Categories
Kentucky National Parks

Visiting Lincoln’s Birthplace in Kentucky

Visiting Lincoln’s Birthplace helped me feel reverent and inspired knowing that such a great man had a humble beginning and relied on God.  
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When we arrived at Lincoln’s Birthplace we first went to the Visitor Center and got our  Jr. Ranger Books. Then we went to see the video about the history of the park. It talked about Lincoln’s childhood, how their family worked, and life on the farm. Afterward we went to see the exhibits inside the Visitor Center.  There was a recreation of the inside of Abraham’s old childhood cabin, and next to the recreation was a display of tools we needed for an activity in  our Jr. Ranger books.  
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After the exhibits we went outside to the Memorial. It looked surprisingly similar to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC. We climbed the 56 steps representing Lincoln’s 56 years of life, and went into the memorial. In the memorial there was a recreation of Lincoln’s old childhood cabin, it was bare but it still was cool seeing a really old cabin that president Lincoln grew up in. I also liked the roses on the ceiling.

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Next, we went outside and walked to Sinking Spring which is a spring that never goes dry. It was the source of water for the Lincoln family during the winter months. The sun was shining and felt warm so we sat down for a while and enjoyed the sunshine.
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Last we went inside and turned in our Junior Ranger books and got the badge. It was our first metal badge!

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Being at Lincoln’s Birth place made me feel happy that Lincoln was such a great president and reverent that he called upon God when he was at a time of need. That is what I like about about Abraham Lincoln.

When We Visited: Nov. 11, 2015

Ages of Kids: 10, 8, 5.5

Lincoln’s Birthplace National Historic Site

Categories
Featured Destination Florida National Parks On the Water

Canoeing Nine Mile Pond in Everglades National Park

Canoeing Nine Mile Pond in Everglades National ParkVisiting the Everglades has been a travel goal for some time. Despite setting a goal to make it there, we had somehow managed to not spend much time researching our options.

We planned to spend a few days there in our usual slow travel style. Our early research indicated that we should get good verizon service at the Flamingo campground, and that would provide the needed opportunity to work.

Upon arrival I set about trying to configure my assortment of antennas and booster technology to secure the expected signal. Try as I might, I could not manage any usable signal. A few tests from the truck (also outfitted with a booster) in sections of the Flamingo area also failed to find a usable signal.

Without good signal, our visit was going to be much shorter. Our real goal of the visit was to get out and experience the everglades from a boat. There were boat tours available, but what really interested us was a canoe rental. Rentals were available right there in the marina, but also at a lake back up the road called Nine Mile Pond. This pond contained a canoe trail marked by poles along the way, and promised paddling through mangrove forests as well as the open glade.

We picked this option, and set about making it happen. We ended up renting two canoes from the concessionaire near the Flamingo Visitor Center. Unfortunately, a large group beat us to the rentals already located at the pond, so we paid an extra $45 to have two canoes transported up there. Frustrating, but worth it.

We arrived at the pond with life jackets and paddles, and retrieved the canoes from the concessionaire. In just a minute we were in the water, paddling across a small lake to the start of the trail.

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As we followed the trail out of the lake, we immediately plunged into the mangroves. We became immediately grateful for two things. First, the trail markers. All long the canoe trail were poles stuck in the ground. Each marker bore a number which could help us choose the right direction as we paddled. Without those markers, it would have been impossible to find our way through (or out!) of those mangrove forests.

Canoeing in the Everglades

Canoeing in the Everglades

Padding through mangroves is beautiful, but the paddling trail was often narrow and often turned quite sharply. Thus, the second thing we became grateful for: mangrove roots. The roots of the mangrove trees grow out from the trunk of the tree above the waterline, and grow outward before plunging down into the water. The result of this root growth pattern is a natural ‘bumper’ of sorts that made paddling a little easier. When we missed a turn or edged too close to the trees, the natural edge created by the roots prevented us from paddling too far under the trees.

The mangrove forest eventually broke apart, and we found ourselves in more open sections of the glade. Glades are sunny, open areas in a forest. The Everglades are named for this, with plenty of open glade areas that stretch far into the distance. At the midpoint of our paddle, we came into a large glade that was a wonderful cross between a meadow and a lake. The area was covered with water shallow enough to allow grasses to grow. From near the waterline, it looked as though the meadow was grassy and solid enough to walk across it. Instead, we got to paddle through it.

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The meadow contained a shortcut that allowed us to cut our paddle in half. We took the shortcut and had a snack, and then headed continued along the trail back to the truck.

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It is hard to describe just how beautiful and unique this adventure was. At times like this, I’m really grateful that Jess captures so many wonderful scenes during our adventures. As you consider my description and compare it with her pictures, I’m sure you’ll agree.

I’m reasonably good paddling a canoe, but Jess struggles when conditions are difficult. On the second half of our paddle, She really hit her stride, and was navigating through the mangroves like a pro. I even had the chance to teach a few new paddling strokes to Rachel, who was in the front of my boat. Cara sat in the middle between Rachel and I, and took turns paddling in the more open spots.

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The shortcut made our paddle the perfect length at just under two hours. With that adventure completed, we headed back to pick up the Airstream and head back into the land of signal. I look forward to a time where better timing (and/or better signal) allow us to visit the Everglades longer. Despite our short visit, I cherish the adventure we had.

Categories
Faith Florida Road Stories

Funny How Things Work Out Sometimes – Long Key State Park

2016-01-04 17.23.41We weren’t even supposed to be at Long Key State Park. After the Dry Tortugas, we originally had planned to stay at Bahia Honda for another five days to decompress. We knew we’d need to catch up on work and school and little to no driving sounded great. However, we found an open spot at Long Key State Park that fit our dates, wasn’t that much farther of a drive, and we had heard good things from other traveling friends so we switched up our plans because we like new places.

I’m so glad we did.

Sam was grilling outside at the picnic table our first night, and as a woman was walking up and down the beach she eventually approached him with a question. She had seen our website on the back of the Airstream, looked up the blog and realized that we were also a traveling family and desperately needed advice.

After that first meeting we hit it off. The Siminoff family have two kids that are right around our kids’ ages, had been on the road in their truck camper only a few months into their year long sabbatical and were really struggling with schedules, motivating their kids, and finding a balance. Ellen fired off question after question after question while the kids happily played in the bedroom due to the pouring rain outside.

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We loved talking with them. I can’t say we got a whole lot of school or work done those two days, but we definitely made some life long friends. We invited them over for a Family Home Evening where Sam gave a lesson on the prophet Noah and Ellen taught us how to make Key Lime Pie. Afterward the kids played Castle Panic, and the adults sat in the bedroom alternating discussions between theology (we are LDS, they are Jewish) and full-time family travel until far too late into the night.

You know when you meet someone and you just click? It was like that. Our time together was far too short, but we made the most of it.

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The spin-off from this meeting happened a few weeks later when Ellen and I were texting about their upcoming plans to fly overseas and tour New Zealand and Australia before finishing the United States. Back in college Sam and I participated in a New Zealand study abroad with the Recreation Management program and we were hosted by the most amazing elderly couple whom we’ve kept in close contact with over the last twelve years. Just recently the wife died, and Dave, our host dad, has been a bit lonely. He loves to travel, having taking us touring the South Island during our studies, and we knew he’d have great advice for the Siminoffs.

Before I knew it, Dave had offered to pick them up at the airport, and TOUR them around in his eight passenger van! I was so happy for all of them! If we couldn’t visit New Zealand and hang out with Dave, at least our friends could. Their meeting came a great time for both parties and from what I’ve heard everything is going swimmingly.

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Everyone once in awhile we receive affirmation that we are where God intends us to be. Its no secret we feel led to travel. I’m sure there are many reasons including personal growth, education, and opportunities to spend time together as a family. Most importantly the people we meet. When life and events come together so perfectly, I can’t help but be amazed at the love and understanding God has for our lives.

We love all the friends we’ve met along our journey and continue to be inspired and encouraged by everyone we meet!

Categories
Solar & Power The Airstream

Power Upgrade – 2000 Watt Pure-sine Inverter

In case anybody needs proof that I love my wife, I’ll tell you about the Inverter we installed in the Airstream. You see, my wife loves her Blendtec Blender, which checks in at 1800 watts of pure blending bliss. She found a lower-wattage hair dryer for use in the Airstream, but that Blender was going to come along with us. Prior to this upgrade, every boondock blend required hooking up the Honda 2000 generator. Since my prime motivation for this entire power upgrad was laziness, I wanted to make sure that blending was easy.

Two types of inverters exist in this world: Pure-sine wave and Modified-sine wave. The Pure-sine wave inverters produce an AC power signal that looks very much like we are used to in home wiring. Modified-sine wave generators produce an AC power signal that is ‘blocky’ and follows the desired signal with some approximation. Some electronics do just fine with a modified-sine inverter, and they are MUCH cheaper. Many advanced electronics don’t do well with the blocky signal approximation and so require the more expensive variety. I decided to buy quality in this case, and chose a pure-sine inverter.

All pure-sine inverters are expensive, but some are much more so than others. The inverter I chose was the Samlex Solar PST-2000-12 PST, which I actually purchased at BestInverter.com due to a slightly overall cheaper price. I also purchased the RC-200 Remote Control Panel for mounting out in the kitchen.

The product listing pictures of this inverter make it look quite small. Really, it is pretty darn huge. I had used measurements before purchasing to verify that I would be able to fit this where I wanted, and it fit rather well. I mounted the inverter under Cara’s bed, with the DC power connections on the side closest to the DC wiring panel. With the high amperage draws required to produce 1800 watts of AC power, the voltage drops over distance. We minimized that voltage drop by using large wire (AWS 2/0), and by keeping the run as short as possible. The design of this inverter means that the AC power cable actually comes out of the other end, but the length of the AC wire is much less of a problem than the length of the DC wire.

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Here, for some scale, is my completed DC wire panel with most of the blue inverter visible.  (Look down below for a picture with some protective panels in place.)

When I added the inverter, I also added two additional components to my DC wiring setup. I added a 250 AMP fuse to prevent the inverter (or anything else, really) from drawing too much power through the wires. I also added a disconnect switch that could isolate the inverter from the rest of our Airstream’s DC wiring. Both of these components were wired into the positive wire leading to the Inverter.

I mentioned this on my last post about the battery upgrade, but it is worth mentioning again. The 2/0 wire that I used is very large, very stiff wire. It is nearly impossible to bend short sections of the wire to fit between the necessary mounting screws after the lugs have been crimped on. Before I crimped the ends, I made sure the wire was the needed length and bent if necessary to align as nicely as possible. I then marked the cable with a sharpie to help me align the lugs at the proper angle to make the connection. Short sections of this wire DO NOT TWIST. By being careful and triple checking my alignment and configuration, I was able to make every wire segment work properly without stressing the wire. As with nearly everything in RV life, you will have more success if you are not in a hurry.

After adding the DC wire connections, I ran the remote control panel wire from the end of the inverter down to the kitchen, where I cut an appropriately sized hole underneath the Solar Charge Controller remote panel. The length of my run was just slightly longer than the remote control wired provided by Samlex, so I added a length of wire here. It is worth knowing that the cable provided is a cross-over RJ50 10p10C cable (not a straight cable). You will need to either replace the entire length of the wire with a cross-over cable, or use a 10p10C adapter to join it to the needed length of straight cable. If you don’t understand this, ask me or call Samlex and explain your situation. 10p10C cables and adapters are not very common, so you will likely need to order this online.

Cutting a new hole for the Inverter remote control below the already installed Solar Charge Controller.
Cutting a new hole for the Inverter remote control below the already installed Solar Charge Controller.

Having a remote control for the Inverter was a must for us. The inverter itself has a switch on it, but the inverter is mounted right under a sleeping kid. I did NOT want to disturb anybody just to turn the inverter on. The inverter itself does beep when turned on, but the noise isn’t super loud and it never wakes my kids up. Mounting the remote panels for the inverter and the solar charge controller also makes load monitoring easier. The solar charge controller is connected to a shunt battery monitor, which allows me to compare AC load with DC load and battery voltage. I highly recommend getting remote panels and mounting them someplace convenient.

The last wire to add was the AC wire running from the inverter to my AC panel in the kitchen. (I actually ran this at the same time as the control wire above.) This was a simple task, though the process of wiring it into the Airstream’s AC system was complicated enough that I’m going to write about that in a dedicated post.

Installing the DC wiring was tough, but a good thing to get finished in my project. The wires themselves are hidden behind a panel that I modified to fit the inverter. I also added some wood that covers the top of the main DC fuse to prevent things from dropping on it.

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And here we are, with the DC power stuff complete and only the AC wiring left to complete.

Categories
Florida

We Choose Animal Kingdom For Our One Day at DisneyWorld

One Day Visit to Walt Disney World's Animal KingdomLast summer Sam and I came up with a grand plan to visit DisneyWorld over 10 days in December 2015. We would divide the time between Fort Wilderness and an RV Park, and get 6 day passes to visit all the parks with a few days leftover to revisit our favorites. We would be able to do everything! It would be in the slower season between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the parks would be decorated for the season and everything would be just…magical.

Only we weren’t feeling the magic.

Anytime we thought about that part of our Florida plans we just became discouraged and slightly depressed. Disney World is so much larger than its counterpart in Anaheim, CA and I was feeling very overwhelmed. Add to that the fact that we are ALWAYS planning and I just couldn’t seem to get ahead and feel excited. I tentatively broached the Disney subject with the kids (to see if they were even interested in going at all), and you know what? All they wanted to do was visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and drink butterbeer. I was shocked. It seemed that the magic of our last 5 day stint at Disneyland and California Adventure hadn’t quite worn off yet and they weren’t hungry for more.

So, how did we end up at Disney anyway? My sister flew in to vacation with us, and I was able to secure (2) complimentary, one day, media, park hopper passes (thank you dear blog readers who support us!), which meant we just had to buy tickets for the kids. Okay, we are in. But with FOUR theme parks to pick from, how do we decide?

We talked with a few friends that have done Disney extensively and the unanimous vote was Animal Kingdom. The shows are rated highly, there are rides for all ages, and the animals are exciting. Plus, we really hadn’t been to a zoo in ages and my kid are obsessed with giant cats, elephants, and monkeys. Luckily for us those are all zoo-like animals. Animal Kingdom and Epcot are also the two parks which are vastly different from anything in California as Magic Kingdom appeared too similar to Disneyland to really get us excited.  Epcot didn’t sound as appealing to our younger kids (most people we talked to who love it are adults), so Animal Kingdom was the logical choice.

I’m so glad we went!

When We Visited: January 29, 2015
Ages of Kids: Rachel (10), Andrew (8), Cara (5)
Where We Stayed: Bill Frederick Park at Turkey Lake

The first thing we did was pick up our Jr. Wilderness Explorer Badge Booklets. Based off Russell in Disney’s UP, kids can stop at various stations around the park and earn a sticker for their books. Similar to Jr. Ranger Badges, but a lot less intense. There are way too many to earn ALL of them in one day, but we managed to get about fourteen as the kids really loved it. The main station is before you get to the main “hub” of the park so we were able to grab our books while waiting for the park to officially open.

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Animal Kingdom opens with these beautiful birds near the Tree of Life. They swoop in over everyone’s head and stop for a treat from their handlers. After some narration, they they fly away and the crowd follows into various areas of the park. They also bring the birds back at other times of the day, but it was fun to be there as the park opened!

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Disney Animal Kingdom_35-1We were advised to not to use one of our three Fast Passes on Expedition Everest, but instead to head there as soon as the park opened. Lines for this roller coaster can get upwards of 60 minutes, but we walked right on twice in a row. Not to spoil it, but the ride goes BACKWARDS. Super awesome. Cara didn’t ride it and we are glad she didn’t as the Yetis and the drops would have been a little intense for her. Rachel and Andrew loved it.

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Next we headed over to DinoLand USA. I personally felt that a Dinosaur themed land was a slight stretch for the Animal Kingdom, but Cara LOVED it. The rides were definitely more her speed and she begged to go back and do Primeval Whirl a second time.

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We should have skipped DINOSAUR (the ride) as none of our kids liked it. We used a fast pass on this one so at least we didn’t have a long wait.  It is a dark, fairly scary ride similar to Indiana Jones (if you’ve been to Disneyland) where you are in a large jeep racing to save a dinosaur before the meteor hits. Cara hid her face the whole time and even Rachel said she didn’t like it.

One of the kids’ favorite spots in DinoLand U.S.A. was The Boneyard. They got to help dig out this wolly mammoth, and we had to pry them away. Kind of surprised me, but there was plenty of shade for the adults to hang out and just relax while the kids were busy.

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There are two shows in the park and both are fabulous! Finding Nemo was full of great puppetry and music, while Lion King was more of a dance party with acrobatic monkeys.

We did Finding Nemo first (using our 2nd of 3 Fast Passes), and ate a quick lunch of crackers, cheese, and veggies while in line. Using a Fast Pass gets you closer to the stage, which was awesome, even though you are still waiting in line for the doors to open. Nemo was amazing! They have turned it into a musical, and watching the actor’s expressions was just as fun as watching the puppets!

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Disney does such a great job with details and Animal Kingdom was no exception. Each country had a unique feel, and I loved exploring (and photographing) the details that made each experience authentic.

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After Nemo, we headed to the Africa section of the park. One of our favorite activities, by far, was the Kilimanjaro Safaris. We used our final Fast Pass for this ride which was why we were able to ride it after lunch. We loaded into a jeep and the driver took us through the refuge. It was really well done and the animals felt very close to the vehicle! We saw alligators, lions, giraffes, elephants (Hooray for Andrew!), and rhinos.

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Next up, we spent time on the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail. The kids were able to pass of 3 or 4 of their Wilderness Explorer badges, and we enjoyed the birds, gorillas, and monkeys.

Disney Animal Kingdom_25From there, we were just able to wander around Africa until the Lion King show at 3:00pm. There are a few character meet and greets in Animal Kingdom, and while my kids aren’t super into those Cara did express interest in meeting Tarzan. So we did. Maybe it has do with her obsession with monkeys? We finished up a few more Wilderness Explorer Badges and then found a Dole Whip and Ice Cream for a treat.

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For the Lion King show we weren’t able to procure Fast Pass tickets so we stood in the stand-by line. We had no problems getting in, and while Cara was concerned there wasn’t really a plot (its not a retelling of the story) I loved it. Its more of a celebration with a lot of audience interaction, acrobatic monkeys, and fire twirling aborigines.

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After the show, we took the train to Rafiki’s Planet Watch, but it closes at 4:00pm (an hour earlier than the park) and we arrived just as it was closing so we stayed on the train. It really wasn’t all that exciting and I think we would have rather skipped it!

After one more ride on Privemal Whirl in DinoLand U.S.A. we passed off our books for a Wilderness Explorer sticker at the station on our way out of the park.

I actually enjoyed the early closing of the park. Many of the other Disney parks are open until 10 or 11 p.m. while Animal Kingdom closes at 5:30. We had a great day, but didn’t overdo it. Sam took the kids back to the Airstream while my sister and I park hopped over to Magic Kingdom for some girl time.

Many people told us Animal Kingdom was only a “half day” park, but we easily spent all day there. A few of the major attractions were closed (Maharajah Jungle Trek, Flights of Wonder, and Kali River Rapids) which was great as we didn’t have time to do them anyway!

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Sponsored post :: We were provided with (2) complimentary 1 day park hopper passes to DisneyWorld in exchange for us sharing our honest opinion and experience with you. All opinions are our own. We really loved this experience and would highly recommend it to our friends and family!