The Trip gets Rocky!

So I feel the need to reassure you all that we don't have this absolutely sun-shiny life without bumps or bruises along the way. I value the Internet for leaning into the positive side of things and spreading inspiration, but I also am really mistrustful when it turns into a desperate effort to paint our lives as perfect and rosy. SO, I am sharing some of the trials and tribulations as well.

THE KIDS. The kids definitely have their breakdowns. Let's face it...this is CRAZY!!! They are unsure where they are going to be at any given time and are almost constantly on the move. Somehow in the bus it has become easier to watch their swings...maybe not always to anticipate them, but at least to be more understanding about them then when we are embroiled in our other daily life "business". For the most part, they are eating this up with a spoon. There is enough constant activity to keep them challenged at all times...and this isn't waterpark activity. Yesterday they re-enacted a favorite children's story called "Roxaboxen" by building a fake town out of rocks in a Lowe's parking lot (hence the crushed finger!). Today my son was soooooo amazed by the lint that came out of the laundromat dryer he begged for 25 minutes to let him keep it and, when the answer was an unswerving "no", he performed several experiments on it before he threw it away. So while they are certainly tired many days, carsick some and homesick frequently and definitely overstimulated, I believe what they are taking away from all of this is HUGE.

THE BUS. The bus is doing EXTREMELY well for going so many miles already. She is a champ and rarely complains, even about her broken front window (hopefully to be fixed in Cali) and the hatch we let fly off (fixed by JR). However, these mountains have not been kind to her and, though we are trying to avoid them, my map reading skills are faltering with the distraction of kids (which I take very personally). SO, we have gone a few routes I may have avoided if I had realized a time ago that my atlas is in no way a relief map! This has put lots of stress on my poor driving husband and, while he has done very well trying to keep calm there have certainly been some hairy moments (dark, steep, hairpin, elk-cluttered roads) that will inform the future of this trip (and all future trips ever known to this family). I am proud to say that he is an AMAZING driver of such a rig and can probably go toe to toe with almost any teamster at this point (a challenge I should probably not lay down - knowing so many excellent teamsters as we do!).

AND US. Well, we are ALWAYS terrible at taking needed time together until we get edgy with one another - and being in a bus doesn't make that a ton easier. So emotional hygiene routines are a MUST (I'll let you know when we've figured that out!). You see your issues with each other so much quicker in a space like this. BUT, it gives us a lot of clarity around things too. How we communicate about things and where our gaps are. While we have begun to travel a bit away from "brand new, fun and exciting" and towards "whoa, slow up a bit and regroup" we are finding stress where we would have laughed it off earlier. So today we had a mandatory down day. It worked like a charm and luckily we have enough flexibility in our schedule (see Podcast 2!!) to allow for this. And our sanity DEMANDS this. Laying on the bed being attacked by three kids wearing swim masks and goggles while rain pounded the roof and thunder boomed, I stopped the roller-coaster for just a second. I took stock in everything around me and held space for the thought that no matter how stressful I make it, we really are living a dream. A dream I am grateful for and, hopefully, blessed to share with all in our path.

No matter how crazy things get in your life, keep calm and VonRowdy on! ")

Compassion on the Road!

What an AMAZING trip so far!!!! I am blown away about how much we are all living and soaking up!! I have so many pics for you all I am going to have to edit a slide show or something! But today's topic is the COMPASSION and GRACIOUSNESS of the people with whom we are interacting on the road. We started this adventure with a rough sketch of where we wanted to go and who we needed to see. I say "needed" because there are hundreds of people nationwide we would LOVE to spend all kinds of time with. However, time and money does not permit all of this. So there are some major family members on this list that we MUST visit. Having said that, along this route have fallen people - some of whom we know and some we do not - who have extended themselves to us in such beautiful ways. For example:

This crazy crew (names withheld to protect the innocent!!!) in NJ who got us a permit to park on their street, fed us and enchanted us with hours of great play and conversation.

These guys (also in NJ), who said,"Why don't you throw in some laundry?", hung out in the backyard with us even though favorite soccer games were on TV, sewed with us and helped us add paint to the bus.

These guys in Cincinnati, who fed us delightful meals, let us play with their bees, chickens and fish, allowed us to free their dog (multiple times!) without judgement and filled our minds with wonderful things to think about.

And this family in Kansas - who interrupted their intensely paced lives to demonstrate for us what true courage, kinship and country heart can look like. It has been an honor and a genuine pleasure. And this is not to mention the hundreds of kind gestures from total strangers. Cindy and Brianna in Brooklyn with their awesome painted trailer who have been on the road homeschooling for 2 years and 8 months!!! We chatted forever about roadlife and homeschooling, kids and travel and she made me lists of helpful websites for our journey. Bernadette and Deana at the Scenic Hills Care Center in Ferdinand, IN - who not only fed us and anyone in town dinner to honor the 175th Anniversary of Ferdinand, but chauffered us back to the bus so we wouldn't get soaked in the rain walking! It is clear that the people in this facility know good care. And Penny in Cincinnati who made sure we took advantage of the local pool and sprinkle park on a hot day. Our camp host Ryan in Milford State Park in Kansas who sat with us and entertained the children with big fish stories from his Catfishing business (fb Prime Time Catfishing). There are many, many examples of kind people and gestures as we head out "Into the Woods" and we are grateful for each one and will carry them with us forever. And we look forward to the ones still to come...

See y'all out there on the highway of life!

PAINT!!!!

Sitting in a Walmart parking lot in St. Louis right now and I feel I need to back up and add a few posts from the last few days. PAINT was a big deal before we left. Some people came over to do some painting on the bus. I had all these expectations I didn't know I had about what the painting should look like until my kids stumbled across them! I came around the corner with a painting adult to find the kids had hijacked the red paint and painted gore, blood and guts down the ocean side in and around the sharks' mouths!!!! I was so agahst and when I reacted I could see the disappointed look on my son's face...thinking he had painted something amazing. I took a breath and a minute and then explained to him that we couldn't roll into towns with blood and gore all over the bus...our reception might not be as welcome. Over the day much paint was added and I eventually was able to let go of all the things that were taking the mural in different directions. Even the gore. I painted over it and a short while later the two year old actually pushed a chair up to the bus when I was busy on the other side and repainted the blood!!! Two years old and saying "It's bloody, mom. It's bloody." HOW DOES SHE EVEN KNOW THAT?!?!? In any case, there it sits - as a reminder that life is NEVER what you expect! Here are the additions...

Totally fun stuff! Even some painting inside the bus at 2am while kids were sleeping :) Well, Ventura...and the whole world, actually - HERE WE GO!!!!!

Road Prep

So safety on the road is a real concern. No, we won't be wearing bike helmets all the way, but we are making sure we have all the seatbelts installed that we need, door and hatch locks, etc. But stranger safety is also a big concern that we ALL need to work on. When we were preparing to make this trip many people worried that we were taking our kids out into the big, dangerous world. We pondered this question when shortly thereafter a very angry man knocked at our door one day with intent to harm. This definitely shifted our perspective! So we proceed with the idea that anger and hatred can land anywhere, especially where you invite it. That there is a fine line to be walked between we-are-all-one love for all and do NOT thread on me or this will go badly for you. Not a line really that you can find and pin down with GPS, not really oppositional places at all actually. I believe they coexist. We can all be one and love one another and still understand that people are human and get angry or get themselves into mentally awful places and do stupid things to be avoided. So the fine line is actually a moment to moment series of choices that creates an unseen path.

This place became EXTREMELY evident yesterday when I encountered another extremely angry man in the parking lot of the local grocery store. We almost collided in the parking lot and his car came to a screeching halt. I had pulled in front of him not seeing his tiny car behind a larger truck and since he was speeding through the parking lot. Initially I stepped out of the car to apologize for not seeing him. When he stepped out and towered over me at more than 6 feet and probably 350lbs, anger outweighing all that in spades, I realized I had made a huge mistake. I proceeded to apologize through his swears and insults. Then, the reality of the huge mistake happened. My 72 year old father with Alzheimers stepped out of the car and proceeded to defend my honor. The man was three times the size of my father, but this did not matter. When in papa bear mode my father can match sailor tongues with the best of them - and he did. I begged the large man, in my not-so-whispery voice, saying "Please, he has Alzheimer's!". "I don't give a &%^$ what he has!" At this, an 85 year old Vietnam Vet with long white hair and a white beard stepped in. Truthfully, the whole thing would have been comical if it weren't so terrifying. I stood in the center of the three men trying to throw reason into an increasingly building fire. It culminated in the large man hitting the Vet with my arms and body, the vet screaming "He assaulted me!!! Call the police!!", a few more pleas from me to just get in his car and go and, finally, calm. Shaking, I turned to face my father, the two babies in the car and an epic grocery trip I probably should have abandoned!

So what is to be gained from this? Well, I later took a few amazing paddles (as directed by my healer sisters) that has sent ripples of love throughout my family. But having this happen just prior to our departure will certainly make me more reserved in my quick judgements - thinking I can fix anything and make it better. ESPECIALLY when in the presence of my children or my dad! And now, a few pics of the wind down to departure.

Doughnuts for George Rody, more building out and FRIENDS!!!! FIVE DAYS TIL DEPARTURE!!!!! See you on the TRIP side! S.