We had a GREAT Thanksgiving on the road. Luckily, since we were in Texas, we even had some family to spend it with!
Here were some of the highlights and some things we recommend:

• Six Flags Fiesta Texas in San Antonio
• Chuy's Children Giving Parade In Austin
• Magnolia in Waco
• Cameron Park Zoo in  Waco- which, was one of the best zoos! It was awesome!
• Dr Pepper Museum Where, if you go with my Aunt Karen, you get a FREE Tour! 

We had Thanksgiving dinner with family. The weather and company couldn't have been better! 
​

Just to be clear, we floated the Comal in the fall... there was NOBODY there. I understand it is a VERY different experience in the summer- as you can see below.

We ended up just buying some tubes since ALL the rental places were closed. Luckily, our rental place was about 3 blocks from the river exit which is right by Schlitterbahn so we drove the mile to Landa Park, (which is where the 1st chute is)  walked home after the river, and then walked the mile to pick up our car again. It was easy peasy. In the summer, there are transport services, we were just off season. The hardest part was fitting all the tubes in... (You can see a photo of how we drove over on the video.
As anything goes, it wasn't super smooth. Shanae had to physically place Toben in a tube screaming and crying before the 1st chute and then had to dive snag him when he tried to bail. We're good parents... (insert eyeroll here.) He ended up loving it! After the 1st chute, Asher got ahead of everyone, and started into hysterics "What if a deer jumps in and kills me!" We also made it through that crisis.
Here are a few tips if you're going to do this with kiddos.

• 1st of all, our kids are 14, 10 and 9
• It's a good idea to have someone waiting at the bottom of the 1st chute. Chase tipped over on his 1st run and Ash got stuck in the "whirlpool area" at the bottom and a random friend hopped in and pulled his tube into the current. 
• We were glad we had shoes just so we could walk in the river as needed
• It takes quite a while. Both times it took us over 2 hours, but I understand that in the summer, it can take up to 4-
• The river is beautiful, slow and clear. This is a MUST DO if you're in the area on a warm day!

Here's a little about what we've learned from our two weeks in Texas:

• Frontage roads here are strange at first, but really great once you get used to them. (Especially for people who are frequently lost.)
  • They are connected to all on and off ramps to the freeway - different from what we're used to, but loving them now.
• HEB 
  • Super awesome Texas grocery store that we wish was everywhere.
• Courteous drivers
  • Kudos to you Texas, you have some nice drivers here - very kind and courteous.
• People hate the drive to Dallas
  • Not sure why, but everyone we talked to about driving to Dallas all told us how horrible that drive was and told us they were sorry they were that had to make it. It wasn't bad for us - probably because of the time of day we drove?
• "Y'all" is contagious
  • We want to say y'all, but feel like impostors if we do.
• Fire Ants 
  • These ants are like nothing we've seen anywhere else. Tiny, swarm like bees, and more painful and longer lasting than a bee sting - not fun. And they're everywhere.
• Whataburger dilemma 
  • There is a polarized opinion about this fast food restaurant here. The Texas based burger shop is either loved or classified like any other McDonald's style place. We liked it. I'd say quite a bit better than McDonald's.
• We hate having all tile floors
  • Our condo has all tile floors and it sucks. No rugs and carpet of any kind anywhere. Cold, echoy, loud and annoying. 
• Bucc-ee's 
  • Massive Texas gas station is a bit life changing. Hard to explain without experiencing it. If you're in Texas, find a Buc-ee's.
• The Texas flag is everywhere
  • Texas knows and shows their flag. I don't remember the last time I saw a Nevada flag.
• Having a hot tub and pool in our backyard is awesome. 
  • We use it almost everyday.

That's a bit of what we've learned from our first two week here in Texas. We did a video to explain a bit more below.

We are continuing to try and figure this new life of ours out. I'm amazed to find that we are still finding things we question ourselves for bringing. So, without question we will get rid of even more stuff at the end of our stay here.

We are still working on clothing and how having limited clothes works - and trying to use the clothing capsule idea. Also, working on food and grocery shopping. How to we multi purpose more food so we don't have to buy a bunch a small item every time we move places (and also avoid having to carry all those little food items from one place to the next).

We try new things in home schooling and work every week. Always trying and hoping that the next thing will be better and more efficient than the thing before. 

We're a work in progress. 

-    Today we are sitting in a Comfort Suites hotel room in the UFO capital (Roswell, NM), as we complete our first week of travel. It's been a high-intensity week full of lots of time in van, super cool locations and crappy fast food. Moving from place to place every day or two would not be long term sustainable for us. Fun, but too much to keep up with school and work. 

      Our first stop was in the Phoenix, Arizona area. We got to stay with family and spend some with them and some friends in the area. We couldn't have asked for a better time there - it was the perfect start to our journey.

       It was while unloading stuff on our first day that we starting thinking stuff like, "why did we bring a crock pot?" We specifically purchased a small crock pot, so proud of our great idea thinking how effective it would be for us to have it on the road. Easy meals and a small foot print. Well, with everything fitting inside that van every tiny space matters - even the space of a small crock pot. So, seven hours into our trip and we've already donated our special travel crock pot.  

      It wasn't until next day that we decided to donate a backpack we brought. And really we mean Ammon here. It was a really cool waterproof backpack though. Plus it rolled up really small. But it's gone now.

     Next stop was Tuscon, AZ. We stayed in an AIRBNB with Tim and Holly. A small two bedroom house behind their house Upon arrival, it seemed pretty questionable, but ended up being a highlight for the kids. Still not sure why, but they loved this place. Probably because they left out Halloween candy for us and an arrowhead necklace as a gift - simple things I guess. 

      And if we thought that place was questionable, Shanae got her first taste of Hostel life at our next stop near Alamogordo, NM. Sharing a bathroom and kitchen, bunk beds make from 2x4's, mattresses that felt like old hideabed mattresses. and dog friendly to the point of having dogs begging for your oatmeal breakfast were just a few of the fun parts of this hostel stay. The people we met were amazing though and make all the weirdness completely worth it.    

      Which brings us to Roswell, NM. We were happy to find more comfy beds and a private bathroom here. On our way here we had our first literal "road" schooling experience as the boys did home school in van on the 3 hour drive from Alamogordo - which actually worked out pretty awesome somehow.

      Unloading our van here and doing laundry we again had another crock pot moment. We've shed another 8 articles of clothing between us (which significant for the limited number we already have) and 1/3 of the Legos. We also said goodbye to 3 pillows.

      It's been an amazing week 1. We feel very fortunate for this opportunity and all the amazing people we've been able to spend time with and meet along the way. We stayed in Queen Creek, AZ, Tucson, AZ, Cloudcroft, NM, Roswell, NM and we leave for Texas in the morning. This week we visited Saguaro National Park, Tombstone, AZ, White Sands National Monument, Carlsbad Cavern National Park and of course the Roswell UFO Museum.   

The blog title is meant to be funny because I CANNOT TELL YOU how many times we were asked,
"You're STILL here?" Apparently, everyone is really excited for us or can't wait to get us the heck outta town. We go with the former! On Friday night, we said goodbye to friends and family and, you know, that's horribly difficult. We will miss them SO much.
It was a game of hurry up and wait and the day finally came... We were VERY confident...in fact, too confident. We only started packing the night before. Ammon was adamant that we could 100% fit our stuff into the van with NO car topper or hitch luggage rack even with ALL the Posh stuff I had to pack to run my business. (Watch THIS VIDEO to see what all I brought with me.) So, assured of our amazingness, we waited until the morning of... you know... always a good idea. Here is what it looked like...

We were still undeterred. We had the kids start taking trips of stuff down to the van. Shanae was cleaning the kitchen/checking all the drawers etc... when Chase came up and said, "Dad said I can't take anything else down, there's no more room."  ummm..... Ok..... So, here is what it looked like down in the parking lot.

It did MOSTLY end up working... but, maybe we could use some improvement...

It actually did get better the next time we packed it but... seriously... It's TIGHT people. So, as I'm sure you can ALL imagine, now that we are living life easy and breezy, everyone is 100% perfectly happy and stress-free. Here is our 1st family photo on the road.

But, even though reality isn't always pretty, it is REAL. This is a REAL life experience and adventure. We are not afraid to try and we are not afraid to fail. So... onward. Mohanna led the way. South... Arizona is our 1st stop. We will be sharing our journey (hopefully) about once a week. 

Here is the 1st planned leg of our journey! Be watching for updates as we travel across the Southwest!

So, funny story.
     We HURRIED through selling our house and getting rid of all of our stuff. We rented a place in town for the rest of football, SPECIFICALLY for this teenager. We paid for our current rental until October 21st so we would be here through the end of the season. Well, as life would have it, he broke his pinky in a particularly weird spot so he is most likely out for the season. Sidenote- people feel really bad for you when you call the Dr. as a "cash patient." We are self-employed- Health share programs for the win. So...we hurried up to WAIT. And wait we will. It wasn't supposed to happen this way BUT, we are living life.  We do have some things happening before the anticipated launch date, some mundane, some AWESOME!

• Chase getting his braces off
• Dentist Appointments
• Shanae renewing her licence while we still have an address
• Ammon and the boys at Disney
• Shanae in Hawaii then Vegas with Posh
• Ammon speaking at Weber State University about entrepreneurship
• We HAVE to decide what to do about our mail
• Homeschooling... yeah, we need to do another post about that...so far mostly good

​
We are really grateful that his finger will be fine. We are happy and healthy. We are pushing on in spite of what "SHOULD be happening" and we are living in what's happening. Chase is still happy to spend time with his team and at orchestra. We are busy and the time will pass quickly. Hurry up and WAIT! 

We moved into our 1st rental. We will be here in town until Chase is done with football towards the end of October. We are comfortable here. It is clean and we have plenty of space! Check out the tour!

So, in theory, we were ready.

Warning... there are swear words... Something this intense requires it...

In reality, it is quite a job to go through EVERYTHING. You guys, it just kept going! There was NO END to all the stuff. Here is how it went.

• We did an initial run-through of the whole house and assessed. We did our 1st round of items that didn't make the cut. 5 piles: Sell, Donate, Store, Take, Trash
• We did a 2nd go around and started selling on the local yardsale sites. We're still thinking we're ahead of the game. (FALSE- we were not... we learned that later)
• People started stopping by and purchasing items right off the wall... now that's a weird feeling 
• Cue Shanae's 1st breakdown
• Begin indoor yard sale, 
• Pack, Clean, Sort, Pack, Clean, Sort (you get the idea)
• ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE!!! We have to be out a week early! GIVE ALL THE SH#% AWAY! 
• GIVE IT AWAY!
• Nobody leaves the house without ARMS FULL of our stuff
• Outdoor "yard sale" becomes "FREE-TAKE ME." We leave it all out there- when we came back later, most of it was gone
  
• Our neighbors help us haul the rest to donation

All of that was just the "getting rid of stuff" part. Our van battery started acting up. We replaced it. Then, the car ALARM (not like the ding of the door, but the after-market alarm) started blaring randomly when we would open a door or while we were driving etc...you can see what Ammon did to it above!

We really wanted to leave the house clean and ready for the family that bought our home. So, THE DAY BEFORE WE MOVED OUT (so close to being in the clear,) we put our oven on self-clean. It locked. Stopped. Fried some electrical component inside. That's STILL not resolved friends. Bless the people who moved in. They have no oven for like 2 more weeks. 

Shanae cried. Chase had amazing neighbor friends. We miss the chickens. We miss sending our kids to school every day. It was hard. BUT... it is awesome. We feel strong. We feel brave. We are ready to coddiwomple!

Getting rid of most everything you've accumulated over 37 and 35 years, 15 years of marriage and 3 kids is a VERY interesting process. We moved out of our house and we are keeping a few things in storage... What are they? Watch to find out. What would you keep? And how did my high school sweatshirt make the cut?

Here's a list of what we are keeping in storage:

1. 1 Bike
2. Electric piano
3. Smoker grill
4. 1 Set of kids lefty golf clubs
5. 1 Safe - 17' x 17' x 13"
6. 1 Kitchen box (kitchen aid mixer, 3 knifes & measuring cups) - 17" x 14" x 11"
7. 1 Modern art picture - 20" x 30"
8. 1 Box of quilts/blankets - 20" x 19" x 15"
9. 1 Box of kids keepsakes - 12" x 12" x 11"
10. 1 Box of year books, pictures & other random keepsakes - 12" x 12" x 11"
11. 1 Box of Shanae's awards and keepsakes - 20" x 14" x 13"
12. Tool bag - 12" x 8" x 6"
13. Cordless drill, battery and charger
14. Socket and wrench set - 16" x 12" x 9"
15. Rainbow vacuum
16. Photo tote - 21" x 16" x 16"
17. 1 Guitar
18. Christmas Ornament Tote - 12" x 16" x 6"