Nieces of Adam

Jill's Journal: Only in California does one spot foreboding signs like this. Since I grew up in California, these signs don’t phase me, but I can see how they might strike a little fear into the heart of someone from another part of the country. And just for the record, I would take an earthquake over a tornado or a hurricane any day. Somehow I’ll bet most natives to the Left Coast would agree with me…and just about everyone originally from other parts of the country would adamantly disagree. Funny how that works.

Also spotted in downtown San Luis Obispo today: one Uncle Adam walking with two of his (now) four nieces.

Spotted yesterday: two Adams in their pajamas making breakfast for the whole crew. Three siblings, two spouses, four kids…our numbers are growing!

Uncle Adam made the long drive up to the Central Coast for the weekend to meet his new niece. Look at her look at him!

Yes, another niece to adore this awesome uncle. And it’s just a hunch, but if his first three nieces are any indication, I’m pretty certain Logan will too adore Uncle Adam.

Avila Valley Barn

Jill's Journal: I can’t even guess how many orchards/farms/pick-your-own fruit and vegetables/fresh produce-type places I’ve taken our girls to over the years, first in Kentucky (we had three favorites around Lexington) and now stretching from Maine to California. It’s been a lot. And they never seem to tire of them. When the farms include a petting zoo, such as the one at Avila Valley Barn near San Luis Obispo, well, it’s double the fun.

We started with a wagon ride around the farm, which has been here since the 1980s.

The girls absolutely loved the live music, best enjoyed with an ice cream cone, of course.

We came home with strawberries, raspberries, cherries, and honey, but naturally the animals were the biggest hit. For $0.25 apiece, each kid got a large bag of lettuce, watermelon rinds, etc. to feed to the animals. Can’t beat that.

God bless places like Avila Valley Barn. Not only are they wonderful places for a family to spend an afternoon and pick up delicious fresh produce, but they also help satiate little want-to-be farm girls’ hearts. :)

Horseback Riding Lessons

Jill's Journal: It’s been well-established our girls are crazy about horses. It must be in the genes. They -- particularly Erika -- simply love every manner of equine. Their Grandpa knows this and, as a bit of a cowboy himself, is only too happy to encourage it. With our few weeks stopped here on the Central Coast, Kristi very kindly arranged for the girls to take horseback riding lessons from a riding buddy of hers. Grandpa and Beppy stepped in to pay for the lessons as a present for the girls and I think it just may have been the best gift anyone has ever given them. They’ve counted down the days/hours/minutes to each lesson and loved their time on horseback. Now, of course, they think they need ponies! Erika has been plotting for months how to fit one into (yes, into) the RV and somehow I don’t think this experience has dimmed that dream in the slightest. :)

Thank you so much, Grandpa and Beppy!

It’s a Party!

Jill's Journal: One of our first orders of business up on the Central Coast was to attend my sister’s flip-flop/beach-themed baby shower, thrown by some sweet friends of hers. It was the girls’ first “grown-up” party and they were so incredibly excited to attend, especially since parties are few and far between on this RV trip. The women were all very gracious to the little girls and we ended the day with them feeling like little ladies indeed.

Aunt Kristi certainly had her share of helpers during present time.

Here are the two proud Grandmas-to-be, Beverly and Beppy. We’re not the only ones eagerly awaiting this baby of Kristi and Adam’s!

This photo of a spinning Erika was taken by Madelyn…

…but Erika wasn’t the only one dancing. The mama-to-be at nine months along can still shake it!

Palm Springs to Paso Robles

Jill's Journal: Goodbye, Southern California. Our last days in Palm Springs were spent admiring those massive wind turbines…

…and swimming in some pretty wonderful pools at our campground. They’re filled daily with hot, fresh water from natural underground springs.

Driving through L.A. with a trailer is never fun. Does there really have to be so much debris on the road? No sooner did Rob say, “There’s so much crap I’m worried we’ll get a flat,” and we had a flat tire.

But, many long hours later, we finally made it to the Central Coast of California. That’s almost a deceptive name since the ocean is 30ish minutes away, but we’re here for the third and last time during our “tour” of the Golden State. We’re currently staying in lovely Paso Robles, which is cooler than Palm Springs, but still sunny and very warm. It’s beautiful wine country to boot.

We’re here to meet our new niece or nephew and the girls’ very first cousin, who will make an appearance any day now. We feel honored and so lucky to be here during this incredibly special time in the lives of my sister and brother-in-law. C’mon baby!

They Know!

Jill's Journal: My parents came from California to Kentucky to visit us last week and other than enjoying their visit, my focus was in telling them about our RV plans. Truth be told, I was terrified! Here I am a responsible, grown woman with kids of my own, and I was afraid to tell my parents for fear of their disapproval. Crazy, right?

Turns out I needn’t have worried. To my great and wonderful surprise, they took the news FABULOUSLY. Astoundingly well. Kristi thought my presentation helped: I told them how we never dreamed we’d leave Kentucky, but we’ve learned the only way to be competitive in the Thoroughbred industry here as breeders is to have far deeper pockets than we do. I told them we want a farm again someday, but we can see the benefits of a regional market as opposed to the top Kentucky market. I told them how our trip to the Central Coast of California last year opened our eyes to the realization that we could possibly live somewhere else. I reminded them how Rob already telecommutes and can work from anywhere. And I told them how places like Montana were considerations as a future home, but we very well might still stick with Kentucky – we honestly don’t know what the future holds. They’ve been hoping we’d move back West since we headed East 12 years ago and got very excited at all the above…

And then I told them that we had thought it would be so neat to “live” in various places for a few weeks at a time, kind of as a trial or test of future hometowns for us. I said that idea had morphed even farther and melded with our desire to travel the country. And then I broke the big news: we’d finally arrived at a plan of buying an RV and spending the next few years traveling before settling down again.

I waited for any sign of disapproval, but there was none. NONE! They took it amazingly well. In fact, to my great surprise, they were extremely positive about it! They were surprised at the plan as it is out of the conventional world they’re accustomed to, but they almost thought it was kind of neat and said it’s the kind of thing we need to do now while we can. You could have knocked me over with a feather at their reaction! It made me very, very happy and I don’t think I will ever underestimate them again. :-)

My parents' fabulous response surprised me so pleasantly that the next morning I worried if perhaps the margaritas and bourbon consumed during our “talk” had impacted their judgment. I asked them about it again just to make sure and the reaction stayed the same. It was like Christmas in July for me! As a few days passed, they thought of new questions to ask and had fun little realizations like wondering what would happen to my marvelous Dyson vacuum during our downsizing. (Side note: My Mom wants to volunteer to babysit it!!)

They took it so great!! I love my parents.

Next hurdles: telling Rob’s Mom and his employers. Yikes.

RV FAQ

Jill's Journal: At this point, we’ve shared our RV plans with just a very few people. They all seem to have the same questions. So, without further ado, here is a list of common RV FAQ, complete with answers!

What about Rob’s job?

That one is easy – Rob already telecommutes, so as long as he has a computer and an internet connection, he can literally work from anywhere. We’re envisioning doing most of our driving on the weekends and setting up base camp for a week at a time, giving him an uninterrupted work week. I’ll spend lots of time exploring kid-friendly activities with the girls to give him plenty of peace and quiet for work.

What about school?

I’ll home school the girls. Erika will be in first grade, Madelyn will be in second-year preschool, and Victoria will still be too young for anything at all official. My girls love to learn and we already do little educational sessions here at home for fun. I don’t think this will be a difficult transition for them. We do worry a little bit about a lack of social interaction for them, but it’s only for a year. They have each other and we have lots of friends we plan to visit who have kids their ages. And surely we’ll find other kids to play with at campgrounds and various places. I also have no qualms about hunting down parks and all sorts of fun places in new cities where kids come in spades. In addition, we have many kid-friendly activities already on our developing itinerary (i.e. Crayola Factory, Sesame Place, etc.).

Are you crazy, doing this with little kids?

Maybe! It’s something we’ve always wanted to do and for a long time we entertained the notion of doing it sometime in the future. But when? The kids likely won’t enjoy it when they become teenagers and we don’t want to wait until they’re all out of the house because we’ll be too dang old! We’ve decided there’s no time like the present. They’re young, enjoy adventure and travel, and still like our company right now! What a wonderful life experience and incredible education for them. Plus, we want them to always follow their dreams. This is a pretty good example for them.

Do you realize how tiny an RV is? Especially for five people?

Oh yes, we know. But we’re already in a very small home and Rob also works from home, so we’re all used to spending lots of time together in a small space. Lots of larger families in history lived in a smaller space with a lot more people. It’s only a hardship if you believe it is.

Won’t you get sick of being on the road?

That’s always a possiblity. But we don’t think so. Rob and I have always loved road trips. Loved them with a passion. We really can’t think of any better way to travel right now than in an RV. To be able to move our home and necessary belongings pretty effortlessly, to see the country but still sleep in our own bed every night appeals to us tremendously.

When your trip is over, will you still live in Lexington?

Honestly, we don’t know, but that’s part of the reason for our trip. We had been planning on buying a new, bigger house in 2010 and really had no intention of living anywhere but Kentucky for the rest of our lives. However, lots of things have made us rethink that stance lately. We really do love it here, but since we got out of breeding Thoroughbreds (a whole ‘nother story but primarily because our focus is 100% on our children right now), it’s not as crucial that we live in Thoroughbred “Mecca.”

Moving is something we’ve been thinking about for a while – are we 100% certain we want our children to call this area of the country home forever? We’ve been here for 12 years and it’s a lovely place to raise a family, but is it a perfect fit for us? We’re open to other areas too.

This RV trip is partly to let us “live” temporarily in a few of the places on our list that we’ve been considering and let us “scratch the itch,” so to speak. We hope it will tell us if Kentucky is going to be our “forever home” or if that might be somewhere else. High on our list is the Central Coast of California, a place we fell in love with on a recent trip and, as an added bonus, a place where Kristi and Adam will be moving after school. The four of us have had many conversations about the “compound” we want to build together! Another place that really appeals to us is Montana. Or we may find somewhere else…or we may recommit entirely to Kentucky. We shall see, but we don’t see any point in buying a new house until we know exactly where we’re going to live for the rest of our lives. Enter the RV plan. Perfect timing.

Why?

Think of the adventure! This will be something to remember for a lifetime. We only live once and we’ve always believe in making the most of it.