Author: Jess

Categories
Holidays & Bdays Ontario

Rachel Turns 10 While Sleeping Under the Giant – Ontario, Canada

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September 15, 2015

Dear Rachel,

You are growing up so fast and I love that we get to spend some much time watching it! I’m truly grateful for this journey of ours and that I can be by your side most of the time. Its a great honor and a blessing!

You are turning into quite the young lady. Sometimes I see you debating whether or not you want to act young and silly like your siblings, or if you are “too old” for whatever mischief they are cooking up. I love how you encourage and support both Cara and Andrew and are a great example to both of them!

Lately you love to babysit your siblings and really love it when mom and dad leave for a few hours. You are very responsible and a huge help getting the house cleaned up and everyone tucked in bed. Its fantastic and I’m so proud of you. At the same time you also love to tease and are quite the mischief maker yourself sometimes!

You love to read (still!), play Lego’s, braid your American Girl Doll’s hair, explore, draw, and play games with the family. We have watched you conquer your fears numerous times and appreciate and encourage your determination to always be better.

We are so grateful to have you in our family!

Love,

Mom & Dad

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Rachel’s birthday was pretty simple this year. We had plans to fly back to Utah in October (plane tickets as birthday presents!), but we still wanted to get her a little something to open on her birthday. We found a Friends Lego Set we thought she’d love and Andrew & Cara both picked out some treats. It amazed me how a new, small Lego set could promote a two week frenzy of Lego playing with ALL the Lego’s. It was awesome.

We were camped in Sleeping Giant Provincial Park in Ontario Canada during our Circle Tour of Lake Superior. The area was beautiful, remote, peaceful, and exactly what we all needed. The kids loved throwing rocks in the water and building out their little breakwater.

There are plenty of trails and lakes in the area, but we didn’t want to overdo the two days we had there. We drove the long dusty road out to the Thunder Bay Lookout, hiked out to the Sea Lion, read in the hammock and generally relaxed. We loved being there in the off season as there were plenty of open spots right next to the water, few campers, and cooler temperatures.

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Rachel had requested Greek Gyros for dinner and then we surprised her with a birthday cake, but no candles since the Canadian Wal-Mart we visited didn’t have any! It was a great spot, and Rachel loved that we were in Canada for her birthday.

Categories
Michigan Ohio WanderLog

Visiting Family in Ypsilanti, and arriving at the Mother Ship

Traveling Dates: October 9 -13, 2015

Even though we had a great 5 days in Pinckney Rec area, it was time to move on. Every once in awhile, I’ll do a #dayinthewanderinglife series on Instagram. Throughout the day, I’ll detail what we are doing so people can have an idea of what its REALLY like living on the road.

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7:30am. With our new school schedule, the kids are up before me working on their books. Last night I told Cara to bring her reading book and come snuggle me and we’ll read before breakfast.

9:00am. The kids finally get me out of bed to make breakfast. Today is egg burritos which have become a staple in our house. While I cook, they make their beds, get dressed, and keep doing school. Or just snuggle each other in my bed now that I’ve vacated it. Sam works until breakfast is on the table because the more he gets in before breakfast, the sooner he’s done in the afternoon!

10:15am. More school. Honestly there’s usually more than one round of tears. Working one on one with each kids takes time, and its very direct. There’s no classroom to hide in or other students to hide behind. There’s no social pressure to be perfect or know everything. Homeschool is hard, people.

10:45am. Even though 2/3 kids aren’t done with all their subjects, today is a moving day so we pause school. I typically pack up the inside, while Sam loads the bike and puts things back in the truck. Rachel is our rock star backer-upper and helps Sam get the trailer hitched.

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11am. It takes us anywhere from 15-30 minutes to get everything packed away, hitched up, and on to the dump station. We dump both gray and black tanks and fill up the fresh water. We are headed to #moochdock in the city for the weekend so we are filling the fresh tank full! While it’s filling, @telegramsam and I usually make out. Because what could be more romantic, right?

1:00pm. On the way into the city we are running errands. Sometimes it’s a pain to tow the Airstream to various stores, but mostly it cuts down on driving since we can do it on the way. Target, Costco for lunch, gas, and some returns, and then REI.

3:30pm. We showed up at my cousin’s house and the kids immediately starting running around together. So perfect.

6pm. One if my favorite things about travel is visiting friends and family we haven’t seen in years. Its so much fun to catch up and, as a bonus this time, Rachel and I both get our baby fix.

Time to go have some adult time now that the kids are in bed, so thanks for playing along with our #dayinthewanderinglife !!

We had a great time in Ypsilanti hanging out with my cousin & her family. Turns out I also have an aunt and uncle from the OTHER side of my family in the same area. The two families have become great friends (even though they aren’t directly related), and explaining at church exactly who we were visiting was fun.

We built Halloween gingerbread houses, the 5 year olds wrestled, we ate donuts, drank apple cider, and cheered Sawyer on at his soccer game! Very much a suburban weekend, but super fun. SAM_4504

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“Teamwork: not fighting over the frosting bags or who gets to put the bats on the roof.

I seriously love Halloween. Mostly because its the beginning of “pumpkin spice” season.”- Jess

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After a great weekend, it was back to reality. We had a quick lunch stop at the River Raisin National Battlefield, and then we drove down to Jackson Center, Ohio and the Airstream Factory. We were leaving our Airstream there to get the rear panel replaced while we flew to Utah for 2 weeks to visit family!

“Our mid-drive lunch/meeting/junior ranger badge spot was the River Raisin National Battlefield. The favorite activity was a quite well done GPS adventure that sent us around the park looking for markers like the one shown. We learned about artifacts from this piece of the War of 1812 and had fun with the wander.” – Sam

“Being a soldier in the War of 1812 is serious stuff.” – Jess

“We landed today at The Mothership. We are spending a few weeks in Utah, and the Airstream will stay here for some repairs.  Now, packing. #ihatepacking” – Sam

Categories
Backpacking Featured Destination Minnesota State Parks

The Camping Spot We Almost Didn’t Find – George H. Crosby Manitou State Park, Minnesota

Backpacking George H Crosby Manitou State Park with Kids

I’m pretty sure we are the only people that leave our Airstream travel trailer in one state park to back country camp in a completely different one. I suppose that doubles up on fees for the night, but if you think about the fact that when a “normal’ person goes camping they are also paying a mortgage (or rent) on a house, our situation sounds a bit more reasonable. Right? Right.

When I spent a few hours planning our trip up Minnesota’s North Shore, I knew we wanted to do some more serious hiking. Inland from the lake are some pretty serious hills (not quite sure this Utah girl can use the term “mountains” out here) with great views and at least some elevation. I picked out a couple of possibilities, but mostly we just left this option open as we weren’t sure when or where we’d have the opportunity.

After leaving Gooseberry Falls State Park, we headed north to Tettegouche, the next park on our list. True to form, the first thing we did was take a trip to the visitor center to check out our options. I talked to the ranger and when I mentioned we were thinking of a serious hike or possibly backpacking in the area, he highly recommended George H. Crosby Manitou State Park. There is no front-country campground, so the park is quiet, peaceful, and relatively unknown.

Just the way we like it.

When We Visited: September 8, 2015

Ages of Kids: 9, 8, 5

Total Mileage: 3.2 miles in, 3.5 miles out, 1 night.

Packing for this one was quick. Sam worked and the kids did school in the morning, and then around 1pm we started pulling out all the gear. Rachel and I threw together some quick Freezer Bag meals, and by 3pm we were headed out. It was only a 30 minute drive to the trail head and we were all feeling pretty good getting started along the trail.

Backpacking trip #2!
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Within the first 1/2 mile or so we found one of the markers for Minnesota’s Wildflower geocaching program. So, we took a short detour to find it.

Backpacking George H Crosby Manitou State Park with Kids

This hike was a little longer than our first on the Apostle Islands, and there was definitely more elevation involved. We started around 3:30pm and hiked in about 2.3 miles. We started passing campsites and were counting up to #6 when suddenly, at the top of a small hill we were there! Or so we thought. The campsite marker was along the trail, and we could see where previous campers had a fire ring and stacked logs around it to sit on. Upon further inspection of the area, there wasn’t really a flat spot sans roots for the tent, and no where was the pit toilet or bear pole that had been promised in the site description.

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I seriously almost cried. There had been some frustration all around getting going on this trip and to have a completely non-epic site was not helping. We collectively took a deep breath, dropped our packs, and set out to explore a bit more and see what we could find. Sam continued on the trail to possibly see if sites 7 or 8 were available, and the kids and I climbed the hill to the “overlook” to see if there was anything up there.

We found a large, flat rock with the remains of more than one campfire (and one amazing view!) and then just back into the trees a bit we found it! An official, metal fire ring. We kept exploring and found a flat spot for the tent, and even the toilet! Hooray! We wouldn’t be sleeping on roots or digging holes.

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We never found the bear pole, but we easily found a decent tree to bear bag our food. The kids thought it was fun and we figured it was a good teaching moment anyway. Not every site we camp at will have a bear box.

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Our evening was pretty chill. After setting up the tent, we brought our food down to the “dining room” and the kids played cards while Sam and I cooked up some dinner. We tried two new meals on this trip and both were great! We had mashed potato, stuffing, chicken with cranberries (tasted like Thanksgiving dinner!), and then for breakfast we did chocolate banana oatmeal.

Backpacking George H Crosby Manitou State Park with Kids

The weather was a bit chilly in the morning, but dressing in layers makes the temperature manageable. From the dining room we could see Lake Superior off in the distance which reminded us we were still along the “coast”.
Backpacking George H Crosby Manitou State Park with Kids

After breakfast and packing up, we opted to hike the “long” way out and add in the loop around Bensen Lake. It was flat with boardwalk the entire way around the lake and a super fun way to end the hike! We stopped at the picnic area and ate lunch before hiking the short distance out to the car and back to the Airstream at Tettegouche State Park.

Backpacking George H Crosby Manitou State Park with Kids

This park is definitely doable with young kids! We checked out some of the sites around Bensen Lake (Sites 20, 21, & 22) and they were beautiful and not that far from the parking lot. As parents, you could even take a couple of trips lugging gear if you didn’t have packs.

Highlighted in green below is the route we took. We started on Middle Trail, turned off onto West Manitou River Trail, and camped one night at site #6. On the way out we followed Misquah to Yellow Birch, cut through next to campsite 20, around the lake, and then back to the parking lot.

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While a bit logistically strange, we really enjoyed the peace and solitude at this park! The kids now had another solid over nighter under their belts, while Sam and I were gaining confidence spontaneously camping in the back country with kids. Definitely a win-win situation!

Categories
Michigan WanderLog

Urban Air Rally & a Surprise Visit to the Jiffy Factory

Travel Dates:  Oct 1 – 8, 2015

We attended our first Airstream rally! We received an email a few months back about the Wake Up Downtown Urban Airstream Rally in Eaton Rapids, Michican. Since we were actually going to be in the area we thought, why not? And signed up.

Sam ended up on a work visit the day we were supposed to show up for registration, so I moved the trailer and got us all set up by myself!

The weather was beautifully sunny the first day, but quickly went dark, drizzly, and cold after that. Despite the weather, everyone was in good spirits. We thought we could depend on our solar so we opted to not plug in to the provided electrical system. Bad mistake. Turns out the organizers turned on our running lights at night for photos so by morning our batteries were dead! Luckily we got that corrected ASAP and were fine after that.

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“We are in line for our first Airstream rally! Its time to “Wake Up Downtown” Eaton Rapids, MI. Not exactly sure what to expect, but I’ve been assured by the staff I won’t have to cook all weekend due to a potluck, scout breakfast, and a little old lady spaghetti dinner.

I’d also like to point out I managed a solo hitch up, dump, and drive this morning in addition to dealing with a flat tire. Its been a good morning! #girlboss” – Jess

“We are at the Urban Airstream Rally in Eaton Rapids, MI all week. Today has been a bit of a weird one. School and work this morning (not a whole lot going on) and now we are hanging out at the library and I’m obsessed with this Halloween puzzle.” -Jess

“LDS General Conference, Airstream Rally Edition. We are taking a break from our rally activities to watch the first session of a worldwide conference where we hear sermons from leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (If you haven’t figured it out yet, we are members of the LDS Church, often called Mormons.) Ever wondered what we believe in and are taught? Join us with the live stream at lds.org today and tomorrow.” – Sam

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There were a lot of activities scheduled despite the rainy weather! We had a potluck one night, a comedy show, music, and the town really got together to provide other fun activities like face painting!

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“I came home from my work trip today. Jess moved the house while I was away, and we’ll spend this weekend with over 100 other Airstreams at the UrbanAir rally in downtown Eaton Rapids, MI. There is so much aluminum here it boggles the mind!” – Sam

“We had a fairly normal day, despite being at an Airstream rally. I worked and the kids did school. This afternoon we walked around and met plenty of kind folks and plenty of beautiful Airstreams. Then we played at this ridiculously scenic park with another non-fulltime Airstream family and finished up with local pizza for dinner and some big-band music.” – Sam

As far as rallies go, this was definitely a unique event! Even though it was loud at night, wet, and slightly claustrophobic on main street we had a good experience and met a lot of wonderful people. It didn’t hurt that we were parked across from the event office and they had free donuts every morning.

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Needing a break, we picked out Pinckney State Park Recreation Area as our next stop. We came in late Sunday afternoon to an almost empty campground. Just the way we like it.

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We had a beautiful 5 days of lounging, getting caught up on work, chores, school, and enjoying the beautiful fall colors of Michigan! I also managed to get out on a 17 mile bike ride on the nearby trails. Some trail time always does this momma some good!

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“Perfect fall ride today in Michigan. Crisp air, carpet of leaves to hide all the roots, and the ever present danger of being mistaken for a deer and getting shot at. Just kidding. I wore bright clothes and the ride was beautiful! 17 miles on a mountain bike is a lot of alone time with my thoughts though. Could be good or bad. Still deciding.” – Jess

“Today was a beautiful fall day here in Michigan. Morning fog burned off and the sun emerged, warming the turning leaves with long shadows. We celebrated with a seriously great family frisbee session in the middle of a nearly deserted campground.” – Sam

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“This girl did laps around the campground today. Fast ones. #woombikesusa” – Jess

“We may, or may not have commandeered a canoe this evening for a quick paddle on the lake.” – Jess

“When we arrived at Bruin Lake Campground, we were looking for a quiet place to enjoy while we got caught up on things. Bruin Lake was beautiful, and we were very surprised to find canoes for rent in the off-season. The trouble was that the park vendor was located in the nearby town, and was also the only guy that ran the ice-cream shop. Every time I called to rent one it didn’t work out. On our last walk down by the lake today we spotted a canoe clearly put aside for the night, but with gear nearby. I became very concerned that the canoe might have a hole in it, but after a few minutes of testing those worries were unfounded. Safety confirmed, we promptly returned the canoe and gear. You are welcome, next canoe renter. No charge for the safety check.” – Sam

Sam Vs. the Off Season Canoe Rental

Going into the nearby town of Chelsea, MI one afternoon we noticed a conspicuous silo with a huge Jiffy sign on it. Turns out the factory that makes everyone’s favorite box mixes is located in Michigan. We called in and signed up for the tour one afternoon for school. Super fun and we got sent home with goodie bags!

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“Turns out Chelsea, Michigan is the home of the only Jiffy Box Mix plant in the entire world. So, naturally we went on a tour for school today. Our favorite parts were the movie featuring Corny, the box of corn muffin mix, the extensive network of conveyor belts on the factory floor, and the goody bag they sent us home with. #yum” – Jess

We also explored the library, Sam and I snuck out for an ice cream date, and I got one of the best hair cuts to date.

“Best haircut in forever! I’m so excited. Its always a risk to get a haircut in a random town, but this one paid off. Oh, and I’m wearing a skirt because all my pants are in the wash. #reallife” – Jess

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We had a great time, but after 5 days our tanks are usually full and its time to move on to the next spot. Headed to Ypsilanti, MI to visit some family next!

Categories
Biking Minnesota

Sometimes You Just Gotta Mountain Bike Solo – Ironton, Minnesota

Mountain Biking in Ironton Minnesota

While we were mountain biking at Lebanon Hills Regional Park in Minneapolis, we started chatting with a woman who was there with her niece and nephew. She is an avid mountain biker and gave us a few other places in the state that had good trails. On our trek north, we ended up doing some service for natural disaster clean up near Brainerd, which put us darn close to the Cuyuna County State Recreation Area she had mentioned.

We took a chance that the campground was decent (and had an open spot) and drove over in the late afternoon. While the campground wasn’t much to look at (and Sam warned me to definitely NOT look in the bathrooms) it was smack dab in the middle of a trail system. This is great because we have become extremely lazy and prefer to ride right from camp rather than driving someplace and then unloading the bikes.

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We tested out a small section of trail with the kids our first evening, and even though they whined a bit, Rachel actually rode it again with Sam after we switched bikes (it was a much better ride on the 29er over the cyclo cross). The following day they weren’t interested in riding at all, so I snuck away in the afternoon to test out ALL the rest of the trails. Okay, I didn’t expect to ride them ALL but I was sure going to try.

11355114_1616909808598781_1271556149_nThe trails were awesome. The system consists of a series of networked trails that create quite a few loops. Some with pretty significant climbs, rollings hills or speedy downhill runs. I rode about 12 miles in just over two hours and when I texted Sam and asked how things were going and if I could do one more loop, he immediately responded with, “Go get ’em!”

I seriously love my husband.

While riding solo is definitely not ideal in case something drastic happens, its better than not riding at all. While at our sticks and bricks house, I would often not do an activity because I had no one to go with. It just didn’t seem fun or feasible. Now, however, I’ve learned that some alone time on the trails is not necessarily a bad thing jump at the chance to get out. Traveling has created more opportunities to get out and enjoy the sports I love!