Sequim it is

by Momma Gypsy

We've had beautiful fall weather so far in Sequim and we love it here. We've had a few rainy days but mostly blue sky and clear crisp days. The array of autumn colors are starting to fall to the ground to make way for winter and we hope for some snow.

It's been a challenging transition so far but we are all healthy and doing well so we know this too shall pass. We realize moving is a huge change on it's own but we have been moving for 15 months and now all of a sudden we are on school schedules, work schedules and bus schedules. It's been a lot for the seven of us to adjust to.We have actually made quite a few wonderful new friends here already and are grateful to have had two invitations for Thanksgiving. (Thanks Karla and Pat!) We are excited for what our future holds now that we are in our home of choice.
Robby is blossoming in the second grade at school and doing really well in math and catching up in reading. Tonight he proudly read two pages of Hardy Boys to us. He's doing great. He's also making friends and had four new friends at a bowling party for his 8th Birthday. He's joined Cub Scouts and is very excited about it.

Sawyer is having a harder time adjusting to being in school half days, daddy being gone a lot at work and big brother being gone at school all day. He misses his family that used to be together 24/7 and so do we. He has been getting some special "mommy time" before Robby gets home and he really likes that.

Robert is adjusting to being in sales again.

He's learning all new products, selling roofing, gutters and insulation for The Home Depot. He is one of only two sales reps for The Home Depot in the Olympic Peninsula and his boss has already added another store for him in Poulsbo, about an hour away. It means more driving but also more sales. He's also volunteered to be the Assistant Den Leader for Robby's Cub Scout pack. They look great in their uniforms!

I'm adjusting to being a full time stay at home mom again. Being on multiple schedules

(you all know I'm NOT a clock person!), working to keep it all together and running here at home. We've been looking for homes to rent in the kid's school district and have some promising options.

The kittens and Baylee have made great friends and keep me hopping all day long with their antics. Charlotte is in heat and has taken to escaping from the trailer at least five times a day. The day the doctor will fix her (when she's six months old, I'm counting the days), she'll be in there for her appointment. Sorry Charlotte, no more room at the Inn. We are all full up!!

We are very happy with our choice and love it here in beautiful Sequim. We've only seen it in the Winter time and we love it. We can't image what it looks like in Spring and Summer! Guess you'll just have to wait along with us! :)

We've ARRIVED!

Well we have made it to our new home, Sequim Washington! After a whirlwind two week trip to Southern California (we'll write a separate blog about that trip soon), we picked up our trailer yesterday from the repair facility and moved back into it. It was so good to be back in our spacious home after being in the rental trailer. We were treated so well by the rental company that we'd highly recommend them if you're ever in the Portland Oregon area and needing a motorhome or trailer. Give Veronica a call at RV Northwest, they really understood how hard it was for us to be without our home and the uncertainty of when we'd get it back from the repairs.

Joss had to run an errand this morning on her way to Sequim and Robby went with her and the kittens. She took I-5 to Olympia, then headed off on Highway 101 towards Sequim. The pictures above are from her leg of the journey. Sawyer and I took the truck and trailer straight up I-5 to Tacoma, WA. Then we headed Northwest, eventually joining up with Joss and Robby where the 104 meets the 101. We caravaned into Sequim this evening and after setting up the trailer, headed to our favorite Mexican food restaurant just a couple blocks away.

It's good to put down the leveling jacks on the trailer and know that we are staying put for a while. How long you ask? We don't know what the future will bring but we're renting space 26 on a month to month basis at Gilgal Oasis RV Park for now. We'll start looking around at houses, barns, vacant land, boat slips, you name it! Just kidding about the boat slips though.

Next week I start my new job with a division of The Home Depot. The boys start school and Joss starts investigating our new hometown and looking at properties.

When we told some friends down south that I was going to work at/for The Home Depot, we got a few raised eyebrows. I won't exactly be stocking the shelves (not that there's anything wrong with that of course) but to be honest...it's so beautiful here...I'd pump gas here before going back to So Cal. :)

SEQUIM OR BUST

by Mama Gypsy

The number one reason we did this trip was to find a new place to live. Well, after 14 months of traveling the country we have made our choice, "DRUM ROLL PLEASE!!" we've decided to move to Sequim, Washington. (Sequim rhymes with gym and swim, like sk-wim)

The first question most people ask us is "Why Sequim?" Good question, right!?

Purple Haze Lavender Farm

Sequim pasture

Elk or where they just big deer?

Joss with a new friend at the organic dairy farm

Joss and the boys at the Dungeness Spit

Last December, we spent three weeks in Sequim and it just felt like home. When we were packing to leave for other areas I said to Robert "I'd be perfectly happy just staying here right now." He said he would be too so we talked about it. We both thought that we may regret it if we did not complete the whole year long trip around the country so we decided to go ahead and go. We decided a few years ago that we did not want to have any big regrets like that in our lives any more, so we continued on our trip. Whether we noticed it or not, we found ourselves comparing every other place to the Northwest and specifically to Sequim. We decided pretty much by Valentine, Nebraska (late August this year) that Sequim was IT for us. But, there were still some other areas we were considering right up until last week. We had to get over our fears about what to do for a living there. Sequim is a little bit isolated from the big city, it's two hours or more from Seattle by ferry and about two hours from Tacoma or Olympia by car. But, like we handle most everything these days we decided that we were being led to Sequim by both our hearts and divine intervention, so we'd better just TRUST it and go.

We love Sequim because of it's beauty, weather and extremely friendly people. Sequim is known as the "banana belt" because of its unique location in the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains. The average annual rainfall in Sequim is only 16 inches, yet 40 miles away, the Hoh Rain Forest boasts an annual rainfall of more than 150 inches, among the highest recorded within the United States. On June 21, 1995, the City leaders passed Ordinance 95-009, prohibiting "weather that may disrupt the plans of its residents and visitors (source: http://www.ci.sequim.wa.us/welcome.cfm)." The quality of life in the Sequim-Dungeness valley is something sought by others, and embraced by its residents.

We love being on the Straight of Juan De Fuca, the Puget Sound and across the Straight from Victoria BC. The city has water views in many directions, mountain views and beautiful valleys as well. The scenery is amazing. We have beaches galore to choose from and I LOVE a cold weather beach!! Sequim is also in close proximity to the beautiful San Juan Islands the area in which the movie "Free Willy" was filmed and has many pods of orcas living there year round. That's so cool. It is close enough to Seattle to go for the day or take friends who come to visit us (HINT, HINT). In the small town of about 5,500 people we have local organic produce farms, local raw dairy with fresh milk and cheese, local lavender farms to tour, and two festivals a year, the lavender festival and the irrigation festival. But we also have a Home Depot, Wal-Mart and Costco as well as a great Mexican Restaurant (a must for me). It's a small town surrounded by beautiful scenery, rivers, lakes and straights and sounds. Lots of water for us to kayak and canoe around. The whole Olympic Peninsula also has tons of biking trails both mountain and flat as well as fishing, boating and camping. It really is a great place for people like us who really like to live out of doors in nature.

We also felt the people in Sequim were just really friendly and seemed so happy to be living there. Even the teens we met there were polite and friendly and made us feel like this place was a place we could call home. So, in about a week or more, we will!

After we visit our family and friends here in our "old" home of Southern California we will drive up to Portland to pick up our trailer that has been in for repairs, then we'll head to Sequim and the end of our travel adventure will be the beginning of a new adventure for us, a new hometown and new state. We'll continue blogging as we get settled in and let you know how it's all going. Stay tuned as we find employment, get the kids in school and adjust to life as "normal" people who don't move their house every week.

Los Angeles again after 14 months away

We came down I-5 today from our overnight stop in Lost Hills, CA. We were heading to Joss' parent's house to pick up our van we left with them 14 months ago, so we drove straight through Los Angeles via the Interstate. As we neared Los Angeles, the condition of the road worsened with every mile it seemed. Throughout the trip, we've kept an informal poll of various things. One of them being "worst roads". For a time, Oklahoma City had the honors. Then Louisiana took the crown away and held it for many months. Well, today the City of Angels took the award in spades! If you are driving an RV or towing a trailer and need to get to San Diego (or other port-of-call below LA) do your kidneys a favor and figure out a way AROUND Los Angeles!

I assume all the yuppies that cut us off and zig zagged through the traffic didn't notice it as much as we did. I think the suspension of those Beamers, Jags, Benz' and Lexus SUVs is a little more forgiving than our 1 ton, dually pickup with an 8,000 pound trailer.

Besides the road condition, Los Angeles (or the "Greater LA basin" as it's known) also gets the award for the worst drivers. When I say "worst" what I mean to include is "unsafe", "rude", "harried", "impatient" and "stupid". I can say those things because I used to be one. I have worked as a salesperson, driving a company car, around Los Angeles for many years. And being in that position, I was occasionally late, distracted or stressed...sometimes all at once! I drove too fast, cut to close to large vehicles that were moving too slow to pose a danger of hitting me and generally was an jerk of sorts. I was never rude on purpose (okay, almost never) but I can now see how my driving may have been interpreted that way. Ahh the wisdom that comes with age. Age and the experience of driving a 27,000 pound rig all around the country. As we've said before, you don't do ANYTHING fast when you're towing that much trailer. I guess you could say I've mellowed a bit in my driving and there were a lot of people on the road today that certainly HAVEN'T!

But enough of the drivers and roads. What about the beauty of the big city? To be fair, let me preface my comments with the acknowledgement that most Interstates that go through "big" cities don't usually go through the most pretty parts of town. There, that's my disclaimer and if you live in Los Angeles and you love the city...good for you, I hope you've found your little slice of paradise. BUT if you're driving down (or up) I-5, Los Angeles is about the ugliest city we've seen on the whole trip!

We put a positive spin on the visual assault to our senses by telling ourselves that this little trip through LA LA land was to serve as a reminder of why we left in the first place. We have seen such natural beauty all across the country that the smog, haze, concrete, trash and traffic of Los Angeles leaves us no doubt that we've done the right thing.

While we can't wait to see our friends and family while we're down here...we can't wait to head North for the last time!

Kitty close call!

Half-Pint on Robby's bed

Mortal combat at 9pm!

Half-Pint

Charlotte

Half-Pint on the dashboard

Charlotte on mommy's lap

Humm, what smells so good in here?

Lots of folks have asked how the kittens are getting along "on the road"? They are doing great! They have taken to sleeping on Robby's bed (his is the top bunk) and playing every night, starting at 8:30pm (the kid's bedtime!). They sleep most of the day and I think they play all night. Baylee is still agitated by them and can't help but try to nuzzle them to get them to "do something". This is because the kittens have decided THEY run the house and "the dog" is just an annoyance to be ignored. They move quickly and Baylee gets excited about the activity. The kittens are very tolerant of her intrusions and when they've had enough, they give her a few good swipes with the claws and a hiss thrown in for good measure.

The kittens have brought much energy, silliness and laughter to our Gypsy home. Joss and I can't believe we've gone so long without cats. We both love cats and the boys have wanted cats for years. At our old home, the coyotes kept eating the neighborhood cats. After we lost our last three in 2000, we said we wouldn't get any more until we moved. Well we've been moving!

The kittens are up each morning BRIGHT and EARLY! The other day, Joss said "they're getting us all ready for when we settle down and have to be up for school." I guess she's right, Robby has certainly been getting up earlier (Sawyer has ALWAYS got up early).

Well that's how they've been doing in the family for the past few weeks. Now on to the close call the other night...

It was 9:30pm when Charlotte was on our bed playing and chewing on one of our foam ear plugs (ear plugs are an RVing necessity if you're going to be in an urban RV park, in case you didn't know). I was watching her happily chewing on the bright orange earplug when, GULP, down it went. At least most of it went down, she had chewed part of it off. She wasn't phased in the least about it and went on playing. Joss was very concerned and said "get on the Internet and look that up. What do we need to do?"

I googled "kitten swallowed foam ear plug" and found a few stories but nothing helpful. Then I noticed one of those Google Ads on the right side of the screen. It said something like "Experts online are waiting to answer your questions" so I clicked on it. The website is JustAnswer.com and you can post your question in the appropriate category. They have experts all over the world online to answer the question. You can deposit funds (refundable) into your account with them and then choose how much to pay the experts for the answer (if you are satisfied with it).

We got a hold of a Registered Veterinary Technician in Walnut Grove, CA at 10pm and she answered all of our questions about what to do. She said we had to make her throw up or it could get stuck in her intestines later on and force emergency surgery ($$). I'd read online that other's had noticed their cats feeling ill and had X-rays taken, then surgery. Athena (the RVT) told us to give her a teaspoon of hydrogen peroxide and wait 10-15 minutes. If she didn't throw up, do it again. We did it twice and it didn't work, but we could tell Charlotte was NOT feeling well NOW. We emailed Athena again and she said to try it one more time. This time it worked thank God! Charlotte threw up TWO pieces of earplugs and we hadn't seen her eat the first one!

The next day, Charlotte was not feeling her usual, perky self but she's completely back to normal now. That website, at 10 pm, saved us a trip to the kitty emergency room in a strange city! It was worth every penny we paid. They have a lot of different experts online, check it out, you never know when you might need some help.

Other folks have asked "where do you keep the litter box in the trailer?" The boys made a deal with us. If we got kittens, they would keep the litter box in their room and clean it at least twice a day. The food and water is also in their room, up high where Baylee can't reach it. So far, it's working out great.

After the boys go to bed, the kittens come alive and race around the trailer trying to kick each other's butts! After they have that out of their systems, they curl up on our bed and WE get some cuddle time with them!

We love our little kitties!!!

Missoula Monkey business

Celebrating Baylee's 12th b-day and second on the road.

After our tire blowouts we stayed in Butte, MT for a night then headed to the big city of Missoula. Baylee's 12th birthday was earlier in the month but we haven't been able to find a party store to buy the appropriate fete materials. Missoula had a Party America store (along with just about every other big chain store you could imagine) so we were ready to celebrate the old girl's birthday. Baylee is the only family member to celebrate two birthday's on the road. Her 11th b-day was in Chowchilla, CA, just a few weeks after our journey started.

Mr. Mysterio and his assistant pull a rabbit out of his hat!

Robby has been interested in magic for some time now and he earned a cool magic trick set that Joss bought some time ago. He's been practicing on us but didn't have the complete magician ensemble. Well the trip to the party store fixed that! Now Mr. Mysterio (as I call him) is decked out with top hat and cape. He wanted his little brother to be his "lovely assistant" but Sawyer wanted too much of the limelight! Words were said, blows were thrown (just kidding) and Sawyer is now on this side of the stage with the rest of us!

At the trailhead (Robby missed the memo on the Aqua attire)

Along the trip, one of the really cool things that happens from time to time is we meet up with fellow travelers. Sometimes, as with the Wiley's in Baton Rouge, we meet in one place, then we stalk them...I mean go to visit them, in their hometown. It's fun for all of us to reconnect and we've made some great friendships that way.

Well, while we were planning our trip in early 2007 and doing online research about families on the road, we came across the Vogel family that was biking around North America. They had twin boys, Davy and Daryl who were 8 at the time. They wrapped up their first trip and headed home to Boise, Idaho as we were getting close to leaving on our trip. They only stayed put for a year before embarking on a HUGE bicycling trip from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to the southern tip of S. America in Argentina. When they're done the boys will become Guinness World Record holders as the youngest people to cycle the Pan-American Highway! They left in June on this 2 1/2 year trip so we've been following their blog (http://www.familyonbikes.org). As we were closing in on Missoula, MT we read that they were planning on staying there for a few days. We emailed and made arrangements to meet.

After meeting up, we all decided to go hiking up Rattlesnake Trail. The weather was beautiful in Missoula and made for great hiking. The Vogel's were staying with hosts Laurie and Ed they met online through www.warmshowers.org. Laurie took her nephew and his friend along so we had SIX boys under 11 years old. Good thing we were outside!

Robby and Daryl are picking berries in preparation of their "berry wars" below.

Some river shots along the trail. If you're reading this blog in a big city and have never sat along side a natural river/creek...put it on your list of things to do before you die (and do it often!)

All the boys as they double dog dared each other to jump in fully clothed (or not).

Below, Laurie didn't need no double dog daring, she was the first one in!

After hiking we went back to Laurie's house near the University (of Montana) and ordered pizza. The boys had a great time playing in the basement with Lincoln logs and other toys. It was nice to see that even if you're a 10 year old that is bicycling across two continents, you are still a kid at heart.

The next day, I picked up the boys and we did some Geocaching on the UofM campus. Here the group is investigating a micro cache (35mm film canister hidden behind a plaque).

That evening, Sawyer was tuckered out so he and I stayed home (the Missoula KOA campground) while Joss and Robby took them back. Here is the Vogel family with Joss and Robby at Laurie's house. The next day (Friday) they were taking to the road again after getting both wheels replaced on their tandem bike. We were taking off also after getting some of our tire issues taken care of.

John, Nancy, Josslyn, Daryl, Davy and Robby. The FamilyOnBikes and the RVGypsies.

Thar she blows!

Well, we were GOING to write some quick blogs about our stops at Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse Monument and Devils Tower but something more exciting happened today.

We blew TWO trailer tires at the same time on I-90 about 50 miles East of Butte, Montana. Joss was driving with me reading Hardy Boys mysteries to the boys and herding kittens when ALL OF THE SUDDEN... BAM (or was it BOOM?) I think it was more of a KA-BOOM with lots of flying rubber parts and smoke and who knows what else. Joss did a fantastic job of pulling the rig over carefully while I got the fire extinguisher and jumped out (I did mention smoke right?) Well the smoke was just the burning rubber from the disintegrated tire so we were okay in that respect.

When the steel-belts started whipping around in the wheel-well of the trailer, they started tearing things up. It's well known in the RVing world that tire blowouts can make for some COSTLY repairs. In our case it tore up the underside of the trailer all the way through the insulation and the subfloor bad enough to cause the carpet (inside) and the door molding to bulge. The steel belts also grabbed the 3/16" steel box around the steps and folded it neatly up, thereby ripping out one side of the steps and leaving them to drag on the highway (did I mention debris?).

After setting out the reflective triangles on the highway, I walked back to the scene of the blowout to collect some of the bigger pieces of metal and tire from the road. We don't want to litter now do we?! A Montana highway patrol officer was going the other direction when he saw us pull over so he quickly turned around and waited while we called the Good Sam Roadside Service.

Because our trailer is so big (and heavy) we have heavier duty tires than most trailers. It took Good Sam an hour to locate a tire service that had our size tire. But they did and Rayne from Whalen Tire came to our rescue. He mounted a new tire on one rim and put the spare in place of the other. He attached a chain to his truck and we pulled the bent steel plate back out of the way so we could get the new tire on. All in all it took about 3 1/2 hours which is exactly how much time we spent LAST September on the side of the road with our blown radiator. Humm, what is it about September???

All's well as they say and it was a beautiful day to get stranded on the side of the road. Here's a shot of our rig with the tire service truck next to us. Thanks Rayne!

Robert's New Job

Written by Mama Gypsy
We came to DeSmet for me because I'm a huge Laura Ingalls Wilder fan and I've always wanted to see some of her homes and museums to learn more about her and for the kids to learn. So, because Robert is such a good husband and tries very hard to make me happy he agreed to go
not only to DeSmet, SD but also all the way (backtracking a bit) to Walnut Grove, MN as well. However, sometimes you go one place for one person and it really turns out to be for another person. Well, that's what happened in this case. We were really meant to be here for Robert.

We arrived Monday evening excited to partake in all that the Ingalls Homestead had to offer. We had no idea what we were in for. We found out we could camp right there on the Homestead land, about a mile from town. We jumped at this opportunity to "live" on the same land that the Ingalls Family lived on 128 years ago. That first night we found out what a treat this was going to be. Diane in the gift shop told us we could have the run of the place and to make ourselves feel at home. We did. We were the only campers there for most of the week so we were literally the only people on the land at night. That first night we climbed their lookout tower to watch the sunset with not another soul around for miles. The sunset was beautiful and the peace and quiet even more wonderful. A great start to an amazing week.

As usual we had planned to stay only three to four days, but we almost always end up staying longer. This time was no exception. The first day we roamed around the Homestead. It is 160 acres, the exact 160 acres that Pa Ingalls Homesteaded. They have a dugout home built into a hill like the Ingalls lived in on Plum Creek; a claim shanty like most people lived in once they got here; a house like the one Pa built on the site; a hay roof barn like Pa built; a barn and an old garage with all sorts of crafts to do in it. They let us walk around and do as much as we wanted to and we could do everything as many times as we wanted to.

They have a covered wagon ride that takes you out to an old one room school house that is an exact model of the one Laura taught in. They have a school teacher there waiting to give you a lesson, a fun lesson. The kids dress up in old fashioned bonnets and dresses or cowboy hats for the boys. We did that about four times! Back in the garage you can learn how to make a corn cob doll just like Laura had in "Little House in the Big Woods." Sawyer kept making them and making them until he'd made seven or eight. They told him to make as many as he wanted and he did. He kept asking to go back to make more each day. They teach you how to make your own rope and boys like rope! All three of them made about 10 ropes. We learned how they ground wheat in a coffee mill during "The Long Winter" and the kids got to actually do it. In the little house that Pa built they let the kids wash laundry with real lye soap that they make here on the Homestead. The owners' daughter, Ann, taught the kids how to spin wool on a spinning wheel as well as let the boys help her pull up vegetables in the garden and even take them home for dinner. Sawyer actually ate tomatoes from the garden that night and he hates tomatoes. As you can see there is a lot to do here and we did it all, over and over and over again.

Throughout the first couple of days Robert got to talking to the people who work at the homestead and found out it is family owned and run and had been for 12 years since they'd bought the land. Robert made friends with the owner's father, Grandpa Bob, who was helping out for the summer since they were a bit short handed. Robert started helping him with chores: shoveling out the stalls, watering the horses and cows, etc. Then he started learning some of the other activities like the rope, the corn cob dolls and even the little pony cart that Grandpa Bob took the kids for rides in. By the fourth day Robert was helping so much, pretty much all day, that I went to the gift shop and bought him a shirt so he'd look like the other workers. He started going out at 9am to help them bring in the cows and the horses from their farm next door and he'd help them take them back at the end of the day. He was able to help out pretty much where ever they asked him to and he was happy to do it. I think after a year and a half of not working a job it probably felt good to be working hard again. Robert loves to help out where ever is needed and I think he felt needed too. He also loves learning anything new and he learned a lot about hitching up the horses, feeding and watering them and much more. So after almost a week being here and working on the farm we joke that Robert has a new job. Also after a week of working on a farm from 9am to 7pm he was dog tired and ready for a rest.

We left DeSmet traveling for the first time as a Gypsy Family of SEVEN! We have added to our clan. The mama cat at the Homestead had kittens just the right age to be going out on their own and the family offered to let us take some of the kittens. Since we had promised the kids cats when we got settled somewhere we couldn't pass up the early opportunity to have some authentic Laura Ingalls Wilder Homestead cats, now could we? We didn't. We now have two new additions to our family, Charlotte, named after Laura's first rag doll and Half-Pint, Laura's nick name by Pa.

Once we decided that we'd take the cats we started bringing them to the trailer a little each day to get them used to it and to get Baylee used to their smell. Our last night the kittens stayed the night in Robby's bed. It will be a whole new adventure to see how these kittens adapt from a farm life to a gypsy life and how we all adapt to having cats again. It is exciting to us since we love cats and have not had any for more than eight years. Already we can tell they are a happy addition to our growing family. They make us laugh with their antics and that is a very nice thing. We are grateful for all of Gods gifts and we feel these little souls are two of them.

We'd like to say a GREAT BIG THANK YOU to the Sullivan family and all employees of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Homestead. You truly made us feel like family and we had one of the most amazing times while on this adventure of ours around the country. You are truly a gift to all the families who come through your farm. Keep up the great work!!