Meeting in Kansas . . . or South Dakota . . . maybe

So we are underway!

Of course, things took longer than planned and some things planned didn't happen at all.  But we are on the way!  Andy helped me all day yesterday as road side assistance replaced the jack on the trailer and we got all the loose ends tied up in Dalton.  Nice to be at Andy and V's when something goes wrong with the truck.  It's actually always nice to be at their house.

Katie, Katie and Ashlin are in St. Louis while I find myself this morning in Marion, Illinois.  There were more issues with the truck's trailer so instead of meeting up with the girls (and Nicky) in St. Louis, it looks like we will try to rendezvous in either Hays, Kansas or Sioux Falls, South Dakota, maybe, depending on which route we decide to take.

The girls got to spend some time in Nashville which they enjoyed.  Ashlin did say that too many people wore cowboy boots and smoked cigarettes though.  Then last night they all got to take the crazy little twisty elevator to the top of the St Louis Arch!  Ash was so excited.  She loved watching the lightning come in from the horizon and got to do her first Jr Ranger book from the museum of Westward Expansion.  It sunk in that the whole arch deal is to celebrate what Lewis and Clark started and she felt pretty happy to already know some of the back story.

Well, I'm gonna hit the road so hopefully we can all wind up in the same place tonight.  There is a governor on the truck that makes it top out at 55 MPH.  When was the last tine you drove 2,163 miles at 55 MPH.  Shel says she now expects us at summer's end.

Update soon!

Wow.

So here it is, June 2nd, and this is the first post for this year's trip.  Pretty slack, I know.  There is good reason however.  For those of you who may not know yet, this year's trip is a little different.  Actually, its a lot different.

This year we are not coming back.

We are pulling up stakes and moving our slap-happy camping selves to Montana!!!  In about two weeks we drive away from Atlanta in a moving truck instead of Blue Car (there will be a post later about the status of the four-wheeled trip veteran).  We have been considering the move for years but this winter it really started making sense.  

The catalyst for the decision was actually a weekend trip last fall to the north Georgia mountains.  We stayed in a little one bedroom cabin we have rented several times over the past few years that Ashlin has affectionately named "Little Red Baby." This time, Little Red Baby was for sale, really cheap, and it got us thinking about getting out of the city and moving to the top of a mountain somewhere.  For most of the fall we searched the MLS for cabins really thinking we were going to move somewhere in the southern Appalachians.   For a few weeks it looked like we were moving to Asheville but then we got delightfully swamped with community love surrounding Home-Run-A-Thon (a fundraiser at Ashlin's school) and the Candler Park Fall Fest.  Late November and December's holiday warm fuzzies made us forget about moving for a while.

Two weeks into January the wandering wasp began buzzing our ears again but Ashville no longer felt right.  It was time to really move.  For the past few years we have been making a list of places we might want to live if we decided to move out west; Ouray, CO- Portland, OR- Arcata, CA and Bozeman, MT made the short list.  Portland was the first ruled out because we are ready for something other than a city.  Ouray was cut for reasons I don't recall.  Arcata and Bozeman were left and the later eventually won out because of our dear friends, the Sebrens and the Winks already living there.  

So now, we sit trying to figure out exactly which day to load the truck.  It looks like June 15th or 16th which is coming up pretty quick.  We'll keep you posted as the time approaches!

For now, here are some pics from the end of last year's trip.  Andy flew out to meet me and drive back from Long Beach but we stopped in Sequoia for a backpacking trip.

 

Goofing at the end of a little waterfall hike.

The same campsite Katie and I had on our first trip to Kings Canyon 10 years ago . . . How cute are we?

Doesn't get much better than burying stuff in dirt!

Except for throwing rocks maybe

We throw a lot of rocks on our trip.  It really is one of mine and Ash's favorite things to do.

On the drive out of the canyon.

Old gravity gas pumps out side Kings Canyon, CA

Ashlin's Surf Day for her birthday!!!!

So serious.  OC girl for sure rockin' it in Huntington Beach.

She had been waiting on this all summer.

Awesome spot to pitch a tent. In Sequoia NP at Franklin lake.

Yup.

Daybreak Pic

Andy coming down from the top.

My boy Andy here flew out to meet me in LA so I didn't have to make the cross country trip alone.  We tool a little detour here in Sequoia for a backpacking trip.

Yup.