Category: Daily Life

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Canada Holidays & Bdays Nova Scotia On the Water WanderLog

Falling in love with Nova Scotia and some Canoe Camping

Travel Dates: August 22-30, 2018

Awhile ago we bought the Canadian National Parks guide and as soon as I realized Kejimkujik National Park was known for its back country camping I was sold. That meant after Cape Breton we needed to make our way southeast. True to form we decided to take the back roads down to a small family run RV park on the eastern shore. Since then we’ve also decided that taking the back roads in Nova Scotia is not generally a good idea. Sometimes we did to avoid toll roads, and other times it just seemed more scenic. More often than not it just meant bad pavement. Live and learn I suppose? The road was bumpy, it was rainy, foggy and not altogether scenic. The bright spot, however, was that we learned most gas stations have hard scoop ice cream. Score!

Murphy’s Camping on the Ocean

We pulled into Murphy’s and I was immediately not impressed. Our site was supposed to have 30amp but it was broken, so we had an extension cord that ran 20amp. It was raining. We were exhausted. It was also not cool enough plus the humidity was high so we were all kind of sticky. I went to bed wondering if we could get a refund and leave early.

But then…. the next day dawned bright and sunny. We had a crisp breeze off the ocean and the kids discovered the crab trap down by the docks. They spent HOURS playing catch and release with the small sea creatures, Alyssa and I went for a mid morning canoe paddle, and later that evening we all sat around the campfire and ate complimentary boiled mussels.

Kind of a quirky place but one that could definitely grow on you. 

“As moms, sometimes we just need our own adventures. @alyssakerickson spied a lonely canoe just sitting on the dock at Murphy’s and asked about renting it. $10 later we were paddling among all these cute little islands for an hour and just enjoying a morning of quiet. And no kids. And adventure. Thanks friend for getting out there with me!”

Friday morning the 24th dawned beautiful, sunny, and just like that Andrew turned 11 years old. Since we had already fulfilled their birthday dreams at Cedar Point last month, the presents were sparse. We did manage to drum up some candy corn for him, and Cara wrapped everything beautifully in home made paper. He requested eggs on toast for breakfast (don’t mind if we do) and then we hitched up and towed the house to the beach for an afternoon in the sun!

Martinique Beach Provincial Park

Alyssa had heard from the locals that Martinique Beach Provincial Park was one of the best beaches on the east shore. From looking at satellite view we figured if we got there early and took up an entire parking lot with our two Airstreams we’d be fine.

Right?

Somehow we managed to miss the fact that it is also a popular surf beach and everyone was there early. Near the end of the narrow road we did manage to back in both our trailers & trucks and settle in for the day. Mostly we just crossed our fingers we’d be able to get out again!

“One of our biggest concerns on this trip was how Rachel would do. She loves Driggs, having her own room and hanging out with girls her age. While traveling is still magical to the younger two, she’s kind of over it. Showing up every week to a new group of teenage girls at church can also be intimidating and full of anxiety. The other week, however, she told us, “I’ve conquered church” while acknowledging that her prayers had been answered. 💕

I’m so proud of her and her attitude. Sure, she’d go home tomorrow if she could but in the meantime I love watching her grow and learn along with the rest of us.
Beach days certainly help too. We don’t have those in Driggs. 😂” – @currentlywandering

One thing I really love about Canada? Everyone is SO nice. We followed the Erickson’s out of the parking lot and everyone moved over, backed up, or gave us space. Seriously could have been bad, but really? It wasn’t a problem. Now, I probably wouldn’t recommend a repeat adventure, but I’m grateful we didn’t get stuck in there all night!

The town of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

We ran into the weekend problem where everything was full, but managed to snack a couple of spots down in Lunenburg, NS for Friday & Saturday nights. We celebrated that evening with hamburgers & cupcakes and the kids were able to watch a movie. Birthdays can sometimes be hard on the road, but I think we pretty much nailed this one!

Lunenburge is a UNESCO World Heritage site, which I think means its pretty old. 🙂 We stayed in the lower loop of the Board of Trade campground and only *barely* fit. I’m not sure we’d do that again. It was within walking distance to town, however, which we took advantage of.

Sunday morning we hitched up and drove to church towing the Airstream. We don’t do this often, but sometimes its just logistically easier when we are trying to get from point A to B. We found the ward in the small town of Bridgewater to be incredibly kind and welcoming. If we ever go back to Nova Scotia we’d definitely love to spend more time in this region!

Kejimkujik National Park

We tend to fly by the seat of our pants – even when planning back country adventures. After talking with locals and getting a feel for the area I’ve realized we were VERY lucky to be able to back country camp in this park last minute. I’m so grateful it worked out, however, because this canoe circuit was one of  the hardest and most rewarding trips we’ve had.

“When I found out that Kejimkujik was primarily a back country park my planning wheels started churning. We packed all our gear but haven’t had a chance to use it!

I talked with the rangers, with the outfitters, did a bunch of research online and we finally settled on the Big Dam – Frozen Ocean Lake loop. It involves 26km of paddling/hiking, 6 portages, 4 lakes, and 2 rivers. Definitely the most complicated trip we’ve ever undertaken!

We also found out this park is extremely popular with the locals and am incredibly grateful we were able to book any sites at all with such short notice.

One of my favorite moments? Rachel and Andrew successfully navigating this lake and pulling into the portage like pros.” – @currentlywandering

“That time we were on our way to the National park and I thought, “Hey! I wonder if we should take the paddle board along with our rental canoes?” Yes. Yes we should.” -@currentlywandering

“Sometimes we visit places with a stay in an RV site. Sometimes we jump in a little deeper. We just spent 3 days on a 16 mile canoe circuit in Kejimkujik National Park, in the middle of Southern Nova Scotia.
We started with a portage to and paddle across Big Dam Lake. #allthedamjokes” – @telegramsam

“All three of my kids are strong paddlers, and it makes canoe trips fun. We switched up boat arrangements quite often, and it was great to spend time with each. We had two canoes and also a paddle board/kayak, so there were no passengers for th first time on a trip like this. Everybody had a nice round of paddling.” – @telegramsam

I plan to do a full write up of our trip as soon as I get time to go through ALL  the video. Stay tuned for that.

City of Halifax & Enlisting as Soldiers

After our canoe camping trip in Keji, we towed back to Halifax, Nova Scotia and met up with the Erickson’s again. Mostly we just needed to recover, get some work done, and get Rachel to the LDS temple. The kids and I also managed a visit to the Citadel for a road schooling field trip. I wish it hadn’t been as hot and humid that day because the fort was AMAZING. I loved watching the soldiers in uniform march, play the bagpipes, and shoot their weapons. We could dress up, enlist in the army, and even attend of day of school.

If we had had longer (and looking back we should have just done it!) I would have explored more of the southern coast of Nova Scotia. Its rumored to have some of the best beaches anywhere. However, it was time to turn and head back towards the US.

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Daily Life WanderLog

Executing the Crazy Plan & No Time to Blog

We are still alive! I promise. I know I’ve been slacking on blog posts, but we have just been so darn busy with projects that it’s hard to keep up. The last couple of weeks have been rewarding, frustrating, and exciting all rolled up together. I’m learning to not take myself too seriously and we are trying to fit in some exploration in the cracks.

Sam has been outlining our plan over on Instagram so I thought I’d repost and share here so you can see our step by step execution of Crazy Plan 2017.

Crazy Plan Step 1: collect all the things. When we sold our house a few years ago, we got rid of all our furniture and most everything else. The remains we put in a 5×10 storage unit or lent to friends who wanted to use our stuff while we were gone. Yesterday we collected all the things (and some additional new supplies) at 7 different locations around the populated section of Utah.

Crazy Plan Step 2: Drive the moving truck to Driggs Idaho. After years of towing our Airstream, driving _behind_ the Airstream is an odd feeling.

See the Tetons amidst the mountains? Beautiful views here.

Crazy Plan Step #3: Make an AirBnB. Last September we bought a condo here in Driggs Idaho during The Great Nomadic Idaho Land Rush of 2016. We rented it out till about now, when we will spend the next few months making it into a cute AirBnB. This turns out to be quite a pile of work, especially when you decide to build bed frames and other furniture from scratch.

Crazy Plan Step 4: Park our shiny house in my brother’s driveway as we take advantage of his hospitality and his workshop. I plan a few changes and repairs that are hard to accomplish whilst living in it. All this, on top of the workload for the condo.

Crazy Plan Unexpected Step: get a tow when the lock tumbler breaks and you are unable to start the truck after a hardware store visit.

Crazy Plan Step 5: Buy a ton of steel to make furniture, and cut it to size. Employ slave… er… child labor.

Also, begin to seriously miss living in your tiny shiny house.

Crazy Plan Step 6: Order ALL THE THINGS. All you normal people likely take this for granted, but the ability to order something online and have it show up on your doorstep a few days later is amazing. We normally do mail drops when we visit friends (thank you all!) but often end up sending to a UPS facility or something similar. You have to drive to an obscure section of some town, bring the right identification, show up during proper pickup hours, and pee in a cup for a DNA test to get your packages.

Next time you pick up an Amazon box off your doorstep, pause and appreciate how awesome it is.

Crazy Plan Step 7: Get to welding furniture. The welding is being done by my awesome brother @freshaire_dad, captured here in all of his sparking glory. So grateful that he’s willing to sacrifice his time and talents for this project.

Crazy Plan Step 8: More Sparks. Get good at working a grinder with a flap disc to smooth out the surface welds. This requires much less skill than welding, but is still pretty darn entertaining. I also enlisted Rachel into this project. Home school for the day was metal shop.

Crazy Plan Step 9: Install a remotely managed keypad door lock on the condo. This will be useful for managing short term rental access.

Crazy Plan Step 10: Take a break. We spent the last three days with friends on a river trip in Labyrinth Canyon of the Green River.
A few months after we began our full-time travels, we returned to Utah to sell our ‘sticks and brick’s house. During our work, we realized the difficulty of suddenly stopping after after much travel. We took a travel break then, and did so again during our execution of the Crazy Plan.

This trip, organized by @themoreweexplore, was perfect.

After our river trip, Sam flew to California for a business conference and the kids and I have been hanging out at grandma’s. We’ve been getting school done while I also run all sorts of errands. Excited to get back to Idaho next week and continue on!

Categories
Daily Life

Our Wandering Plans for 2017

Since November of 2013, we’ve traveled 40 thousand miles with our Airstream home, visiting over 350 places along the way. It has been amazing. This year, we are going to continue our adventures in slightly different ways. We are going to do some significant repair and renovation to the Airstream, try our hand at running an AirBnB, and this fall we will spend 4 months in Hawaii while Sam teaches a university class. Let me break it down a little bit.

Airstream Repair / Renovation

Over the past year or two, we’ve had some weakening  in the rear floor of the Airstream. This particular problem is common during several Airstream model years surrounding 2008. A slight gap near the bumper allowed water to seep in during intense rain, and the plywood has degraded. I did a quick patch job last year in Manti, but it’s time to do a proper job. We also have a laundry list of small repairs we need to make that have just piled up over the last year or so. 

In addition to the floor repair, we are going to rebuild the dinette into the wrap-around style that is becoming common. This newer design uses a pedestal table with seating around the back of the Airstream. This seating configuration will better suit the needs of our growing children, and is nicer for socializing as well. Many of the designs we’ve seen include a desk instead of the couch, but since that’s where we sleep the couch needs to stay. We still need to draw up exactly what that will look like, and how we’ll fit everything in. 

Both of these projects will be much easier to do if we aren’t living in the Airstream for a few months!

An AirBnB Condo

As our kids grow, we find ourselves chasing adventures that are not always easy to plan and execute in our current travel lifestyle. We’ve talked about having someplace to use as an adventure base and recently decided it was time. Last September we bought a 3 bedroom, 2 bath upstairs condo unit in Driggs Idaho, just a short hop away from Jackson Hole, WY. (This was part of what became known as the Great Nomadic Idaho Land Rush of 2016.) We rented it out immediately until just a few weeks ago. We spent most of this winter living cheap and saving money to buy furniture and appliances to outfit the Condo for short term rentals.

On our way to Driggs, we rented a moving truck and emptied the small 5 by 10 storage unit where we had stored a few things. We also collected a few items that friends had used while we were traveling. On the way north from Sandy, Utah we purchased mattresses and a ton of  much needed supplies from Costco. The unit has a garage that will basically function as our storage unit while we go through our possessions and decide what we need and what we can now get rid of. 

While we are living in and outfitting the condo, we’ll be working on the aforementioned Airstream renovations. We have the precious short time window of 2 and a half months (rest of April, May and June) to accomplish both projects.

Oh, Canada!

Our plan is to spend the months of July and August back in the Airstream, traveling through some beautiful pieces of Canada. Glacier, Jasper, Banff, Waterton, & Yoho National Parks, followed up by mountain biking in Fernie are all on the list. I imagine we will be quite itchy for travel by the time this happens! Our route is already planned and we made reservations months ago, which is actually a nice change of pace for us!

After Canada we will head down to Northern California for some family time, finally heading back to Driggs for the Solar Eclipse on August 21st!

Aloha

A college friend of mine lives on Oahu and teaches at BYU Hawaii. He has arranged a sabbatical for this fall, and reached out a month ago to see if we would be interested in renting his townhouse, and possibly teaching one of his university classes. Failing to find any reason to say no, we gladly accepted and promptly booked cheap flights to Hawaii. Sam will be teaching one CS 400 level class September through December, while keeping up with his regular programming work. I plan to still homeschool the kids while also getting involved in local church and community activities. We are incredibly excited to be able to explore Hawaii, and hopefully we won’t go nuts sitting still in one place for 4 months. At least the beach is only a 5 minute walk from the townhouse!

Ski Winter

We’ll leave warm Hawaii and fly to frigid Driggs, Idaho to start 2018 with a ski winter. We plan to be in the condo January through March, but we’ll have to see how we handle the cold Idaho winters! After learning how to fall in style as a family, we’ll likely be ready to head back out in the Airstream for the spring or summer season. Several families are talking about an Alaska trip. We still haven’t been to Maine. Who knows where we’ll end up that summer? We love keeping our schedule open and flexible. 

Airstream Rental

One of the main reasons we want to do the Airstream renovation now, is that we have looked into possibly renting the Airstream while we are in Hawaii and through the winter while we ski. Our cushions around the dinette are old (and franky, ugly) so we would need to replace them anyway. Rather than buy new cushions now, and then again in a year when we do the dinette remodel, it just makes more sense to do it all now. Theoretically. The place we plan to take it is basically an upscale hotel where our Airstream would get love and attention while we are gone.  So, no one would be towing it, and it would be in good hands until we are ready to pick it back up. Once things are finalized we’ll give more details about where it’ll be!

Adventure

We’ve always said our adventure was not about the Airstream, but about adventuring together as a family. The Airstream has been an amazing catalyst for travel, spending time together, and really creating a unique family bond. We are forever grateful for the 3 years of full time travel we’ve had! We aren’t done exploring by a long shot, but mixing things up now and then helps keep us on our toes.  Through all of these new experiences, we are likely to adjust our plans and take advantage of new opportunities. If there’s one thing we’ve learned over the last few years, its best to keep things open and flexible because you never know what might happen!

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Giveaways

Countdown to Summer Instagram Gear Giveaway

I’m starting to see signs of summer plans popping up all over social media. The snow photos are decreasing and people are looking forward to sunshine and warm weather.

We are excited for our summer plans too! This year will be different for us, but so far we have a month scheduled through Glacier, Waterton, Banff, Jasper, and Yoho National Parks in July. Super stoked to get up into some of the most beautiful parts of Canada.

To get you guys pumped for summer we reached out to our favorite gear companies and put together our biggest giveaway yet! I’ve been working on this for weeks and seriously can’t wait.

Details:

Everything is going down over on Instagram this week so make sure you are following us over there to be eligible to win awesome adventure gear:

Currently Wandering on Instagram

The contest begins on March 20, 2017. We will post giveaways Monday through Friday in the morning and evenings and leave the weekends for adventuring!

Here’s How This Works:

[1]  make sure you are following us (@currentlywandering) and whichever brands are involved.

[2] We want to hear your stories! Start thinking of your favorite adventures, family moments, or plans for this summer because we’ll be asking you to comment and like the photos.

[3] You can always tag ONE friend for an additional entry.

We have so much gear to hand out that we’ll be doing 2 giveaways per day for the next week and a half. Each contest will be open for 72 hours so make sure you are checking back every day. After each contest closes we will randomly choose a winner from the comments.

Super easy! See you on Instagram this week!

This contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed, administered by, or associated with, Instagram.

Here are our awesome sponsors – make sure you check out their websites and give them a huge thank you!

Nuu-Muu
Teton Sports
Eagle Nest Outfitters
Haiku Bags
Power Practical
Woombikes
KEEN Kids
Aventura & Ecoths Clothing
Wilde Nomad
Trail Foody
Liberty Sport
Enso Rings
Deuter
Peak Design
Nite Ize
GCI Oudoor
Hydro Flask
Tiny Big Adventure
Bug Protector – all Natural Bug Repellent
Bare Snacks
Leatherman
Mamoo Kids
Darn Tough Socks
Perky Jerky
Action Wipes
Granite Gear
Post for the Parks

Categories
Daily Life Finances & Money

Items We Still Buy at Costco & Our Costco Connection Magazine Cover

People seem surprised that we have kept our Costco membership even while living in such a tiny space. Either we are crazy, or there is more to Costco items than large, bulk purchases. I prefer the latter explanation.

Truth is, we are probably addicted to some of the items they carry, and even though the packages may be larger than a regular grocery store, its worth squeezing them in for the cost savings in the long run. In addition, sometimes it really just is convenient. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll notice my occasional rant about loathing grocery shopping. I really do. Its very difficult to price shop, build up a pantry, coupon or any other cost saving techniques. When I buy in bulk from Costco, I feel that I’m getting at least a marginally better deal than the grocery store.

Costco is also predictable. While we sometimes can’t find an item (e.g. Dave’s Killer Bread), its usually not difficult to stock up on our regular items. The layouts of the stores are all the same and we know right where to find everything.

We also have a Visa card through Costco. We get 3% back on gas, 2% back on restaurants, and 2% back on travel expenses. We make enough back between the Executive Membership and the Visa to more than pay for the Costco Membership (hello? Have you SEEN our gas bill every month?). Plus, we usually have quite a bit leftover that lends itself to a spending spree sometime in April. I’m sure they planned it that way.

The food court. Seriously one of the cheapest meals for a family of 5 (even if its not exactly healthy).

In celebration of our recent appearance on the cover of Costco Connection magazine, I thought I’d revise and republish our 2014 list of items we typically purchase. Its actually changed quite a bit in that we’ve added a few things we simply can’t live without. Somehow we always find room.

Items We Buy A Lot

Frozen Strawberries (for smoothies, pancakes, and muffins)
Multigrain Tortilla Chips
Cherry Tomatoes
Grapefruit
Cara Cara Oranges
English Cucumbers
Bananas
Organic Spinach
Rotisserie Chicken
Frozen Chicken Breasts
Chicken Apple Sausages
Cheddar Cheese
Greek Yogurt
Kodiak Cakes Flapjacks
Real Maple Syrup
Love Crunch Chocolate Granola
Cereal (Oatmeal Squares, Frosted Mini-Wheats, Cinnamon Toast Crust)
Mixed Nuts
Dave’s Killer Bread when I can find it, Sprouted Honey Wheat Bread when I can’t

Items That Last Us Quite Awhile
Quaker Old Fashioned Oats
Natural Turkey Lunch Meat
Ground Flaxseed
Chia Seeds
Organic Chicken Bullion Base
Butter Quarters (freeze most of these as well)
Honey (the 3 bears one)
Gummy Vitamins
Dove Body Soap
Kirkland Shampoo & Conditioner
Vegan Protein Powder (for everyone but me, I use Shakeology)
Johnny’s Garlic Seasoning Spread
Quinoa and Brown Rice Packets
Fig Bars
Cliff Z Bars
Stretch Island Fruit Strips
Triscuits
Almond Butter
Nutella
Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ Sauce
Kirkland Signature Salsa
Coconut Milk
Paper Towels
Single Serving Hummus (I usually freeze more than half of them)
Laughing Cow Cheese Wedges

When We Have Room or Just Occasionally For Fun:
Potstickers
Orange Chicken
Canned Chicken Breast Chunks
Papa Pita’s Greek Pita Flat Bread (found in *almost* every Costco we’ve been to. Except Nevada.)
Cheese Tortellini
Pesto Sauce
Bagels
Coastal Aged Cheddar Cheese (this stuff is seriously AMAZING)
Broccoli Florets (if I plan a whole week’s worth of dinners with broccoli in them)
Skinny Cow Ice Cream Sandwiches
GoGurt (then we freeze a lot of them)

Items We’ve Given Up on Buying
Avocados (I just can’t nail the ripeness and they usually go to waste)
Toilet Paper
Cheese Sticks (my kids won’t eat them all)
Eggs (as much as we eat them, I can’t fit it in my fridge!)
Milk (only room in the fridge for 1 gallon)
Fruit Snacks (I just don’t like my kids eating them)
Carrots (once again not enough room for such a large bag)
Oatmeal Packets (much to the dismay of my children)

Wow. That is quite the list. I’m sure I forgot a few, but I’ll add more in as I think of them. What are your favorite items to buy at Costco? Anything you can’t live without? Personally, I still jump for joy anytime we can leave the building with a purchase under $100. Tell me I’m not alone?