals and kids. Every visit to Indiana includes a visit with Rosie at Brookwood.

“Visited” ~~Slackers~~ Toys R’Us and Walmart after midnight on December 24th in search of Harry Potter legos. Do not do this. Ever.

Ate at Roscoe’s Tacos. Possibly the least Mexican Mexican food ever. In a good way.

Ate at PapaRoux. Po-boys and cajun food in Indianapolis. Don’t judge. It’s good…really GOOD good! Don’t believe me? There was a line out the door in January.

Oh and I spent New Years squealing over pictures of hairless cats hoping Brent might change his mind about another pet. Yeah, I’m loads of fun. Loads.

Love and Laughter,
Jenn

Share this:

4 Comments

1 min read

Family on the Road On the Road

Galveston

Jenn

1 min read

3421 views

3 Comments

1 min read

We spent the majority of the day doing school and work. After all, it was rainy and cold but come late afternoon I was itching to get outside. The campground…

We spent the majority of the day doing school and work. After all, it was rainy and cold but come late afternoon I was itching to get outside. The campground in League City was about 20 minutes from Galveston and Galveston is on the ocean. Our hometown, Ventura, is on the ocean and how I longed to inhale the cool salty sea air and be comforted by the crash of the waves.

Sometimes you don’t realize how much you miss something until ~~you’re cramped in a 280 square ft space with 3 other people in the rain~~ it’s gone.

There were only a few hours left in the day but we decided a few breaths of ocean air is better than none.

While Galveston is a town rich with history we decided we would skip the history and just be. I think the boys appreciated it.

We had coffee.

We explored.

We found a knight in not so shining armor.

We enjoyed the architecture.

We found a surfing sharkman.

We played.

(I can’t tell you how much I love this guy!)

We watched the sunset.

We searched the sand.

Thing 2 found the most lovely black shell.

For a few hours we simply enjoyed being and I think we all came back to the RV feeling a little more alive than before.

Love and Laughter,
Jenn

Share this:

3 Comments

4 min read

Family on the Road National Parks

Uh-Oh.

Jenn

4 min read

7961 views

8 Comments

4 min read

Today, we left Carlsbad, New Mexico, bound for Marfa, Texas. We weren’t too far down the road when we came upon a pleasant surprise- Guadalupe Mountains National Park. How one…

Today, we left Carlsbad, New Mexico, bound for Marfa, Texas. We weren’t too far down the road when we came upon a pleasant surprise- Guadalupe Mountains National Park. How one just stumbles upon a national park, I don’t know. If we were better planners we would have noticed that we would be passing another national park. It’s not exactly rest-stop-sized. If we were better planners we would have made sure we made time for it. However, we are only sort-of-kind-of following a plan so what’s a few hours to stop and drink up God’s beauty and get my “passport stamp”. I gotta have my stamps.

There are only 2 National Parks in Texas, Big Bend National Park and Guadalupe Mountains National Park. Guadalupe Mountains is actually an ancient coral reef and now home to many animals like rattlesnakes- I don’t think there is a place out west they don’t exist- elk, mountain lions, black bears, mule deer, turkey, and golden eagels. (I learn stuff from the Jr. Ranger programs too.) However my favorite part was the The Pinery, ruins of a mid-1800s stagecoach station. Sometimes I feel uncomfortable in the RV, I can’t imagine a stagecoach.

Remember what I said about planning? Well my map app and I don’t get along too well. We had been on the road about an hour after leaving the park and I was talking to my dad when Brent says, “I need to talk to you.”

Uh oh.

Brent – Were we supposed to turn back by the park?

Me – I don’t think so. This is our road. I think…

(Please God, let it be so.)

I look at my phone which has horrible reception and the map page won’t load. Of course. Finally, it loads and…we missed the road.

We. missed. the. road.

Again.

What is the navigator supposed to do??

Cry.

Sob.

Sob big giant tears and choke out, “Maps are just so hard for me. I’m a girl. My brain doesn’t work like yours.”

Yes, I admit I actually said, “I’m a girl.”

I know. (Boo. Hiss.) For the record, I don’t really believe that but I’m not above using it when it could get me out of potential trouble.

Brent, the sweet loving husband that he is, told me a few minutes later that it was okay because I was just “lost in the moment enjoying myself”. Enjoying myself I was. The vast barren landscape of west Texas is almost too beautiful for me to bear. I could stare at the horizon for hours. It’s a good thing because we had hours to go.

We pulled into Marfa, an eerily quiet town, hungry. It was already dark so we stopped at the first and only place we saw with a light on, Pizza Foundation. Unfortunately, they were out of pizza which was our first indication that nothing about Marfa is normal. The folks at the pizza shop without pizza, sent us down the empty street to Cochineal. One minute it felt like we were in a nearly deserted ghost town and then next minute it felt like we were in a trendy LA restaurant. Chochineal was full of hip folk and couldn’t seat us for 45 minutes. We headed back out into the empty streets to find Jett’s Grill at the Hotel Paisano.

The hotel is best known for housing the cast and crew from the classic movie, Giant starring Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean. Which got me thinking if I was going to see ghosts those two wouldn’t be so bad.

After driving up and down the quiet streets, we finally found it and stumbled in tired and hungry and cranky from the long day of driving. Like Chochineal the patronage of the restaurant didn’t match the town. I suspected I’d see cowboys or rugged oil men but instead there was a Woodey Allen lookalike in one corner, a hippie with skin tight purple capri pants and pilgrim shoes in another, a family whose young child disappeared halfway through dinner a few tables over, and us.

After finishing dinner we headed to our campground and we pulled into Tumble In campground to this…

An empty “office” in an empty campground. At least they didn’t forget the holiday cheer.

Love and Laughter,
Jenn

Share this:

8 Comments

1 min read

Family on the Road On the Road

Catch Up Day (Yosemite)

Jenn

1 min read

3931 views

6 Comments

1 min read

Today was a “catch up day”. Brent spend the entire day working at the lodge where there is internet. We lost our cell phone service yesterday coming up the mountain…

Today was a “catch up day”.

Brent spend the entire day working at the lodge where there is internet. We lost our cell phone service yesterday coming up the mountain right after we got a call from our tenants that the fridge broke. Oh lovely.

While Brent worked, the boys and I did school and laundry.

Thankfully, we have a security guard.

Gotta be “serious” when you are sitting on your “thrones”.

While the laundry was drying I “made” the boys walk 1/2 mile up a hill to the country store because I’m a “terrible” mother for wanting them to get exercise. Unfortunately, the store had closed 15 minutes earlier. Oooops. The 10 minutes that followed weren’t pretty. Good thing, no one was around or I might have just decided to hitch a ride. It’s also a good thing that I had my walkie-talking and could call ~~911~~ Brent.

Love and Laugher,
Jenn

Share this:

6 Comments

2 min read

Family on the Road On the Road

Great Noni

Jenn

2 min read

4064 views

5 Comments

2 min read

There is nothing like getting ready for church in the Wal-mart parking lot when it’s so cold you can see your breath. We are in Turlock, CA, to see Brent’s…

There is nothing like getting ready for church in the Wal-mart parking lot when it’s so cold you can see your breath.

We are in Turlock, CA, to see Brent’s “Noni”. We’ve been meaning to see her for years and had decided that this was one of the first things we would do.

We got ready and headed over to her retirment community where we took the shuttle bus to Turlock Covenant Church.

Today was one of those mornings where I felt God’s presence as sure as I felt my own pulse. Church isn’t always that way for me. Faith has always been somewhat difficult for me to embrace as I’m a bit of skeptic by nature but today I fought back tears as a deep peace settled into the crevices of my soul.

After church we spent the afternoon visiting with Noni.

The boys swept her porch.

Thing 1 played the piano for her.

I sat in her small apartment, not much bigger than our RV, looking at her things. Everything had a history, a story. I noticed picture upon picture of family and I thought about how grateful I am for mine. Dear family, I hope you know how much I love you.

Later, while Brent and the boys went move the RV closer to Great Noni’s apartment so she could see it, she and I spent a few minutes alone. She told me about her wedding and how her and sister had a double wedding. She told me about how she missed her husband. Being missionaries to Africa in the 1950s, they had their own set of adventures. I was reminded of the real reason behind our year on the road. Love. To say Brent still gives me butterflies is an understatement and going on this adventure with him…for lack of better words…is a dream come true.

Sappy, I know.