Jekyll Island (by Sunshine)

We had fun making the birds fly.

We knew Jekyll Island would be one of our longer stops because there are so many fun things to do in the area and my Aunt Sharon and Uncle Randy live on the island so we had a home base from March 15-24. We spent the first day getting organized for our Burro repairs, getting groceries, rearranging, etc. Luckily there was still time for Walden and I to visit the beach which he loved. As we walked down the path near the beach access Walden asked, “Are we allowed to go in the ocean?” Then we went down the boardwalk and stairs and I bent to remove his shoes and he said, “Ooh, I was wondering if we got to do that.” I had to explain to Walden that we could not make sandballs and throw them like snowballs like we do at home in Wisconsin. We both had lots of sand in our hair and clothes but I think he understands now. A treat for both of us was seeing a dolphin just off shore. We were only going to wade in the water (I hadn’t unpacked bathing suits yet) but by the time we left Walden was stripped down to a diaper, covered in sand, and we were both smiling.

Exploring Driftwood Beach on Jekyll.

Sandpipers at Driftwood Beach on Jekyll.

Our second day was the best weather day of the week so we went to Driftwood Beach to explore. Walden climbed on giant gnarly trees that had been stripped of their bark and smoothed by the waves. There were jelly fish washed onto the beach, oyster shells, and a rope swing. We also had a great adventure walking way out into the ocean on a sandbar that can only be reached at low tide.

Ready for 'gator hunting.

Each evening we’d take a ride on the golf cart to the golf course down the road to walk the dogs, Zoe and Noah, but our real mission was ‘gator huntin.’ By weeks end we’d seen one baby and one 4-5 footer in the ponds on the course. Uncle Randy even let Walden drive the golf cart, showed him how to hit a golf ball with a club, and, the best part, pull down the golf flags and let them boing!

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star per Walden's request.

We took a day trip to Savannah to explore the historic squares and walk along the riverfront. Seeing the giant old cathedrals, graveyards, and historic homes was more interesting to Jim and I than Walden. Walden’s favorites were seeing the horses pulling the carriages, playing at the best playground we’ve ever seen, and putting a dollar in the hat of a saxophone player who played Walden’s request of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

Finding shells on St. Simons Island.

Another day trip was to Saint Simons Island to visit Fort Fredericka and the historic lighthouse and coast guard station. We took a long walk on the beach and got up close to a pelican on the pier. It was a fun trip down memory lane for me because I had a summer job on Saint Simons 17 years ago that led to me change my major to environmental education. My whole life might have looked different if it wasn’t for that decision.

Biking fun on Jekyll Island.

One day we rented bicycles and rode around Jekyll. Walden chose to ride in a kid seat on the back of Jim’s bike rather than a trailer like he is used to. He loved the feeling of freedom and we all loved biking again. Best of all there was a playground at the bike rental place for Walden to burn his energy off.

Family photo at Jenna and Nelson's house.

Feeding cousin Jenna's pig Daisy.

A visit to cousin Jenna and Nelson’s house was so much fun for us all. We got to see baby Della again which didn’t hold Walden’s attention for long. They have a donkey (Petunia), miniature pig (Daisy), ducks, chickens, roosters, and a dog which did hold Walden’s attention. Walden got to feed all the animals which entertained him over and over. He also found a remote control from an old toy and ran around the yard pretending to control the chickens. It was hilarious!

Grandpa Kapusta fixing the Burro refrigerator.

Intertwined with all our adventures was a long list of Burro repairs including lots of caulking around windows, fixing the broken shelf in the closet, packing the wheel bearings, fixing the refrigerator, washing and waxing. My Grandpa was a big help in getting it all done. Thankfully he is still here in Georgia at the end of his winter visit. We also had a sensor light go on in the CRV. It is within 2000 miles of the warranty ending so we wanted to get it fixed. We went to the dealer four (4!) times. First they thought it was due to two tires being over inflated. Then they thought it was due to three sensors going out so they replaced those. Finally, they decided it was due to all of the chargers we have plugged in to the car for our phones, tablet, iPad, and laptop interfering with the signal that the sensor sends to the control panel. We figured the dealership was just tired of us coming back and came up with a story to get rid of us… but it turns out they were right! Unplug the charger, and the sensor light goes off. Too much technology – who’d a thought?

In all, we had a fabulous time on Jekyll exploring, visiting our family, resting, and repairing the Burro. See lots of Jekyll photos. We are ready for the next leg of our adventure…

Russ and Trina's House: Drying Out (by Jim)

How do you test the water tightness of a Burro? By exposing it to hurricane-force winds and rain, of course, which is about what happens when you drive 65 mph through the pouring rain. The small, slow leak that we discovered on the front window? That turns into a water torrent that shoots across the interior, soaking anything dry in its path. And, it turns out the back window didn't fare much better, with a respectable stream soaking into our mattress.

On the suspension bridge over Tallulah Gorge

At the bottom of Tallulah Gorge

And what does a family on a life journey do when they discover a swimming pool inside their Burro? Why, they go for a hike, of course! On our way to Athens, Georgia on March 13th, we stopped at an amazing state park called Tallulah Gorge. Despite the rainy, cold weather, the swinging bridge we could see near the bottom of the 1,000-foot gorge was too tempting. We put on our rain gear, I put on the backpack carrier, loaded up Walden, and began the beautiful, careful descent down 600 metal steps toward the rushing strand of magnificent waterfalls and rapids. It was Walden's first time on a suspension bridge, and he was fearless. He especially loved it when Dad would sway the bridge purposely from side to side. The going down part wasn't bad, but going up 600 steps with Walden in a backpack left Dad breathless at every resting platform... schwew!!! We visited several observation decks, watched the fog "smoke" rise from the gorge, saw our first spring wildflowers, and, of course, pressed more BUTTONS in the visitor center! We also discovered that this was the place that the movie Deliverance was filmed (queue the dueling banjos).

The Burro in front of Russ and Trina's house in Athens

After our wet adventure, we continued the drive to Athens, where we stayed with my cousin Trina, her husband Russ, and daughters Trinity and Keara from March 13-15. The family graciously provided us a perfect place to park the Burro in the front yard, the use of their dryer for all of our wet sheets, towels, and clothes, and fans and heaters to dry out our mattresses. We were especially grateful to Trinity, who gave up her room and bed for us on the first night so that we would have a dry, warm place to sleep.

It just so happened that Trina's mom and dad, my Aunt Julie and Uncle Gerry, were also visiting from Wisconsin. We had to drive all the way to Georgia to have a family reunion! Walden tried to get the girls to play toy cars with him, but found that he had better luck with Uncle Gerry, who proceeded to tell him why the red Case tractors were better than those "not to be named" green ones. Trinity and Keara did enjoy playing cards, and this was Walden's first time. Dad and Walden did great at UNO (matching colors and numbers)! However, Dad didn't do so well at Go Fish, Old Maid, and an ultra long game of War... he had to hold up the surrender flag to Trinity.

Rattlesnake at Sandy Creek Nature Center

During our time at Russ and Trina's house, we visited an awesome nature center called Sandy Creek, just 5 minutes from the house, which had so many BUTTONS even Walden had a tough time finding them all! It also featured habitat aquariums, several trees to crawl through, smell boxes, a live rattlesnake, and bioscopes. We spent a long time exploring.

Standing next to the stone wall built by Fred Birchmore

The next day, Trina and Russ brought us to Memorial Park in Athens, which included a small zoo and the Fred A. Birchmore Nature Trail. The trail was beautiful, winding over streams and past clusters of blooming bloodroot and other wildflowers. Fred Birchmore was an Athens resident and adventurer (bicycled around the world in the 1930s and walked down the steps of the Washington Monument... on his hands) who built a massive stone wall around his property by hand in his 70s. The wall is 14-feet high, nearly 900 feet long, and consists of 9 million pounds of rock. The wall is amazing to walk around, with so many different colors of rocks, towering above your head, topped by the emerald green of moss... we wondered how a person could even lift some of those rocks by hand? There are surprises built into the wall as well, like the metal portion of pistol that we found.

On a bulldog at the World of Wonder playground

On our last day, after a hearty breakfast, we visited the World of Wonder playground in Athens, an amazing complex of castles, swings, slides, spinners, and a "cat dragon" to climb on. Trinity and Keara led Walden through the play kingdom. He had so much fun, that it was nearly impossible to get him to stop when it was time to go...  one more time climbing up the "cat dragon!"

Thank you, Trina, Russ, Trinity, and Keara for rescuing us from the wet Burro, giving us a place to dry out for a few days, and showing us all of the neat things to do around Athens!

Playing cards with Trinity and Keara

Playing ball with Great Uncle Gerry

The entire family reunion in Athens!

Walden, Keara, and Trinity at the Fred Birchmore stone wall

Great Smoky Mountains and the Troubleshooting Begins (by Sunshine)

Yay - no snow!

Walden loved watching leaves float down the river.

Despite a rainy forecast, we couldn’t resist spending a few days in the mountains from March 10-13. Great Smoky Mountains National Park is still in the winter season but there are two camping areas partially open. We decided to stay at Cades Cove on the north side. We were all excited to spend our first night in the Burro (finally)! Having always been tent campers, we knew things had changed when Walden jumped out of the car, ran to the tent pad in the campsite, and shouted, “Look what I found – a sandbox!” So, we pulled out the little shovel and bucket and let him build sand castles. The rain cleared shortly before we arrived and we watched the tent campers hanging their bedding to dry while we took off hiking. 

Walden loved exploring among the rocks next to a beautiful stream lined with rhododendrons. He poked leaves into the water with a stick and climbed around fallen logs. Jim and I smiled at one another knowing this is what we wanted for him - opportunities to explore diverse natural places. In case we didn’t get another dry spell, we took an evening hike to the Spruce Flats waterfall after supper. It got dark by the end of the trail (still need to figure out where the extra headlamp is stashed) and our legs were aching (we are not in Wisconsin anymore).

                     

Enjoying our outdoor dining room.

Our second day was really rainy but we persisted and drove through Cades Cove. We took turns exploring in the rain while Walden slept off a mild fever. He was run down so we spent the afternoon driving through the park and taking short hikes near the Sugarlands Visitor Center.

The third day was beautiful and sunny. We hiked to Abrams Falls while Walden sang "I’ve Been Working on the Railroad" over and over and over. Our legs were feeling stronger, especially Jim’s that carry Walden’s weight in the backpack. We wonder if we are doing Walden a disservice by not encouraging him to hike more but also know we need to care for our souls by doing longer hikes that wouldn’t be possible without the backpack.

Walden's favorite way to hike.

Walden really wanted to cross without holding the rail or my hand. 

In the afternoon, we drove over Newfound Gap to the North Carolina side of the park to camp at Smokemont Campground. It has beautiful sites along a river and was nearly deserted so very quiet.

We started our usual routine of preparing the Burro for sleeping, cooking, etc. and discovered that all is not well in Burroville. The list of unfortunate discoveries actually started when we were in Knoxville. It had been too cold to run the propane before we left Wisconsin so we got it going while at Aunt Margie’s. It was then that Jim shared the news that the refrigerator was not working – with propane or electricity. Something happened in route that jostled it. We had limited time to troubleshoot and decided to use it as an extra cooler with ice until we have more time to work on it. At Smokemont, Jim discovered that part of the shelving we installed in the closet gave way and everything was shifting. This will need to be fixed and items stored elsewhere for a while. Then I discovered that the window above Walden’s bed had leaked and we had gotten so much rain that his bed and mattress became soaked sponges. Luckily we were able to dry things out enough for sleeping but we will have to find the leaks and add more caulk to the window we thought we’d caulked enough already. All of these discoveries were being made while I was in the process of cooking the extra food that had thawed in the cooler because it was supposed to be in the broken freezer. Jim was tending to a miserable Walden who was crying because his stomach hurt so much because he hasn’t pooped in two days.

Rain, rain, and more rain.

I’m proud of us though. With all that going on we stayed positive, worked as a team, and ended the evening with a really nice family walk (well, Walden rode in the stroller) along the river in the campground. We knew things would happen, it’s just part of the adventure.

See more photos from the Smoky Mountains here!

Aunt Margie’s (by Walden)

I got to feed Tex a carrot.

Woo-hoo! I'm having a great time on our big trip already! Mom and Dad say I'm growing up really fast. But I don't listen to them much.

I especially loved visiting Great Aunt Margie’s house in Knoxville, Tennessee (from March 7-10). She has a big, steep hill that we had to drive up and down to get to her house. Mom didn't think our car would be able to haul the Burro to the top. Dad said, "No problem." Luckily, Dad was right! (Okay, Dad made me write that part).

When we arrived on Saturday evening, Margie's daughter, Haleigh, was there too, and we had lots of fun playing puzzles and with a giant pen that they gave me (I pretended that the pen was a car wash).

Me and Daddy playing with the dogs. 

Margie's house is SOOOOO much fun. She has two dogs (one that was afraid of me, and the other that liked jumping up on me), one kitty cat (that hissed at me and threw up a lot), one bird (that likes to fly around the house and dance to the Andy Griffith song), one guinea pig (who I had fun chasing around the kitchen), and one horse (who lives in a fence outside and likes carrots). I got to help feed the animals and throw balls and Frisbees for the dogs. She also has an upstairs filled with really cool toys (Dad calls them "classics")... the LITE-BRITE was my favorite. We loved running up her big hill chasing the dogs. Sometimes, they even listened to me! We heard frogs, saw an owl, and picked up worms. I also loved riding my tricycle REALLY FAST down the hill (Dad helped me a little).

I carried that stick in my hand the entire hike.

On Monday, we went to a restaurant with Dad's cousin Trina and her daughters Trinity and Keara, and Great Uncle Gerry and Great Aunt Julie who were visiting. What fun! Afterwards, we went to a neat place in Knoxville called the Ijams Nature Center. The nature center had BUTTONS that made the inside of a tree light up... and now, every time we go to a nature center or visitor center, I always look for the buttons. They do neat things! We also hiked on an amazing boardwalk built on the side of a cliff over the Tennessee River, poked sticks at newts in a pond, listened to the frogs singing, and jumped on rocks over a stream (which made Mommy and Daddy very nervous).

Here is the fun natural play area.

We were sad to have to leave Great Aunt Margie's house and all of the animals. Mom and Dad were very thankful to have such a neat place to stay. But they said that there would be more adventures to come! And, luckily, our car was able to pull the Burro up the big hill!

Thank you again, Aunt Margie!!!!

Me, Mommy, Daddy, and Aunt Margie.

Dinosaurs and Mammoths (by Sunshine)

Will our ball reach the end and raise the flag?

Indianapolis was an ideal place to begin our journey because we could get an inexpensive hotel with a pool near family friendly attractions. Our first stop was an interactive history park called Conner Prairie. Even with all the outdoor attractions closed there was more than enough indoor activity to entertain us for several hours. Walden loved the environmentally conscious play area where he could build his own fort, climb a tower, play store, create stories with a puppet farm, and drop balls down tubes. Most enjoyable was the Create.Connect experience area with opportunities to build and test our own windmill, make circuits to turn on lights and buzzers, and connect motion machines to develop Rube Goldberg type challenges. The fact that all three of us were entertained for a long time working together to design and build a machine speaks volumes for the high quality design of the exhibit (or our sheer stubbornness to make it work!).

Walden was sure to ask the museum educator
if any of the dinosaurs were alive.

Serendipity...One evening per month the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis is free from 4-8 pm. We happened to be in town that evening and couldn't pass up the opportunity to visit the world’s largest children’s museum. Normal admission for the three of us would have been over $60! You have to see this place to believe it. It is more like an indoor entertainment park/science museum for all ages than children’s museum. Walden’s favorites were the Dinosphere (complete dinosaur skeletons under dome with weather and light effects), the water play area, ball tubes, a wind tunnel with scarves, and a full sized carousel. We left wishing we had more time to explore but also completely exhausted and ready to collapse. More Indianapolis photos

After two nights in Indianapolis, we finally headed south to Cave City. We booked another hotel since overnight temperatures were still in the teens. Cave City is an area just off the Interstate crammed with hotels, fast food joints, and tacky tourist shops that one has come to expect just outside the boundary of beautiful natural spaces like Mammoth Cave National Park. We arrived two days after a record snowfall and the area looked like a ghost town. Our fingers were crossed in hopes that the park would reopen in the morning after being closed for the storm. Dinner was soup heated in our hotel microwave and the evening's entertainment was an awesome family dance party and pillow fight (Walden’s first) while jumping on our hotel beds. 

We made it!

Mammoth Cave was open and both Jim and I were excited to take Walden on his first cave exploration. We chose to do the two-hour two-mile historic tour because it went through the largest and most open areas of the cave. We thought this would reduce any fears Walden might experience. He was a trooper and walked a large portion of the trail and stairs by himself. He loved looking for the source of the lights next to the trail and announced the color of the bulbs in each one to everyone near us. He desperately wanted to see bats but sadly the cave population has been hit by white nose syndrome and most of the resident bats were hiding or dead (caves with white nose lose up to 90% of their population while the fungus runs its course). Walden very much enjoyed getting to walk across the soapy mats after the tour that would kill any spores on our shoes and prevent the spread of the fungus to other areas.

When we finished our tour Walden asked “Where are the stalactites?” We explained that only one small part of Mammoth Cave has moving water that creates formations and we were not in that part of the cave. We debated whether he would last through another tour to see the formations while eating a lunch in the visitor center. How could we pass up the opportunity, right? So off we went for another two hour tour. This one included a bus ride to and from a different entrance, many steps, wet walkways, low and narrow passages. Walden loved it all! It was a wonderful day.

And We're Off! (by Jim)

Celebrating at breakfast with candles in yogurt

A birthday is an ideal time to begin a journey. A day of new beginnings. A day to celebrate life.

Although snow storms to the south and in Wisconsin delayed the start of our adventure, we had several much-needed days to continue our packing, ensure that we had everything taken care of, and  say goodbye to the places and people that are so important in our lives. One last walk through the woods of Whiting Park. Farewell visits with our wonderful neighbors. And getting to see the finished printed book that I had been pouring countless hours into writing and designing over the past year. It was a peaceful (well, mostly!) time of transition between the old and the new.

But finally, on Wednesday, the weather cleared in Wisconsin and we were itching to leave. Although another major snow/ice storm was forecasted for the south, we decided to drive to Indianapolis and wait out the storm in new surroundings. And in a hotel, since the Burro isn't exactly winter-proof! Not the start of a trip we were hoping for, but our mantra for the next 6 months is to "be flexible."

Final packing of the car.

The Burro, car top carrier, and car were FULLY loaded under a moonlit sky on Tuesday night. The back of the Honda was close to the ground, but happily still cleared it!

On Wednesday morning, Walden woke me up with a "Happy Birthday, Daddy. Can we celebrate right now?" When Mommy asked how we should celebrate, they decided that balloons and candles in my breakfast yogurt were the perfect way. What a good start to our first traveling day! That morning, we went through our final list of preparations. Pack Walden's blue puppy (that he needs to sleep... THE most important item of the trip). Clear out the rest of the refrigerator (I've never eaten so many cookies at one time... Oh wait, we could have brought them along?) Load up the electronics (an entire bag... Weren't we supposed to be roughing it?) Unplug everything. Turn off the gas to the hot water heater (move several years of stuff stored in front of the heater first). Turn off the water. Turn down the heat on the furnace (big debate... How "low can you go" without freezing the pipes? We settled on 53 degrees).

Let's start this trip!

It was definitely a strange feeling to leave the house where we have lived for over 10 years. To realize that we won't be sleeping in our bed for six months, or playing with the big Winnie the Pooh who is just too big to bring along, or planting our garden, or seeing our flowers bloom, or riding our bicycles. It's crazy to feel both a sense of loss and a sense of fulfillment simultaneously.

Trip mileage: 0. Temperature 9 degrees.

Celebrating Daddy's birthday at a rest area.

We pulled away from our home at 9:30 a.m., the temperature a balmy 9 degrees. The 8-hour trip from Stevens Point to Indianapolis was remarkably smooth and uneventful. The weather was calm. The traffic was light (we took a detour around Chicago). The Burro pulled like a feather (a really awkward, bulky feather). And Walden, the amazing little traveling man, played with the three little balloons from Daddy's birthday breakfast for hours on end. He never even asked for a different toy! When he managed to pop two of the balloons, he settled into staring out the window like a zombie, listening to Raffi. He was fascinated by the wind turbines, pointing out each one that wasn't spinning... "Why is that one not working?" Couldn't ask for much better... except for a nap, but these are exciting times! We stopped for an "indoor picnic" lunch at a rest area, and Mommy and Walden surprised Daddy with a special birthday brownie (thank you, Grandma Buchholz!) and a present... a calendar with pictures of all our adventures from last year to hang in the Burro. And for supper... a delectable meal at Outback Steakhouse. We realized it was the first time we had gone out to eat as a family for at least 6 months! We arrived at the hotel in Indianapolis around 9:00 p.m. Mom and Dad were exhausted. Walden ran back and forth through the room laughing and jumped on both beds. I never knew a boy who liked hotels so much (or was it just being free of the car seat??)

So the journey begins! A hotel in Indianapolis, waiting for the 8 inches of snow to be cleared so we can visit Mammoth Cave. Be flexible!

Walden excited to start the trip!

Mommy excited to start the trip!

Daddy excited to start the trip!

Today is the Day…or Not. (by Sunshine)

Spare bedroom staging area

March 1^st. This is the day we have been planning for and telling everyone about for months. March 1^st. The first day of or big adventure. The day we head south and begin our journey. March 1^st. The Burro is loaded. The bags are packed. Lunches are prepared. March 1^st. The first day of a series of storms moving through Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky dropping up to 9” of snow in places. The storm will move through exactly where we are going at exactly the same time we were going to be there. The next storm will move through Wisconsin dropping up to 5 inches of snow. The storm after that will drop up to 3 inches in Kentucky. March 1^st. An extra day to prepare. A day of decisions. Do we leave tomorrow and try to sneak south between the storms potentially facing lots of rain and cold nights? Do we hole up at home and delay for 3-4 days? It is a tough decision because we are so anxious to begin our trip. Truth be told, both Jim and I are bad decision makers. Not that we make bad decisions. We actually discuss, research, and weigh outcomes until we make ourselves crazy. We just have a hard time choosing between two viable options. So here we are, Sunday afternoon, still not sure when we are leaving.

Loading the Burro

It has been very busy last few weeks making final preparations for the trip. We’ve said good bye to many family and friends. We’ve made arrangements for home care, yard care, utility shut off, online banking, mail forwarding. We’ve packed, unpacked, repacked. We’ve purchased all the things we think we’ll need for the Burro, car, entertainment, technology, cooking, navigating. We’ve prepared extra sets of keys, ensured everything is secure (propane tank, battery box, spare tire, storage box, car top carrier, hitch, Burro, vehicle), discussed worst-case scenarios (what if the laptop was lost/stolen) and how to protect ourselves. Yet we know there are things we haven’t thought of that will happen. And that’s okay. It is part of the journey. We tell ourselves multiple times a day “we need to be flexible.”

So flexibility it is. We’ll leave when the time is right. When the weather cooperates.