Enjoying Today

Hey friends! I have been living it up in Alamo, Nevada. When I look back on the last week, I can't help but think how lucky I am. I did so many fun things it's going to be hard to summarize it all. But here it goes…
Last week was a windy one here in Nevada. It was so windy, that Ian got off early on Tuesday and we headed to Las Vegas to do some grocery shopping. We hit the usual, a country-western store, Costco and we picked up another pool for the kids. It was good to spend some time with Ian because he had been working 10 days in a row.
We also had baseball tryouts last week. One evening I went for a bike ride with the boys and was pleasantly surprised to see a baseball team practicing. I found the president of the Little League in the snack bar and before we knew it, we had Wrex on a team. Wrex is so excited to be back on a baseball team and hanging out with boys his own age. I am amazed at our timing in this and how we even stumbled upon it. We are so grateful to be a part of the team even if they only play six games . I think the season is short because of the warm weather.
Another thing we did last week, was exploring the hot springs just north of us. My friend Tarah and I took all the kids to the Hot Springs. We had so much fun splashing around in the warm water. What a relief to know there's water nearby. Even if it's only a little bit.
On Saturday the guys filled into the park one by one a little bit early. There is an endangered tortoise in the area that they work in. Their company has hired people to watch out for turtles to keep them out of harms way. They have also hired trucks to water down the road to minimize dust and also keep visibility for the tortoises. You see, living in the desert, the tortoises have adapted to look like rocks. With hundreds of men working out there on these powerlines they have so far run over two tortoises. Their company has also given all of the men a cash incentives for whoever sees a tortoise , this way they can be moved out of harms way. So believe me when I say that everyone is looking for these cash money tortoises the second tortoise was hit on Saturday, which caused the whole entire job to shut down for the past three days. There is talk of the whole job being shut down permanently, but I believe they're trying to find the best way to keep the tortoises safe and production up. So the Trailerpark's been pretty full lately. What else could we do but have a big pot luck dinner on Sunday night. Cayla and I decided it would be Mexican night and we made enchiladas and fajitas. One of the guys surprised us with some Colorado style tacos, they were delicious! We ended the night with my boys making us some homemade ice cream and s'mores. We've been taking s'mores to a whole new level at the trailer park. We're past plain old Hershey bars, we've moved on to white chocolate Reeses and snicker bars.
Cayla and I had been waiting for the guys to have a day off for sometime. We already had our plans ready. So finding the silver lining, Cayla and I took off for Vegas at 6:30 in the morning on Monday. I had been scavenging yelp for quite a while and found us a nail salon where we both had manicures and pedicures . After that we hit the spa at Caesar's Palace. With a little research we discovered they had 20% off services Monday through Thursday. Either way it was money well spent. We both had body scrubs and full massages. We enjoyed the Roman baths, the sauna, steam room, and even an arctic room where there was fake snow. We ate chick food like açai bowls and salads with candied walnuts and pears. It was the best day ever! We made it back to Alamo by 4:30 in the afternoon (just in time for Wrex's first baseball practice.) It was a huge success. Our husbands are amazing for treating us to that experience AND watching all the children. Love you babe!
It broke my heart to hear about the bombings in Boston. It hurts my heart to realize that things like going to a movie, sending our children to school, or even running in a marathon are now unsafe. I know that tomorrow is promised to no one. I also know that we can't live our lives in fear. Every day has little treasures in it. It's important to keep an eye out for them. It may be a cup of coffee with a friend, or an early day caused by the wind. I feel so incredibly blessed right now that my days are at such a slow pace that I can see those treasures. So a Message to myself, Kristina. Yes you. Remember these days. Enjoy them thoroughly. Don't grumble, because every day is a gift. I'm praying for you Boston.

Spring Break

      Hello everybody. We had a very lovely Spring break here in Alamo, last week. We ventured to the closest town, Caliente, which is 50 miles away. I was hoping to be amazed by the luxuries of the big city, but ended up realizing our grocery store/ rest stop is actually much nicer here. Still, I found out they have a public pool and a train museum. Always good things to have nearby when you have little boys.
     I turned a whopping 29 last week. I woke up and did what I imagine everyone does on their birthday. Put on an outfit that makes them feel good, do your makeup in a way that makes you feel like you really shine. Then I laughed when I inspected myself in the mirror and saw this 29 year old hipster, with her skull shirt and liquid eyeliner "with wings" staring back at me. I think I can still rock it, it's just funny how I thought I would grow out of that stuff, but it still is my comfort zone. Silly, I know. So I planned on going to Vegas that day to fill up on supplies and keep myself busy so I didn't miss my family too much. My friend Tarah and I headed to Vegas which is a scary drive. It's an hour and a half on a two lane road, which is mostly used by semi trucks and trailers. So if you want to make it there in an hour and a half you have to pass in the other lane (towards oncoming traffic.) I've never felt comfortable with that. I think I made everybody else feel uncomfortable too. Not fun. Anyhow, we made it to Vegas and had lunch at In N Out (surprised?) Then we went to Costco and Target. While I didn't find everything my hearts desired that day, we were loaded definitely down on the way back. After taking a wrong turn and driving an extra 20  miles out of the way, (the pleasures of being in a new town) I was in such a hurry to get back to Alamo. So much that, I got a phone call from Ian on the way home "was that you flying by me , just now? This ain't California babe, slow down!" Whoops! If you've ever driven a long car ride with a screaming baby, you feel my pain. We made it safely back, but after that adventure I was wiped out .

Our awesome set up! My lounge chair is the one with the towel on it, so you don't stick to it. It's classic

    I spent the next two days lounging in the sun in my new classy trailer park lounge chair. The other gals purchased wonderful things like slip n slides and baby pools. Which I am grateful for, because all I thought of was laying out in the sun for the next few days. We had such great weather the kids had an absolute blast on the slip and slide. At nap time you could find me, laying out, soaking up the sun. This relaxation fueled me up for our next big event. Easter.
      Let me say how lucky these kids of mine are. We had three Easter egg hunts. We found a local hunt at the elementary school which was tons of fun. This is where Waylon really figured out that plastic eggs=jelly beans. Although, after that, there was really no motivation for him to find the next egg until the one he was working on was empty. On Easter morning we had an egg hunt inside the trailer, just to warm them up. We then made Resurrection rolls and read the Easter story while filling the crescent rolls with buttery, cinnamon and sugar marshmallows. If you've never made them they are so yummy and very simple. (here's the recipe I used http://eatatallies.com/2011/04/resurrection-rolls/ ) Later that day, Cayla, Tarrah and myself collaborated for an Easter dinner for all the guys. It's so nice to be in a community.  I think of all these guys away from their families and I think of my brothers scattered all over the country and I  just hope that someone out there makes their day a little brighter with a plate of food. It seems like the least I can do here. Especially with such little fridge space.They have been great at eating my leftovers. I think its a win win situation. Anyways, Easter was a huge success. We had a ton of food and everyone had fun munching and chatting. Afterwards all the guys (I believe Cayla had to supervise) hid over 100 eggs in our trailer park. I'm not sure who had more fun, the guys hiding them and giving out clues, the dogs chasing the kids or the kids on their sugar high. I'm pretty sure it's safe to say that fun was had by all.
    We are now back at school and trying to figure out a daily routine. The stomach flu is still hopping from trailer to trailer, we're convinced we've built up enough immunities to outlast the apocalypse. I sure hope so, I'll keep you posted.xoxo~ Kristina


Houston making our resuurectin rolls.

Easter brought to you by the lovely ladies of Alamo

Our first week in the middle of nowhere

     Good morning ! I've been making mental notes and coming up with some Alamo stories for y'all. At first I thought "What am I going to tell them? We're in the middle of nowhere!" Once again life proves it's not about the destination but the journey along the way."
      Our first day in Alamo was wonderful. I woke up early and had the whole morning to myself . Thanks to my new trailer, the boys slept snugly in their room and I was able to have some peace. It may have been peace and quiet between 4 and 7 AM but I'll take it either way. My friend Cayla showed us around.  We finally have an address! I opened a PO Box, it's very unsettling not having an address.  We also  looked at the "other trailer park" options because ours was having some power issues. Meaning our power kept turning off. Not a great start. First we went to this "secret park" which was someones yard, at the end of a spooky street.I say spooky because it is on the edge of town and no clear definition of where town stops and desert starts.  Then we investigated "the other park," which was basically a parking lot, without laundry facilities, we decided to stay put. Along the way, we managed to pop all of our tires, on the bicycles and the jogging strollers. Turned out that "other park" was full of little "goat heads." I wasn't familiar with these pokies before, but after pulling out a few hundred of them and patching all six tires, now I know what they are! After our serious threat to leave the RV park,  the owners fixed our electrical problems. I would say this in itself was enough excitement for a day, but  that evening,  Waylon started throwing up. I've never had a one-year-old throw up before,  it's awful. They don't seem to know when it's coming, (or they do and can't tell you)  so you really just aim them at things. The stomach bug spread to everybody except for me for which I am eternally grateful. This gave me the opportunity to really get familiar with the towns laundry mat. I've spent $40 on laundry this week. With half the town's laundry machines out of order, it was a miracle that I have clean linens. Poor Ian came home sick on Wednesday with those dreaded words "your son got me sick." These poor guys, whatever they had,  it sounded terrible. Horrible noises coming from both bathrooms. Somehow I survived! Shuffling crackers to one room  and gatorade to the other.   Everyday I love my trailer more and more . It is so much more livable,  there is so much more space and  I am so grateful that my husband bought  this for me. In fact I feel quite spoiled!

    My friend Cayla, took the opportunity to quarantine her family and left the city! Actually, they left because her husband finished his apprenticeship. She is now officially married to a journeyman which gives all of us a glimmer of hope. It's so wonderful to see someone finish this apprenticeship. It is proof that the hard work and sacrifices will pay off. We are so happy for them. So they left town for a bit to get his Journeyman's ticket. I was so relieved when they came back. For a moment I thought we had lost them! If it wasn't a blizzard in Salt Lake, who knows if they would've come back! So  by Saturday, I had a little break in the action and Cayla and I were able to run a 5K in honor of the victims of Sandy Hooke. It was so fun to have a running buddy. She is definitely more compatible and more fun ,as a running partner than either my brother (sorry Nate) or Ian. ( He already knows this.) We had a few days here in the 60s but most of the week has been in the 70s. Which didn't seem like a big deal until I started seeing reports of Salt Lake and Colorado . Sorry friends out there, stay warm!

      I also got to pick up my first basket of fresh fruits and veggies on Saturday morning from bountiful baskets. Cayla forewarned me that the grocery store had slim choices for fresh produce. I'm so grateful that she was able to figure this stuff out ahead of my arrival, I feel so lucky. There was a little drama with the produce truck not arriving on time and I had to make three separate trips to the elementary school which isn't a big deal because I'm right down the street. and I don't have a lot to do. We  got all sort of goodies like pineapple, bananas, tangerines, grapefruit, Chinese cabbage and a box of sugar cookies to  decorate for Easter! In Alamo you really do need to plan ahead. I found this out when the grocery store ran out of bread. So signing up for bountiful baskets to receive fresh fruit and veggies a week ahead of time seems like a necessity.

        On Sunday we got a new family into the park. The boys are so excited to have some kids around here. The timing is perfect because we're on spring break and we need some entertainment! Ian was lucky enough to get off early yesterday ( he's working seven days a week, 12 hour days) and was home around five. Then we got to witness this really neat tradition that the guys in our park on Sundays call family dinner. ( I'm pretty sure Cayla actually started it.) I was caught off guard and you know how I like to plan, but sure enough at 5 o'clock, food started coming out of the trailers and everyone asked if we were ready for dinner!  I was not as I was up to my elbows in Chinese cabbage. So I whipped together a Chinese chicken salad and went out to feast on smoked pork loin, pasta salad and watermelon. I am so impressed that they get together every Sunday. It was so fun seeing all the guys hang out and enjoy each others company. Afterwards the guys all started playing poker and Houston  moved in on them. Luck was on Houston side and the boy cleaned house with those guys. We finished the evening off by enjoying a new recipe from the Pioneer Woman. If you haven't made her Apple dumplings they are a must! They have a secret ingredient (its Mountain Dew) Sounds weird, I know, but it was incredible yummy and easy to make. So we ended up having a pretty good,  entertaining week in the middle of nowhere.  Now we're ready for our second week. Let's hope everyone is healthy!

I am woman, hear me roar. I had to patch my own tires, because Ian is working every day, used 3 tubes of slime, but I got the job done!

 

Apple Dumplings! Imagine this warm gooeyness with vanilla ice cream. I should've taken a picture when it was plated, but we were hungry and it smelled soooo good!

The Mad dash to Alamo

     Hey friends ! We're still waiting it out in Salt Lake. I'm happy to report that we have been having sunny weather in the mid 50s. It's funny how the 50s feel so cold in Southern California but in Salt lake it's short sleeve weather! We've been keeping ourselves entertained with the local skate park and luckily there are a lot of kids in our rv park.
     Wrex and I went to see nick Vujicic on Saturday. What an inspirational man. He started the ministry "Life without limbs" He was born without arms or legs but he uses his story to encourage others. I thought it would be a neat experience to bring Wrex and I was able to get two tickets just  for us. While Wex did enjoy it he was more concerned about "how our date was going."  To learn more about Nick look here http://www.lifewithoutlimbs.org/


End of this entry and starting over......

      Well the day after I wrote this Ian  received a call to work. They sent us to Alamo Nevada. We had been browsing at new fifth wheels and decided if we were going to be spending the summer in the desert we needed to upgrade. So as crazy as it was we moved all of our stuff into a new fifth wheel ( with a huge kids room in the back) and got on the road headed for Alamo.  It would be surprising if you have ever heard of Alamo Nevada. They're only 1070 residents here. The grocery store is half gas station, but it's the closest town to area 51. This would probably be a very difficult place to be in if it wasn't for another line wife Cayla. Cayla's blog inspired us to live on the road and it is such a treat that we get to be with her, on her families last leg of this journey.Cayla has some pictures and fun facts about Alamo on her blog but discalimer, her pictures make it look way cooler than it actually is. So don't all go buying plane tickets at once. http://livinthelifeofalinemanswife.blogspot.com/2013/02/alamo-nv.html
    It's been a little hard getting time to write because as soon as we got here Waylon got sick.  You would think with my family being isolated on the road that we would be imune to all those germs out there, but it seems like the stomach flu has hit us again.

      They have Ian working 12 hour days and there's rumor that they will soon be working 14 hours a day.  He couldn't be happier to be back at work. He comes home with a goofy grin on his face every day. I am still busy unpacking, homeschooling and taking care of sick kids. But I can tell you this,  I am so happy that we have our new trailer.  This would be an extremely difficult town to be in, if we didn't have more room in our trailer . Ian describes this part of the desert as "the Hills have eyes" kindve desert.  It's very desolate and already pretty warm. So I think we will be spending most of our summer inside. I'll tell you more as it unfolds and as soon as I get back on my feet. ~Love Kristina

Keeping Busy

      Two months is an eternity to be out if work! I'm use to coming up with things to keep the kids busy and  look forward to but my new job is to come up with family activities to keep us all busy. I'm sure it's going to be an adjustment when Ian does get "the call." Who will help with the  laundry and dishes . Ian has taken on the task of organizing.... everything. Something I will never be able to keep up on. It's true what they say, "many hands makes the work load light " and due to this we've had extra time on our hands. Our first adventure started with the best of intentions of my husband. I have been complaining about my jogging stroller tires being flat since October. I tried repairing it myself and lately I've decided just to upgrade and find something on Craigslist . After going to several bike shops though, finally someone offered some help on upgrading the tubes and Ian got to work on it. I was so happy to get my stroller back and wanted to show my appreciation. It has been in the low 40s and they kept saying it would snow but it wasn't coming. So I bundled Waylon up in 2 shirts and a snow suit. ( let me reiterate , the skies were clear and had been for days) We started out on our run and he had a warm bottle , a pacifier and a blanket, just for comfort . Everything was great for the first 25 minutes, but then the wind picked up. Waylon started crying and the blanket kept falling off. I was so close to home, I couldn't see calling Ian. I figured I could run home in the time that he loaded the boys into the car and found me. So needless to say, I started running (faster) , the temperature dropped a bit and my fingers were freezing so I can only imagine poor little Waylon's. We lost the bottle and the pacifier. I think it was the fastest mile I've run yet . We got back to the park and I couldn't unbuckle my screaming child because my frozen fingers wouldn't work. So I pounded on the trailer door. Ian pretty much laughed at me and told me I was insane. He said Waylon wasn't cold to the touch , he was probably just scared. I promptly shut myself in the bathroom and cried, until I realized that Waylon wanted me! What a gift that children trust their parents. A gift sometimes I feel I don't deserve . So we bundled him up in a blanket and gave him a warm bottle because I was convinced he was freezing. He went right to sleep. At that moment, Ian opened the front door and we saw quite a snow storm hit. In only a few minutes the jogging stroller was covered in several inches of snow. We have had the nicest weather but it can change very suddenly. As this story shows. It felt like a huge momma fail.
    On Monday we celebrated Houston's 7th birthday. Yes, all of our birthdays seem to be around the same part of the year, we're almost done with birthday season over here, just have to celebrate mine at the end of the month and then we'll be good til November. We wanted to make his birthday special but being on a budget we were kinda winging it. We decided to get him a new bicycle because the one he had was way too small and it's a great activity to do when you live on the road. It could hardly have been a surprise to him, because we took him to bike shops all weekend long having him try this one and that one. So Sunday night, I decorated the trailer with party decorations and he woke up to his favorite breakfast, buttered croissants on angry bird plates and his new bike! We finished our school work and then decided to go to an indoor rock climbing gym. Houston is a spider monkey. He was up and down the walls like a pro. Were looking at a future lineman in that boy.Wrex went up a few times just to prove he could, but he wasn't that into it. This gym was no joke, they gave Ian and I a tutorial on tying the knots and all of the proper procedures (I didn't climb but I learned all the stuff so I could be at the bottom with the ropes. (Sorry I don't know all the terms, I was just happy to be there and learn a figure eight knot.) Houston went up so many difficult wall climbs that I'm pretty sure he pushed Ian to do more than he would've done. You can see a friendly father son competition budding between the now seven year and his dad. After that we grabbed some In N Out (birthday boys choice) and we went home to play some new board games. We had a great, corny, old fashioned birthday dinner . We ate homemade fried chicken, again not my choice to make in a trailer, but it was the birthday boys request. We ate chocolate cake and played cards. All in all it was a really fun day .
        We were lucky enough this week to have a friend watch our kids for us so we could have a date night . We went to see "Silver Linings Playbook " which I enjoyed but the movie theater was something I had never experienced . First of all the movies were way cheaper than back home but once you're inside they have restaurants ( that's right several) and you could take a meal into your movie. How cool is that ? We had fun and got some great grub at Cafe Rio. Which is outside of the theaters.  I wasn't ready for that whole eating in the theater experience. Next time we'll have to get there a little earlier.  A big thanks to my friend Jen for making that happen. .
     We also found a neat little skate park near us. Perks of being home schooled is that it was pretty much empty and we are now declaring that our official spot for PE. I think it was just as good to get my husband out and moving as it was for the little boys
     So you see, we've been keeping busy. Ian gets really antsy if we don't keep our day filled. Poor guy is bored out if his mind. Hopefully I'll be posting that we're back to work soon, but until then, here are some pictures from our week.

Keeping my man busy at the skate park...yeah he's still got it

Clue, is one of my favorite board games! LOVE!

Sometimes I impress myself, with what we accomplish in this ity bity kitchen.

Just a warm up free climb

Dad is whipping these kids into shape, they are doing dishes nightly. ( I didn't say they were happy about it)

Look how big that snow bank is compared to him!

California Trip

Date night at the Yellow Deli

      Hey friends! Most of you know where I've been, but if you missed us, we took this opportunity to thaw out in sunny southern California! My mother in law welcomed our family of five into her home, where we spread out and took over. We arrived the day before Waylon's birthday and we invited whoever was around for pizza and cake . It was so cool to celebrate with our extended family and catch up with friends. Ian got to surf, just once I think, on account of his missing wet suit, which sent him on a scavenger hunt in our storage unit . Funny how you forget what you've left behind, I like to keep if forgotten since we're all ready maxed out in here. We got our fill of  In-N-Out, sometimes several times a week. We made these trips our date with Grandpa Kevin. By the end if the trip,  I was eating my burger on a bed of lettuce "protein wrapped " but who am I to stand between my children and their beloved In-N-Out. I got to go to the botanical gardens with a friend and even squeezed in a beach day with the boys. Ian and I got to have a few dates here and there, which is always the best! We finally discovered " The Yellow Deli" in Vista, which Ian describes as having a trip in the Pirates of the Caribbean. I don't care how you describe the ambiance, it's definitely something to experience, I got the best yogurt parfait. Yes it was dinner time but the guy was really selling me on it and I'm so glad I got it. That and a weird green drink that I loved so much I went out and bought a magic bullet for the trailer which I still have only used to grind coffee beans, but that's another story. Actually, I'll tell you right now my father in law came to hang out with us and gave us some delicious Kona coffee. It was amazingly good and is seriously ruining my normal yuban routine .
       We spent one of our three weeks in a friends toy hauler. He was out of town that week and offered it to us to stay in. First of all,  he taught us the power of febreeze, this trailer smelled so good, even with all of our stinky boys staying in it. Secondly, wow,  how amazing it would be to have a full size closet but even more importantly was having an enclosed room in the back where Waylon couldn't hear us at nap time. These things seriously have us dreaming about toy haulers.

      The next thing we did was celebrate Ian's birthday! We kept it low key and had pizza and cookies with his mom and sister . We hung out and looked at pictures of little Ian when he was growing up. So proud of the man he has become. This tied in well with my present I got him . Not much I could do with the out of work budget, but I  managed to find a ton of pictures of Ian from over the past ten years,  we've been together and I compiled them in a photo album for him. He really liked it and I love seeing the boys (and us) age in the pictures. We also got to celebrate his birthday with my aunts and uncles and cousins. Again after being on the road and celebrating on your own, it was so fun to celebrate with family.

     We took the opportunities this trip offered  and Ian got to go to motocross with the guys and I got to take a hot yoga class and was able to run in the sun, what a difference! We spent the morning drinking coffee with Ian's mom and watching Waylon torture the cat and hide things in the bird cage.  We made dr appointments and tried to enjoy each others company while it lasted .
      Finally, it was that time of the month when Ian has to be in Salt Lake for class and I decided to come back with him. We had a lot of really good times in California but I really missed my own space, my own stuff, my own bed. It seems silly to miss a trailer but its mine and I've grown fond of it. So on Valentines day we set off for Salt Lake City . Unfortunately, this timing coincided with me fighting a major cold and Waylon teething . The boy made it through his birthday without a single tooth and now he's getting four at once! And this is how I found myself at a Motel 6 in St George Utah on Valentines Day. I like to think of myself as an easy going gal , but around Vegas I woke up with completely plugged ears and totally backed up sinus' so as I read my husbands lips when he mouthed "no porta crib, share bed with Waylon" I started to cry. He couldn't quite understand my distress but he offered to go to Target to buy a porta crib. I took him up on it because anyone who has had Waylon sleep or nap in your house can imagine that there is no sharing a bed with Waylon. I really needed a good nights rest with my head cold, so off we went to buy a porta crib after we had just left one behind at my mother in laws house. Am I  the only one who feels like a slow learner? We ended up having dinner at Cracker Barrel (I had soup) and as my husband looked around he said "today's Valentines Day and I got you a room at the motel 6" and I said "yes" and he said " we probably would've spent less money if we would've stayed at a nicer hotel" just knowing that he can realize these things gives me hope but the action of him buying another porta crib - that gave me rest which I most desperately needed.
       So the following day we made it to Salt Lake City . We got our trailer in at the park and  Ian thawed everything out. We were surprised at how warm it was here. It's in the 40s which isn't bad at all and there's just a bit of leftover snow on the ground. It was such a good feeling to be back in my own trailer, with all my stuff and a new change of clothes (we had 4 pairs of clothes each, for three weeks.) It made me want to deep clean and organize everything , but that feeling soon passed. Now we've been hanging out getting caught up on Wrex's schoolwork. It turns out he skipped over a lot of school work while we were in California. That's how we spent our three day weekend, hope all is well on your adventure. Love you all and we'll see you again real soon.

It is NOT always sunshine and roses over here. In case you got that impression...

       We made it to Salt Lake. Driving away from Durango was bittersweet. I was so sad to leave behind my friends and the town which I have called home for the past seven months, part of me felt like I was getting uprooted and I had to keep telling myself that "this is the deal, the plan was never to find a mountain town and get settled in, but to travel as a family on the road, exploring new places." So with a deep breath , we drove away. This time the truck pulled the fifth wheel with no problem. When we moved in the summer, we had issues with the truck overheating but due to the cold weather and hopefully all the truck repairs we went through this summer, we had no problems. The drive from Salt lake to Durango this summer (towing the trailer) took us almost 10 hours, but this time we made it in 7 1/2 hours. Which was much better, but still really uncomfortable in my vehicle. Waylon really didn't get why we were stuck in the car for so long and I kept holding Wrex or Houston hostage in my vehicle to keep Waylon entertained. It didn't take long for either of them to plead with me to go back to dad's truck. After a very long day we got to our new park at 7:50pm. The office was open till 8 which I thought was cool. So we got our spot number and went to settle in. I helped Ian back in and then took his phone (because mine was dead) and navigated the boys to the nearest In N Out. We thought it would be best if Ian could get things set up while I got dinner. It was just after 8 by then and we were all famished. So I came back with two double doubles only to find a disgruntled husband. Apparently, they had put us in a spot rated for a 50 watt plug in and we have a 30 watt. He ran to the office before they closed and they gave him an adapter, but when he got back to the trailer he saw they gave him the wrong one. So he went back to the office, but they had closed up and gone home. I'm sure he would've at this point made a few phone calls but guess who had his phone? That's right, this girl, who was taking her sweet time munching on In N Out. Yep, totally my style. So I came back and Ian let me in on our troubles, we had it all set up but no electricity. This might not be a huge problem for some, but here was my issue. Our heater runs on propane, but the heat doesn't distribute evenly throughout the fifth wheel. The heat is concentrated to mainly our bedroom and trickles throughout the fifth wheel. So usually, Ian and I are either sweating or trying to block off our vent, in hopes that the other vents will have more heat pushed through. To keep the kids warm, they have heating blankets and an electric heater in their room and they are always nice and toasty. Without electricity though, we would be depending on the propane heater to keep everyone warm.  Since we had been on the road all day, as it was, you could see your breath in the trailer. So I decided right then that there was no way we could heat the trailer enough for the kids to be comfortable. So we pulled up "kayak" and found the cheapest motel near by and checked into the Comfort Inn. Ian and I were a little frustrated with the turn of events but Waylon was more than happy to stroll around the motel room. In fact that's what he did for a few hours and when we tried to put him to sleep in the porta crib he resisted. It was a pretty restless night for Ian and I, Waylon kept fussing and by 6 am, I was up with Waylon at the continental breakfast.


Ian's art project

     A few hours later, Ian went to the trailer to start thawing things out. Since we left everything closed the night before, everything was frozen, pipes, tanks and a lot of our food. Did you know when banana's freeze, they turn brown. It also ripens them up. I left them slightly green and came back to ripe frozen bananas. Anyway, to add a bit to our frustration the trailer had a few issues. The "landing gear" the automatic jacks that you put down when it's parked, blows fuses every time its used which really ticks Ian off. More importantly our fridge was acting up before we left Durango and now it simply isn't working. It's cold enough in these parts where it is not warm inside the fridge but I wouldn't say it's cold and the freezer is just not happening. So all in all my attitude was poor yesterday. I felt like I was waking up from a dream,  telling myself "what are you doing? are you really living in a trailer, on the go every couple of months?" I had to take a deep breath and make some banana bread. Really, what else was there to do? Over the course of the day, Ian thawed things out, and I watched suspiciously. His attitude was peculiarly upbeat. I spent the rest of the afternoon, teaching Wrex about dividing decimals and Ian, eventually bored out of his mind, started coloring. I should mention that Waylon took a nice long nap yesterday. He was exhausted from the previous day's events. Houston  was all caught up on school and enjoying a "Magic School Bus " marathon. By the end of the night we had picked up a pizza, since the fridge doesn't work and pizza is super easy for dinner when you're living in the city again. We ended up having some good, quality family time due to the fact that this park doesn't have a cable hook up. Which reminded me of the reason we moved in to this situation in the first place. To be a family. So the fridge will hopefully get fixed soon. Ian is still waiting on the next call but I hear the voice of a warmer place calling my name....we will see.

Yes He's Bored