The reality of living in 300 square feet.

I have all these super amazing pictures that I can't wait to share with you all. But right now they're all on the iMac and Matt is working this morning, so I can't really get to them. But I promise, we have done some really amazing things in the last two weeks. The redwood national forest, San Francisco, and visit from my super fabulous sister.

But, like I said, I can't get to my pictures right now. So you all have the great pleasure (or not, because it's probably pretty dry and rambley) of learning about what life is really like living in such a teeny tiny space.

First of all, let me say that for the most part, it's actually better than I was expecting. We still have a couch, a kitchen table, a fridge, sink, oven/stove, shower and toilet. And a queen sized bed. (Now it's like you're reading a craigslist ad for an apartment.)

I'm pretty good at organizing, so storing our stuff hasn't been a huge issue. all the kids blankets go under the pull out couch during the day, the TV goes in the storage under our bed when we're driving.  We pretty much have to strictly follow the rule "a place for everything and everything in its place". We have plenty of room for books and games and lego. Obviously just the downsized stacks of books and games and lego. The rest are in storage back home.

So for the most part, it's fine. But once in a while we run in to....problems. Like how there's one toilet for 5 people. And one of those people is recently potty trained. And how the clothes closet opens up right into the bathroom and also our bedroom. It's pretty much the definition of bottleneck when people are trying to get ready in the morning or for bed. Lots of people have had their toes stepped on and fingers shut into doors and cupboards.

The kitchen table turns into Oliver's bed. It's actually pretty easy to make into the bed. Not so easy to turn back to the table. At least not easy if you're under 6 feet tall. There's a weird angle and you have to perfectly latch the table to the wall. Anyway, it's usually Matt's job. But last week he had to leave at like 6 am to get to a conference in San Francisco. It was St. Patrick's day, and in our house we have a Lucky Charms for breakfast tradition. So I made the table (I thought), poured huge bowls of Lucky Charms and milk, and everyone sat down to eat.

Then, the table buckled, fell from the wall, and spilled Lucky Charms and milk EVERYWHERE. Sawyer was trapped under the table where it fell on his leg. I saved him, dropped the table, and scraped up our lovely hardwood. Sawyer was upset because his leg hurt and he was covered in milk. So he took his pants off. I was trying to clean up the floor, but the stupid marshmallows were expanding in the stupid milk and getting everything sticky and pastel coloured. Sawyer was so upset by this point that he peed. Like a whole freaking liter. All over the floor. And cereal. So now the floor was covered in milk, cereal, marshmallows, and pee. Everyone was screaming, myself included. Let me remind you that this is a very small space and it's virtually impossible to clean a floor so small without just being right in the mess. Eventually I got it all cleaned up. And then Hayden pipes in with an ever so sweet "am I EVER going to get to eat breakfast?!" I managed to get them each a small bowl of the remaining Lucky Charms, and went to take a shower. Yuck. Then I realized that we had gone swimming the night before and the only clean towel was used by Matt that morning and was soaking wet. It was a super fun morning.

So yeah. Sometimes stuff like that happens. But so far, the good has outweighed the bad. (Except for on Tuesday, when Matt was hooking up our sewer hose to the drain, it backed up on him. Yes. The black water tank backed up on him. Like everywhere. It took a few hours and a whole lot of bleach to get it fixed. But we had a very kind RV neighbour who took him to the RV store and helped get everything we needed.)

But we're still happy. Today we are going down to the little shops near Avila beach to find the bookshop and the ice cream parlour. Life is good.

-Jessica

The Oregon Coast

Ahhhhh. Seriously you guys. This week has been so fantastic I almost feel bad telling you all about it. Almost.

On Monday, we left Washington in a torrential downpour. Matt wasn't very excited about driving in all the rain, but once we got to Olympia, it had totally cleared up. We stopped to do a bit of shopping and stock up on some groceries. And let me tell you, it is cheap here in the good old US of A! I couldn't believe the price of the milk. It's like $2.50 for a 4 litre jug. Cheap! I love it! So we totally went crazy and even let the kids pick whatever cereal they wanted. Captain Crunch with berries. Ha. Berries. Right. So I pretended it was gross and then ate it for dessert.

Anyway, from there we took this amazing bridge from Washington to Oregon. It was huge and gorgeous.

Not the greatest picture, but you get the idea. So then we went to our KOA and got settled. 

(Sidenote...if you have never stayed at a KOA, you really should. Tonight we are at our third, and they're pretty fantastic. Awesome playgrounds, clean showers, laundry, wifi, the works.)

The next morning, we headed down the road because we were told there was a nice beach there. Nice didn't even begin to describe it! It was stunning. Gorgeous sand, brilliant blue waves, and a shipwreck. The kids were in heaven. 

Isn't that just the coolest shipwreck?

Love his crazy hair in this one. 

Ok. All these pictures are of him. But he's just so darn cute. 

It was just so great. Then we went back to the campsite and swam and sat in the hot tub. Matt made burgers while the kids played at the park. Did I mention it's only March? As in still winter? Its was like 18 degrees. Fantastic. 

Next day we packed up and started driving along Hwy 101. It follows the Oregon Coastline all the way down, and it does not disappoint. It is just breathtaking. There are all these adorable little coastal towns and some really great lookout points too. So we stopped at some. 

And then we went to Cannon Beach. Sigh. I'll just let the pictures speak. They're much more eloquent than I am. 

So there it is (in a teeny, tiny nutshell)- the Oregon coast. Natural, earthy, awe-inspiring beauty. 

Tomorrow- the Californian Redwoods!

And we're off!!

Yesterday was the day!

We woke up bright and early (like 5 am early) and set off! We had to be at the ferry early to go through customs. It was a lovely, rainy, west coast day. As the ferry pulled out of the beautiful Victoria harbour, I felt a slight wrench in my stomach. Mostly excitement, but nerves too. Oliver and Sawyer were giddy with excitement, but Hayden was having a rougher time saying goodbye to his hometown.

So Matt took him for a quiet one on one walk around the ferry while I went inside so the others could run around a little. He was okay after a while. Poor little man just feels so much. And I love him for it. After we arrived in Port Angeles, we met my Dad and Step-mum for lunch and then headed back to their place.

If there's anyplace to begin a trip, this is it. They have possibly the most beautiful ocean view around.  It's impossible to not feel peaceful here. Their backyard is a beach, so Matt is down there with the boys right now, running around in the rain. It's fantastic. Combine that, with the incredible food (two fabulous cooks living here) and it's a straight-up vacation.

The one little big hiccup is that we discovered, on the Saturday before leaving, that there was a hole in our hot water tank. Serves us right for not checking it sooner. We didn't have time to deal with it before leaving, but luckily my dad has a guy for everything. I didn't even need to ask him if he had an RV guy (he doesn't even own an RV), I just said "Dad, can you call your RV guy for us?" and he got us in right away. They ordered a new one for us, and putting in in tomorrow morning. I'm glad we budgeted for repairs because this one is a doozy! I asked Matt how much it was, and this conversation happened:

"Wow."
"How much is wow?"
"Right in between ouch and boiiiing ".

100 points if you get that reference.

Anyway, I'm jut glad we discovered it while here rather than on the road. And we're still on schedule. Next stop- cousins!!

One more week!

So this is it....crunch time.

It seems like the last two months have gone both painfully slow, and impossibly, scarily fast. My list of things that need to get done before we leave started out BIG. Like pages and pages. Slowly it has been whittled down to about 2/3 of a page. Which is still long, but in comparison to even 2 weeks ago seems very manageable.

We've got all of our insurance, dealt with the banks (we need American credit cards and bank accounts), taken care of passports, packed up all of our stuff for storage (there is a GIANT pile of boxes in the front entryway waiting to go to the storage locker), sold our minivan, figured out our American cell phone plans (so much cheaper it's not even funny), got our new iMac for on the road, had the RV tuned up and checked over, etc. etc.

This last week we have had some really crazy stormy weather. Yesterday, while doing some cleaning and organizing inside Thor (yes, that's what the kids named our motorhome), I noticed a leak. Yes, a leak. Waaah. We are taking it on on Monday to get the roof resealed, so hopefully that's all it needs. They told us that if we caught it right away, which I'm pretty sure we did, it should still be fine. Here's hoping!!!

Of course there will always be unforeseen problems right before a big trip like this, but it's still not fun.

On Monday, we are going to the homeschooling office to get the coursework for the boys. I don't know if I'm scared of excited about this. I have always had pretty strong opinions of the importance of learning in a classroom setting, but I think 4 months of homeschooling will actually be a pretty awesome experience. And (really annoying mom statement coming) my kids are incredibly smart, so I'm more concerned about my teaching skills than their learning abilities.

So our date for departure is March 3rd. We moved it up a day or two so that we can spend a few days with my Dad and Stepmom in Sequim, Wa. My dad (who is the most incredible cook, BTW) has already planned out our meals. I'm actually a little overexcited about it, to be honest.

Lots of people have asked why we have such a specific date. Matt is going to the Game Developers conference (commonly known as GDC) in San Francisco on March 17. Although it will only realistically take a few days to get to San Fran, we wanted to stop at Canon Beach on Oregon, and the Redwood national forest in northern California first. After stopping at my Dad's (in Sequim) and my sister's (in Orting, near Seattle) first. So we just set a date, and are sticking with it. That way, we know we will get everything done in time.

So here we are, just a week (and a couple days) away. Getting giddy with excitement here. And since I woke up to frost and grey skies today, California is calling my name.

Our First Home

Yep. It's true. This is officially our first home. We have always rented since we've been married. Let's be honest- we live in Victoria which is the land of incredibly expensive real estate. $400,000 for a 3 bedroom starter home? Let's not and say we did. For real though, we have been married for 8.5 years, and I've been a stay at home mama for 7 of those. Matt was a student for 4 of them- realistically even living in a much cheaper place, it wasn't going to happen.

But that's ok. It really hasn't bothered us too much. We always knew we wanted to do something big and grand before we "settled down"- if being married and having 3 kids doesn't count as settling down. Because in my books, it doesn't have to.

We have told several people that we consider out RV to be our first home. Some people think we're joking, and some have even expressed that they found it sad, but not to worry because they're sure we'll own a home one day. Whatevs. This was totally planned. And we think it's awesome. Really, we consider it a blessing that we have this amazing chance of a lifetime to show our children so much of North America. Doing schoolwork at picnic tables is pretty fun when you're a kid.  And as my 7 year old pointed out, we can pretty much just skip over the whole Social Studies section of school- because we will be totally immersed in it.

So. Anyway. After our disappointing search of the island for a decent motorhome, we journeyed to the mainland to see what we could see. We drove all over Surrey and Maple Ridge but were still not excited about any of the units we were seeing. So we went to Hope (which, to be perfectly honest is not actually THAT far, but people seem to think it is.) to look at one last motorhome.

And this was it. We were so excited about it, we brought it home that same day. It's a 31 foot Thor Ambassador and it's perfect. Well, other than the "I love retirement living" bumper sticker. But maybe we'll cover that up with a Disneyland one or something. Or a deathly hallow symbol. I'd totally get on board with that.

Of course the kids were giddy and now they just call it "Thor". And by they,  I mean all of us. Because that's a pretty rad name for a motorhome. So now, with 7 weeks to the day until we leave, it's time to get all of our ....everything.... in order. With just a few tweaks to Thor, like a new TV, new stereo (do people even have cassettes any more?) and a microwave, we should be on our way!

PS...When you have a very large motorhome and want to take your kids on a little drive so they can check it out, might I suggest avoiding Quadra street all together. 4 inches of clearance on either side does not make a relaxing drive. Trust me.

Motorhomes!

We have been spending the last several months researching all of our options for this trip. After a lot of going back and forth, we decided that a motorhome would suit our needs better than a trailer or 5th wheel. Since we will be homeschooling, we will want the kids to be able to work as we drive. Most motorhomes have seat belts at the table, so the boys will be able to work, play games, eat, build lego, colour....the list goes on. We have looked at more motorhomes than I care to even say, and although it is really fun, we are finding the more we see, the more confused we become!

One thing is certainly clear- Vancouver island is not the place to buy a motorhome. So off we head to the mainland tomorrow to see some more. We have appointments to see 4....and with any luck we will be coming home with one tomorrow. Although we don't leave for 2 months, we'd like to take it on at least one camping trip before we go. We need to get used to the feel of it, figure out how much stuff we can actually bring with us, and, knowing me, I'm probably going to redecorate it. Let's be honest. If I'm going to live in it for half a year, it's got to be pretty.

So off we go in the morning to find our little teeny tiny house. Here's hoping we find it!

And so we begin...

Have you ever wanted a change? Not just a little one like a new couch, a new paint colour in the bathroom, or new kitchen countertops. Not even a change like a new house or a new car. I mean a BIG change. We do. Love Vancouver island though we do, we've done it. Seen it. Been all over it.  And we're kind of bored of it. Not like we never want to come back, but we are ready to have a little adventure.

Really, we have wanted this adventure for a long time, but things kept keeping us here. Matt was in school for years, we were stuck here because of jobs, and we didn't want to move away until we were finished having babies. 

Well, now, it kind of seems like the perfect time. Which is actually really hard to believe because it always has seemed to me like "the perfect time" was a myth. But here we are. Matt recently quit his job (scary!- at first) and started his own business. It has been his dream and we just decided to jump in head first and not look back. So now that he's mobile (because it's a home-based/ web-based business) we don't need to be any one place. Our youngest baby is no longer a baby and our oldest is not quite old enough to be devastated about leaving all of his friends. Mom and Dad are still the coolest- and I'd like to hold on to that for as long as I can! 

So,  2 months from now we will be taking off. And I mean off! We will be purchasing an RV and taking the adventure of a lifetime. We plan to homeschool the kids for the remainder of the school year, which will be about 4 months. March 6th is our target day for taking off.  We will spend that time travelling and seeing the (North American) world. Hopefully our trip will take us along the coast of California (Disneyland of course is a must) through Arizona, New Mexico, and then through US to the East Coast. Definitely a New York stop for the musical theatre nuts inside all of us and then up to the Maritimes of Canada. We will be most likely ending our trip in Prince Edward Island or Nova Scotia and staying for a few years. So basically from way out west to way out East. 

So there it is. In writing. So we can't take it back. We are nervous- we are planning- we are budgeting- we are researching- but most of all we are excited! Join us on our adventure as we freewheel across the continent!