Grimsley Mountain in Arkansas

In March we came upon an opportunity to spend some time in Northern Arkansas.  We embarked on this adventure to find our home and this was one of the areas we were thinking of, so we adjusted our plans and headed to Arkansas.

So, we're gone now in Arizona, but I'm finally taking the time to share Grimsley mountain! We loved it, absolutely. We even did some house hunting. It's not the right time for us, though. And ... ticks.  So many ticks.  We were run off by a tiny and really gross bug!

It was interesting, though, to settle for a few weeks, hang my laundry up on a line to dry, relax ... interesting in that we were ready to move when we did. Not because we didn't like it, but because we were ready for a new view. That is one of the best parts of this life. We get to have a new backyard every 2-3 weeks. I love it and am surprised by that!

One of our favorite experiences there was going through a cave. That was fun enough for its own post, so I'll get to that soon!

Mostly we hiked and took long drives.  One drive took us across the river on a fairy and suddenly we were in Missouri! We hadn't realized we were so close. The river was nice and it was a fun experience!

We also went just past Branson, Missouri, to a place that creates mysteries! We had to search through the building for clues to eventually get the combination of a lock. Very interesting!

Arkansas. Not sure if it will stay in the running for our future how, but I'm glad we went!

Beauty and Grace

Yesterday we swam with manatees.

YESTERDAY. WE. SWAM. WITH. MANATEES!!

We have done some pretty spectacular things over the past 6 months.  Yesterday was right up there!  We used the tour company www.snorkelwithmanatees.com called River Adventures or something.  We went out with Captain Anna and she was fantastic.  Even kept P up in the boat and let us snorkel without him for a bit.  He helped her spot the manatees and guide us toward them!  You can't see them well while IN the water until they're right there, so this guidance helped!

It was really wonderful.  Ben pet one, I did not (nor did P).  We also saw 2 calfs (calves?) with their mamas.

There was a decent current, so it was a struggle sometimes.  At one point I was surrounded.  They are very curious creatures!  But, it panicked me a bit and once I was able to swim away, I took some time off in the boat.  I was glad we didn't opt to rent kayaks and snorkel in.  It was good to have  a place to take a breather from swimming against the current.  P also  needed a bit of time to become comfortable.  They are HUGE animals!

Living the dream.

Here we go again.

Big news from us. It's a strange news about some unexpected changes. However, it's actually leading us back to the purpose of our rv'ing life. We'd always planned to rv while searching for a place we'd like to settle.

But, we enjoyed the lifestyle from day 1 and sort of forgot to look. In fact, we had started talking about traveling for a few years (and that remains a distinct possibility).  We made plans to return to Arizona, handle a few things and trade our motorhome for a fifth wheel.

Then, completely out of the blue, an opportunity arose to rent land from another family who are fulltime rv'ers. It happens to be in an area that we've wanted to scope out (and have online). We will have the opportunity to live in the area and hopefully gain an idea about how we'd like living there. It will either become a serious contender or be crossed off our list.

Arkansas, here we come!

Fun in Florida!

We've been in Florida now for about 2 weeks.  We started out in Seffner, near Tampa for the FullTime Families Rally (check them out at www.fulltimefamilies.com).  It was fun, but for two people with anxiety, it presented a lot of challenges.  Everyone was very nice, but a lot have known each other for years and that sometimes feels awkward to join.  We did meet some great families and I learned a few things about school, mostly.  We also hit up Legoland with the group and had a blast!

P had a great time playing with the kids!  He had the best time with a group of teenage boys.  I was so impressed with their interaction.  I've also had the opportunity to see how much our kiddo has changed over the past 6 months.  He's so much more confident.  The other day at lunch, he jumped up next to an elderly fellow and talked to him about the area we're at in Florida.  It was amazing!

We have some big things coming up.  Through a series of events (starting with a few rv tours, followed by a family medical scare), we decided to head home early.  B is going to get his social security disability taken care of, we're going to do some fixes to Wander and then ... sell her.  We're going to buy a travel trailer or fifth wheel that will fit us better down the road.  Hopefully I'll be able to work some while home.

Oh!  During a little hike around our campground, we saw a crocodile!  Right where I wanted to see one ... across the bank of the river!

Be you!
The G's

Resting

Sitting here at my in-laws in Texas and thought I'd update last week's travels. We took 5 days to get to Texas and other than the Phoenix zoo, we didn't do much. That is until we made it to Alamogordo, NM.

This is where the White Sands National Monument is. It was cold! We actually came very close to just burying ourselves at home and not going anywhere! But, we decided to at least check it out and we're so glad we did! It was a really amazing place. The sand isn't the sand we were used to. It's an almost powder substance made of gypsum (selenite crystals are formed when the water evaporates from this sand-unfortunately we didn't make it to the lake bad where you can see the crystals).

It was fun to explore and then we bought a sled! Loved it there!

Then, we took a nap, packed up and drove 500 miles that night! Yikes!

Did I mention our vehicle heater went out in the middle of our trip? It was 26° out ... freezing!

Happy travels!

Getting Wild

January 17, 2016. We left Havasu amidst many tears and headed to Casa Grande for a couple of nights. We have a zoo membership, so we wanted to have a day to relax and go to the zoo. We'd been home for 10 weeks and did a lot of work. It was also the first time having the dog and cat in close quarters (yes, we adopted a cat ...), so we thought the extra night would help.

Oddly, we woke up in the morning and somehow the door was open and both animals were in bed! They're still pretty unsure of each other and neither are happy driving. The car, mostly because he wants to climb all over, especially under Ben's feet, so he had to travel in his kennel.

So, had a great time at the zoo. Mostly spent time in the farming area, totally P's choice. Funny, I was the one who had a panic attack, so we went out to the car and ate lunch. Was very nice! Last June it was hotter than hell and empty. This time the weather was wonderful and it was packed!

All in all a great day!

Today we left early and drive 290 miles to Deming, NM. Only here for a night and then we go to Alamogordo, NM, where the White Sands National Park. Be there for a couple days and we've heard this is a great time to go.

Time for dinner!

Itasca Sunflyer Makeover!

Hi folks!  So, it's been a busy couple of months here in Havasu.  I thought I'd get a lot of things done and actually get some hiking in.  But ... nope!  It's been all about the RV!  I hadn't intended on making changes so there aren't many before pictures.  I took a few pictures when we first bought her, so that will have to do!

Here's the kitchen ... there was so much wood in this rig!  I mean, there still is, just a different color!

 And, the bedroom.  This is when Ben removed all of the cornice pieces.  It's the only change we made when we bought her.  We put up new curtains.  It was the only thing I couldn't stand!

So, we painted ... and painted.  For weeks!  And, by we I mean ME! It was tough, because I really hate to paint!  But, the change is spectacular!

So, we did a few other things other than paint.  We wallpapered one wall, took out the shower glass doors and frame (it doesn't work and we use it for storage), took out the sliding doors from our closet and put up some new artwork.  Oh, also a new comforter.  Here are the final pictures!  We love it!

To see the video tour I made, click here!

We hope that this year you have an adventure!  Whatever that might look like for you!

Happy Adventures!
3 Nomadic Gypsies

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Remodeling!

Having a great time being home, though we definitely miss our nomadic life! We've gone to the movies, spent time with family, had a field trip to the vet, park days with other homeschool families and even went roller skating (ouch)!

Also been doing a lot of updating on our rig and, well.  We are evolving and learning about what works best for us. I'd like to be more organized when we had our again so that set up and packing up doesn't take as long. Once I'm finished painting the inside, we'll shift our focus to the storage compartments, or, basement.

We've got a lot of plans over the next few months! The biggest is a full time family rally near Tampa in february. We'll hang in Florida for a few weeks and then go up the coast before going east again across the Midwest.

Can't wait!

Be you!

11 weeks and HOME.

Well, I have lots to catch up on my blog!  We've just arrived back home in AZ after 11 weeks in Oregon.  It was amazing and full of adventure!  I wish I'd have had the chance, time, motivation to keep this updated, but it just wasn't happening.  I'm going to go through pictures and things to write about the things we experienced.  Hopefully I can integrate them seamlessly and no one will ever know ... until they get to this post!  HA!

We ended up heading home a few days early.  Once we were close to the date we needed to be here, our trip started to just become tiresome.  We were only thinking about leaving, so we decided to just go.  And, we did!  The joy of living in a home on wheels!

Anyway, we are home and going through pictures.  It's taking much longer to settle back into a house than it did when we would settle into a new campground.  Hopefully tomorrow we'll have most of our stuff taken care of.  Then, we start working on changes to the motorhome (we really need a name!).

I'll update with our remodel.  Excited!

Blessings!

Good days.

It has been to long! I will probably ending up posting a lot when we settle in Arizona for the holidays. It's hard to remember to update and I really want to have this for our own memories, at least! I blogged quite a bit during our adoption and that first year and it's fun to read it over, not to mention the pictures!

So, we are just outside Bend, Or. right now. This wasn't planned, in fact, the plan was to leave Pacific City tomorrow and drive to Seaside/Astoria for 3 weeks. But, the weather was driving us nuts and we wanted to find some sun. We'd heard good things about this park and we haven't been disappointed! We got here on the 11th and are still blown away by the massive size of our site. We met a couple of families from a Facebook group we're on and P was over the moon having kids to play with.

One thing we hadn't thought about was that we are in the high desert. Temps have been mid 70's during the day, but it drops to the upper 30's at night.  Brr! But we can handle it!

We have done so much in the past 7 weeks and I will admit that I'm surprised at how well we've adjusted to this life. We haven't decided how long we'll do this for, but it won't surprise me if we find ourselves still traveling in 3 years. It's fun! We are still adjusting and someone made a good point today: the day you start living like you're home and not on vacation everything becomes easier! So true!

In light of that, tomorrow will probably be a day to hang out at home and relax. We haven't had many days like that!

One day I'll also sit down at the computer and sort out all these pictures. For now, here are some from the last week or so.

Happy trails!
Amy

Monthiversary!

I'm going to try and make it a point to update more often. We've made so many memories over the past month and I want to not only share them, but also have them for our own sake!

It is hard to update from the phone, yet pictures are on the phone and not the, rarely used, laptop. That's my excuse and in sticking to it!

I really thought I'd sort of hate this life. But, gladly, I don't! I thought the rig would feel small, but, maybe because our backyard is acres of forest, miles of beaches and limitless sky, it just hasn't felt small.

We have about 6 weeks before we start heading back to Arizona and I'm not ready! Have to remind myself that it's just a short break.

I still need to edit our whale watching video. I'll do that at our next stop because I'll have better wifi. We won't have Internet except at the clubhouse, but I'm sorry of looking forward to that. I've been on Facebook too much and the kiddo is playing too many games. But, we're still doing a lot outside. We really like newport, it's a fun town and there's a lot to do that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

Not sure how these pictures will come out here, but I'll try!

Happy adventuring!
~3 nomadic gypsies ♡