Author: Jess

Categories
Daily Life Mommy Diaries

Sometimes We Just Need a Break

SAM_4270-EditFull time travel burnout is real. Our life may look carefree and happy all the time, but behind the scenes there’s hours of planning, stress over work, getting school done, and wondering where on earth we are going to stay that night. I also stress about “seeing all the things” so when there is a lot to do in area, I often get overwhelmed and just want to throw up my hands and give up completely.

We just finished touring Michigan’s Upper peninsula and it was a little stressful. We only know a few other full timers that have come through here recently (compared to Arizona where everyone hangs out in the winter), so knowing which campgrounds were the best and where we could reliably get Verizon signal was a huge guess. There were a few reviews from a local traveler on Campendium, but those didn’t include cell signal as I imagine they were on vacation and it wasn’t as important to them. There was also a lot of people in the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore which adds to the stress.

All these factors contribute hugely to the fact that we are in love with Ashland, Wisconsin. We got here early to get a walk up spot at a small, city park campground right on the water.

The weather has been a bit windy, chilly, and rainy which contributes to staying home and getting things done rather than out exploring everyday. It also is a huge relief from the heat and humidity we had last weekend up in the Keweenaw Peninsula. Verizon signal isn’t amazingly fast, but its reliable so Sam is getting ahead on work. There’s enough to do here that the kids and I can get out once a day and not be bored, and we even had time to visit the local library which is one of our favorite things to do. Its the perfect arrangement of awesome.

We’ve also been watching these guys work on building a break wall out in the bay. The kids love looking out our rear windows and seeing these guys work throughout the day. I by “the kids” I mean Sam.

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I think I’ll go make some cookies and maybe we’ll have a movie night, just because we can.

Categories
Finances & Money

How Much Does It Cost to Live in an Airstream? May – July 2015 Summary

Airstream Living Cost July 2015

Wow. Its been awhile since I’ve done one of these posts. About time I guess.

Standard disclaimer that this is not ALL the money we spent for these months. Not even all our discretionary shopping – just the categories I feel that people would find most interesting. To learn how I work my budget see this post.

A couple of notes about May 2015 –

Camping Fees -We stayed for free at my brother-in-law’s house in Idaho for the majority of that time. We helped out with some purchases (he was also helping us weld a new battery box) and we just didn’t have him pay us back and allocated that money spent as “camping fees”. It was about $200.

We also reserved spots in the Florida Keys (Dec) and in Minnesota (June) for a total of another $480 – which we count when we spend it, not when we actually stay there. So, realistically our 17 days of free camping helped us spend a whopping $272 in May. I just didn’t want anyone to freak out and wonder where on earth we stayed for the 14 days we did pay for.

In June we spent quite a bit of time at my brother’s house in Minneapolis. To balance that out, the state and regional parks are not cheap and there’s very little free boondocking anywhere in Minnesota. We barely went over our $700 budget in July and I think that’s pretty accurate for the Midwest. We are currently trending to go over budget by quite a bit in August.

Laundry – I get a lot of people wondering how we keep laundry so low. Granted, I think I’m terrible at tracking it as I usually pay in cash. BUT, I think the biggest factor is that our kids literally wear the same clothes at least 3x a week. Its just not that much laundry. I figure if the clothes don’t smell bad and aren’t visibly dirty, why on earth would I wash it? Wear it again. My kids get in trouble if they are lazy and put their clothes away in the dirty clothes instead of their closet.

Same goes with adult clothes. I will often wear the same shirt/pants at least two days in a row.

We only wash our sheets 1 maybe 2 times a month (depends on how bad they get). We also wash our towels (5 bath towels, 2 bathroom hand towels, 4 dish/kitchen towels, and 4 wash cloths) about every other time, or half of them every time. When you shower every 2-3 days, washing bath towels every week seems overkill.

Its pretty regular that at least once a month we’ll end up at someone’s house and they’ll offer their washer and dryer for our use. Don’t mind if I do.

Groceries–  I bought two months worth of Shakeology in May (which adds up quick). We also stocked up in Pocatello/Idaho Falls at Costco and Winco before heading to said brother-in-law’s house in Driggs, ID for 10 days. Groceries are expensive out in Driggs.

I am wondering if NOT shopping at Costco would actually save me money since I probably overspend there every time anyway.
July spreadsheet

Categories
Michigan WanderLog

Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (aka The UP)

Our Travel Log for Michigan

Travel Dates: August 7-17, 2015

We left the Dells, and arrived in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula unceremoniously on Friday afternoon, August 14, 2015 after driving up from Walmart down near Green Bay, Wisconsin. Totally ignored the time zone change to Eastern Time as we searched along the west shore of Lake Michigan for a place to stay for the weekend.

We finally ended up in Pioneer Trail County Park in Gladstone and snagged a rustic camping spot for the weekend. Played some disc golf, got laundry done, went grocery shopping, and made it to church.

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Bright and early Monday morning we headed farther to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. We stopped at Muldoon’s Pasties & Gifts in Munising on the way up for lunch and thoroughly enjoyed our first pasty. Delicious, especially the dessert pies.

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Found a beautiful boondocking spot south of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and spent a few, slightly frustrating days exploring the park with all the tourists on vacation.

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Headed back west, we spent two nights at Marquette Tourist County Park. The town is super cute & Sam and I managed to squeeze in a bike date to get ice cream at Frosty Treats. We also rode out to Presque Isle with the kids and hiked a bit around the peninsula/island. Super pretty. On our way out we ate at Jean -Kay’s pasties & subs and enjoyed our first vegetarian pasty.

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Drove to the Keweenaw Peninsula where we had reservations at Linden County Park so we could send packages ahead of us. The park isn’t amazing, but the kids enjoyed the swim beach.

11261374_860672233968730_479493537_nWe day tripped up to Calumet and the Keweenaw National Historic Site Visitor Center to earn our 74th Jr. Ranger Badge and enjoyed learning about the history of the area.

Our third and final pasty taste test was at Roy’s where their chicken & broccoli pastie totally took the gold medal. We also ventured into Hungarian Falls and were disappointed the reports of swimming in the waterfalls proved to be false, but had fun throwing rocks into the pool and hunting for frogs.

Moving farther west, our next stop was the Porcupine Mountains. We woke up super early to try and get to the Union Bay Campground for a first come, first served spot. Unfortunately, there was no Verizon signal anywhere and we weren’t very impressed with the campground anyway.

Instead, we decided to have Sam take the day off and we went hiking! After a quick lunch in the Visitor Center parking lot, we drove up to Summit Peak and hiked the loop ending with the lookout tower.  It was beautiful and only about 5.5 miles of pretty gentle grade. We loved it.

11326513_1517456441878056_1670842139_nIt was still only about 3:30pm so we drove over to the Lake of the Clouds overlook to check that out. Super pretty views, but all I could think about was the hike along the ridge that would be EPIC. So many back country trails and campsites at this park.

Lastly, we grabbed this pull out spot next to the side of the road and the kids played on the beach while Sam and I cooked up a grilled sausage and pasta dinner. Afterwards we had our weekly Family Night on the beach, followed by treats and then about an hour to Walmart in Ironwood, MI for the night.

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That wraps up (for now) our tour of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. It really is a different place than “the mitten” with absolutely gorgeous views of Lake Superior, and more back country hiking than I expected (not that my expectations were high to begin with!).

Next up we went back to Wisconsin to backpack on the Apostle Islands!

Categories
Fitness & Recipes

Airstream Kitchen: Healthy Zucchini Bread Muffins

Delicious, HEALTHY zucchini bread muffins. Yum!

I love zucchini bread! One of my favorite things about having a garden (okay, in my past life) was planting a zucchini and reaping the rewards all summer long!

Growing up my mom had a super tasty recipe, but unfortunately was also not very healthy. Lots of sugar and butter, so I stopped making it awhile ago and began the search for a substitute recipe.

I found one! This one is tasty, filling, and uses coconut oil and applesauce and only a little bit of sugar. Total win.

Delicious, HEALTHY zucchini bread muffins. Yum!

Healthy Zucchini Bread Muffins

Yields approximately 16 muffins, 2 per serving
21 Day Fix breakdown per serving: 1 G, 2 Y, 1 tsp

Ingredients:
Nonstick cooking spray
6 large egg whites
1/4 cup melted coconut oil
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/3 cup white sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1  3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sea salt
3 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 1/2 cups grated zucchini (my kids like these more when I chop the zucchini pretty small)

Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line muffin tin with paper liners and spray with nonstick cooking spray for good measure.
3. Combine egg whites, oil, applesauce, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl. Set aside.
4. Combine all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl; mix well.
5. Add flour to egg mixture; mix until just blended.
6. Fold in zucchini and mix until just blended.
7. Spoon batter into muffin tins until 2/3 full.
8. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
9. Remove from pans and cool on a rack.
10. Eat & Enjoy!

Delicious, HEALTHY zucchini bread muffins. Yum!

Categories
Minnesota

The 2nd Annual Midwest Corn Alps Paragliding Competition – Cosmos, MN

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We recently had the opportunity to attend the 2nd Annual Midwest Corn Alps Paragliding Competition out in Cosmos, MN. Last time we rolled through Minnesota Anna from SDI Paragliding reached out and said she’d love to meet up if we ever came through again. She’s a total travel lover and someday would love to set out with her family so naturally she follows many full time families on Instagram. This time around we spent a good 2-3 weeks trying to coordinate a time to get in some flying lessons or a tandem flight. Something always came up, but I swore we would make it work!

Well, we took long enough that eventually Anna tentatively invited us out to the competition they were having the following week and it lined up perfectly with our exodus from Minneapolis. Sold. They even had a base camp set up on one of the flier’s farms and we could bring the Airstream and camp next to a barn. Awesome.

The evening we got there, some of the pilots went out for an evening flight and we were able to tag along and watch them go up.

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Because there are no hills or mountains in Minnesota, the pilots are attached to a winch on a truck and then pulled up into the air. Its pretty fascinating! Anna’s father, Steve, has also designed a pretty spectacular winch and sells them as part of their business.

The group of participants – a good looking bunch!

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Anna and her family (she’s in orange):

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Each morning around 10-11am they would have a pilots meeting and discuss the challenge for the day. There was a whole lot of talk about wind speeds, distances and a lot of numbers on a white board that I didn’t understand but everyone else nodded and put the correct info into their flight computers.

After that we all caravanned out to the long, empty farm roads and one by one, the pilots were pulled into the air. Once the pilots had released the cable (or pinned out) the truck would swing around and come back for another pilot.

The day we watched was super hot and humid, but the kids were troopers! Sam even got to tag along in the truck with Steve as he pulled a pilot up into the air.
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After a quick trip into Hutchinson after lunch for some frozen yogurt and air conditioning at the local library, we headed back to base camp and got set up for a tandem flight for Sam and I. One of the groups participating in the event was ChicagoParagliding and they offered to help get us up into the air.

On a tandem flight we were strapped to an experienced pilot who did all the work of flying, all we had to do was run until we achieved lift off. I wasn’t so good at running and actually had to try twice to get up – eating dirt the first time as we crashed landed back to the ground.

It was pretty amazing (and slightly terrifying) to be up that high! Soaring up above all the farmlands was fairly surreal and since my pilot, Emmanuel, did all the work, I could just sit back and enjoy. The best way I can describe the view is its like looking out an airplane window on take off, but no airplane.

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I loved watching the passion these guys have for paragliding. Talking to Anna was so much fun because I could tell she really loves what her family does and enjoys sharing that passion with others. It was also amazing to watch this community of para-gliders interact with each other. There was so much camaraderie and fun even in the midst of a competition. Reminded me a bit of our traveling community and how much I love it.

We definitely had a great time, and loved making some new friends in the process. If you are ever near Minneapolis and are looking for something awesome – hit up SDI paragliding for some lessons. You seriously won’t be disappointed!

2nd Annual Midwest Corn Alps XC Competition in Cosmos MN. Sam and I even got up for a tandem flight!