ONE YEAR Anniversary

I let it slip by!  We have been sleeping in the Hideout for over a year!  Holy cow - time flies when you are living the life!  It's hard to properly reflect on the whole year when we are having so much fun at the moment, but as I mentioned Medicine Lodge Archaeological Site left us in an introspective sort of mood.  I shared the grand views of that location in a previous blog, but we also noticed the little things, like the fragrant wild roses and the snake in the grass...

Making these observations with the kids is such a unique experience.  They are growing so much - they are exposed to new experiences every day and I can see them making connections.  Brother is keeping the cutest journal of his experiences.  They love rocks and sticks.  They love throwing rocks in rivers.  What a childhood!

So...was it worth it?  You know the answer - yes!  We get to go on adventures for 12 weeks straight over the summer and we can also do mini trips during the school year.  Now that we are more comfortable with driving our rig and this lifestyle it will be easier to build in mini trips during the year.  Eventually we still want to be location independent and see this whole continent.

What would we change?  We have some planned upgrades to our solar system to better accommodate boondocking - because that is really where the fun is.  We are learning how to conserve water even more, we are learning how to live on solar power more efficiently.  The kids are very aware of our systems and even Sister asks before she flips and light switch or runs water!  We are a team, the kids help set up and pack up to travel.  They prefer to stay in a place longer and in future trips we not cover such a distance in order to spend more time at each place.  We learned that WY is MUCH cheaper than CA on every level and that we can save lots of money when we dry camp and/or boondock - which is always an adventure. 

Above all this experience is about growing together, being together and learning together.  In a couple of days we will meet up with our extended family and will be spending four weeks together.  That is another exciting part of this life.  We are really looking forward to spending quality time with grandparents, parents, aunts/uncles, siblings, nieces & nephews.  We've only taken week trips back since the kids were born - this is so much more substantial and we are very excited.

I can't believe a year has passed, but I am so grateful for this year.  It is one to remember, to document and to cherish.