roadways: April 2009

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Memorable Moments with the Platt Family

May 1st marks 6 months on the road with the Platt family!

I can't speak for everyone, but I would say I'm proud of us all for having vision and taking a leap of faith to pursue this dream for our families.

It has been quite a process and an adventure.

So many wonderful memories have been made over the past several months, this afternoon I reflected on some that came to the forefront for me shared with our traveling partners...

-our first dinner at the Olive Garden after we made it to California- Will kindly treated us all!

-our first hike up a mountain- Superstition Mountains- at Lost Dutchman State Park in Arizona-it was a thrill in general because of the scenery but also because we all did it together-we won't ever forget it!

-our day at Disney of course!

-watching kids run around the life-sized maze at Huntington Beach in California and then create their own at Newport Beach

-watching Matt and Madison drawing together; planning to save the animals of the world with their signs, pictures and blog

-Lucas, Madison and Matt writing/singing songs together

-driving around Santee Lakes-me with our kids plus Maddy and Ali-screaming out songs that we played way too loud in the Durango after doing laundry :)

-seeing Madison kiss and hug a tree good-bye at McKinney Falls in Austin-gotta love a tree-hugging kid!

-watching Ali passionately take pictures of flowers at a farmer's market in Cali- he gets lost in the moment at times-I can identify with that! :)

-afternoons at Aliso Beach at Laguna Beach-dolphin, seal and pelican sightings, watching the kids jump off the dunes and catch a hundred waves...

-the first time Katie gave me a big hug in California and let me into her world :) I made Lisa take a picture :)

-seeing Josh and Ali puddling in the water, happily searching for critters...

-Josh, Maddy and Matt burying a worm they named Steve who got 'roasted' in a garden at BCRV

-Potluck dinners

-Gathering around the Fire on the Beach at Newport for New Year's Eve

-the time Ali and Lisa brought me flowers from a farmer's market in La Jolla

-the time Will helped Matt across water and rocks when I couldn't get to him and I was worried for his safety in Tucson, AZ

-driving up Mt. Lemmon in Tucson, AZ

-seeing Jeff and Will walking at Aliso park, enjoying the sun and sand and relaxing- good friends...

-watching the excitement that radiates from all the kids when they play together and that they all knock on each other's doors the minute we get back from being out somewhere!

Stanley Park

These are a few shots from our visit to Stanley Park; considered the 'jewel' of Vancouver boasting 1000 acres.

The park was something else, that's for sure. We could certainly visit again and not run out of things to do. In fact, we will come back to go to the aquarium as it has beluga whales and other marine life we have not yet seen.

The kids are enjoying running in large, open places with lots of grass!

They were thrilled to view harbor seals from the Port of Vancouver's Look Out Point!

We all lingered around the Totem Poles and path along the water as well.

This park is very beautiful and has so much to offer - watch out for the cyclists and roller bladers though! They're everywhere and they're fast!

We then went across the massive Lion's Gate Bridge and found ourselves heading towards Capilano where we found a huge dam. I'll post those pics next!

Photo of the Day for April 30, 2009

BURNABY MOUNTAIN PARK

'PLAYGROUND OF THE GODS'

BCRV and Burnaby Lake Regional Park....

These are a few shots from the Burnaby Cariboo RV Park and Burnaby Lake Regional Park. The Regional Park is within walking distance from our site.

It has been a pleasure to go over there and explore and we look forward to walking and biking along the trail during our stay here. Another dream come true-living somewhere where you can walk to a trail steeped in nature. The boys found big slugs there the first day we went over. We also felt like we were in a place right out of a David Suzuki story book that we have when we discovered this lake has salmon!

The BCRV is an older park, which means the sites are a tighter fit for our RV's but neither Jeff nor Will had any trouble backing in. The trees are mature here and the park has all the amenities we could want. They even have a spot to wash your car or RV on site! Also, they have a 'sun deck roof' where Lucas and I got a great view of the park, played cards and looked at brochures for places to go in Vancouver.

The children have proclaimed this to be the best place yet and we have only just begun to look around.

Glad to be back in Canada and what better place than 'Beautiful British Columbia'!

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Road Tripping to British Columbia

Loveland, Colorado

Fog and Snow in Wyoming!

Wyoming

Still Wyoming!

Utah

Oregon

Washington-Wow!!!!!!

This was amazing!!!!

Well, what an adventure ... our road trip from Austin, Texas to Burnaby, British Columbia was filled with all kinds of weather, a mix of landscapes, curves, bumps and downgrades-never a dull moment (okay, yes dull moments in Kansas and Idaho).

Highlights of our journey were Wyoming, Utah, Oregon and Washington. I don't even think I have one pic of Kansas and I believe I took one in Idaho- the 'Welcome to Idaho' sign! That says a lot! We stopped into the visitors center in Loveland, Colorado to find out if it would be realistic for us to visit the Rocky Mountain National Park, however, we learned that the ridge was closed due to 35 inches of snow! Bummer... the volunteer at the center suggested middle of June onward would be a good time to visit. Despite not being on a 'country road' en route, I couldn't help but have John Denver singing in my head as we went through Colorado :) I really don't think our route was indicative of the beauty of Colorado. I would still like to go there someday.

Wyoming had more to offer in terms of a variety of landscape than one might think. May be worth visiting again in the future.... Utah was unique with a range of orange and green rocks.... and if what we saw on the side of the highway was any indication of the state, Utah is definitely worth visiting someday for sure... Oregon and Washington had some similarities and again, if what we saw on our route was any indication of the beauty of the rest of the state, we would love to spend some time in both places. We found them to be pretty and absolutely awe- inspiring.

It has been lovely to see a plethora of trees with white and pink blossoms in Oregon, Washington and now in B.C. It's spring and the blossoms are beautiful!

The kids did a great job getting through our drive and pushed for us to keep keepin' on ... which allowed us to turn what we thought would be a 5 day drive into 3.5!

We boondocked at 3 Wal Marts along the way which worked out really well... allowed us to drive longer when we had the energy and stop in a lit area with other truckers and RV'ers to rest without cost for the night!

Our trailer and vehicle also survived although we did get a hole in our sunroof vent the size of a Toonie due to hail! Ugh!

I'm very proud of our whole family for pulling together and getting along to make the miles go by without too much trauma! :)

We are still reeling from the time zone changes and the quantity of stimulus, weather conditions and scenery we have taken in in the past few days.

The kids have already proclaimed this to be the best place yet, especially Lucas...

We look forward to exploring our new area, seeing our good friends, hanging with the Platt Family and will move to our next home in Fort Langley on May 22nd.