Living and Learning on the Move

After adding bunk beds (couch always folded out this way)

Before adding bunk beds

     The remodel gave us the opportunity to make our RV a home! We started in the living room long before we did the rest! We initially just put in bunk beds in the living room. It was nice and not too difficult, more creative than anything! My husband is basically a jack of all trades. He knows a lot of things about a lot of areas and just goes from there! He knew that you could buy the beds that go on the ceiling (and fold-down) in the front of the old Class A RVs so he thought we’d put one of those above our couch for our children. He wasn’t able to find one; however, he was able to find the metal brackets that would “hold” the bed up (on each side of the bed frame). He painted the brackets white to give them a better look (rather than the old metal look). So, from there, he constructed a wood box that would fit in above our couch. After he constructed the box, he then covered it with leather material to give it more of a finished look. He took that box and attached it to the metal brackets and *wala*!!! That was it! He made it look entirely TOO easy!!!

Left Metal Bracket

Right Metal Bracket

Stephen Austin State Park (San Felipe, TX)

These deer were all in our pathway! It was awesome until the buck started heading right at us! Some were even rutting... they didn't even stop with humans near them!

More friend moments.

Kristi posing!

Playing tic-tac-toe with Anthony!

Daddy carving a walking stick! Even mommy got a turn! Anthony and I playing tic-tac-toe

     So our journey just began and we have already had quite the adventure!  We started our journey around 2pm yesterday (Tuesday) with quite a few errands to do before we could leave the Ankeny area. We stopped to say good-bye to some great friends and family, took some books back to the library, grabbed a bite to eat then we were off to our niece's house to drop off a vehicle and say good-bye to them, too.  Next thing we knew, we were 58 miles away and realized that we had to go back to our hometown of Ankeny because my daughter's ($800) retainer was left behind at McDonalds! I will leave that story at that, not a very pretty finding!  Also, not a fun start to the trip! LOL Next, the RV needed new plugs and coil wires so my poor husband was stuck doing that out in the cold!  It seemed like forever when we finally got on the road.  I think we finally made it out of Iowa around 10 or 11pm when we actually started packing up at 9am that day! We stopped around 2am to get some sleep at the wonderful local Walmart store. They so kindly let RVers stay for 1 to 2 nights in exchange for their business.  It was great because Brad was so adorable and said, "We finally get to be one of ~those~ rvers who travel around and once in a while sleep at Walmart!"  LOL It was too funny.  I'm so glad that they do offer that because we were once told to never pull into a RV park after dark because you are unable to know your surroundings and how good or bad the neighborhood might be. 

     Today, daddy awoke around 6:30am and said he was ready to hit the road!  We got a bite to eat from our kitchen (which is awful nice you know) and then we were off to continue down the road. By the way, it's wonderful having a bathroom because it seems like the kids are always going to the bathroom and it's nice that we don't have to stop every five minutes.  As a side note, I feel like singing the Kinney Roger's song, "On the Road Again -- I just can't wait to get on the road again, seeing places that I've never been before, I can't wait to get on the road again."  LOL  Okay, so anyway, we are going down the road and it seems like we are constantly having to go UP hill when we are on our way DOWN to Texas! LOL LOL  LOL We sure know what it feels like to be a truck driver, you have to get a running start UP the hill!  :-) 

     I thought I'd end this post with a picture of the kids looking so adorable, while taking a quick nap with Kit Kat, so they can be ready for the adventure.