More signs you are on an RV road trip

More signs that you are on an RV Road Trip

1.   50 miles after you gas up you have already burned through ¼ tank of gas.

2.   You irritate perfect strangers just by driving near them.

3.   Men tell you that you drive the RV really good for a girl.

4.   Your husband takes a nap for 60 miles and it takes over an hour.

5.   While taking that nap, that husband catches air on the bed when you hit a bump.

6.   You keep your RV air conditioning set 15 degrees colder than you do at home.

7.   You drive for 10 hours and only make it 366 miles.

8.   Actually reaching the speed limit is a cause for great excitement.

9.   A 17 hour drive turns into a 25 hour drive and you can actually do the math and figure out why.

10.  8.9 miles per gallon average is really good gas mileage.

11.  You get pulled over and are completely befuddled since speeding is impossible.

12.  You judge where you will sleep based on which big rig will block the sun best at the rest stop in the morning.

Little River Canyon - by Isa and Gabi

Today we went to Little River Canyon National Preserve.  First we looked around and we didn't know which way to go.  So we went on the boardwalk and we saw the waterfall.  It was really pretty and it was a long way down.

Next we hiked down a trail which led us to the river above the falls. The water was warm! We did not get near the edge because it was a really big drop and Sophie was with us.  We didn't want her to fall!  The ranger had to blow her whistle at people who were standing on the falls.  Not a good idea.

Then we hiked to Martha's falls.  It started to rain, so the rocks on the trail got slippery.  We had to be really careful. The trail had a lot of forks, so it took us a while to figure out where to go. Finally we made it.  We went down to the water and there was a lot of algae.  It was slippery everywhere.  We slid down the rocks on the algae.  It was shallow where we were.  There were people jumping off the cliffs into the pool below - it was deeper, but there were rocks.  Mom and Dad said, "No way."

Luke went rock climbing!

It was raining the whole time we were playing in the river. That didn't matter because we were wet anyway.  When it was time to hike back, the rain stopped.  Lucky!  It took a lot less time to get back because we knew the trail.

We got dirty.  Mom and Dad made us change before they would let us back into the car. That was weird because there wasn't a bathroom or anything, so they had to hold towels up so we could change in the parking lot.  Not good.

We had a lot of fun.  It was a beautiful place to be on a Saturday afternoon.

2016 Vacation Statistics

2016 Alvidrez "Heartland" Vacation Statistics

Vacation Length:  30 days

Miles driven:  5000 +

States Traveled: 15

Number of States we have now visited: 48

Days spent at the beach: 2

Junior Ranger Programs completed: 2 (Both in Badlands)

Cumulative Insect Bites: 5 (finally a number below 30!)

Worst Medical Issue:  Gabi's nose bleeds

Places we hiked:  Gulf State Park - Alabama, Badlands NP- South Dakota, Black Hills - South Dakota, Evergreen - Colorado, Little River Canyon - Alabama

People we visited at a residence: 130 +

People we wish we could have spent time with: innumerable

Best Kid Quotes:

Luke:  Its okay, I've got this. (While stand up paddle boarding)

Isa:  Take my hand mom, I won't let you fall.  (Obviously the kids know what a clutz mom is.)

Gabi:  I don't really like walking.

Centennial # 2

We lived in Colorado for almost a decade, and while we were there we managed to make a lot of really fabulous friends! Our quest to see as many of them as we could continued on Thursday. We managed to get Luke over to see his friend, which gave me some time to visit with his mom - my friend Andrea, who had gorgeous twin baby girls a couple months after I left.  They are precious!

While Luke was hanging out, Gabi had a last minute play date with one of her absolute best buddies from Peabody.  She was so excited when she found out - I don't know if I have ever seen her move that fast!  The grandma to Gabi's little BFF is our friend Lori.  Lori is the secretary in the front office at Peabody and she is like a sister to Michael.  We've missed her terribly- in fact I had a really difficult time going into the new school office in Alabama because I knew how sad I would be.

Me with my angel friend Julie

While the oldest and youngest were entertained, the rest of us had a lunch date at Costco with our amazing friend Julie and her son. Julie has a heart the size of Texas, and every minute I get to spend with her makes me a better person! We spent some time shopping, some time eating, and some time party planning.....which will make more sense in a couple paragraphs.

If I have a picture I don't have to try again, right?  :)

Then we were off to gather the kids and head out to meet Hayden and Lindsay out at Bear Creek Park to go stand-up paddleboarding.  Now if you know me well, you know that I am a clutz deep down and have very limited balance - so stand up paddleboarding sounds like an activity that I would prefer to avoid at ALL COSTS.  Sadly, I have adventurous children and since I raised them to be that way, I had to put on my brave face and paddle out on the water.  I was initially quite safe - I stayed on my knees and paddled all over the little lake with Isa on the back of my board.  It was nice and calm, little wind, and we managed to stay relatively dry.  Luke was standing up paddling himself all over the lake.  Very impressed with him.  Then Gabi went out with Hayden and came back standing - and jumping, and giggling hysterically as Mr. Hayden rocked the paddleboard - but somehow maintaining her balance.  I knew I was going to have to try to go out and stand up after Isa tried.  She's my most cautious child, and when she makes an effort to be brave I must join her to show support.  (Look back a couple years at the Pirates Post at who shamed me into jumping off a rock into the freezing Colorado River, yep, that would be Isa.)

So I paddled out and stood up, like a grown up.  Lasted about 25 seconds until the wind decided to gust, blowing my trembling, terrified knees off kilter and sending me head first onto the front of the board.  Pretty sure I landed and ended up looking like a duck with the front of me in the water, the back of the board up in the air like a duck's tail feathers.  Nothing like a swift dose of humility to remind you why you don't do these things in the first place.  Nails bent backwards, contacts dripping in lake water, I managed to get all of me back in the middle of the board where I sat there blinking and trying not to be mortified.  Unsuccessfully.  Yet I still had done it, and I took that as a win.  It was the courage to try that mattered.

And just when you would think that would be the end of our day, we jumped in the RV and drove back to Centennial to have dinner with our friends John and Dee.  We love them both.  Dee has been close with our girls since they were babies and she is still one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen - she's more than 15 years older than I am and she STILL looks better than I do in this picture.  Truly unfair!

Then it was off to visit with our friends Jim and Lisa and their two munchkins.  They were surrogate family for us in Centennial - we shared a lot of holiday dinners together and always celebrated the famous Heine holidays - Superbowl Sunday and Easter Saturday (with an Easter Egg Hunt at their house.)  They have been amazing friends.  We missed them when each of the Heine holidays passed this year.

Friday was more visiting:  first to see our friends the Bryants and their grandkids, then a friend for Isa, and then we were off to see our friends the Lamberts.  We ended up back with the Heines for dinner and conversation and a comfy place to sleep.

Saturday dawned and we were off again.  Luke went to see a friend, I went to visit my friend Mary and afterwards went to eat with our friends Marcia and Paul.  Its so fun to see what everyone has been up to!

Both the girls had this gorgeous teacher for Kinder.

My friend and mentor for my ONE and only year of helping to teach preschool, Leigh Ann.  She taught me more about patience than anyone has ever managed before.  And my friend Shelly who taught me that Lavender Essential Oil pretty much fixes everything.

Leah had all three of my kids for first grade.

Some teachers teach lessons far beyond the classroom. Christine taught our kids to love and ride horses. How lucky are we to know such great people!

Then it was time to head to the Tombaris for the party that we'd been planning that week.  Julie had decided that it was crazy for us to try to see all our Peabody Elementary family while we were in town (and after trying to see as many people as we did, she was right I couldn't have done it!).  So she decided the only logical conclusion was to throw a party.  So she did - and about 50 of our Peabody family came to see us.  The kids were thrilled to see more of their friends and we were so touched to reconnect with a lot of our former coworkers and friends.  Some of the kids' teachers came and our babies were over the moon to see them.  There were a lot of Alvidrez children hug fests.  Who am I kidding, I hugged everyone I could catch - some of the kids were too fast for me.

Each of our kids had a different second grade teacher. We love all of them.

By the end of Saturday night I couldn't even fathom how I was supposed to leave on Sunday afternoon.  Having had so many people I love around me for a whole week I felt as if my heart might just fall to pieces.  Somehow we got up, chatted with the Tombaris, went to church, snuggled a bunch more friends, had lunch with our friend Robyn, and then about 6 pm we got in our RV and drove away.

My beautiful girls from church - how did they grow so fast?

Our one last stop before we turned for home was to see Michael's dad and step-mom who are visiting family in Greeley, CO.  We enjoyed spending an afternoon with them and then we turned east to begin our trek home.  And somehow as we turned east our spirits lifted and we craved the love that was waiting for us in Alabama.

Quick pic with Michael's dad

 I contemplated why this vacation was so different than all the others that I have blogged about.    It just recently occurred to me that the name of this vacation summarized it in a way I hadn't intended.  Michael and I refer to this trip as the Heartland Tour - because we were in the heart of the country the entire time.  But its more than that - this vacation wasn't about exploring the country and finding adventure.  It was about our hearts returning to see people we love.  We took our hearts on a tour, and we came out better for it.

Who would have thought a year ago that my heart would be cheered by the thought of returning to Dixie.  But it is.  Because as a wise friend repeatedly reminded me on this journey - home is where your heart is.  I think that we feel at home where ever there is love waiting for us.  That is a blessing and a gift and we are forever grateful to our family and friends who made this trip so renewing for us.   We have been on a wonderful journey, and now love is calling us home.

Centennial #1!

Well, we finally fulfilled our promise to the kids.  Sunday morning we drove down the mountain and attended our previous church – which was so fantastic.  We were able to see so many friends and the kids were able to reconnect with some of their buddies.

Following church we drove over to Highlands Ranch to see our friends Lee and Valesca. We have known the Bybee’s for about 14 years – and our lives have been intertwined in both New Mexico and Colorado and we love them.  We loved playing with their crazy little boston terriers and chatting. 

Monday was a crazy day – each of the kids had a play date with a friend, I had lunch with a friend, and we spent some extra time with Valesca.  We managed to get Sophie to the vet for her booster shots and then gathered the kids once again and headed over to visit our friends, the Grays.

Karen and Mark Gray are friends of ours from Peabody.  We met them the very first year that Michael taught there because he had one of their daughters in his class.  We have loved them ever since.  The Gray kids set up a super crazy slip and slide made out of two large black tarps, a very large quantity of Dawn dish soap, and a hose.  They all had a blast being completely out of control as they frothed their way down the contraption.   It was fabulous.  We also had the opportunity to spend some time with the Sandstrom family and with our friend Stacey LeMay.  What a fun night!

The next morning we dropped Gabi off at a play date and then dropped Michael and Luke off on another.  The boys headed up to Golden to check out a fantastic place where they manufacture telescope mounts. 

  Of course they need to have some really fabulous telescopes too, and they loved seeing all of it.   Isa and I ran errands and then after collecting Gabi we went out to meet the boys in Littleton.  We stayed with our former neighbors, Travis and Sarah, and their two hysterical bulldogs. Lindsay and Hayden came down with the baby and we all had another of our traditional family dinners that we have been doing for years now.  It’s so much fun to be together.

Wednesday we spent a good part of the day with Taylor and Stephanie Dix and their kids.  After all the constant running around we had been doing, it was good to have a laundry day and flop on the Dix’s couch to chat.  Luke ran off to have another day with a friend, which did him good.

One of my preschool babies now a big first grader!

It has been such an exciting week I can't even fit it into one post!  Colorado has been good for us.