Miller's Motor Home Adventure

It’s hard to believe we’ve been on the road for a month already! We’ve had quite the whirlwind of taking in our incredible National Parks, Monuments, Memorials and even a National Lakeshore as we head to the east coast for the fall. I was planning on having a post for every couple of parks but due to our crazy schedule and lack of internet access while traveling you get them all in one big bite! So, here are some highlights the kids want to share about from every place we visited.

Glacier National Park, Montana:

 

 

 

Lydia: When I was reading about the park I found an interesting fact. It was about big horn sheep. Once I read it, and learned about big horn sheep more, I decided it was my new favorite animal. (That also happened at a different National park about ferrets but I’m not talking about that park.) Well back to what I read about the big horn sheep. I read that the Rams can run up to 20 miles per hour to fight during rutting season. Isn’t that so amazing!?!? Well I find it fascinating! 20 miles per hour…WOW!!!

Craters of the Moon National Monument, Idaho:

 

 

 

Asher: I really liked the caves at Craters of the Moon. The caves were made out of lava. We call them Lava Tubes. When the lava came out of the ground it cooled on the outside but the lava still flowed through the open part. Then, when all the lava was dry it made a cave!!!! It was fun exploring inside the caves!!!!!!!!!! There were a lot of wasps in the cave. I think that’s cool because I love wasps! Don’t be worried about it. Just don’t bother them and stay as far away as you can from them. But you’re okay once it gets more into the dark because they don’t like dark and cold. If you go to Craters of the Moon or other caves can you respond back and tell me more about them?!

 

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming:

 

Eva: My favorite part of Yellowstone are the geysers. I can tell you how the geysers work. You’re a little drop of water with a smiley face on it. Then it goes through tight rocks. And then it gets hot from the hot lava underground. (The hot lava came from Craters of the Moon.) And then it gets stuck by a bunch of bubbles. Then bubbles get stuck at the bottom. And then, since it’s so strong, it pushes it out and makes the geysers spray. Also, for the colors, the blue is the hottest, the red is the coldest, and the yellow is half hot and half cold. I think everything is awesome and amazing at Yellowstone (and also Craters of the Moon)!

Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming:

 

Caleb: The Grand Teton is the tallest mountain in the Teton range. There are a few other mountains in the range too, but I’m going to be talking about the Grand Teton. The elevation of it is 13,770 feet. It took 5,000 earthquakes to create it. The average growth per year is .003 feet so it’s still growing. We were at some pretty good views of the Grand Teton. Once we even saw it when the sun was going down right behind it. The reason I wanted to talk about it is it looked really cool and different from all the rest! The other ones are more roundish at the top but the Grand Teton is more pointy than the rest.

We also went to this General Store. It was called Menor’s Ferry General Store. It was showing how people lived in the olden days and there’s actually a little shop inside you can buy stuff from like little candies and souvenirs and other things. It was a fun little place to be in!

Devils Tower National Monument, Wyoming:

 

Lydia: Did you know that thousands of people climb Devils Tower every year? Also, the youngest person to climb the tower was 6 years old! The oldest person who climbed Devils Tower was in their 80’s! Do you think you could climb it? Well, if you think you can, why don’t you try?! And if you don’t, just visit it. It’s super cool!

 

 

Mount Rushmore National Memorial, South Dakota:

 

Eva: I learned who the first president was…George Washington. I learned how my state got named after the first president, George Washington. I thought seeing the presidents faces was awesome! It’s just like 4 dogs in a row but 4 faces in a row!

In the visitor’s center I really liked the T.V. On it I could pretend I could blow up the mountain just like they did. It was SO awesome and fun!!

 

Crazy Horse Memorial, South Dakota:

 

Eva: Crazy Horse is so awesome! The man is Native American and his name is Crazy Horse and the horse’s name is Crazy. They’re making it so awesome! It’s just like one chunk of peanut butter in a row but it’s actually a person connected to a horse! Come see Crazy Horse!

 

 

Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota:

 

Caleb: The Wind Cave is 7th longest cave in the world. Right now they think they’ve only discovered 10% of the cave. The whole thing is about 148 miles long. That includes its 3 levels and all its shoot-offs. The lowest part from the earth’s surface is about 550 feet deep. We went on the Natural Entrance Tour which is on the second “floor” of the cave. The lowest part we were at was 250 feet deep. Throughout the whole cave it is about 58 degrees always.

Wind Cave is different than most other caves because of it’s boxwork. Boxwork is rare to find any where else because the Wind Cave has 95% of all of boxwork in the world.

What I really liked was seeing all the frostwork on the cave popcorn at the beginning of the tour. Someday I want to go back to Wind Cave because of how cool and exciting it would be to explore other parts of the cave!

Badlands National Park, South Dakota:

 

Asher: Do you know how the Badlands got named? If you don’t, I’ll tell you. In the old times, the Pioneers had these wagons and they tried to get through the Badlands but since they were so bumpy they almost couldn’t make it through. Also, it was hard to grow stuff there because the ground wasn’t good for growing food.

Don’t get too close to the prairie dogs like some other people did. It almost looked like they were going to get hurt. Come and visit the Badlands. It’s really cool!!!!!!!!!!

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan:

 

Caleb: When we were at Pictured Rocks it was my 12th birthday. We had a lot of fun! Most of the time we were just swimming in Lake Superior and building sand castles. Lake Superior is the largest fresh water lake in the world. It holds 10% of all the world’s fresh water. Lake Superior can hold all the other Great Lakes and still have room for 3 more lakes the size of Lake Eerie.

We went to this Log Slide which was a huge sand dune. A long time ago, they slid the logs down to the water on the sand dunes so they could load them on boats and take them across the water. We went down the Log Slide. It was pretty steep going down so it didn’t take us long to get to the bottom. We were playing down in the water for a bit. Then we went back up. Daddy timed us to get back up. My time was 6 minutes and 40 seconds, Lydia was 7:04, Daddy was 7:36, Asher was 8:40, Eva was 12:50, and Mommy was 13:24. We had a lot of fun at Pictured Rocks!

We have made it to Plainwell, MI where we will be staying with my cousin Shaunna for the Labor Day holiday weekend.  We have enjoyed our journey so far, but I am glad that we have parked the motor home for 5 days and we have the opportunity to be in one place for an extended time.  Last night Mel and I slept inside a house for the first time since we began our trip.  My Aunt Teri and Uncle Ron visited last night and we enjoyed a steak and potato dinner as a family.  So very refreshing to rest and relax after a very aggressive month of traveling.

In this post I would like to share some very general observations and thoughts about our trip so far.

Though we all are missing our friends, family and our old lifestyle back home, we are all doing very well and adjusting to the change.  I am glad to report that no one has had a nervous breakdown, gone AWOL, or has, in any way, completely regretted our decision to embark on our road trip.

We traveled over 4,000 miles in one month, driving through 8 states while visiting 9 national parks along the way. Wow!!!  Very fun, educational, awe inspiring, and exhausting.  Our goal this month was to visit the national parks along our route while making it to the East Coast at the beginning of the fall.  Mel has been really excited to travel around New England and the East Coast during the fall to see the “Fall Foliage Colors.”  To achieve this goal we needed to travel the mileage we did this month to get there in time.  Once we make it to the East Coast we plan on slowing down our driving significantly.  In planning our trip, I estimated we would travel 15,000 – 20,000 miles in 10 months or 1,500 – 2,000 ave. miles per month.  We have covered over twice as many miles as my estimated monthly average, so I am excited to think about spending less time behind the wheel and more time exploring on foot or relaxing in the parks.   I also hope that we will have more time and better internet access to post on the blog more consistently.

This last month has felt very much like summer vacation- Staying up late, no school, and no routine.  Now that the “school year” has begun I am hoping we will establish a much more regimented traveling life style.  Hopefully a consistent bedtime, a “school time” routine, and a more predictable daily lifestyle with less driving.  Traveling like this reminds me of my longing to have long periods of quiet time to myself to think, reflect, and write.  As a natural introvert, I seek time alone to recharge.  This last mouth I have had little of that and much less than I am normally accustomed to.  I did realize going into this trip that this would be one of my challenges to overcome.  I am sure I will continue to struggle with my desire for more alone time.  I will make an effort to keep you all informed with how well (or not) I am handling this desire.

Last month we only stayed with friends and family for 4 nights out of 31.  This was mostly because we have been aggressively covering ground and have not stayed in one place very long.  Also, because of our desire to see the national parks (13 nights in the parks out of 31), visiting with friends and relatives has not been a focus this month.  As we begin our travels down the East Coast we expect to spend more time with those we know.  I hope this will help us to feel more connected as we continue our journey.

As Mel and I planned our trip, we decided that visiting all the 48 lower states was NOT our top priority, and that driving past some states for the sake of traveling where we wanted to most, was of highest value.  In keeping with this priority, we have driven passed N. Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa and Illinois without touching foot or wheel within these state’s borders.  We hope to visit as many states as we can, but again, this is not our top priority.

 

We began our journey on Aug. 1st and now it is Sept. 1st.  This could mean only one thing to a business owner who loves analyzing numbers (Josh): It is time for the monthly report!!!  This may not sound that exciting to any of you reading this, but I have been looking forward to this blog post for over a week now.  As a hobby of mine on this trip, I have been keeping track of all our expenses, gasoline uses, mileage, etc. on an excel spreadsheet.  The report below is a summary of my hobby.  I hope at least one or two people in the world might appreciate the fruits of my spreadsheets as much as I do.

Monthly Report for August 2018
General Summary:
States Visited:		8
(Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, S. Dekota,
Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan)
National Parks Visited:		9
(Glacier, Craters of the Moon, Yellowstone, Grand Teton,
Devil’s Tower, Mt. Rushmore, Windcaves, Badlands,
Pictured Rocks)
Distance and Gasoline:
Miles travelled:		4,148 Miles
Gallons of gas used:		574 Gallons
Cost of gasoline:		$1,839
Average cost per gallon:		$3.06
Average miles per gallon:		7.2 MPG
Where we slept:		# of nights:
National parks:		13
With friends or family:		4
Camp grounds (non-national parks):		9
Rest stops along the highway:		3
Walmart parking lots:		2
		31
Expenses:
Food:		$1,369
Gas:		$1,839
Camping:		$488
Eating out:		$186
Attractions:		$72
Laundry:		$33
Propoane:		$27
Parts:		$58
Non-Catogorized:		$761
Total Monthly Expenses:		$4,833
Work outs (Josh)		# of Miles:
Biking:		138
Jogging:		15

As we started our trip, I told Mel that I wanted the theme of our trip to be “God is good and wise, and his goodness and wisdom can be trusted.”  I explained my reasonings to her and she asked me if I would publish it on our blog.  I told her I would, but that I would need to think it through and take some time in writing it.  My thoughts about this post have been long and what follows is something I am grateful to share with you all.

First, I must begin by saying that I am very ordinary in terms of my knowledge and connection with God.  My favorite quote about knowing God is from Zig Ziglar who says, “There are three things I know about God;  1.) There is a God.  2.) It ain’t me.  3.) It ain’t you neither.”  With that as the back drop for the depth of my spiritual wisdom I can continue.

My most profound “spiritual experience” happened when I was 17 years old.  After years of depression, drug addition, drug dealing, trouble with the law, state mandated drug therapy, running away from home, being kicked out of my house, an MIP, my driver’s licence being suspended (I could go on and on), I hit the rock bottom of my life.  I was desperate to find a better way to live my life and I had nothing to lose when I attended a church youth group after being invited by someone I hardly knew.

That became a turning point in my life.  My “spiritual experience” was nothing more than me choosing to live life in a different way and God (somehow) helping me to change.  I saw no angels singing, no clouds parting, no voices from the heavens.  The experience was simple- a choice to move in a new direction.  Nothing more, nothing less.  I will never know how much of that choice came from my longing to escape my miserable life, and how much of it came from the unseen power of God.  All I know is that I changed that day.  That choice was the greatest miracle and proof of God’s existence that I have every experienced in my life.

That was 20 years ago.  Much has happened since then.  You might now be wondering what goodness and wisdom has to do with all this.  I will get to that soon enough, but first I must talk about love.

After my “conversion” (as it is labeled by popular christian vocabulary), my life went in a totally different direction.  I gave up all drug abuse, began developing healthy friendships with people who didn’t do drugs, began volunteering to help the homeless, traveled to other countries on “mission trips,” took leadership positions in the church (again, I could go on and on).  On the outside it would have appeared that I was a totally different person and that I was completely 100% changed.  But there was still something not quite right for me.

My biggest struggles in life has stemmed from the way I feel about myself.  Without going into great detail, for as long as I can remember, I have struggled with feelings of abandonment, feeling unimportant, worthless and feeling unlovable.  As I began spending more and more time at church, these feelings did not go away as I had assumed they might.  Even my new church going friends were confident to explain to me how “God loves you” and that “God is love”.  When I feel unlovable, unworthy of being loved, I can only believe that something is terribly wrong with me if God loves me yet I do not feel lovable or loved.

Did I mention that my spiritual conversion happened 20 years ago.  That is 20 years of going to church, watching all my happy, smiling, church going friends talk about the wonderful fulfilling love they feel from God, that I am somehow unable to access.  I did everything in my power to feel God’s love for me.  I read the Bible more, I prayed more, I become close friends with Pastors and leaders in the church, I served on the church elder board for 7 years.  Every attempt to feel God’s love in my life only brought a deeper degree of frustration into my life.

Then, 4 years ago, my inner-spiritual turmoil collided with outer-life tragedy, and I was unable to hold things together any longer.  I was already feeling overwhelmed trying to parent 4 young children ages 8 and under, running my small business and struggling to make time for myself and my marriage.  My life felt unmanageable, and out of my control.  About that time, Mel was becoming more and more involved with her passions for theater and compassionate ministries and my feelings of abandonment and loneliness were reaching all time heights.

In the midst of all of this, the unimaginable happened.  At age 18, my cousin, who lived only 30 minutes away from us, took her life.  (I have cried for her the last two days as I have been reflecting on writing this post).  The tragedy was surprising and unexpected, and though I was not particularly close to her (we were 15 years apart in age) the event effected me much more then I would have ever imagined.

My feeling of abandonment took hold of my life in a new way and even a feeling of betrayal began to form against “the God of love.”  I felt overwhelmed with my life.  I was struggling with feeling unworthiness and abandonment.  I was feeling anger towards God for allowing such an unacceptable situation to take place.  The God of love, who was suppose to comfort me, take care of me, protect me.  Where was he now? The event wrecked me and I spiraled into depression, anger, bitterness and hatred.

“Wait a minute,” I thought to myself.  “I am on the church leadership board.  I am friends with the Pastor.  I am supposed to be a role model and an example for those who have not yet ‘found God’.”  My current social status, and the expectations I assumed were on my life made my situation all the more difficult, and all the more painful.  I was ashamed of myself, ashamed of my feelings towards myself and of my anger towards God.  Once again, my life was nothing like the way I wanted it to be, nor was it anything like what I expected it should be.

It was much like swimming through a thick sea of unending mud.  Often times, I felt so tired from swimming through this mud that I believed that giving up to drown in it would bring me more peace than my struggling to stay afloat.  At times, I became so sick of the filth that my life had become that I did not want it any longer.  Sometimes, I believed there was no other way of getting out.

After much personal therapy and marital counseling over the past few years I have begun to work through my emotions of abandonment and unlovability.  Today, though my life is still muddy, I am learning to better accept this mud as my playground.  Through the passage of time, therapy and partnership with others,  I am learning to better accept the way things are.  I am happier with myself and my life, the way it is.  I do not feel the way I want to feel, nor do I feel the way I think someone with a “healthy Christian” life should feel.  After 20 years of seeking God, I still have not found the feeling I’ve been searching for.  The feeling of being loved by God.

This has lead me to wonder if I have been searching for the wrong thing all along.  All these years I have struggled to feel the love of God.  My friends seem to be able to feel it, so why can’t I?  Perhaps this is the wrong question.  Perhaps my focus of feeling the love of God has been the wrong focus.  These questions have begun to lead me in a different direction.  A direction to seek God, not for the way I want Him to make me feel, but to discover something about who He is.  To believe in God differently than I have before.

The greatest miracles in my life have come from making simple choices.  Just like 20 years ago, it is hard to say how much those choices have come from my longing to escape my miserable life, and how much of them came from the unseen power of God.  Once again, I am making a simple choice.  A choice to believe two things about God: that He is Good and Wise.  That might not sound like much considering that He is GOD.  But as basic and simple as this choice is, it is a step of faith for me right now.  To believe that “God is good and wise and His goodness and wisdom can be trusted.”

I do not know where my life will go, where it will take me or how I will find God involved with it.  It is my goal, though, to believe that regardless of how I feel, God is good and wise.  This has become the theme of our trip and I hope that I will be able to fully embrace this truth while helping my family to explore this truth as well.

 

Despite the challenges we are adjusting to which we wrote about in previous blog posts, I want to assure all you reading this that our trip is a dream come true and that the majority of the emotions I am experiencing are warm, fun, and positive.  One of the Miller family traditions is to ask each other what our favorite part of the day is at dinner time each night.  It provides a way for us to focus on the positive happenings of the day and encourages conversation around the dinner table.  I hope this post will be a “favorite parts of the trip” conversation.

1.) Risk, Adventure, Exploration & Travel.  I (Josh) was born with the mind and spirit of an entrepreneur.  This trip is stimulating that spirit within me.  For the last 14 years, I have focused on developing my business (Wire Craft Electric) into a company that would be able to operate profitably without me.  Often, a man’s dream is only partially realized on his own and then he must operate in faith, to realize the remainder.  This is my situation.  If I had all the power and control over my life and my circumstances I would have left home for this trip after my business was larger and more profitable than it is currently right now.  The next statement I will make may sound strange, but I believe I am enjoying myself more on my trip now because my business is not fully where I wish it to be.  There are several reasons for this that I will attempt to unpack.  First, and most significantly, I am needing to trust more fully in the goodness and wisdom of God than I would otherwise need to if my business was larger and more profitable.  There is an element of risk and adventure in this that stimulates the entrepreneur in me.  My dream since before I started my business was for my company to operate profitably without me.  This trip will be my first major test to see how good of an entrepreneur I really am.  My situation requires me to trust my employees to a greater degree than I ever have before.  This trip is requiring me to be less self-reliant, and trust others and God in a way I never have before.  Ultimately, I am pushing the limits of what I have been capable of doing on my own to this point in life, and am learning and growing through this experience.  And it is my belief that learning and growing are some of the most vital ingredients to experience a healthy, fulfilling life.  This is my current experience.

2.) Riding my bike.  When I was 15 years old I worked a summer for my Aunt, saved up all my earnings, and purchased a dark maroon Cannondale brand mountain bike.  I lived in the hills of Issaquah and I rode that bike everywhere I went.  It has been a passion of mine to ride and explore the world to this day with that same bike.  22 years now I have owned that bike.  It is now strapped to the back of my motor home in the company of the other 5 bikes my family has brought with us.  On this trip, I have had the privilege of riding my bike through the scenic country sides of Glacier, Craters of the Moon, Grand Teton, and the Wind Caves.  For this I am grateful.

3.)  My Family.  One of the primary reasons I went on this trip is because of my family.  Even the tagline of our blog “Kids may be the best reason of all to seek adventure” suggests this.  Two things I would like to highlight about my family here.

A.) I am naturally most comfortable in life when I am in control, when I have a plan for my life and that plan is being executed exactly the way I expected it to be.  Painfully, I have learned over the years that life never follows my plans the way I plan them.  Fortunately I was attracted to, and married a woman who is gifted with being flexible in most any situation and can be carefree and have fun, regardless of the stresses surrounding her.  In past years, our differences (planned and predictable vs. flexible and spontaneous) have resulted in much stress and strain in our relationship.  Recently, including professional counseling, we have focused on learning to work together in our differences instead of against one another.  The fruit of our relational work is showing itself clearly to me on this trip so far.  In the past, I would have experienced stress and frustration on any given day that I didn’t have a plan for exactly how every thing would run and if the day was not running according to that plan.  We do have an outlined plan for our trip, but I am resisting the temptation to plan every minute of the trip.  I am learning to feel the freedom to be more flexible just because I am with Mel.  She feels no stress in the situation- neither must I.  It is as if I can borrow her strengths, when my strengths do not suit me in a given situation.  I can simply look at her face, know that she feels no stress in the situation, and enjoy the moment more fully than I would otherwise be able to on my own.  This experience has been a great joy for me.

B.) Morning cuddle time.  On the days when I am not waking up early to experience an epic bike ride through the beauties of America’s National Parks, I am finding myself woken up with squirming children in my bed.  Mel and I share a queen sized bed in the back of our motor home and all 4 children sleep in beds in the front of our motor home.  In the mornings, one or more of our children wake up before the rest, climb into our bed and squeeze in between Mel and I.  Back home I can rarely remember this phenomenon taking place.  Be it because of the small space, the increase in free time or the new bonds we are creating as a family, this is now becoming a daily experience.  For those who are familiar with the 5 love languages, one of my primary love languages is physical touch.  I deeply enjoy close physical contact, evident in my passion for wrestling and Jiu-jitsu.  Experiencing more close physical contact with my children stimulates my feeling of love with them.  This is a highlight for me.

I could continue on with this post, but I have been writing for well over an hour now and am now getting hungry and need to help Mel with the children.  We just made it to the Badlands last night and we have two full days here to enjoy it.  I’m sure I will continue to write blog posts like this.  Please continue reading.  It helps me feel connected to the one I love and the ones I could not bring with me.  All my love.   Josh

For all you who are tired of reading a bunch of sappy posts from us, and are crying out for us to “show you the beef”.  Here are some of the best pictures we have taken on our trip so far.  The following pictures are from Glacier, Craters of the Moon, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Devil’s Tower.

 

 

Josh beat me to posting our emotional process. I began working on this post one week into our trip but due to the area we were in, I couldn’t continue until now. My competitive nature told him I needed to post mine first. I cried before him! It’s silly, but there it is. Anyway…

We are now over two weeks into our journey. While it’s good to be on this adventure that we feel God has called us out on (and we are already learning so much!) I (Mel) have been surprised by the emotions that came over me the minute we drove away. I never expected to feel a deep sense of sadness and loneliness. It made sense to cry when we left as we said good-bye to our loved ones but to continue to cry, actually, sob, even now has caught me off guard. I’ve been wrestling and struggling with it. It’s been wonderful exploring together and having this focused family time but I miss my family, my friends, and my community.

Eva saw me crying and asked why I was so sad. I told her I missed my friends and family. She said I didn’t need to be sad because we had their pictures up in our motor home. I could just look at them and not miss them. I gave her a hug and thanked her. I didn’t tell her it’s not the same. I’m so glad we have pictures up but I miss talking to everyone. I miss seeing them all. I miss hugging them and just being with them.

I met a woman at the first campground we stayed at who had a “Fulltime Families” t-shirt on. I recognized the name from the Facebook group I was told about and joined before we left. It’s a group for nomadic families who have made traveling around a full-time lifestyle. I mentioned I was part of the Facebook group and she told me there was actually a membership we could be a part of. She said it’s a way for them to have community while traveling. Twice a year they plan a big meet-up somewhere in the country. They’ve made friends they run into here and there and even travel with another family now. Her comments had me reflecting on community ever since.

I’ve always believed we were made for community. The emotional process I’ve been going through has only confirmed that belief. We’re not meant to live this life alone. We need our villages, our tribes, to help us raise our kids, to try out different ideas on, to share our food with, to encourage and cry with in hard times, to laugh together. Even the kids sense this. They have cried over missing friends and wish they could play with them.

We have truly been blessed with such an amazing community. From our best friends and their 4 kids who have lived with us for 5 years now, to our families close by, to our school community and neighborhood, to our church community, we live in a wonderful place with wonderful people all around us.

My time as a volunteer Child Ambassador with World Vision has given me the opportunity to visit and learn about other communities and cultures around the world. My two trips to Africa have shown me how important community truly is. Even in the midst of extreme poverty, they have each other. The Ugandan people have even been named the happiest people in the world in spite of their poverty. I’ve reflected many times on how over resourced we are in the US and yet we have a deficit in community in our culture. The bigger our homes, the more technology we have, the more independence and self-reliability we think we have the more isolated we become, not just from our community but from our very own families that we live with. With isolation comes loneliness, depression, addiction, and more. I don’t claim to be any kind of expert but I have witnessed this many times and experienced it some. We have much to learn from other cultures and people.

I have reflected more on those who have been driven from their homes; refugees from Syria, Iraq, South Sudan, the DRC, and other war torn countries. How horrible and devastating to not only be forcibly pushed out from your homeland but to also be separated from your loved ones never to know if you will ever see them again. The leaving of our community is nothing compared to what they are going through, but it does give me more empathy for what anyone who has had to leave their home, family, and community must be feeling.

So, this adventure comes with a variety of emotions, reflections, and processes already. As I mentioned before, I’m glad to be on this 10 month journey, but I don’t believe this is for us as a full-time life-style. I need my people, we need our people. I truly can’t wait until I get to hug everyone again. When that time comes, expect lots of tears from me. But that time it will be tears of joy to finally be with them again.

 

Anyone would assume that leaving the 9 to 5 for 10 months is a dream come true.  No more waking up early every morning to fight the nations worst traffic (Seattle).  No more dealing with difficult customers and fighting the stresses living in the  big city.  An escape into the most beautiful land our country has to offer.  Over the last 12 days, we have been amazed at the wonders of some of natures phenomenons right in our own back yard of the Pacific Northwest.  In Glacier National Park, we crossed over the Continental Divide (I didn’t even know we had a Continental Divide) twice on the same road as we shared the mountain with big horned sheep.  In Craters of the Moon, we walked through lava caves millions of years old (so they say).   In Yellowstone, we were overwhelmed with hot springs, geysers, steam vents, boiling mud, and herds of Bison that walked 5 feet from our motor home.  The Grand Teton was home to majestic  craggy mountains that stretched high into the sky. (Pictures to come in next post.)

So with all this awe, wonder and beauty, how did I (Josh) find myself laying alone in my bed a few days ago, crying to myself?  Not the type of crying you feel when you had a bad day or when your feelings get hurt a little.  No, the crying that comes from deep within your being.  A cry that is more like a whaling.  Deep sobs that sound so shameful I was embarrassed even when my wife heard me cry.  Tears that come from a place you never hope to visit, but in life, is necessary to visit as seasons change.

As I have been reflecting on my tears I have realized that adjusting to changes is a type of mourning.  Mourning for the loss of what I once had, what I have needed to give up in order to accept the season of life I now walk in.  Neither the tears nor the mourning are bad.  They are necessary.  Life is suddenly so much different.  It is good.  But my nature also requires me to go through a process of grieving as I let go of the old and take hold of the new.  It is difficult and uncomfortable but I know it is worth it.  And I would be a fool to think my grieving is over after just one session.  I’m sure I will experience other episodes of great loss and pain.  How else would I feel when I miss all the great people who are back at home?

For those who have noticed, this will be the first blog in 12 days.  Not because we forgot about all our friends and family back home, but because where we have just been, we have had no internet or cell service (a nightmare for some, I am sure).  More adjustment to change.

As we set out on our journey, I (Mel) decided to do a brief interview with each of the kids. I was not surprised at some of their answers and at others I was very surprised. I meant to get this up a few days ago, but better late than never. 🙂 This will be the first of many posts where you will get their perspective on our adventure. Enjoy!

On our way to Montana. It was fun pulling out the old car bingo cards from my childhood!

~What was the hardest part about getting ready to go and leaving?

Caleb (almost 12): Packing and getting our rooms ready. And choosing what we want to bring and save and get rid of was also hard.

Lydia (10): Packing cause there was so much stuff to put in the attic or get rid of things that might be important but we couldn’t bring on our trip. And saying goodbye to friends and family and Fluffy (our guinea pig).

Asher (7): I didn’t want to miss my friends and I didn’t want to leave.

Eva (5): That I thought that Fluffy is gonna die.

 

~What was the funnest part about getting ready to go and leaving?

C: Nothing!

L: Looking forward to going around the country.

A: Nothing!

E: That I was gonna get to swim in a pool!

 

~What are you most nervous about for his trip?

C: Dying or getting diseases or bad things that could happen to us.

L: That one of us is going to get big by a snake or drown or something like that. And that Fluffy’s gonna die.

A: That Fluffy’s gonna die.

E: That Fluffy is gonna die while we’re gone. (I’m sensing a theme here!)

 

~What are you most excited about for this trip?

C: Seeing Niagara Falls!

L: That we get to go around the country and that Bobby is my teacher. (Bobby is her nickname for me. Sometime a few years ago she started calling me Bobby instead of Mommy. Maybe she had a cold at the time and then liked it. 🙂 )

A: Meeting new friends.

E: That I’m going to swim in the swimming pools! (Can you tell she likes to swim?!)

 

~What do you want to learn about while traveling?

C: More history of America.

L: Animals in different habitats.

A: Wasps! (He currently has an obsession with bees and wasps. It started in first grade. Thanks Mrs. Pihl!)

E: I’m excited to learn how to read!

 

It’s going to be quite the adventure with these 4! ❤

 

 

 

What I (Josh) had hoped for was more unexpected than I had first imagined.  After leaving Leavenworth yesterday morning, and traveling for over an hour, the family was getting hungry for lunch.  Looking for a good view point to park at while we ate, I took our motor home (which the kids have named Advy) off-roading up a small rocky bluff.  After much excitement and doubting from Mel and the children, I made it up the bumpy hill.  We had a view from our living room window that would have cost millions back home in Seattle.

After enjoying our meal at the bluff, we moved on from there.  After two more hours of driving we stopped at an unassuming rest stop on I-90.  That is when the unexpected happened.  As the 6 of us sat on the green grass under the shade of tall trees, I made a simple statement, “There must be a game that we could play here together.”  What followed was the most epic game of duck-duck-goose I have ever played in my life.  A game I have played many times as a child.  A game I never guess I would enjoy playing ever again.  But some sort of magic took place that afternoon on the green lawn of a freeway rest stop.  I became a child again for the first time in a long while.  I got lost in the simplicity of the game, the anticipation of being a “goose”, the thrill of being chased and being chosen.  I lost myself and connected with my family in a way I hoped would happen, in a way I never dreamed of.  Spontaneous serendipity describes it best.  I can hardly believe that sharing life together in this way has already started happening just two days into our trip.  My prayer is that this is only the beginning of the magic we will share together this year.