Have you ever watched a married couple attempt to back a trailer into a small spot at a campground? If not, then you should. I'll be your muse. I must look and seem ridiculous. Today,  I was hanging out in the trailer eating a plum with Trenton when I noticed a woman standing behind an oversized RV making hand gestures like I've never seen. When I stand behind our trailer to help Travis back into a campground space, I feel like I make movements with my arm that resemble "backing up." I wave him back, simply. Not like a beauty queen in the 4th of July parade wave, but a smooth wave of the hand, gesturing him to back up. If he needs to move to one side or the other, I point in that direction. When there is an arms length of space between the back of the trailer and whatever tree, rock, stump or gate is behind us, I feel like I give him a good hand gesture to explain that too. This woman I pretty much paparazzi-ed without a camera from my trailer made gestures I couldn't even make sense of. I swear if I had put music to her moves, she  could have been on a club floor dancing in the 70's. Granted, she got that oversized whale of an RV in there on the first try as she made these obscene hand gestures to her husband. Kudos to her. She's doing something right. Maybe I'll ask her for some advice. We've got too many campground to count coming our way. Some advice may be needed. 
It's taken Travis and I about 5 years to get our system down, that was until someone said, "why don't you just call him and talk to him when he's backing in." Ah-ha moment as well as a stupid me moment, all rolled into one. So, I call him when I'm standing behind the trailer assisting him as he backs into the campground space and don't look like a crazy lady with obscene hand gestures. 

For now, our You Tube is more of a home video and keepsake for us. We want to share with our family and friends and we look forward to watching these years from now! Enjoy

We've been on the road for nearly a week. Mammoth was our first stop and it was great. About 6 months ago when we were mapping our adventure, we had wanted to go up the CA coast to get to Oregon by July when we have a family reunion. This proved difficult, as everyone tends to swarm to California in the summer and the beach camping locations booked quick. For most of our trip, we will wing it as move along, but for the summer, I wanted to get locations booked so we didn't have scramble and fight for a spot in a town we wanted to be in. Since the beach locations booked up ASAP and were not completely ready to wing it, we opted to stay inland and head north to Oregon. So, Mammoth seemed like a great first stop. Little did we know there was an offroad MotoX race and the campground would be packed with the bros from So Cal. Don't get me wrong, we were once desert people. Dirtbikes and quads were our thing. Yet, we've found ourselves over the last few years liking the woods and beach a little more than the desert. With kids not too interested in dirt bikes, we sold them. So, here we were in Mammoth, surrounded by bikes reving up, country music blaring and golf carts swarming the campground. We headed out more often, in search of hikes and adventures and were pleased to find so much.

Our first stop was to Convict Lake. We hiked a good 45 minutes which was a great first hike for the boys. We take hikes easy for now, as our middle kiddo has KT syndrome and we are unsure of how far his endurance will take him before he is done.  Once the kids saw others fishing, they were ready to cast their lines into the water, so we headed back to grab our fishing poles and attempt to catch some fish. We are amateurs at best. I killed it as a kid with a fishing pole, baiting the hook, grabbing the fish and using pliers to get the hook out, tossing it back into the lake. I had awesome adventurous Aunts who taught me everything. Yet it's been years since I grabbed a pole and fished. Something to do with screaming, high demand toddlers and kids yelling "Mom!" all of the time. So, we spent some time casting and breaking lines, losing bait and getting tangled in line and then watching Bryce almost take a hook to the face. It was a little too forced and chaotic. Plus, middle of the day heat kept the fish in the deeper parts of the lake, no where near the shore. So we enjoyed the scenery and headed back. On our drive, we took side roads and checked out the streams, hot springs and stunning views. We so badly want to force the boys to appreciate the views and stunning mountains, yet kids are kids and they look, act amazed, shrug and ask if they can go swim the second we get back to the campground. I hope one day they look back and realize the beauty they have seen with their little eyes. We found trailers boondocking, which was fantastic and sometime we plan to do sooner than later.

Mammoth overall was great, despite not having much luck fishing. I think we would have tried fishing more if we were on a quick trip and heading home, yet the fact that we have so much adventure ahead of us doesn't make us feel rushed. We were ready to leave Mammoth by Monday and move on to the next spot, so timing was perfect.

It's hard to believe we are not just on a vacation and heading home soon. I'm not sure when that feeling goes away. Our tiny home is proving comfortable and quaint. We are in love. There have been high and low emotions as we all adjust to this new lifestyle, yet we are still enjoying each others company. So far, so good! ​

We actually did it. Seriously, we did it. I still cannot believe it. I need to keep saying it to actually believe that we did it. We left my parents house at 530am this morning. 3 1/2 hours past the 2am departure Travis had wanted, but it was perfect. Sun was rising as we headed out. We hit a little traffic but for the most part, it was a smooth ride. Stopped in who knows where for breakfast and made it to Mammoth at 2pm. Just in time for check in at the campground. We ended up in more of a parking lot type campground at Mammoth RV Park. Sorta a bummer, but we made due and know we won't be at the campsite much. There is a great walking trail next to our site that takes you under the highway and over to the visitors center. As we were walking, we were in complete awe. We couldn't believe we were actually here. We did it.

I am feeling an entire range of emotion. I have a but of a weird calm within me. I think that may be because Im going on about 8 hours sleep from the past 3 nights. I also feel like we are just on vacation. A quick weekend getaway. Similar to last summer when we did 3 weeks away in the trailer. Maybe this doesn't feel like home yet and that why. I'm still rearranging everything in the cabinets and finding spots for things that still don't have places. I also know I could get rid of more, but I'm also sick of downsizing. I hit a wall when it came to selling or donating things. So, for now, I'll find places for it, eventually. I also have feelings of complete shock and WTF moments. The reality of this all is too much. 

Today we set up our home. (I'd typically say we set up the trailer and campsite, but this is home.) While we were driving in, Trenton saw a boy with a cowboy hat and just about lost his  s*&^. He needed one and he needed one now. He has birthday cash so we headed into town to see what we could find with no luck. After coming back, we had dinner and settled in for the evening.  Usually when we camp, we make sure we outside, all of the time. No kids allowed in the trailer, go play outside. This time around, Travis and I have this understanding that this is our home. We should be able to lounge around inside, play and be comfortable. So we didn't push outside play on the boys too much.

Tomorrow, we head out for a hike. A little adventure. We keep looking at each other, reminding each other we don't have to go back any time soon. We don't leave Monday and head home. We leave Monday and head to the next location. And so on and so forth. I think the concept of this being a permanent lifestyle has not quite hit us. Attempting to wrap our minds around what we've done is overwhelming and exciting all at the same time. 

We've already had our fair share of ups and downs. Which have really been minimal so far, knock on wood, and I'm grateful for that, but it hasn't all been a piece of cake. The tension is high at times as we find a new routine. The boys are learning their new roles within the family and that's work in itself too. Bryce has been great helping Travis outside, setting up the trailer and putting things away. Trenton is their little shadow who needs to try it all too. Those three together are great. Inside, I give Jake super important, busy jobs that no one else could really do as good as he can. Get my drift? So far, it works. 

I want to thank our support system who got us here. My parents were incredible. They let us take over their home for more than a month. They smiled and laughed every time our kids did something ridiculous and we were beyond frustrated. They fed us, put kids to bed, gave us nights out and never complained, even though I probably did 100 loads of laundry. Travis parents were equally amazing. For the last year, we have used their property and building on their property to do our renovations. We've trashed their yard, cleaned it up, made noise, brought kids and put our storage unit on their property as well. We are so lucky and so blessed, which made it so hard to leave. Our friends, you are all the very best. We love you so and will be back, someday.

So, I must sleep. I am enjoying this slower pace. We did it. 

Let me start by saying, parent getaways are amazing and you should all do it. Don't get me wrong, I love, adore and totally miss my kids. But people, talk about relaxation at its finest. We had only decided a few weeks ago that we should take a few nights off to ourselves before moving into the trailer. A few adult nights without yelling at children, attempting to make them eat their dinner, which by the way consists of everything they like, yet today they don't. We needed a few day to unwind before we live in a 300sqft trailer with 3 little boys, 2 dogs and each other. I checked out Airbnb and wa-lah, found a casita in Palm Springs, booked it and we are beyond relaxed. This quaint little casita is perfect. It has a pool outside and the owners are at work all day. I thought it would be strange lounging in someone else backyard, but it was so private and so peaceful, it couldn't have been better. We snacked, laid by the pool, drank a little, ran some last minute errands and enjoyed having conversations without being interrupted 100x. We will cherish these moments. Not kidding, lol.

So, now we head home and load up the trailer with the final items. We will be heading to Lake Skinner to camp until Tuesday, when we head to Mammoth, our first real stop. We have a few loads of laundry to do, which I greatly thank my parents for being so accommodating and letting us use their washer and dryer every day. I sure will miss that. I'll also miss long hot showers. I think those are the two things I am aware of that will change the most. Convenient laundry and long hot showers. Believe me, I've been saving up my quarters for this trip, although I'm sure they won't last long. Ready to feel like I'm back in college. 

Last night at dinner, I asked Travis what he was most nervous about. He said, "Feeling like its a vacation all of the time and getting lazy." I agree. When we camp, we let things get dirty, we don't worry about laundry or a routine or eating all that well. We bum it and enjoy it because we know in a few days we will be heading back to the chaos of life. This time, we are not heading back, and I don't think the reality of that has set in yet. I think we both feel like we are going back, yet we don't have a home to go back to. We are in our home. This is it.

The adventure we have talked about and planned for over a year is happening. I remember after we had talked about it for several weeks between the two of us, before we told our families, Travis said, "If we say it out loud, start telling people, we have to do it. There is no turning back." I remember telling my mom. She shook her head and smiled and said, "Well honey, that sounds like a good idea." Her complete "mom attempt" to be supportive and realistic all at the same time. I tried to tell her it wasn't an idea. This is what we were doing. Well we did it. Today. We move into our trailer today. Although we are in town until Tuesday, camping locally, today is the first of so many days. We are nervous and excited. Are we ready? I sure hope so. I'm not sure this is something you can ever be ready for. ​

It's done, it's done, it's done! I don't think Travis has ever been more excited to finish a project. This trailer renovation has been an 8 month project. Its been a lobor of love. Our intention when we bought the trailer last November was to renovate it. We wanted to make it feel like a home, not a trailer. While going through the renovation, it was all about maximizing the space we had. Every corner had to be useable and practical. I think we achieved that. We are so in love with our tiny home. So, here it is! The before and afters. Enjoy!