A Happy Hive

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Downtown Madison and Dane County Farmer’s Market {Wisconsin}

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I’m about a month delayed in blog posts, here are some of our adventures from the week of August 9, 2015. For real time updates – follow us on Instagram!

After Northern Minnesota (Bemidji, Itasca State Park) we spent a couple nights in Duluth, Minnesota and then headed down into Wisconsin. We were on a bit of time crunch because we had another fresh water tank repair appointment scheduled in Grand Rapids, Michigan in just about week (more on fresh water tank here). So although we would have liked to stay in Wisconsin longer, we were only able to spend one night near Madison, Wisconsin.

Madison-Farmers-Market

We stayed at the nearby Madison KOA. We purposely got into town early so that we could get unhitched and head into downtown for the Dane County Farmer’s Market, the largest producer-only Farmer’s Market in the country. This means it only allows vendors to sell items they’ve produced themselves.

Madison-Wisconsin-Farmers-Market

I love farmer’s markets and the setting for this one was beautiful, wrapping all around the Madison capitol building in downtown Madison. We bought lots of veggies – fresh basil, carrots, zucchini, corn on the cob – there was so much to choose from and it all looked delicious.

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Three months on the road . . . no regrets, just gratitude

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Today marks three months since we said goodbye to our 2,000 sq ft house, moved into 180 ish square feet Airstream trailer and starting our adventure around the country. I worried we’d have regrets. I worried about what others would think. I worried about our kids – and how they’d adapt. I worried a lot about the “what ifs. . . ”

I can now say with absolute certainty . . . .it was the BEST decision we’ve ever made. No regrets. As a family we have NEVER been happier. Our days are no longer spent cleaning, organizing, working, consuming, commuting – we spend our days together, exploring, learning and experiencing things we had only ever seen on TV or in books before.

Not every day is extraordinary and full of adventure – that would be exhausting and unrealistic. We have lots of days where we do homeschool, do laundry, read books, take naps, watch TV – ordinary stuff, but without the burden that comes with suburbia and a household filled with stuff. We have simplified so much and are finding it is so good for our souls.

Rainbows-in-Michigan

Every night, as a family we have say FIVE things we’re grateful for and FIVE things we’ve learned that day. Both lists are hard to stop at FIVE each and the kids often say, “I’m grateful we live in an Airstream. . . “ Even though they have fewer toys and possessions – they have an ever changing backyard, fresh air, and quality time with family (and friends) we see along the way. My husband I agree, we’re grateful for this as well.

I’m so grateful we didn’t end up buying a bigger house and doing the status quo. We were so close, but nothing felt right. I’m so glad that we pushed through the difficult process of downsizing – of getting rid of a house full of STUFF (that we don’t miss). I’m so glad we took a chance at CHANGE, even though it was scary at times.

This article was published yesterday in the New York Times, Cabins, The New American Dream and it sums up things well. It’s not really so much about cabins, as it is about the downsizing of the American dream. Not surprisingly it ends with a quote by Wally Byman, the founder of Airstream. The idea of choosing a more humble abode, so that you can live a more extraordinary life is such a simple concept, yet I think so scary for American culture.

Who knows what the future holds. Who knows how long we’ll choose this lifestyle. Eventually we will buy a house and put our kids in school so that they can play sports, build community and put down roots before they get old enough to leave the nest – but for now, we’ll enjoy the road we’re on and be grateful everyday for the blessings that come with it.

Sunrise-Michigan-New-Day

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Itasca State Park and the Headwaters of the Mississippi River {Minnesota}

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To keep things from being confusing (especially if you follow our real-time adventures on Instagram) – I’m a few weeks behind in blogging, here are some of our adventures from the week of August 9, 2015. 

In between our special days with our family in Bemidji, Minnesota, we took a day and drove about 45 minutes to Itasca State Park to see the famous headwaters of the Mississippi River.

Mary-Gibbs-Mississippi-Headwaters-Center

Within the Itasca State Park is the Mary Gibbs Mississippi Headwaters Center a National River interpretive center. It has some great displays with facts about the Mississippi river – including the interesting history of the river.

Mississippi-Headwaters-sign

Just a short walk from the Mary Gibbs Mississippi Headwaters Center are the headwaters of the Mississippi!

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Extended family and life on “lake time” in Bemidji and Nebish {Minnesota}

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To keep things from being confusing (especially if you follow our real-time adventures on Instagram) – I’m a few weeks behind in blogging, here are some of our adventures from the week of August 9, 2015. 

After we were supposed to get our fresh water tank repaired (read more about the repair that didn’t work) we headed north to Bemidji, Minnesota to visit family. I had been looking forward to this so much. . . last time I was in Minnesota to visit family I was 9 years old (25 years ago!). My grandma and grandpa grew up in Nebish and Blackduck farming the land, surrounded by their brothers and sisters – also all farming the land.

Eventually my grandma and grandpa moved to Alaska – but all my grandparent’s brothers and sister’s stayed in the area. Over the years these great aunts and uncles had kids (my mom’s cousins) and they had kids and then they had grandkids – and  today there is a LOT of extended family still in the Bemidji and Nebish area.

Catholic-Church-graveyard

The first thing we did when we got settled at the RV park was we went to visit my dear grandpa. Buried in the graveyard at the tiny catholic church where he and my grandma were married in 1954, it was the first time I had visited his gravesite. This meant SO much to me as my grandpa was a big part of my life growing up in Alaska – he was an amazing man. We tidied up his gravestone and left a baseball for him, as he loved watching baseball and would always sing, “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” to his grandkids.

Something like this visit wouldn’t probably wouldn’t have happened without this cross country adventure and nomadic lifetsyle. It would be expensive to fly a family of four to northern Minnesota for this sole purpose.  But thanks to being on the road we get to do these meaningful things along the way.

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The fresh water tank “repair” . . . that didn’t fix the problem

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To keep things from being confusing (especially if you follow our real-time adventures on Instagram) – I’m about a month behind in blogging, here are some of our adventures from the week of August 5, 2015. 

Do you recall our broken fresh water tank? Our fresh water tank appointment finally came around on August 5 (we spent the day at the Science Museum of Minnesota). After a long day we picked up Stella (our Airstream) right around closing time from Shorewood RV and she was still leaking water from the underbelly. The staff at the RV shop assured us – don’t worry about the dripping – that’s just residual from the repair. But two days later our tank is STILL leaking – especially when we would use our water pump – we knew it hadn’t been fixed properly. Sigh, by this time, we had already moved north to Bemidji, Minnesota to spend time with family and bringing it back to Shorewood RV wasn’t an option. I’m not sure I would have anyway, as they didn’t seem to fix it right the first time.

Shorewood-RV-Anoka-MN

Let’s just say we were a little frustrated. We had waited THREE long weeks for the initial appointment at Shorewood RV. The fresh water tank is where you store clean water for when you aren’t hooked up, via a hose, to a water source. This fresh water tank allows you to go to a dry campground and be able to flush a toilet, wash the dishes or even take a shower – without a hose hook-up. We had spent three weeks in expensive private campgrounds because we needed a water hook-up and we were itching to get into the state parks, not a possibility without the water tank working.

We called the next closest Airstream dealer on our route, Woodland Travel Center – in Grand Rapids, Michigan and took their earliest appointment of August 20. I knew as soon as I talked to them on the phone that we’d be taken care of. They were immediately more responsive and helpful than the last place – but we would have to wait another two weeks for another repair.

This is part of life on the road friends. It was frustrating, but not enough to throw in the towel. If we were living in our old house, we’d have car repairs, housing repairs and other things to tend to. It’s just part of life – whether your nomadic or stationary. This was just another bump in the road – so to speak – and we’d take it in stride.

We pledged to make the most of the situation and enjoy our time in Northern Minnesota and then head quickly through Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois and up to Grand Rapids. I’ll share more about these adventures soon. . .

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Science Museum of Minnesota, Mississippi River National Recreational Area {Minnesota}

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To keep things from being confusing (especially if you follow our real-time adventures on Instagram) – I’m about a month behind in blogging, here are some of our adventures from the week of August 5, 2015. 

After we said goodbye to our other Airstream family friends, we headed into downtown St. Paul for a day of exploring. Specifically we went to the Science Museum of Minnesota – which happens to have FREE admission with the Association of Science-Technology Centers program – a reciprocal membership program that rocks (we purchased a Museum of the Rockies annual pass and it gets us into museums nationwide!).

Museum-Minneapolis-tv-screen

The Science Museum of Minnesota was fantastic. The kids really enjoyed the many exhibits – covering four or five floors in this massive building – it took the better part of a day to go through it all. The museum had everything from a news channel exhibit – where the kids got to be the news anchors. . .

minneapolis-museum-boat

to anchors away . . .exhibits about ships on the nearby Mississippi river. They also had exhibits about the human body, dinosaurs, Minnesota habitats and more.

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Connecting with other full-time Airstream families on the road

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3-airstreams-in-a-rowFrom left to right: Currently Wandering, Take That Exit (us!) and Up In the Airstream

When we first announced we were going to travel for a year in an Airstream we got mixed reactions. We get it – it’s not your typical choice for a family with kids. We’ve had lots of questions about the social implications of this lifestyle . . . would our kids miss their friends? Would we be lonely?

As I mentioned recently in a post addressing our most frequently asked questions – our social interactions have been anything but lacking! Although our kids aren’t in traditional school, they are interacting more with kids at campgrounds than they ever did in our old neighborhood. We have had the great pleasure of connecting with other Airstream families on Instagram (where the community is surprisingly vibrant and active) and we recently had the great fortune of meeting up with two of these awesome families!

It just so happened that all our paths intersected in Minneapolis, Minnesota and we spent nearly a week with the Curren Family from Currently Wandering and the Schrum Family from Up In the Airstream (instagram).  Between the three families we had seven kids range in age from 5 to 12 – and they all clicked instantly.

Airstream-Families-unite

All three of our Airstreams were parked in a row – right next to the playground. The kids ran from trailer to trailer, playing soccer on the grass, having a blast on the playground and occasionally playing Minecraft. Normal kid stuff.

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Eastman Nature Center and Elm Creek Park Reserve, plus fresh water tank update {Minnesota}

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Eastman-Nature-Center-Elm-Creek

To keep things from being confusing (especially if you follow our real-time adventures on Instagram) – I’m about a month behind in blogging, here are some of our adventures from the week of July 30, 2015. 

After making it through South Dakota (see all South Dakota posts here), we popped up into Maple Grove, Minnesota (near Minneapolis) where we planned to stay at least a week while we waited to get our fresh water tank fixed (read more about our broken fresh water tank here). The earliest appointment we could get for our fresh water tank was August 5, 2015 – but I convinced the service shop to take our trailer in a week ahead of time – just for a day, for a diagnostic appointment, because I had heard that if we needed to order a fresh water tank it could take up to three weeks and I wanted to get it ordered as soon as possible with the repair appointment in the future. Our diagnostic appointment was July 30 – and our fresh water tank was in fact, cracked – and a new tank ordered.

The fresh water tank was ordered July 30 – and I was to call the following week to get an estimated delivery date (we still had a standing appointment August 5, just in case). This means we had at least a week (or longer) at the Northwest Minneapolis KOA – plenty of time to explore the area and to settle in.

eastman-nature-center

One afternoon we headed to the Eastman Nature Center at Elm Creek Park Reserve, in Dayton, Minnesota. It’s FREE admission to this center and we absolutely loved it!

Butterfly-Monarch-Waystation-Eastman

Out in the front parking lot are they have Monarch garden that was full of beautiful Monarch butterflies! The site “provides milkweeds, nectar sources, and shelter needed to sustain monarch butterflies as they migrate through North America,” per the sign in the garden. How cool is that!?! It’s actually a certified and registered Monarch Waystation, I didn’t even know there was such a thing.

Eastman-Nature-Center-Minnesota-lobby

The inside of the Eastman Nature Center is state of the art! It’s gorgeous and the displays and exhibits are fantastic. We just kept saying, “wow!” as we walked through looking and learning . . .

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Wall Drug and Sioux Falls Jellystone Park Campground {South Dakota}

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To keep things from being confusing (especially if you follow our real-time adventures on Instagram) – I’m about a month behind in blogging, here are some of our adventures from the week of July 26, 2015. Hopefully I’ll get caught up again!

After spending nearly a week in Spearfish, we were ready to head East toward Minneapolis, Minnesota – so we could get our fresh water tank repaired. We had been waiting for storms to clear up in the middle part of South Dakota and when they did – we bolted across the state.

Wall-Drug-South-Dakota-street

We made a stop at Wall Drug – which we knew absolutely nothing about – but we figured we should stop since it was famous.  I honestly thought it was going to be a large gas station off the freeway – I had no idea how massive it would be.

Wall-Drug-Trailer-Parking

I parallel parked our trailer in the motorhome lot. Booyah. And then I made sandwiches in the trailer before we headed into Wall Drug to explore. We do this often – we’ll park somewhere along the highway and eat lunch in the trailer – a luxury when you travel with your kitchen and food supplies.

Wallcome-to-Wall-Drug

Wall Drug has been around since 1931. It was crazy crowded and had lots of novelty stores. We walked through and took some photos and then headed on our way. Here are some of the photos. . . .

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Please help us plan! Places to go and things to see in New England and the East Coast?

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We are tentatively planning our travels in New England and the East Coast. We are very excited – as we’ve never visited this area and we can’t wait to soak it all in. I won a Willy Wonka sweepstakes a few years ago and the grand prize was a trip to New York City – it was amazing and our only time on the east coast . . .

We think we’ll be in western Pennsylvania by the first part of September and then up to Rochester, New York to visit my cousin (maybe see Niagara Falls) and then head to the East coast by mid-September. From there we want to take our sweet time heading south through New York, Philadelphia, Maryland, DC and Virginia.  . . .ultimately ending up near Florida in December!

We like to plan by asking for suggestions and then we add those recommendations to a personalized Google map. We then try to make route decisions based on what we want to see and do. Jeremy has a history degree and is a social studies teacher when he’s teaching full-time – so we’re VERY interested in the extensive history and hope to focus a lot on this.

Will you help us? We are looking for:

  • State parks or campgrounds (or RV parks)
  • Museums or historical landmarks
  • Restaurants or regional treats
  • Family-friendly attractions or entertainment
  • Festivals and special events (September – October)

Also we’re wondering what the weather will be like? When do you typically get snow? We want to stick around for the fall colors but don’t want to deal with a lot of storms and especially NOT snow. . .

Please leave comments on this post and help us decide where we should go? Thank you!

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