Stratford upon Iowa

Our kids went through a phase – a relatively long phase – during which every time we sat down to eat, they wanted to know where all their food came from. They were not satisfied with “the egg came from a chicken” or “meatballs come from cows” but wanted to know how on earth a macaroni could come from a……

Disabled Vehicle in the Right Lane

After visiting the Wright brothers’ old stomping grounds in Ohio, we headed for Iowa. Yes, I know there are two states between Ohio and Iowa. Indiana and Illinois both have plenty to offer, but we’re learning that we can’t do everything. At least not all at once. So with a series of long driving days and short stops, we found……

The Wright Place at the Right Time

If mention of the Wright brothers makes you think of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, you’re not alone. In the excitement about their first successful flight taking place there, I seemed to have missed that the Wrights were actually from Dayton, Ohio. Orville and Wilbur’s bike shop and newspaper offices remain in downtown Dayton, and the National Park Service operates them……

Micah’s First Birthday

Time flies when you’re having fun and somehow the summer ended, September rolled in, and it was time to celebrate Micah’s first birthday. It seems one universal experience of parenting is the sensation that some hours can be stretched into what feels like months, while a year seems to pass in the blink of an eye. Hard as it is……

Gettysburg Farm

When you think of a farm, lots of images come to mind… barns and tractors, rows of corn swaying in the breeze, grassy pastures full of animals. You can almost hear the mooing of cows, the bleating of goats or the crow of a rooster. You can almost smell the… well, never mind the smells. It is rare that one……

Finding our Footing at the Jersey Shore

Life’s a beach. While I can’t say I ever really understood this expression, lately it has felt relevant in my life. I’m not sure, though, if the meaning I’m attaching to it is quite what anyone originally intended. Change is a normal part of life for everyone. Some resist it while others crave it. It will surprise no one when……

Lessons from a Borrowed House

Have you ever needed to borrow clothes or shoes from someone, maybe because you were caught in the rain or spilled something down the front of you, but it didn’t quite fit? You’re so thankful because someone was willing to loan you something in your hour of need, but at the same time you’re uncomfortable because it isn’t really right…….

Summer in Sweden

Vi hade iallafall tur med vädret. Roughly translated: At least we had good luck with the weather. Our Swedish readers are already chuckling to themselves a little bit. In the (somewhat likely) event that you’re not Swedish, allow me to explain. This is a well-known expression in Sweden that comes from the title of a made-for-TV movie from 1980. The……

Straddling the Atlantic

“Välkommen hem!” (Welcome home!) is what everyone in Skellefteå said when we saw each other for the first time after our 7 months of traveling the United States. Most of the time they paused and seemed unsure, contemplating their use of the word “home” and looking at us questioningly. “We’re home,” we’d say, “for the summer. Then in the fall we’ll……

Full Circle at Circle M

We wrapped up the first season of our full-time traveling life at the Circle M Thousand Trails in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. For the time being, Pennsylvania is our “home” state – where we have our mailing address, our vehicles registered, and most of our family this side of the Atlantic. Returning to Pennsylvania brought our first leg full circle. Circle M……

Mammoth Cave: Caves, Camping, Community

After our misadventures in Tennessee, we were really looking forward to a good week visiting Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky. And we got it! The Caves Visiting the caves can only be done as part of a tour. There are a large variety of different tours available, with varying lengths, levels of difficulty and costs. We were lucky enough……

More Thousand Trails Fails: Tennessee

As we’ve mentioned previously, not all Thousand Trails campgrounds are created equal. Our standards are not too high, especially when we’re not paying more than our membership fees to stay there, but even we have limits. There are two Thousand Trails campgrounds in Tennessee: Cherokee Landing and Natchez Trace. We stayed at both, and while neither is a place we……

Holidays on the Road: Easter

Celebrating holidays on the road can present some special challenges. I reflected on this back at Christmas , which was our first holiday in our camper, but we had yet to hit the road at that point and we were still able to celebrate with family and many familiar traditions. A Traditional Easter? Everyone has their own traditions around certain……

Hot Springs National Park

Our kids have a couple of those laminated map placemats. One is a world map and one is a map of the United States. They fight over who gets to eat with which one (siblings!) and most recently the world map has been the coveted mat. We love them. They inspire spontaneous learning, memories of places we’ve traveled, and imagining……