The blog has moved

We are now a traveling family. We are traveling around the United States, Canada and Central America over the next year or two. You can follow our adventures at http://thevagabondgene.blogspot.com/.

Boys day in the Navajo Nation



These pics are in reverse order so start at the bottom of the post.
Back on our feet again.

The hike wipped out Uncle Chris and the boys.

The boys did great on the hike. They actually out hiked me.

We did this hike a few years ago and the boys had a hard time on the way out. Not this year.

Boys love throwing rocks in water. We also had some awesome stick races.



Uncle Chris and the boys at the bottom of the canyon.



The boys were great and had a great time.

I think it said these ruins were built aroun 1100AD



The boys look like specks crossing the bridge at the bottom of the canyon.



We stopped to enjoy the view before the hike down.

This is a little spot we stopped to eat our lunch.

The boys and Chris explored the historic Hubbell Traiding post while I was in my meeting.

Boys love guns.

The boys love exploring the gift shops at the different National monuments and parks. Grae is reading Jonah a book about coyotes and a Navajo woman showed us how she makes her rugs.

I had to do a training for my job in Ganado on the Navajo Indian Reservation so I took the boys and Uncle Chris with me for a fun day in the Navajo Nation. It was a great day. We haven't had enough of these days recently but we plan on having many many more days like this much more frequently in the very near future.

Six Flags Fun

As part of our big trip Cameo and I got the kids season passes to Six Flags. This will let us in to any of the Six Flags around the Country as well as Canada and Mexico. We decided to go to California and test them out. Our kids are dare devils and all except Cameo loved the big rides. I'm looking forward to seeing how many Six Flags we can hit.

Maiden voyage across the U.S.

We bought a truck and camper and converted it to run on waste vegetable oil. The family actually came to our house to do the conversion while they travel around the U.S. in their motorhome with their four kids. We are so glad they did! It couldn't have been done any sooner. About a week later we took the truck/camper on a road trip back to Kentucky. Lynn had orientation for a program he'd been accepted into. He's planning on getting his masters as a Family Nurse Practitioner.

We love eating at this place in Amarillo. Coyote Grill I think. One of those amazing local joints that you wouldn't know existed if someone hadn't told you about it. (My brother who served his mission there...) Best burger I've ever had.

We put stickers on the side of our motorhome of each state we've gone in the truck/camper. The kids each take a turn putting on a new state sticker. They love it!

Camping in the back woods of Kentucky. We spent three days at this park in a small town in Kentucky called Hyden while we waited for Lynn to finish his orientation. The kids all spoke with strong Kentucky accents by the time we left. Seriously.

We saw Cumberland Falls and the original Kentucky Friend Chicken on our drive home. Once we hit St. Louis, we had to try Sweetie Pie's Restaurant (featured in Diners, Drive-ins and Dives). We even met the owner, Sweetie Pie. We also stopped at a flight and space museum in Oklahoma. It was really cool!

The Plan

I'm not really sure how to begin. I guess I'll start at the beginning.

About 14 years ago, Lynn and I began dating. Late one night around Christmas, Lynn and I stayed up late at my mother's home. I was home from college for Christmas break. Around 2 o'clock am, my mother woke up and told Lynn to go home. She was angry. She told him he was a vagabond. He was. He is. Little did we know what foreshadowing that would be...

We have decided to rent out our home, sell or store most of our belongings and move into a camper powered by a veggie-oil diesel truck and travel the world or at least as much of it as we can. That's a lot to take in, I know. Go ahead and read it again.

Why? Life is short and this precious time with our children is even shorter. Cora is already ten. She wrote an essay this week for school about best friends. She said me and her father were her best friends. I realize how precious that is and how rare. I want to bottle up time with that little girl and with her brothers but I can't. Time will march on whether I foster those relationships or not. I choose to foster them.

The short-term plan: Lynn is going to school full-time online starting in January. He will be working on his Master's degree and will graduate in two years as a Family Nurse Practitioner. I am still taking pre-requisites and now co-requisites online for the nursing program I am planning on attending in a couple of years. Lynn will be working as nurse per diem in an Emergency Room hospital in northeastern Arizona. He will likely be working every other week at first and then one week a month while we travel until we save up enough money for the next leg of our journey. The kids will be going to school online as well.

The long-term plan: Lynn and I have a couple of main goals. We want to serve others and foster the joy of service in our children. We want to have our children learn Spanish so they will have as many options open to them as they can. We want to live each day on purpose. No pre-conceived notions. No fears and obligations. Convictions. Plans. Actions. I love my family. That's why we are doing this.

Salt River Recreation

This summer while Cameo was doing her CNA class in Mesa the kids and I went with our friends the Shaws and some of their friends floating down the Salt River. It was a blast.