Welcome and Thank you for following!

I have noticed on a few other blogs lately that they welcome new followers...as I was welcomed myself by the Bayfield Bunch. So simple yet so welcoming into a great RV community. If you haven't checked out their blog please do so. Their travels and stories are fun to read and the photos are amazing! His recent post on some wind caves in California makes me want to spend more time in Cali on this trip but alas we only have 4 1/2 months and we are going to run out of time before we even leave the driveway!

Back to the point...I am going to start welcoming new followers and what better time to start then right now when I only have 4!

So warm WELCOME wishes to:
Donna aka Froggi which I linked to her profile as she has a few different blogs :)
Randy and Pam of Roadrunner Chronicles
John and Ellen of Through Gates of Grace
and Blaine who has a few blogs found here.

Welcome to you all and thank you for taking an interest in my families plan to travel. I love reading so many different blogs and planning out our basic travel route and I am happy you have found us in this wonderful online community!

And now for a favour...does anyone know how I put a counter on my blog to see the number of page views without going into stats? Any help would be greatly appreciated ;)

from tent to camper to 35' trailer...

I find it funny in our days of tent camping before my husband and I had kids that we used to see people camping with campers and trailers and RV's and we joked about how that wasn't camping! That they don't know what REAL camping is!

Ha Ha I'd bet now they do...I'd bet they had tented when they didn't have little ones and then they probably got a camper like we did so we would have more room and not have to pack up everything the babies needed, especially in the RAIN and since we live in the Pacific North West we get our share of rain! Having a nice, dry, warm camper I must admit is much more fun with wet and whiney children then a drenched tent.


Also we have never been a family who chooses to stay in campgrounds. We either would travel to 83 mile or to Princeton to stay on others friends property or we'd just hit the road and find a place to camp, usually along a logging road somewhere near a lake. (However our lakes here in BC are very cold and MOSTLY not swim-able except for the fish! LOL)

Things are going to be a bit different with the 35' trailer. We won't be able to access some of our favourite spots,

but I am sure we will discover new ones which will have equal beauty. (This summer we will be on the road in the US and Eastern Canada so we will have to explore our own province in the future, there are so many places within BC I want to explore as well.)

As we try to plot out a tentative route for our maiden voyage, we are looking into actual RV camping lots and to be honest...they don't look very appealing.

So when my husband found the site for Frugal RV's I fell in love with the idea of BOONDOCKING otherwise known as dispersed camping or dry camping; we thought what an adventure! What beautiful sights and a terrain we will see. With wide open spaces, along the grand canyon, amoung the cactus or on a beach...sounds much better then a lot.

Don't get me wrong, there will be times where we will want to settle for a couple of days, and it will be nice to have a pool for the girls, and playgrounds with friends for them to meet...but lets face it...to park, sleep, get up eat and leave...it's not worth $20-$60 a night for us!

We have just joined Passport America to help cut costs on camping in these lots since basically we will only sleep there for the most part.

And as soon as we hit one of the National Parks we will purchase an America the Beautiful Annual Pass which will save a lot of money on entrance fees to many of the parks we want to visit.

So as we plot out our route...do you have any suggestions of must sees for us to visit along our route? Or directions to an amazing place to boondock? We are looking for ideas in Texas, Louisiana, Florida and up the US Eastern Coast. Or perhaps you have somewhere to recommend not going to as well. You know those places that sound great but really aren't worth the money you pay to go to. Also does anyone know anything about a zoo and aquarium pass? The links I've tried to follow to find out have not worked. Any ideas are greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your help...and maybe we'll see you on the road!

Let Operation Explorations Begin!

Even though our tentative departure date is April 20th, having our new trailer in the driveway is so exciting. It brings us one step closer to a dream.

Originally we wanted to travel for a year however right now we are only able to go for 4 1/2 months for this maiden voyage, but it will be so amazing! And this will only be the first major trip... I am positive there will be more...

Since we have two young children ages 3 and 4 we spent a lot of time looking for a trailer that would accommodate all of our families needs. We needed a bunk room and not just bunk beds for the girls. In our house their belongings take up more room then ours do!

Our 4 year old will take over the main bunk, our 3 year old will sleep on the pull out bed/couch and we will use the above bunk (currently holding folding chairs) for bin storage of toys, clothes and art supplies on our journey. We also want to find a slim, folding table to secure to the wall or entertainment unit so they will have a workspace in their room as well.

Yes that space is for a TV and they will have their own TV. There will be many adventures for them during our Operation Explorations. Places to see, explore, climb; where their curiosity and sense of wonder will guide them on many adventures, but lets face it...there will be times WE will need their TV as much as they do!

Here's our floor plan:

We had been researching our options for about a year and had decided on an Open Range Roamer. We loved that it had lots of exterior storage and a door from the outside to the bathroom. We went to an RV show for one last look before making the commitment to buy and we took one look at this lounge and all our thoughts about the Roamer went out the window...our those lovely panoramic windows!

After seeing this model which had only been on the market for a couple months we knew that we could live without the extra door to the bathroom! Since we will spend alot of time in this trailer (4 1/2 months on the first big trip with the possibility of living in it more long term down the road) we chose to take this living space that IS sooOOooo wonderful! The open lounge is so comfortable, so roomy and I love the large panoramic windows. We were sold! It looks great, is livable and has lots of storage.

We gave up our second outside entrance to the bathroom. I will miss that feature as we park near beaches and our living space becomes a sandpit but heck...a little sand will just make it feel homey right? And that's what vacuums are for right?

(Anyone have a suggestion on a good, compact vacuum to purchase for the trailer?)

We do have what they call an outside shower which is more like an outside hose in our outside kitchen that can be used to hose them down if they are really dirty; before they entre!

In the Roamer we liked, this area was storage for bikes etc which we will also miss but then I look at the lounge area again...and we will find a way to pack it in...at the very least we will learn to be selective in what we bring and learn to thin out and we will make good use of this outside kitchen!

Our tiny bathroom has a very small bathtub which you step down into with a sky light. Just the right size for the girls.

And last but not least...our bedroom. Very compact, and it could use more closet storage but we will get creative on how to best use the space we have.

To some it may sound crazy, picking up and leaving for a life on the road with kids (even if only for 4 1/2 months). What are we thinking? Are we really considering selling off everything in the future for a life of travel? How can you? What about the girls school? This first 4 1/2 month trip will be the test trip and if all goes as well as we hope who knows what the future could hold for us!

Selling off our businesses a few months ago has given us the freedom to follow our dreams and to live life how we want instead of running around in the rat race. It is so liberating! I know that the life lessons my girls will learn on the road will give them the tools to succeed in life. The hardest part of our 4 1/2 month trip I am sure will be waiting a full year while my husband finishes his degree, before we can take off again!

Check back often to see our preparations for Operation Explorations to begin. This blog will detail our preparations for the trips, our paths we take and all our daily explorations!

A sneak peek to our travel plans... we hope to depart April 20th (my husbands birthday) as he finishes this term at UBC on April 19th and we can't wait any longer then that! We'll head to Vegas to meet up with some friends who are there for Easter weekend (neither of us have been to Vegas before). We will explore the Grand Canyon and other nearby marvels, visit Taos to see some Earthships (click HERE to learn about Earthships) as this is our eventual dream...to build and live in an Earthship. Then we head towards the Texas coast, Louisiana, Florida and have our fill of all those fabulous beaches along the way. Then we head North to visit Family and friends in Nova Scotia and Ontario, before starting our trek back to British Columbia via Mt Rushmore and Yellowstone! A busy 4 1/2 months which I am sure will leave us wanting more!