mohaus: Lock Flock

Showing posts with label Lock Flock. Show all posts

Thursday, August 08, 2019

Canada Bound: More Family

My Nana lives in a nursing home in Niagara Falls and is no longer able to attend our family reunions. Thankfully we had the opportunity to go and visit her while we were in the area. She remembered who I was and we had a nice visit. She especially loved seeing our boys. I’m so thankful we were able to make the visit.

Afterward we spent some time at one of my aunt and uncle's homes. My parents were still in town so we were able to take advantage of some extra visiting with all of them.

Funny Isaac story: isaac fell asleep on the way to my aunt and uncles last night and slept through dinner. We woke him up a little before we left and tried to get him to eat some pizza but he was in a bit of a mood. My uncle suggested he try hot sauce on his pizza. And he said, “okay!” I told isaac the hot sauce would be spicy but he still wanted to try it. I dabbed a little on my finger and he said it was yummy. I dabbed a little more and he made a hilarious face, started blinking back tears, and said he still liked it. When we had to leave, he really wanted to take the hot sauce with us. My uncle gladly let him take it and now Isaac wants to carry around his little hot sauce bottle everywhere 🤣🤣🤣

Campground: My second cousin's yard in St. Catherines, ON about 30 minutes from Niagara Falls

Highlights: Visiting my Nana, and also visiting more family while we were still in the area

Days on the Road: 12

Tuesday, August 06, 2019

Canada Bound: Big Chute

Our family reunion is wrapping up. Most of our family headed home yesterday and today, a few of us went to Big Chute to see where boats are moved via a railway carriage from a lake to the river instead of a lock. Daniel May have been geeking out a bit checking out the chute and the powerhouse. It’s a beautiful area.

We have made it to the halfway point of our trip and the last night at my aunt and uncles. We will be headed to the Niagara region tomorrow to see my nana and some additional extended family. We have laughed so hard, visited, danced and karaoked around bonfires, swam in the lake, watched sunsets together, and even learned a new card game (Canadian Salad).

“The family is link to our past, bridge to our future.” —Alex Haley

Trip Stats:

Campground: My aunt and uncle's yard at Bass Lake outside of Orillia, Ontario

Highlights: Big Chute, more family time

Days on the Road: 10-11

Monday, August 05, 2019

Canada Bound: Lock Flock Reunion

We are enjoying our time with family. The kids think it is their job to keep the fire going around the clock, Jack is getting proficient chopping firewood and Isaac is content to collect sticks with my Uncle Mike and add them to the fire. Today we have hammocked and swam and visited with loved ones. It’s been a good day.

Trip Stats:

Campground: My aunt and uncle's yard at Bass Lake outside of Orillia, Ontario

Highlights: Spending time with extended family at our reunion

Days on the Road: 8-10

Saturday, July 27, 2019

Canada Bound

My mom is originally Canadian (she was an alien for most of my life, now a US citizen), which means a majority of our family on her side live in Canada. Pretty much for as long as I can remember (except when we lived in Papua New Guinea) we have been making yearly trips north to see my family. This has continued since I have a family of my own (we try to go every other year).

Since we made the big trip out west to Utah last year, we felt like we needed to go due north this year to spend time with my family. My nana lives in a nursing home in Niagara Falls now and we really feel like we should see her, and our big family reunions are a favorite experience for our boys (and Daniel and I) when we can make it. So that is where our big trip is this year.

We are taking the camper and three weeks with lots of extra stops planned this time. Normally we head straight to see family. This year we will spend more time exploring before and after the family reunion.

Saturday, October 06, 2018

Utah of Bust: Cousin Andrew Gets Married

Utah Road Trip Diaries: Day 23, we spent the day with family in anticipation of my cousin getting married. The ladies got their nails done and we all enjoyed visiting both before and after the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.

Utah Road Trip Diaries: Day 24 is our last full day on the road and we spent it with family. We camped in my brother’s driveway last night in East Nashville. This morning he had everyone from the extended family over for home-made Eggs Benedict, his specialty. It was superb. The rest of the day was wrangling little boys before the wedding, trying to keep their white shirts relatively clean and them out of trouble. My cousin Andrew had a beautiful wedding to Kayla. We are so happy to have her officially in the family. After the wedding, the party continued at my aunt and uncles house with visiting around a campfire. We are anxious to get home but this was a nice way to end our trip, surrounded by so many people that we love.

Utah Road Trip Diaries: Day 25 means HOME. We enjoyed visiting with family, and even squeezed in visiting with some of Daniel’s family on our last leg (didn’t get any photos though 😏). We drove over 5,000 miles through 14 states (TN, AL, MS, AR, OK, NM, CO, UT, ID, WY, KS, MO, KY & GA). I drove almost half of that time and discovered it was easier to drive out west where there are less people than it is closer to home. We had no TV for the entire 25 days and the kids had limited movie time and screen time in the car. We had some amazing experiences as a family that I hope we will look back on when life feels hard or is pulling us in different directions. The trip had its ups and downs, but I would do it again in a heartbeat. It got us in a different rhythm. It let me see Daniel in a new light and see his skills shine. I really appreciate him. Hopefully he saw some good things about me and appreciates me in a different light as well. The kids were fantastic travelers. I think Daniel and I were more grouchy at times than they were. It will be interesting to try to ease back into normal life. I hope we keep some of the good habits formed over the last 25 days and forgive the harder stuff. I hope we have more adventures in store, both close to home and on a greater magnitude. 6 National Parks, 2 state parks, 1 national preserve, 1 national monument, Walmart parking lots and BLM land... we had quite the adventure in September.

Trip Stats
Camping Locations:

Pickwick Landing State Park in Tenn.

Gore Landing City Park in Okla.

Wallydocking in Guymon, OK (FREE)

Family Base Camp in Alamosa, Colo.

Mesa Verde RV Resort in Mancos, Colo.

Sand Flats Recreation Area outside of Moab, Utah

Upper Big Bed Overflow on the Colorado River outside of Moab, Utah (FREE)

Boondocking on BLM land outside of Goblin Valley State Park, Utah (FREE)

Singletree Campground in Dixie National Forest in Utah

Hyrum Lake State Park outside of Logan, Utah

Big Creek Campground in Bear Lake State Park, Utah

Gros Ventre National Park Campground, Grand Tetons, Wyoming

Western Hills Campground and RV Park in Rawlins, WY

Wallydocking in Hays, KS (FREE)

Hanson Hills Campground just past Columbia, MO

Moochdocking in my Aunt and Uncle's front yard (FREE), Ashland City, TN

Moochdocking in my brother's driveway in East Nashville, TN

States Covered:
TN > GA > AL > MS > TN > MS > TN > AR > OK > NM > CO > UT > WY > CO > KS > MO > TN > GA > TN

Significant Stops:

Black Mesa in OK (highest point)

Mesa Verde National Park in CO

Wilson Arch in UT

Sand Flats Recreation Area and the West Rim of the Porcupine Trail in UT

Arches National Park in UT

Goblin Valley State Park in UT

Capitol Reef National Park in UT

Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument in UT

Bryce Canyon National Park in UT

Hyrum Lake State Park in UT

Ogden Dinosaur Park in UT

Logan Canyon in UT

Canyon Trail in Logan, UT

Bear Lake State Park, UT

Grand Tetons, WY

Yellowstone National Park, WY (The Grand Loop including Old Faithful, Hayden Valley, Grand Prismatic Springs and Artist Point in the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone)

Rendezvous Mountain, Jackson Hole, WY

Jenny Lake, Grand Tetons National Park, WY

Cousin Andrew's wedding to Kayla, Ashland City, TN

Daily Miles Traveled:
227 miles ⎮ 445 miles ⎮ 403 miles ⎮ 325 miles ⎮ 191 miles ⎮ 125 miles ⎮ 14 miles ⎮ 106 miles ⎮ 88 miles ⎮ 101 miles ⎮ 345 miles ⎮ 50 miles ⎮ 160 miles ⎮ 142 miles ⎮ 283 miles ⎮ 556 miles ⎮ 390 miles ⎮ 415 miles⎮ 162 miles

TOTAL Miles Traveled: 4,528 miles (I have missed mileage somewhere since it doesn't coincide with my notes above of 5,000+)

Days on the Road: 25

Previous Trip Posts:

Preparing to Head West

Utah or Bust, the First Leg

College Friends and Wallydocking

Utah or Bust: Black Mesa to the San Luis Valley
Utah or Bust: Wolf Creek Pass

Utah or Bust: Mesa Verde
Utah or Bust: Moab Part 1 (Sand Flats Recreation Area and Mountain Biking the West Rim of the Porcupine Trail)
Utah or Bust: Moab Part 2 (Arches National Park)
Utah or Bust: Goblin Valley
Utah or Bust: Capitol Reef

Utah or Bust: Grand Staircase and Bryce Canyon

Utah or Bust: Hyrum Lake near Logan, Utah

Utah or Bust: Chilling at Hyrum Lake

Utah or Bust: Ogden Dinosaur Park