Currently Wandering

Gear Review: Scosche Magnetic Phone Mounts for the Truck and Airstream

Post author By Sam
Post date May 13, 2016
2 Comments on Gear Review: Scosche Magnetic Phone Mounts for the Truck and Airstream

Smartphones are a full-time traveler’s best friend, providing music, navigation, email, social media, a camera, and occasionally even phone calls. Of all the places we put our phone on a daily basis, there are two more important than most.

We have a car mount that holds the phone in a good place for navigation, and we have a mount where we place our phones to charge while we sleep. To make alarms quieter, we mount these to the wall right above where we sleep. This makes for potentially faster (and quieter) shutoff when our morning alarms attempt to raise us.

Up until the past few years, we’ve been using these Dockem Smartphone Wall Mounts, but they have both broken in a small way that prevents the phone from falling on our head while we sleep. It was time for an upgrade.

I had my eye on a solution that would work with a variety of phones, not just the ones we currently have. It had to not require a special case, and should be able to handle different sizes. I settled on the Scosche Magnetic Dash Mount.

These mounts work by combining a strong magnet in the dash mount with a small metal plate you can stick inside your phone case on any phone. Then, you just place your phone on the mount and it sticks. The hold is strong enough that the phone never falls off, yet can be easily pulled off when we need.

The picture above shows the dash mount glued to a Arkon Dash Mounting Plate left over from use with our previous suction cup phone mount. We’ve used that mounting plate a few times with different products, and it does a fine job sticking to the textured dash, while providing a smooth surface for things that need one.

In addition to the car mount, they sell Phone Wall Mounts as well, which we placed on the wall where our old holders used to be kept. They look like this:

Now, our phones mount nicely to the wall and in the truck, with mounting plates that will work on future phones as well! The picture below also shows a black cable clip that we use in several places to hold USB cords in place.

It is worth noting that the same company sells an ‘XL’ holder with stronger magnets for larger devices like full-sized tablets. The normal ones work just fine with our large-ish phones though, so I would only make that jump for a much larger device.

Tags Airstream accessories, Scosche phone mount

Featured Destination National Parks Texas

Fun Adventures in San Antonio with Kids

Post author By Jess
Post date May 11, 2016
4 Comments on Fun Adventures in San Antonio with Kids

We had never been to San Antonio before this spring, but had heard it was a favorite city of many of our friends. Expecting to act like a tourist, I contacted the San Antonio Visitor’s Bureau and they graciously provided us with Passports which included free admission to many of the top attractions in the city. Although there are FAR too many activities to do in just one week, @livinginthemomentum and we did a pretty good job trying!

When We Visited: March 21 – 28, 2016

Ages of Kids: 10, 8, 5

Where We stayed: We stayed at the San Antonio KOA so we could be 15 minutes from downtown. We chose one of the non-paved driveway spots (because we are cheapskates) and were lucky enough to also be joined by @joehendricks and his family for a few days in addition to Momentum who was parked on the other side of the campground.

Photo Credit: @joehendricks

The Alamo, Tower of the Americas, Hemisfair Park

The day after we arrived, we journeyed downtown in the afternoon to explore. Our first stop was none other than the famous Alamo. There’s an introduction video which was pretty good at explaining the events surrounding the attack on the Alamo (spoiler alert! The Mexican army wins!), and then we were able to see the inside and walk around the grounds. While the inside was beautiful, my kids were quickly bored with reading the displays and begged to go outside.

We did find a gentleman in the amphitheater who told us about the many guns and weapons the soldiers fighting at the Alamo had used. He was awesome and kept the kids entertained for 15-20 minutes.

After the Alamo, we walked over to the Tower of the Americas. There’s a 4D movie at the ground level, and then you can ride the elevator up to the top for sweeping views of the city. I know it was spring, but I’m still shocked at how GREEN everything was. Super beautiful from up in the tower! The kids did okay in the movie – 4D is not generally their favorite but they gave it a go. At one point a rattlesnake strikes out at you, and I felt the seats jerked around unnecessarily for effect but overall it was fun.

Once done with that, we went to the Hemisfair Park where we had been tipped off about a really great playground. It was no joke! The kids could have spent all day here. Ping pong tables, life-sized chess boards, an awesome climbing play structure, and the weather was warm enough the splash pad was turned on! We hadn’t expected this and didn’t have our suits, but the kids stripped down as best they could and ran around getting soaked anyway!

Sea World San Antonio

A few years ago, the kids, grandma, and I took a spontaneous spring break trip to San Diego, CA to visit Sea World there. Since it had been a few years (and they kids really loved it) I was excited to check out Sea World San Antonio. Learning from our mistake earlier in the week of not packing swimsuits, we made sure to grab ours this time as I knew there was a splash park. We also packed lunch & snacks in a small cooler and just planned on buying dinner or late afternoon snacks depending on how long we ended up staying.

Parking is $20, but no hassle to get in, and then we were able to pick up our complimentary tickets from one of the kiosks. Love it when parks have these as it sure beats waiting in line!

Since it was just the kids and I, and we are past needing a stroller I also splurged at spent $15 on a locker for all day. One we could get in and out of as needed and located centrally in the park. We stashed our lunch cooler and swimsuits to come back and get later.

Our first stop was the Beluga Whale show. The trainers did a great job of explaining and showing us various characteristics of these incredible animals. This show was definitely designed to be informative rather than pure entertaining which I actually liked a lot.

After the show we ate our lunch quick and the kids changed into their swimsuits for the splash park! Honestly, I think they could have just stayed in the Sesame Street Bay of Play all day. There are definitely cheaper ways to visit a splash pad and playground, so after an hour or so I dragged them away to another show.

Sea World does a great job of spacing their shows out so that its easy enough to hit most of them. The kids loved Sea Lion High – a comedy where the sea lions are trying to finish up their high school subjects so they can graduate on time. Lots of fun and laughter!

Azul is a beautiful show involving acrobatics, humor, high divers, and the beautiful dolphins and beluga whales. The kids were on the edges of their seats almost the entire time!

Very last we watched Shamu and the other Killer Whales. I know there is a lot of controversy surrounding these animals and I’m not getting into that, but Cara LOVED seeing these beautiful mammals. However, the kids were fairly bored with the show itself. There was a lot of swimming around and splashing the audience, and I think I would have preferred a large aquarium where we could just sit and watch them rather than a performance.

In addition to the shows, we also rode some of the rides! The Eel of Steel has me firmly convinced I’m too old to ride roller coasters. It has a 150 foot drop that nearly killed me. Okay, not really and my older two kids loved it, but I’m good to never ride it again! We also rode The Great White – which is a suspension roller coaster, and Atlantis which is a log flume type ride with a giant drop and lots of splashing. I’m grateful that my two older kids are able to ride by themselves so we can switch off hanging out with Cara! I posted on IG that riding the Shamu the Whale roller coaster in the Bay of Play with Cara was definitely more my speed.

We had a great day, but overall I was actually slightly disappointed. I felt the Sea World in California does a better job of including other types of sea animals (starfish petting pond, Manta Ray tanks, etc.). They could do such a better job of education and discovery of sea life with some good aquarium-like exhibits! We LOVE visiting aquariums and for an establishment that is “sea world” and sounds all inclusive, the animals included are only a tiny slice of what actually lives in the oceans.

Grateful for our time and the kids and I had a blast, but I’m not sure we’ll go again anytime soon.

San Antonio Mission Trail

San Antonio has a Hike & Bike trail that stretches from downtown to Mission Espada. We didn’t have time to ride the entire thing, so we started at Mission Concepion and biked to Mission San Jose and back. It was a good 8 miles round trip, and the kids did great! I’m pretty sure this was our favorite thing we did in San Antonio, and best of all its FREE!

Riding along the San Antonio River was beautiful! We had some cloud cover in the morning which helped keep the temperatures cooler, and although it was a Saturday we didn’t feel overcrowded. The key was getting out early!

This park is right at the turn off for Mission San Jose. It was a perfect break for the kids, and the adults even got in on the fun.

Mission San Jose – sometimes playing in dirt is more interesting than old buildings! We passed off our Jr. Ranger books here after exploring, and also had a quick lunch on the picnic tables outside before riding home.

If you don’t have a bike, no problem! There were bike rental stations like this all along the Mission Trail, so there’s no excuse to get out there an enjoy it!

Hanging with Friends

We knew there were quite a few other full time families in the area (besides the 3 of us that were already at the KOA) so we put together a pot-luck dinner Saturday night before we left. We swam in the pool, colored Easter Eggs, ate great food, had an Easter Egg hunt, and generally enjoyed being together. San Antonio is a great place to meet up with friends as there is so much to do in the are. Definitely something for everyone!

Photo Credit: @joehendricks

The Riverwalk & Riverboat Cruise

We hadn’t had time to see the famous riverwalk, so we extended at the KOA for one more day so we could go down there Monday evening for Family Night. Our eventual goal was to take the Riverboat Cruise, but we decided to walk downtown instead of trying to park there. We parked up by the locks at Brooklyn Avenue, and were able to find a spot on the street. From there it was a pleasant, one mile walk to downtown, the riverboat cruise, shops, and restaurants.

The Riverboat Cruise was informative and gave us a great overview of the area. San Antonio has done a great job of developing the downtown area with a variety of restaurants, malls, and other shops. Since we weren’t planning on eating dinner, and shopping is a pain with small children, we grabbed some ice cream after the cruise and then walked back to our truck. We had a very pleasant evening and highly recommend staying down there until dark!

San Antonio Zoo

Momentum stayed a few extra days in San Antonio while we ran up to Austin to catch a few other traveling friends before they left town. While we were gone they were able to visit the San Antonio Zoo, and loved it! Lots of animals, outdoor play and even a train to ride. Although they only had a few hours, Margaret Leigh said it was a fabulous zoo!

The DoSeum – San Antonio’s Museum for Kids

I’m kicking myself for NOT visiting the DoSeum. We had plans to visit the Thinkery in Austin the following week, so this got cut from the schedule, but from Momentum’s report the children’s museum in San Antonio is better! Combination science center and play it looked absolutely fabulous. Her kids were disappointed they only had an hour to play and could have stayed much, much longer!

That’s our wrap up for San Antonio! We had a great week, and although it was exhausting I feel like we did a variety of activities and were able to see a lot of what the city has to offer.
Have you ever been to San Antonio? What did we miss?

For more fun things to do in San Antonio, check out these other blog posts by traveling friends of ours:

11 Kid Friendly Things to do in San Antonio by Take That Exit

Family Fun in San Antonio by Bareneckers

Louisiana Texas WanderLog

Detour for a Service Project & Some Horses

Post author By Jess
Post date May 9, 2016

Leaving New Orleans around mid-morning on Saturday we headed to Baton Rouge, LA to attend an endowment session at the temple. We parked the Airstream in the lot, and the kids hung out and watched a movie while Sam and I went inside. Grateful to our awesome kids that do so well on their own and give us opportunities like this!

“Spring! Short stop in Baton Rouge, LA this afternoon to attend an endowment session inside the beautiful LDS temple. Love the peace, comfort, and excitement we felt today. Life is good and the future is even brighter!” – Jess

“We decided during breakfast this morning to attend a session at the Baton Rouge LDS Temple. We made it with only minutes to spare. By awesome coincidence, our college friend Jason was in the SAME SESSION, having driven 7 hours to be there to attend with a friend. We loved seeing him, and discovered that his wonderful family lives quite near a planned stop in Texas in a few weeks.” – Sam

We spent the night at Wal-Mart in Lake Charles and took the house to church on Sunday. Recently, the Sabine River had overflowed (even closing down the freeway between Louisiana and Texas) and there were many homes filled with water. After sacrament meeting, Bishop stood up and asked the brethren to go home, change, and come back ready to help families clean out their houses.

“The Sabine river runs down the Texas / Louisiana border, and was flooded high enough to shut down I-10. The Highway is back open now, but plenty of homes have suffered damage. Church today was cut short as volunteers were organized to help those with damaged homes. We were grateful for the chance to serve, and found ourselves working alongside many others to clean out rooms and remove damaged paneling and carpet. So anyway, today we learned about service at church.” – Sam

We jumped at the chance to serve and were able to spend a few hours helping a family clean their soaking wet possessions out of their house and stripping the walls down to studs. In the process we met the Evans family who invited us out to their farm for dinner, a bonfire, a zipline, and good conversation and company! Super grateful for their generosity and friendship!

“During our work project yesterday, we met the nicest family that was helping as well. They insisted that we bring our house over to their house for a night. The kids loved playing with friends, and everybody enjoyed a zipline across the horse pasture. Thank you, Evans Family, for being so good to us!” – Sam

“I love that today didn’t turn out remotely as planned. After hearing at church that volunteers were needed for flood/disaster clean up, we changed our schedule and landed in the town of Orange with new friends after a good three hours of work. We ended the day with an amazing bonfire and great company. Life is good.” – Jess

Next Up: San Antonio!

Louisiana National Parks WanderLog

Meetups, Donuts, and Beignets in New Orleans, LA

Post author By Jess
Post date May 9, 2016
1 Comment on Meetups, Donuts, and Beignets in New Orleans, LA

Travel Dates: March 15 – 18, 2016.

After leaving Florida and quick overnight in Mississippi, we headed to meet up with friends at Bayou Segnette State Park outside of New Orleans, LA. This was our second visit to New Orleans, and I was all for skipping it had we not been meeting up with friends. Also, beignets. I don’t think the kids would have forgiven us if we had skipped those!

First things first, we drove straight to Costco and got Cara an eye exam. We knew she probably needed glasses as she’s been squinting a lot when she reads, and Costco was the easiest and fastest way we could get her in to see someone. We got a prescription and then ordered glasses online to be sent ahead to San Antonio where we would be in about a week.

“Cara had an eye exam this morning and we were able to procure a prescription for glasses. She’s farsighted (+1 and +.75) and glasses will really help her to read. Her siblings have been totally supportive and she’s super excited to wear them!” -Jess

For school one day with our friends from @livinginthemomentum we visited the Barataria Preserve Unit of the Jean Lafitte National Historic park. We walked along the boardwalk, did our Jr. Ranger Books, and watched an incredibly old, outdated film that totally bored ALL the kids and the parents. If we hadn’t just come from Florida and the amazing Cypress Swamps there, maybe it would have been more impressive? At least we were with friends which always makes things more fun!

We also had the opportunity to meet up with a lot of friends! Heather & Mark from @livingistheadventure, Dave & Ann from @advodna_dave, and also @livinginthemomentum were all at the same state park. Although we never actually got ALL of us together at the same time, we did meet up occasionally for dinner, or to let the kids run around spraying each other

with the hose on a hot day.

“Along with our traveling buddies we also had the awesome@timphamdotcom and his super cute wife Kimmy out to the Airstream. Tim is a crazy good wedding photographer here in NOLA and it was fun to catch up! They are expecting their first child in about 2 weeks, and since they brought both soda AND cupcakes to our potluck feast we know they are going to be fabulous parents.” – Jess

“We misread the open dates for the swimming pool, which resulted in a pile of swimsuited kids and a sweltering afternoon. Water fight at the Currens! We were joined today by@advodna_dave, @livingistheadventure,@livinginthemomentum, and associated crews, and had a blast.” – Sam

Instead of driving into New Orleans like last time, we decided to take the ferry over since it cost about the same and we wouldn’t have to deal with parking the truck in the French Quarter which is never fun. It was as quick ride and deposited us only about 1/2 mile from downtown which was a great walk along the Mississippi River.

Our first stop was to visit the New Orleans Jazz National Historic Park, but unfortunately all the music was done for the day, and since the building was getting ready to undergo renovations there wasn’t a whole lot to do. We quickly earned our Jr. Ranger badges and moved on to other things!

“We tend to travel in the spaces between large cities, as they are not our favorite places. Occasionally, however, the pull of local cuisine is too tempting and we make an exception. Such is the case with beignets in New Orleans. That and the Jazz music.” -Jess

Although the line had died down outside Cafe Du Mondeand we were seated quickly, it took FOREVER for someone to take our order. We entertained the kids by flipping our Jr. Ranger badges across the table, and arm wrestling. Once they came though, we devoured the fluffy, powdered-sugar covered goodness in minutes.

After that we took a walk through town up to Louis Armstrong Park. Its a well-done green space with a pond and the walk through the French Quarter architecture was pleasant enough. Naturally, we avoided Bourbon Street and got back to the ferry dock only to find it was closed due to mechanical failure. With our car on the other side of the river, we grabbed an Uber ride back across the bridge in no time. The kids were super impressed and it just added to the adventure!

Our beignet order at Cafe Du Monde took an unnaturally long time to make it to our table this afternoon, so entertainment was found by introducing our kids to arm wrestling. So cute they thought they could actually win!” – Jess

“We almost didn’t head into New Orleans today. We did anyway, and collected another Junior Ranger Badge and these delicious beignets. Yep, it was worth it. Even when the ferry broke down and had to Uber back across the river to where the truck was parked.” – Sam

We decided we had to run into town one more time to get donuts. The Instagram world told us we absolutely HAD to try District Donuts before we left because they were delicious. Yep. They were right. We also grabbed some sliders as a snack, plus a cinnamon roll and all of them were delicious. Definitely a great place to stock up on yummy food!

“I may have a thing for donuts, and this place could possibly rival Blue Star Donuts in Portland, OR. I think it’s good to have a favorite donut shop in every state. Just in case….” – Jess

“District Donuts on Magazine Street in New Orleans has flavors like Wedding Cake, Nola Cream, Lemon Blueberry, Chocolate Covered Strawberry, and Mango Pink Peppercorn. We bought a dozen, and tried them all. #donutjudgeme” – Sam

One day in downtown, and a few days hanging out was plenty for us! New Orleans is not my favorite city, and although there is a lot of culture, we’ll probably stick with the spaces in between cities next time!

Next Up: We detour for a service project and make it into Texas!

Alabama Florida WanderLog

It Rains in Florida and Dashes All Hopes of Boogie Boarding One Last Time

Post author By Jess
Post date May 9, 2016
1 Comment on It Rains in Florida and Dashes All Hopes of Boogie Boarding One Last Time

Travel Dates: March 5-14, 2016.

We arrived home from Cumberland Island in the early afternoon on Saturday and drove east for a couple of hours before over-nighting at Walmart.

The next day after church, we made it to Dead Lakes State Recreation Area which had been recommended to us by a traveling friend. It was the perfect place to get all our backpacking gear put away and to get a jump start on school and work for the week.

“A little, post-workout relaxing in the hammock was just perfect this morning. This little RV park has been just what we needed to get caught up on daily life!” – Jess

“This little recreation area has been perfectly quiet and peaceful, which was just what we needed. We are headed out to Destin now, which will be beautiful but not as peaceful. People ask us all the time how we find the places we go. Often, we see pictures on Instagram posted by others. In this case,@joehendricks tipped us off about this place, and it has been perfect!” – Sam

Tuesday morning we continued on to Henderson Beach State Park where we had stayed 2 years ago on our way through. We were hoping to get in a few more days of boogie boarding, but the waves were incredibly high and the weather was stormy. Luckily, we had @livinginthemomentum nearby to hang out with instead!

After 2 nights at Henderson, we left for Big Lagoon State Park outside of Pensacola, Florida. We had plans to meet up with our friends we met at church 2 years ago, and it was a piece of Florida we hadn’t seen.

On the way there, we drove our favorite section of Florida Highway: 399. Water on both sides and beautiful white sand beaches. Perfection.

“Today we got to repeat one of our favorite drives. The Gulf Islands National Seashore includes a wonderful section of coastline on Santa Rosa Island. Highway 399 is worth the diversion. At high tide, watch for sand and water on the highway. Our last drive on this highway was in December 2013, early in our travels. The sea was angry today, but the drive was wonderful!” – Sam

Big Lagoon SP was great, but unfortunately, the weather was still stormy. We did our best to get out in between the rainy spells and go for walks. One of our longer walks was out to the observation tower where it was super windy!

We also visited the Naval Aviation Museum. The kids and I had been, but Sam wasn’t with us last time. Lots of planes!

“Rachel doesn’t always join her younger siblings on things for young kids anymore. While they were occupied, She and I wandered about. She particularly liked this hybrid boat/plane design, complete with bunks and a small kitchen.” – Sam

“We had some good rain today, and escaped to the Naval Aviation Museum. Entrance is free, and they have a zillion planes. Cara jumped into every cockpit that was open.” – Sam

“Our afternoon wander took us out to a lookout along the inter-coastal waterway. The wind was strong enough that the only birds we saw were either flapping wildly or hunkered down in the grass.” – Sam

“Big Lagoon State Park is pretty unique. They rent canoes, kayaks, and paddle boards which would be a great way to explore the water if we wouldn’t have blown over and capsized in the wind. We settled for a hike out to the observation tower instead. There’s always next time.” – Jess

“Jess took the time to do her hair and look great for our afternoon wander. The wind had a different opinion. A much better plan was our week-long timezone manipulation. We crossed into Central Time a week ago, but we’ve been pretending it is still Eastern Time. Tonight, we switch to Central, erasing the hour jump for the timezone switch, no time adjustment required. You win some, you lose some.” – Sam

“Crazinesss at the overlook. Two years ago on our way through Pensacola we met a crazy, like minded, wanderlust family at church. Today we invited them out to see the Airstream and fed them spaghetti and meatballs while we all caught up. In a few months they move to Guam for the Air Force and get to explore that part of the world. Part of me is a little bit jealous.” – Jess

Monday morning it was time to head out of Florida! We had a great winter, but we were definitely ready for something different.

We decided to make a quick stop at the USS Alabama in Mobile so Sam and the kids could check out the battleship and submarine. I was able to hang out in the trailer and get caught up on some work. Love when the kids get to explore with their dad!

“We explored the USS Alabama today. The last time we explored a battleship was two years ago (Battleship Texas) and the kids loved it. And… I loved it too. I really love exploring with my kids.” -Sam

“At the same location is the USS Drum. This was my first submarine, and it was awesome. Much smaller than the battleship, but quite roomy compared to the Airstream!” – Sam

We over-nighted at a Walmart in Mississippi before heading on to New Orleans!

Next Up: Meetups, Donuts, and Beignets in New Orleans, LA

“Peace out Florida! ✌ Its been a great 14 weeks but we are ready to move on. Mountains and the west are calling our name!” – Jess