Our night at Wonderland RV Park was brief. In a more populated area, we would have found a place to boondock instead. But since our 3G card doesn’t work real well, we opted to pay for the night since they promised a great wifi connection. Well, the connection was less than great up until about 11PM. Once everyone went to bed, I was able to take better advantage of it.
Last night’s drive-in really pooped the girls out. They were so into the Looney Tunes, they stayed up through the whole movie and slept in until almost 10am.
Our only full day here at Shooting Star Drive-In started with a visit to the park office to use their Internet so we can take care of some business. Mark, the owner of the resort, graciously let us take over the gift area for a couple hours while we got re-acquainted with the outside world.
Our 3-day stay at the Hitch N Post Campground has come to an end. This campground is a simple but charming little place. The owner of the campground had just taken ownership back in March of 2012 and as according to Marlene, “He might be the nicest person in the world.”
We got a fairly early start this morning considering both of us went to bed well after midnight. I actually only got about 3 hours of sleep but I am not going to let that get in the way of our big plans today. Our destination today is Bryce Canyon National Park about 20 miles up the road from us.
It was nice to wake up at a full hookup campground and we are starting to settle into our groove. The kids got to watch some movies in the morning while we got breakfast ready. On the agenda today, not much.
Last night we boondocked at a Walmart at the edge of Cedar City, Utah. It was a great feeling to finally have some relief from the heat. At 5,800 feet, the outside temperature dropped into the 50s just before sunrise. It was so nice to be back in the Mish again and everyone slept in.
After 5 nights in a Vegas hotel, we have finally had enough of room service, housekeeping and electronic key cards. We are eager to get on the road to finally do some exploring. The kids had a blast playing and swimming with their friends and we parted ways shortly after a late breakfast. This is probably the last time we will see them this year but we were excited to get the show on the road.
The day has finally come for us to leave California. We have been ‘free-loading’ at Marlene’s parents’ house since we sold and moved away from our last home. Almost 40 days later, we have tied up all loose ends and prepared one last BBQ before heading out.
One of the more significant tasks we are taking on during this trip is homeschooling our own little kindergartner. Ava is now 5-years old and will officially start kindergarten in the fall. We began researching different types of homeschooling programs when we decided to go back on the road and were really lucky to find a great program for newbies like us at Ventura Charter School.
Ava’s first-ever set of official school books.
A lot of people think we are crazy because we travel with an infant. I think it has been something that sort of defines us. During our first cross country trip in 2010, Mila was only 5 months old when we left. In a couple of weeks, we will be heading out again with a 3 1/2 month old baby Luka. The first time around, Mila was not old enough to walk or sit in a compact, collapsible stroller, we had to find a carrier that was comfortable for both the parent and the baby as well as being extremely mobile. After looking and trying at a lot of options, we decided that the Ergobaby carrier was the best solution.
In the shuttle going in to Grand Canyon National Park. Mila here has just turned 9-months old.
We are down to the final stretch before leaving our possessions and family behind. We are filled with excitement, last-minute jitters and, ever so slightly, a bit of doubt. OK, maybe doubt is not the right word to describe it as it has little to do with the actual trip itself. We are quite excited to get back on the road. The main cause for our concern is Luka. There are a couple of small but lingering health-related problems we were hoping to resolve.
Luka at his 3 month’s check up today with an off-the-charts weigh in.