Live Lightly Tour

After sending my parents back to Des Moines, we headed straight up to Mick and Emily’s house. I have been a reader of Emily’s fabulous blog and was so excited to finally meet her in person! You know how there are some people in your life with whom you just “click” with? Well…Emily is one of those people for me. We share so many of the same passions and she is just an all around beautiful person. Emily and her family are from Australia, so you can’t help but smile whenever she is talking to you. Especially when she is referring to the “rubbish” (trash) . She is also an amazing artist…and her creative spirit comes through in everything that she does. If you are in the scrapbooking world, you may recognize her…she is a contributor to many publications/websites also does workshops and such. Be sure to check out the photo album to see a fews pics of her stuff. It’s inspiring! I’ve never really wanted to be a scrapbooker until I met Em But she’s so much more than a scrapbook extraordinarie…she teaches people how to integrate art into their daily life…and that’s what everyone truly needs! Oh, and do be sure to check out her most recent photos of Italy on her blog…they are breathtaking!

The night that we arrived, we had a lovely picnic in a park near their house. The girls ran free while we enjoyed a HUGE green salad and fruit. We enjoyed chatting about the tour and about where the road is leading for them as well. The next evening, we had dinner at their friend’s house. The kids played in the back on the GIGANTIC slide/swingset thingy. We ended up leaving the men so that the “big” girls could go have a pedicure! Yay!

Mick and Emily’s home is decorated in such a fun manner…a little bohemian, a little funk. I LOVE it. I could have stayed and stayed…just to enjoy the atmosphere. They have a lovely little patio in the back…just off the light-filled kitchen. We had a great time chatting and hanging out back there…watching the kids play and create. Being in her home ALMOST made me wish that I was back in a non-moving house again! Another fun fact…one of Emily’s best friends is Tara Whitney…one of my very favorite photographers! I had fun peeking around Em’s house at beautiful images Tara had taken. Hopefully next time we get back to the San Diego/L.A. area I’ll get to meet Tara too! Someday I might even go to Thailand with BOTH of them. Now wouldn’t that be crazy? I better start saving my pennies now…Thailand is my dream trip!!

And of course, it was great being around another dready mama. Em’s dreads are long and beautiful…and they suit her perfectly. She was actually my inspiration to go blonde recently. We had fun tying our hair up and inspecting each other’s knots

And the last bit of fun stuff…Emily has a little side business on Etsy. She creates the most fun and funky camera straps I’ve ever seen. I was soooooo excited when she said she would make me one. Yippeeee! And for all of you photographers out there…Emily gave me one of my favorite straps to GIVE AWAY on my blog. SO…jump on over to this post at Walk Slowly, Live Wildly to enter yourself in the giveaway. And tell all of your friends about her crazy straps. Who wants a boring ‘ol factory strap when you can have one made with love by Emily!? She is constantly updating and posting new and different designs, so be sure to check back often.

One thing is for sure…it was too short of a visit! We will definitely be back to spend more time with the Falconbridge family…we miss them already!

Photos of all the fun here.

This was the first time we had taken on “hitchhikers” during the tour . Hitchhikers named Mom and Dad, that is! Having them ride in the RV with us was such a treat…it was so fun to share that experience with them and see the beauty of the southwest together. The sand dunes and mountains…wow! I had no idea how much the landscape changed in such a short distance. We arrived in San Diego around supper time and headed to our campground. After quickly getting settled, we jumped back into the car and jetted just a few minutes down the road to La Jolla Cove. We found parking and as we walked toward the water…and we were overwhelmed with the beauty of the sunset and the power of the ocean’s waves crashing just below us. It was so quiet except for the sound of the water. I could have stayed there all night…but we decided to venture up the sidewalk and check out the shops and restaurants. La Jolla is such a neat area, with a diverse mixture of people roaming the streets.

The next day, we left early and headed to Pacific Beach and Mission Beach. After seeing the ocean in San Diego…I immediately fell in love with the West Coast. The ocean is soooo different than the east coast…definitely more my style (bigger waves and a bit warmer!). We had so much fun just hanging out on the boardwalk for hours. The people watching could have kept us occupied for days…the surfers, the bikers, the skaters, the vacationers, the volleyball players. It’s so sunny, and everyone is so happy to be out in that sunshine. There is definitely a mix of people here as well…as you can see from the real estate. There are “surf shacks” with run down exteriors and surfboards and wetsuits lined up in a row next to huge, luxurious homes. Someday, we want to come back with our entire family and rent a condo on the boardwalk so we really CAN sit for days watching the people go by .

Being in a larger city, I just had to see if they had a raw restaurant…and they did! Cilantro Live! was located not too far from where we were (although nothing is too far in San Diego!)…so we headed there for some lunch. We had a great time trying out all different kinds of raw foods, including desserts! You can read more about what we had on my food blog, Happy Foody. If you have never been to a raw food restaurant…seek one out the next time you are in a larger metropolitan area. They are definitely a fun culinary experience, whether or not you eat a raw diet.

The Point Loma Tide Pools were next on our list. We ended up spending a good chunk of our day here because the ocean was just so captivating! There were crabs to chase, surfers to watch, and apparently there are whales, but we didn’t see any. There are also octopus, sea anemone, sculpin, starfish, lobster and abalone! A little tide pool ecosystem to explore. Everyone kind of did their own thing…mom and I sat and talked, Dad explored off on his own, and Matt and Bella had fun finding sea creatures. It felt so preserved there…like you were at the end of the world. Loved it.

We were all getting hungry and so decided to drive over to Coronado Island to grab a bite to eat. We settled on sushi and were able to get a seat on the ocean-front patio! What fun! After that, we walked up and down the beach…checking out the famous Hotel del Coronado and all of the busyness around it. There was a big dinner event in the works (right on the beach) and it was fun to peek in on that. Bella fell asleep in the sling…so we kept walking and went to find some coffee to sip while we watched the sunset. The light and surroundings were so ethereal and peaceful…it was hard to pull ourselves away!

The next day, we headed to Shelter Island to see the parade of Naval Ships coming into the harbor. And after that, we spent most of the day in and around Seaport Village…taking in the sights and watching the Red Bull Air Race. Wow! Talk about amazing! There were people EVERYWHERE trying to get a glimpse of the airplanes in action. The little area around the bay was packed. We had lunch in the village, Bella got a Little Mermaid painting on her arm by the resident face paint artist and then wandered out to watch the start of the races. Those little airplanes can sure get your heart racing! We wandered down to the Gaslamp District and then headed back the La Jolla “Children’s Beach” to see the seals.

The beaches at La Jolla are these cute little things…with cool rocks lining them. We spent a lot of time playing in the sand and watching the skimboarders. The colors of the flowers were so vibrant against the sandy rocks and the blue water. True bliss. Aaaaah. It’s moments like those that I truly remember how blessed we are to be able to see all of these sights as a family. Be sure to click on the photo above and look at it enlarged…it’s like a “Where’s Waldo” photo. Can you find my Dad!? We decided we liked the La Jolla area too much to leave, so we found a cute little restaurant near the water so we could eat, relax, and decompress from our busy day! After that, we made one last trip to Cilantro for dessert…and then called it a night.

Back at the RV park, we all went hot tubbing and then crashed! We crammed a lot of things into just a few days…but it was so worth it. The next morning, we loaded up the RV and took mom and dad to the San Diego airport. It was, of course, hard to say goodbye after being with them for so long. We always have such an amazing time when we’re together. We waved goodbye to them sadly, but were excited…knowing that more life-changing adventures were awaiting us.

In our previous life, we worked for my parents…they own 8 Cold Stone Creamery ice cream franchises in the Midwest. Cold Stone is headquartered in Scottsdale, so we have been there many, many times in the past for business meetings and other such nonsense So as we rolled into town, it was all very familiar. And that is a VERY good feeling to have. It was about to get even more familiar…because my parents were flying in from Des Moines for Cold Stone meetings and we aligned our schedules so we could all be there at the same time, and have 4 days of relaxing before the meetings began!

We picked them up, right on schedule and headed to our hotel in Scottsdale. We had a 2BR suite with a kitchen…so we parked the RV in the hotel parking lot, and moved in with my parents for a week! It was weird to leave our house behind, but we thoroughly enjoyed all the amenities the hotel offered! And when we opened the door…my little brother Daniel was there too! He had flown in from Denver for a few days and it was so fun to have him take part in the festivities. Bella adores him, as you can see in the photos!

We spent the bulk of every day laying around the pool and swimming. The weather cooperated very nicely…it was in the 90’s the entire time we were there. Aaaaaaahhhhh…. The hotel was in a really nice retail/restaurant area, so we all went out to eat several times. We rode the trolly to Old Town, went out for Thai food, coffee, and saw some amazing art! I also made them several raw meals throughout our time there. My mom was pretty much eating all raw for the entire time…I was so proud of her! Bella was able to have a SECOND birthday party with Nana and Papa too…we strung up streamers and balloons in the hotel and surprised her with it when she woke up. She got a Razor scooter and a new princess dress. So much fun!

While we were there, we had a demo at the Kahala/Cold Stone Creamery headquarters, in conjunction with the kick-off of their “green initiative”. They had just written an article about us for their internal magazine…so it aligned perfectly with our visit. We started off the day with an EARLY morning (5:00 a.m.!) live interview with KNXV-15. We’ve done a lot of interviews…but none of them have been live. Now that’s nerve wracking! You can see the media clip here. We had a great time chatting with everyone that came out…including many of the Cold Stone employees who we had done our initial training with back in 2004, etc. My parents had several days of meetings after that, and during that time we took care of two adorable little girls (one who is Bella’s age) who belong to some old Cold Stone friends of ours. They had a great time tearing up the hotel room and swimming, swimming, swimming. They also took a special liking to the hotel luggage carriers!

The highlight of our visit was when my dad realized that they had only booked one way tickets to Phoenix, and had no tickets to get home! So of course, I said, “COME TO SAN DIEGO!!” So they did. The next day, we all packed into the RV and headed off across Arizona and Southern California…to have more 4 more days of adventures together. I’m so glad my family is just as spontaneous as we are!

Photo album here.

Matt said that he was going to pull over to stretch his legs at the rest area…so as I sometimes do, I grabbed my yoga mat and went out for a little stretch while he and Bella played for a bit. I did a few sun salutations next to the RV…and just as I was going into downward dog, I hear a voice behind me…

“Live Lightly, huh? It better not run on gas if you’re going to do that!”

A young man had walked over to the RV…and apparently hadn’t taken the time to read the entire tag line about running on veggie oil We started talking and I found out that he was a traveler as well, and very interested in all things “eco”. When he found out we were headed west, he implored us to stop at San Solomon Springs at Balmorhea State Park. He said that we’d be making a big mistake if we didn’t at least stop to see it. He lived just south of Balmorhea…so I figured he knew what he was talking about! We took his advice and decided to spend the morning checking it out…and we’re so glad we did! So what exactly is San Solomon Springs?

San Solomon Springs has provided water for travelers for thousands of years. Artifacts indicate Indians used the spring extensively before white men came to the area. In 1849, the springs were called Mescalero Springs for the Mescalero Apache Indians who watered their horses along its banks. The present name was given by the first settlers, Mexican farmers who used the water for their crops and hand-dug the first irrigation canals.

Situated about four miles west of Balmorhea, Texas, the 45.9-acre Balmorhea State Park was constructed by Company 1856 of the Civilian Conservation Corps, or CCC, between 1936 and 1941. The CCC was established as a New Deal program by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Great Depression as a way to employ people that would have otherwise been out of work. Many of the state parks in Texas were developed during this time.

The 77,053 square ft San Solomon Spring is the focal point of Balmorhea State Park. From 22 to 28 million gallons of water flow through the spring-fed swimming pool each day. Other CCC structures in the park include a limestone concession building, two wooden bathhouses, an adobe superintendent residence, and San Solomon Courts, an early expression of the modern-day motel, constructed of adobe bricks. All of the CCC buildings are constructed in a Spanish Colonial style with stucco exteriors and tile roofs.

It was a sunny day like no other…one that you just HAVE to spend near water! We pulled into the park, paid the day use fee…and parked the RV. We were the only vehicle in the entire parking lot, and as we walked over to the springs, we realized that we had the pool to ourselves as well! We laid out our towels and snacks and checked out the water…it was CHILLY! But the greatest thing…is that it was FRESH. NO chemicals…chlorine, nothing. Just good ‘ol water! The sheer number of gallons that flow through it each day is incredible (see description above). We had a great time splashing, swimming, and jumping off the diving board. We met another family there who came in a bit later…they were on vacation and the dad was originally from Bozeman. Small world! They let us borrow their little floaty boat, and Bella was pleased.

We packed up and made a little lunch in the RV and then traveled onward. We drove to a little campground in western Texas and settled in for the night. There was a swimming pool there, so Bella was super excited to check it out. The next day, Matt went to talk with the owners about their grease, because they had a little cafe on site. Turns out, they did have grease. A LOT of grease. There was a 1000 gallon container of perfect oil … and it was filled nearly to the brim! We were giddy with excitement, of course, and we topped off the tank and all of our extra containers.

We headed out across the beautiful landscape of the southwest…through New Mexico and Arizona…stopping at the Camping World in Tucson to replace our broken motorized step. It was fun to see Tucson…even in passing, because it’s my birthplace! I was born at Davis Monthan Air Force Base while my mom and dad were stationed there. My dad was in pilot training for the Air Force back then (and just to brag on my dad a bit…he’s a 2-time Top Gun winning fighter pilot! Dad, you rock!).

While Matt replaced the step, Bella and I went for a walk around the parking lot and we stumbled upon the CUTEST little trailer and we just had to check it out. The owners of the trailer, Justin and Julie were from a little town outside Telluride, CO and had just trekked back to the US after many weeks in Mexico. They were making repairs on their trailer as well, so we had a little camp out right there in the parking lot and got to know them a bit better. Bella really, really wanted to move right into their cute little camper…it was just her size!

Back on the road, we realized that we were getting dangerously low on fresh water in our tank. We knew we’d be boondocking (camping without hookups) that night in the Phoenix area, so we needed to find some. After striking out numerous times, we came across a nice 55+ RV park just off the interstate and they were kind enough to let us fill up with nice cold water for free! What a blessing!

We rolled into Mesa, AZ and found a brand new Wal-mart in a nice neighborhood to park in for the night. We had one entire side of the building to ourselves…and the landscaping was so nicely done, I felt like I had my own little garden We slept hard, and awoke the next morning…ready to go pick up my parents from the Phoenix Sky Harbor airport!

Photo album here.

Unlike many of our destinations throughout the tour, San Antonio was a city that I had already visited! I spent nearly 7 weeks there while in Air Force basic training in 1998, and came down again to see my brother, Dan, graduate from basic a few years later. And AGAIN…I went down for a Pampered Chef conference in 2003. I was excited to bring Matt and Bella back there and show them the sights!

Kari, Tommy, and Paisley opened their home to us while we stayed there and acted as wonderful tour guides to their city. Paisley and Bella had a great time together…they played dress up, chased each other in high heels, painted, and watched movies. They especially loved the tree swing that Matt hung up for them in the huge front tree. Such fun!

San Antonio College was our first demo while in town. We were the focal point during their “Go Green” festival on campus. It was especially encouraging to see so many young people interested in taking steps to make our world a better place. I’m always excited when YOUNG people are being educated about the environment…we need to teach this new generation now so that they can start changing their future.

The next day, we were at the “Earth Day San Antonio” event and had a great time talking with blog readers who came out and also with random people who wandered unknowingly into the RV. It was a hot, sunny day…and we loved sitting out in the Texas sun, taking it all in. The event was part of the big Fiesta Celebration…so it was a bit crazy in town!

We also enjoyed touring the downtown area. We took the kids to a production of “Don’t Let The Pigeon Drive the Bus“, checked out The Alamo, and walked the Riverwalk (I LOVE that!). We also did a small demo at their church…and Kari even had a raw restaurant do some of the catering!! Woo hoo! We had fun meeting their friends and family at that event.

One of the fun highlights of our stay was dreading Kari’s hair! A lot of people say they love dreads and that they would love to have them….but they always have an excuse of why they can’t. Well, Kari was different. She made the decision and went for it! Kari and I stayed up LATE into the night while I coaxed her hair into knots She has beautiful hair and it looks amazing…see photos of her dready progress here.

We thoroughly enjoyed our days in WARM San Antonio…there was lots of talk about raw food, numerous green smoothies were consumed, many yummy shared dinners, and of course, sadness when we had to leave. Before we left, Kari surprised me with one of the coolest gifts ever…a necklace with a sterling silver little RV on it. It’s magnificent…check it out here. If you’ve ever seen a James Avery design, you know about the attention to detail. I just couldn’t stop looking at it! It even has a little ladder to the roof. So cute. Every time I wear it I am not only reminded of our time there with Kari, Tommy, and Paisley, but also of this journey that we’ve been on this past year and how we’ve changed so much because of it.

Photo album here.

“The road of life twists and turns and no two directions are ever the same. Yet our lessons come from the journey, not the destination.” - D. Williams Jr.

One of the most commonly asked questions on the tour has been “What are you going to do next?!”. We set out on this adventure exactly one year ago with the intention of trying out this vagabond lifestyle for the year and then reassessing our goals. We are happy to say that we’ve accomplished everything we set out to do! We traveled to faraway and delightful places, we met new friends (who will now be lifelong friends!), we educated others about sustainable living, and we spread the love of Jesus. All of that excitement has left us longing for MORE of the same! So, instead of settling down…we have decided to continue our journey indefinitely! We’ve enjoy the “mobile life” so much, that we wanted to make ourselves more permanently mobile. With that in mind, we’ve made a few changes.

The first change is that we have moved into a new home! Another home on wheels of course. We had been looking for a new RV for about 6 months, and found the perfect one for us in Burlington, WA when we were traveling through to Vancouver. It’s a little longer, a little wider, and has a few nice features that will make full-time life on the road easier. As I type this, we are in Eugene, Oregon having the veggie conversion done at Green Eye Auto. They are a fantastic company and we have been really happy with their service. If you are looking to get a veggie conversion done on the West Coast, be sure to give Clark a call! They also have an abundance of cool diesel (veggie-oil ready!) vehicles too. We’ll be headed to Bozeman, MT next to do the remodel on the inside. I’ll be doing an entire post telling (and showing photos of course) about the new RV near the end of July.

Our beloved “blue beast” has served us well…it was really hard to say goodbye to it! Moving out and saying goodbye was so bittersweet. Before I walked out for the last time, I paused to think about all of the memories made in that space…so many amazing people and intriguing conversations, the late nights spent blogging and sipping tea, delicious meals shared, and oh the sights we saw! It was a wonderful home…I was unable to hold the tears back! Bella was quick to point that out with her adorable comments. “Mommy…are those TEARS?!!?” and “Mommy…why are you sad?!”. We had some good talks about how you can be happy and sad at the very same time.

Luckily, we won’t have to say goodbye for good…the original Live Lightly Tour bus will “live on”! We have sold it to Jeff and Kim (you met them in yesterday’s post about Plano, TX) and they will be JOINING the Live Lightly Tour…starting their own adventure in early 2009. They will be doing a separate tour…doing demos around the country and using the RV as a tool to bring awareness to social issues. I asked Jeff and Kim to give me an overview of their mission and what they are all about so I could share it with you:

Hi! We’d like to introduce ourselves…we are Jeff and Kim Harrison. Our 3 yr old son Parks will also be joining us on our new adventure! Born and raised in West Monroe, Louisiana, we ventured out to Boulder, CO six years ago to live and play in one of the most beautiful places in the U.S. Living in Colorado taught us to pay even more attention to our environment then we had ever done before and we want to take that knowledge and our passions of travel and meeting new folks out on the road, spreading some Live Lightly Love!

We had the amazing opportunity to meet up with Sara, Matt, and Bella while in Plano, TX where we currently reside. We had already felt the tug of our own hearts to hit the road and set out on a tour that would mirror some of their accomplishments. When they gave us the chance to become part of the Live Lightly Tour and share many of our same passions, we realized that it was no mistake that we had crossed paths. Our dreams were now given some wings to fly!

Our goal for the this tour is to encourage people to make simple choices for both their environment and their communities. By lightening our footprint on our earth, we would like to share some ideas for people to do the same in their own lives.We in turn want to continue to educate ourselves about organic farming, gleaning, and of course hopefully enjoy some great music along the way! We also desire to shed some light on organizations across the country who are sharing their own love to help others.

There are simple things we can all do make a positive difference, and we will live purposely to share that truth.

Our plans at the present time involve getting the RV home to Plano, TX and just doing some small projects to make this very cool bus our own. We’ll be donating and selling more of our belongings with the goal of moving into the bus around August of this year. Our desires are to keep our current full-time jobs through December 2008, and with Parks still in preschool, live in a local RV park here in Plano. This will enable us to schedule our route, make contacts,be with our families during the holidays, and develop our plans to hopefully hit the road Jan 2009. We HOPE to be doing some local demo’s here in the south throughout the fall, aiming to stay in the southern region on the first full-time leg of the tour, then moving farther north throughout the spring, summer, and fall. We will most likely begin in Florida, moving our way West, through New Orleans, across Texas, and of course passing through Colorado, aiming for Portland and Seattle. We also will plan to do an East coast leg as well because Nashville,TN, New York and the Carolinas won’t be missed!

Our paths will certainly intersect with the Janssen family while we are on the road…we plan to meet up with them to celebrate the Tour of ‘09 and regain some much needed inspiration!

-Jeff, Kim, and Parks

We are so excited to welcome the Harrison family to the tour! They are a perfect fit and God has had his hand in this process from the beginning. There have been so many little details over the last couple of months that have worked out exactly how they needed to for everything to happen. Jeff will be flying into Seattle tomorrow to pick up the RV and will meet up with us in Burbank, WA so we can give him an “RV 101″ class before he drives it all the way back down to Plano, Texas.

The website will, of course, remain…but will undergo a few minor changes…adding their blog, etc. Those changes will take place over the next couple of months. Basically, The Live Lightly Tour will now have two families traveling and spreading the love instead of one. Double the fun!

As for our immediate plans…our schedule on the Route page is still accurate. Our last booked demo was in Vancouver, BC…but we will still be available for bookings in the Midwest. We will be focusing on catching up on blogs and photos from the West Coast and relaxing throughout the rest of the summer and will be with Matt’s family in Montana and Minnesota and my family in Iowa. We’ll head out to Colorado in the fall…we’ve been contacted by several different groups to speak, so if you’re out that way, watch the Route page! My sister is getting married in October in Minneapolis…and after that, our life is an open book! Another journey begins! We are planning on heading south during the winter months and then will be back to the Midwest in the summertime. We’d like to settle into a routine of 6 months traveling, 6 months parked (near family). We will continue doing demos, although the schedule will not be as intense as this year! And of course, we’ll be swinging in to say hello to all of our new friends around the country.

Thanks for hanging in there with us through all of these transitions….please bear with me as I get everything uploaded and blogged from this last leg of the tour. I hope that you’ll understand now that you know all the craziness that has been going on! To tide you over…here is the San Diego photo set that I just uploaded.

I am also excited to announce that I will be working on an eBook in the next 3-4 months that will go into greater detail about our everyday life on the road, traveling on veggie oil, and also how YOU can travel too Stay tuned!

At the last minute, we were booked to be a part of “Live Green Expo” in Plano, TX…so we headed up and parked overnight in the parking lot before the event the next day. They had a great turn out…with green companies from all over Texas being represented there. We were out in the “transportation section” in the back and had a lot of people in and out of the RV, including many blog readers who came by to introduce themselves.

After the expo, we were hosted by Jeff and Kim and their little boy, Parks. We immediately hit it off with this cute little family…we share many common interests…including a love for Jesus and his creation. We enjoyed meals together…including a particularly delicious one at a local Thai restaurant. Well, let me back up a bit. We were running precariously low on grease and had been talking to Jeff and Kim about it. So, during the expo, they just swung by a couple restaurants to check for us. Jeff called Matt and told him that he had found some…but of course, we had no idea of the quality, how much, etc. After heading over there and inspecting it, we crowned Jeff the “King of Grease Hunting”. He had hit the jackpot. We filled up completely and then some (120+ gallons!) with perfect, clean grease from the Thai restaurant he found. Yay Jeff! So, of course, to celebrate we ordered some curry, pad thai, and spring rolls and other such deliciousness and had a meal in the RV as we pumped.

The next day, we went to their church, Life in Deep Ellum, in Dallas. Kim had been working on getting us set up there for a demo for quite some time…and we were able to give a short talk during the service about our vision for stewardship and also talked about our journey so far. We had a fun open house and meal with the entire congregation and connected with so many cool folks. It’s a very young, hip church and their desire to care for God’s creation is strong! One of the ladies there who I had been in contact with before we came and she brought a big bucket that I could dump our compost “stuff” in . Thanks Kelly! We said our goodbyes to everyone and headed to Ft. Worth for another demo that afternoon.

City on a Hill is a house church organization in Ft. Worth and they invited us to come down and talk to their group about our tour. We enjoyed an afternoon of sharing, food and fun. Thank you to Beth and the crew for bringing us in!

Photo album here.

One of the things I have missed most in our travels is growing plants, herbs, etc….just green stuff in general! We don’t really have the space to have big plants in the RV…but growing herbs in the windows is the perfect solution! We were excited to receive a package in the mail from DwellSmart in Charleston, SC with the herbs as well as a neat compost container and compostable corn-based plastic bags. The herbs were so easy to set-up and grow. We have 2 different kinds, lemon basil in a fully biodegradable pot and saucer made from reclaimed rice hulls…and a mint “garden in a bag”. Bella loved helping me plant them and was absolutely giddy when the seedlings finally popped through the dirt to show their delicate green leaves. She continues to water them daily and asks constantly when we are going to eat them.

The compost container has been a great place to put all of our food scraps…and it’s so easy to just grab the bag and throw it in the compost pile. No mess! It’s surprisingly large and smell has not been a problem at all because it’s breathable. The unique material allows heat and moisture escape, therefore eliminating “stink”.

DwellSmart’s mission is to help protect and improve the health of individuals and the environment. We had a great time checking out their store when we were there….so much green goodness in one place! I was hyperventilating! They truly are a one stop shop for all your eco-needs…with a staff that is committed to living green and helping you do the same. Be sure to comb through their website…lots of goodies!

The crew at Wheatsville Coop welcomed us with open arms…we had a great time at the demo and met a lot of really fun people. While we were still in Austin, we were able to have lunch with an old family friend of Matt’s. Jamey and Matt grew up together in Minnesota, and we still hang out with his twin brother, Jeremy, whenever we go back. Before we left town, we had a “tune up” done on the RV and took care of several things that needed fixing. We parked in the shop’s lot overnight for a few nights…and awoke each morning to the sound of roosters just outside our window. We were also able to hang out a little more with Evan and Pilar. The hill country of Texas is so beautiful and we were sad to leave! But we were off to three events in Dallas/Ft. Worth…

Photo album here.

There is a cool breeze coming through the RV tonight and the crickets are making their presence known…along with some frogs and other noisy night animals A freight train just rattled by for a few minutes…and we’re parked so close to the tracks that the RV swayed back and forth the entire time it was passing. We are settled in for the night just north of Mt. Vernon/Burlington, WA. It was a beautiful day today…super sunny and 70. FINALLY SOME SUN! These last couple of weeks have been heavy with decision-making and ideas of our future as well as demos, photo sessions, new friends, good food, mountains, and beaches. We have so much to share with you … exciting news and fun developments. But you’ll just have to wait a bit until it’s all ironed out. So don’t go away!

I am still editing photos and getting blogs ready from Texas, Arizona, and all the way up the West Coast. There are so many adventures and amazing sights just waiting to jump from my hard drive into the blogosphere…I am looking forward to a little more down time over the next couple of months to catch up with it all and process this year’s journey.

Hope you all had a great weekend and a meaningful Father’s Day. More to come soon…