Mini-Vacation in Georgia State Parks

The R5 spend the past 5 days traversing Georgia and visiting many of the state parks on our path. Our last stop was High Falls to stay in a Yurt within the campground overlooking the lake. The beauty of the Yurt – no tent work! You just drop in lay out your sleeping bags on the bunk beds and treat everything else like typical camping.

It was very inexpensive and quite nice for our needs. The kids thought it was cool and I liked the simplicity of it.

We enjoyed the park as it was nearly empty and wildlife was a plenty. The white goose came by our Yurt every morning and night, honking at us to get out some bread. It was fun watching everyone feeding it (I know we’re breaking all kinds of animal rules) and I was able to get it to take a bite from my hand.

Remy and Rogan displayed their ingenuity by scavenging the swampy area around the dock to find a fish hook, fishing line and a bobber. Then they found a good long stick, broke off all the extraneous limbs and asked for my assistance tying their makeshift line to the ‘cane’ pole. Next, Rogan and I rolled over logs so that he could dig up worms for Remy to bait the hook.

Amazing team work when they are both focused!

Resa has posted many more photos and stories on Facebook.

This has been a great week to refresh and take a breath of the fresh air. I already miss Jekyll Island and plan to go back to the coast soon…maybe the Gulf Coast for our next trip.

California Dreaming

We have spent the better part of 3 days traveling around California – I do mean the entire state.  We entered on I-40, went through Bakersfield to Paso Robles, up the PCH to San Francisco to Oakland and now down to Carlsbad.

The kids have been great throughout the driving and sight seeing.  The drive up the PCH from Gold Gate Bridge to Point Reyes had everyone spellbound and mouths agape at the beauty.  It is interesting watching Remy, Rogan and Rory take in the scenery and to see their reactions to the cliffs, ocean and wildlife.

Today is Rogan’s birthday and we’ll celebrate it at Legoland. We drove until 1:00 AM to arrive at our hotel, a day early, so that we could spend the entire day taking in the park’s attractions. This is our splurge day.  We’ve tent camped, crashed(ing) at friends homes and stayed at inexpensive hotels. We’ve eaten more sandwiches in the last week than we have in the last 3 months!  Now we’re in a nice hotel and going to an amusement park. The kids have seen the full spectrum of our economic options.

Resa plans to post pictures tonight at her blog. Apologies for not having any on mine as of yet.

Coast to Coast in 7 Months

With the challenges of home schooling there are also benefits. At the spur of the moment, and due to business schedule changes, we planned a week long vacation to the coast of Georgia. Instead of a 3.5 day drive to California for the Pacific the Queen of R5 elected to travel east to Fort McAllister as base camp and traverse the coast each day.

We arrived on Sunday late afternoon and immediately checked into our cottage. Spartan accommodations but a view that is beautiful across the marsh and forest. There are only three cottages and the other two are empty so it is very private. Beats a hotel any day of the week, both in price and view!

After unpacking we went back to the museum and toured Fort McAllister. The kids were excited to see a fort and how the soldiers lived during the Civil War. Remy asked me to break out the iPhone flash light – yes there is an app for that – so we could walk through the dark passage that lead from the cannon to the fire pit that heated the cannon balls glowing red. These were shot at wooden ships to cause fires and chaos during battle.

Dinner was served back in the cottage. An homage to the Flying Biscuit restaurant in Atlanta as the menu consisted of ‘Love Cakes’, poached eggs, green salsa and feta. This is one of Resa’s favorite meals and the kids enjoyed dinner as well. With quick clean up following we were able to gather in the family room to watch a show and then call it a night…at least Dad went to bed on time. R1-2-3-4 were all excited and went to bed much later.

Georgia has beautiful parks and I highly recommend that you take a look at the website to find unique locations to visit with your friends and family. I hate to share this secret since it feels as though the R5 are the only ones in the parks at times but I think there’s plenty of room for you join us. Lord knows you’ll hear us coming and going!

Jekyll Island

Day one found us leaving our base camp at Fort McAllister to travel just over an hour and a half to visit quaint Jekyll Island. I understand why Poulain du Bignon purchased this property and settled for 5 generations before selling it for a nice sum.

On this trip we brought along our bikes and upon arriving on the island parked at the Georgia Sea Turtle center. This little operation provides education and interim care on turtles inhabiting the region. It was quite educational and some moments just about brought Resa to tears as she watched the staff work on the turtles and viewed the recovery center. If you know Resa you understand her connection.

Once we completed our tour and spending money on post cards for the kids travel books we unloaded the bikes and began our island tour.  Intentions to travel the entire island were a bit ambitious so we embarked on a quick jaunt to the nearest beach.

Rogan and Rory have now touched their toes in both oceans of our country. Regardless of the ocean the behavioral response was the same – playing chicken with the breaking waves and getting coated in sand.

Remy played the role of biologist and collected samples of various aquatic life. He landed his biggest catch, a horseshoe crab with a fully intact shell (sans internals) to bring home. Resa and I get challenged at times as we just don’t know what he might be hiding in his hands and find that discomfort easy to handle when we see his face.

There were many highlights to the day and the one I’ll note had to due with a mistake we made following the bike path map. After making a u-turn thinking we were headed in the wrong direction the bike path came to an abrupt stop. What we found on the other side of the hill and occupied the next 2+ hours of our day was breath taking.

We had stumbled upon driftwood beach and were amazed by the weathered trees covering the beach. Resa captured some fantastic shots of the landscape.

Then we proceeded, after some debate, to ride our bikes on the beach to the pier. This proved to be the high point of the day for everyone as we rode around and through the driftwood and beside the breaking waves. A stiff breeze kept us from over heating, until the very end when we faced the wind head on. This was tough and my little troopers mustered enough energy to get through and just out of earshot of Mom’s colorful discourse with mother nature.

We quickly toured the pier, filled our water bottles, packed Remy’s horseshoe crab into Resa’s basket and began the LONG trek back to our car. Our little bike ride was now becoming a 10 mile journey!

Our last stop before reaching the car was the du Bignon family cemetery were a letter box was hidden within the split of tree. This always makes Mom happy and the kids get to stamp the books as a reward for finding the prize.

The ride home included a brief dinner detour to the Fox’s Pizza Den downtown Brunswick. The extra thin and crispy pizza’s washed down with multiple pink lemonades, cider and beer capped off the day. I’d say it was great pizza, but it may be tainted by the fact that it was 7:30 PM and 8 hours since our last bite. Famished would have been an understatement for the R5.

Now I’m sitting with my bride as Remy has just soldiered off to bed. He is the sweetest late in the evening, so thoughtful and inquisitive after a long day. These are the precious moments that drive us to take these trips. He wants to take a trip with me somewhere and I look forward to satisfying both our needs to have some one-on-one time. My boy is growing up quickly.

Easter – New Beginnings

It has been too long since my last post and time to commit more frequent updates to my rants.  2009 has ended and 2010 begun with new opportunities, chapters closed and new ones yet to be written.

We’ve continued out efforts to reduce the consumption process that is inherently difficult in American culture. This is easy to do when you’re still a struggling start up, alas some benefits to minimal revenues!

I have finally said good by to some of my old dreams and desires and really started to focus on the things that give me pause, a smile and points for reflection. Needless to say it is not the last 5 iron shot I hit. We’re done to getting the house and yard in order so that when the market turns around we can look to downsize dramatically. This will give us more time for our adventures and relieve some of the points of stress that Resa and I do not want in our lives.

My oldest son and I are starting to bond, albeit slowly, on our walks as we gain some separation from the R5 pack and have those moments of time together. He’s asked for us to take a trip, the two of us, so we can spend more time together. He longs for singular attention and I look forward to grasping this call, one that I have often neglected for ‘work’ and realize will soon pass if not cultivated by me.

Happy Easter and  Sweet Blessings to you and yours.

Cruising - Eurovan style

We've made it to Flagstaff. The R5 crew left Saturday morning at 9:10 AM and arrived in Little Rock around 7'sh, just enough time to pitch the tent.

I freaked out, was lost and overwhelmed with trying to get everything done.  Exhausted from not enough and fitfull sleep.  Resa was the rock that got us on track and why I love her!

We did have an issue with the cargo carrier attached to our hitch.  It appears that the Eurovan's exhaust is not designed like trucks. The muffler points directly at the carrier and accordingly baked our cooler for 10 hours.  This blistered the bottom and created a split.  This will not work as we have another 14+ days of driving with the cooler in the carrier.  After conferring with our triage specialists (parents many thanks) we looked for a solution at the 24 hour Walmart.  Ahh, Resa found an aluminum oil drip pan that is almost a perfect fit! Problem solved.  Ron is no longer a freak boy.

Rory bounced off the tent walls - OMG! She finally crashed and Resa was able to pass out.

Sunday, September 27

Break down the the tent, pack up the car and back on the road by 9:30 AM.  Well rested and ready for a long day of driving to Amarillo.

Made ok time but worried that we'll be arriving after dark. 600 miles might be a bit ambitious for our young crew.  We make a decision to skip Amarillo and drive on to Albuquerque, New Mexico and find a hotel on the fly.  We stop for dinner at Denny's, what is a road trip without this stop?  We believe this will let us take our time on Monday, see a few sites and get to Flagstaff without the hard push.

Will post more....

In The Beginning

We (the entire R5 crew) have begun efforts to reduce the complexities in our lives. This will cross all aspects of lives; income, home, gifts, travel, toys....etc.

Why? We found ourselves running around in circles consuming everything that our consumption based economy offered to us. We have learned that consumption for the sake of consumption is not fun, adds more stress and heightens expectations based on making more money. I'm not saying money is not helpful, just that we were too focused on spending it and creating levels of financial dependencies requiring more input of money on a recurring basis.

What next? We have begun cutting cords (contracts, money flow) with the shackles of entangling financial reliances. Our plan is to sell everything - I mean everything - to provide a much simpler cost of living model that will free out time to focus on experiencing life with our children.

How? By understanding a simple question yet complex want from my youngest son, "Daddy is it Playday today?" That question has driven home one simple fact that I accept is unaltering - my children will grow and up. Now is the best time to build the bonds and share the memories that will last forever. So what if my 'career' stalls, falters or is irrevocably altered. When I reflect on the time we'll invest in each other for the next 5-10 years I will understand what this time is really about.

So follow along if you like as WE go against the current of societies expectations and follow the beat of our own music. I'll share, unfiltered (Ok, it is my perspective) the process and experience.

Look for my next post about our plans for the following weeks and months as we plan our new lifestyle, keep in touch with friends, make new friends and learn a lot about ourselves, each other and this large world we live on/in.