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As we entered the fall show season, we had several small weekend fly-ins to attend. The first of these was the AOPA (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Assoc.) fly-in in Santa Fe, NM.

It was a good show – steady steam of customers, good B2B interactions with colleagues, and a chance to catch-up with friends.

We spent the week of Labor Day back in AR. We had some work stuff to take care of but most importantly, we celebrated Ja-money’s big 6th bday!

To kick off the festivities, we arrived in town just in time for the first Razorback game of the season –

Unfortunately it was SUPER hot at the game & Madi wasn’t feeling very well so we didn’t make it long at the game. But the tailgate was good times as usual –

The next day after church, we went out to our land to evaluate options for building when we return – more to come on that 🙂 While we were there, we saw several of the current “residents”

On Labor Day, we had a joint pool party with some friends – Sophia’s bday is two days after Jamon’s.

On his bday, we had breakfast celebration and then a family dinner that night.

After finishing up the week, catching up with friends, and wrapping up some work, we headed to our next show in Santa Fe. Along the way, we stopped for one more bday hoorah by spending the weekend at an indoor water park in Clinton, OK.

We made our way across the rolling hills of West Virginia into the green pastures of Kentucky.

We started exploring Mammoth Cave at the visitors center to determine which cave tour would work best for us. As the longest cave system in the world, there was so much to choose from!

They weren’t running the shorter tour from the Natural Entrance, so we opt’ed for the Frozen Niagara tour which enters through a man-made entrance that was created by an old tour operator before the park was created. I would love to come back and do the Historic Tour, or one of the Lantern tours once the kids are a bit older – both are longer & the lanterns have age limits. They use orange tinted lights so they don’t promote any unnatural plant or fungal growth.

Our new friends who were camped next to us and are also a full-time traveling family. After the tour, we finished up our books over lunch & got our badges.

The next day, we decided to explore the surface of the park the best way – by horseback! The Double J stables had a great setup & super nice crew.

Jsky even made a another new friend at our next campground.

We started our time in Virginia by playing at the water park at our campground.

The next day we explored the park by driving the Skyline Drive through the center of the park & caught a great Jr Ranger program. This park has a very interesting and quite controversial past because they actually forced families from their mountain homesteads to create the park. But as part of the great Appalachian Trail it has created a space for people on the east coast to enjoy these beautiful hills.

As we made our way down the northeast coast from Maine to DC, we had to be very diligent about our route. Many of the bridges & tunnels have weight, height, width, and haz-mat restrictions – never thought of propane as a hazardous material before, but ok 😋

Since we just went to NY & Manhattan in Feb, we opted to go around the GW bridge. We took the Tappan Zee bridge then followed the New Jersey turnpike, down over the Francis Scott Key bridge in Delaware, and made it into Maryland.

We had the wonderful privilege of staying with our good friends Mark & Margaret who live in the area. They hosted a cookout the day we arrived so we could catch up with friends & meet new ones – good times!

The next day we ventured into the city with Mark to take a Capitol tour. Our congressman Steve Womack was very generous with his staff’s time who setup the tour for us. We had a very wet trek through the rain to get there but it was well worth it.

Along the tour we got a BIG surprise! We were making our way from one of the main atriums to go up a set of stairs, when a security guard asked us to step aside. We waited a few mins, then Vice President Pence came down. Before he came down, Mark whispered to Jamon to say “Hello Mr Vice President” and he did so – loud & clear :). Pence stopped and pointed at Jamon & smiled. Another woman in the crowd yelled out at him, he acknowledged her politely, took some pics, then we assumed he’d be on his way. But he made it a point to come back & shake the kids hands first, then ours, and offered to take a pic with us! We were quite surprised – he didn’t have to do that & we were not expecting it.

The Capitol building itself is really amazing – I highly recommend! There is so much of our country’s history here. I caught myself several times listening to the very informative details from our staffer tour guide, Elliot, that I forgot to take pics.

I think my favorite part was the mural around the main dome, that lays out significant events in our country’s history – starting with the landing of Christopher Columbus & stops at the Wright flyer’s first flight. Mark & Drew both loved the tribute to aviation 🙂The next day, we ventured back into the city where we took in many of the other sites of DC.We got to see the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights at the Archives. It was a great opportunity to talk to the kids about the values of our country, and why they are so important to all people. However, we didn’t try to see “everything” on this visit – we saw this as a first introduction. Once the kids are a bit older, and understand more of our country’s history, we plan to bring them back for a more in-depth visit.

We celebrated our last night at Mark & Mag’s with some fire & s’mores!

The next day we started our drive to Shenandoah. On our way out of town, we made a fun stop to visit our good friend Doug, his sons, and their whole crew. They were putting in a new subdivision and offered to let the kids “play” with the big tractors! We all had SO much fun!

This park is amazing – it is a must return!

As one of the few east coast parks, much of this park is made up of land purchased and then donated by the Rockefellers & other wealthy families of that time.

We were very fortunate to get a campsite right on the water of the bay on the north side of the island.

We started at the visitors center then got a bite to eat in Bar Harbor, before heading to Sand Beach – one of the very few natural sand beaches in the northeast.

After being covered in sand, we finished our drive around the main Park Loop road, then drove up to see the views from Cadillac mountain – the highest point on the east coast & the first place sunlight hits the US.

After going into town for fresh seafood, we went back to camp & the kids got to explore the “inter-coastal habitat” as the tide moved out.

The next day was very rainy so we started at the Wildlife Museum at the College of the Atlantic where they had a touch tank 🦀

Got our Jr Ranger badges & had some lunch.

The best highlight of this visit was the sunrise over the ocean. The popular thing to do is to head to the top of Cadillac mountain to catch the first light. Oh man! The crowds were crazy! And this wasn’t our time to see it from here – the mountain was up in the clouds. This was the view from the top –

So we decided to head for Thunderhole which is one of the eastern most points on the island – oh wow! I highly recommend you skip the crowds & just come to this point –

We stayed one night in the Green Mountain Forest in Vermont. Then stopped in a cute lil town called Brattleboro to have some work done on the camper. Quaint cottages, churches, parks everywhere, funky shops downtown, and super nice people!

As we continued our way east, we stopped for a few days at Niagara Falls.

First thing we did when we arrived, is cross the border into Canada 🇨🇦 for a family date-night & our first views of the falls.

The next morning, we headed out for our boat ride on the Maiden of the Mist which goes by the American Falls first than the very impressive Horseshoe Falls.

Afterwards, we saw the sights from the observation deck then walked over to park on Goat Island.

We made it to OH & got settled in at our campsite right next to a lil pond –

The next day, we were ready to get started exploring this unique park. This park is not one of unspoiled natural space that we (as a country) had the forethought to save – this is a story of renovation & renewal. This area is part of the old canal systems that fueled our country’s migration west before the railroads. And it is a space that was once very polluted – the river has caught fire many times! But due to the hard work of the NPS & many others, much of the natural beauty has been restored. It is also a great place to introduce some very cool historical topics to the kids.

There are also some fun old farms with markets within the park.

The next morning, we took a family bike ride along the Towpath Trail – this was the towpath for the canals boats and includes the remains of several old locks. It runs the full length of the park – we did almost 10 miles of it & both kids did great!

We then took a train ride up to the Canal Exploration Center where they have the last working lock in the park.

Visit to Brandywine Falls –

Finished up our stay with a campfire after dinner –

I write this post for all that dare to dream – dream about taking the risk to venture out. Outside of the everyday routine. Outside of what you are supposed to do, and into that which makes you truly happy.

But be prepared…this Journey is not for the faint of heart. Be prepared to challenge every demon or preconceived notion you have – both about yourself & your story of who you are. But isn’t that life’s Journey? – to shed those old stories & fears – and really open up the windows & doors of your heart to let the light in. Be sure to bring your emotional & spiritual tool kits with you – and you’ll discover new ones as you need them.

Also be prepared that others won’t get it. They may think you are just on an extended vacation. They may not understand why it is important. And that living a life of mobility takes a lot of hard work, teamwork from the whole family, and flexibility for life’s curve balls. That’s ok – they don’t have to get it. Your Journey is not their journey. Your Journey is for you…and your partner, and your children…whomever it is that chooses to be truly apart of your Journey.

Stay strong & true to your mission – whatever that is in this moment. Life is happening FOR you – stay connected to each moment and see the NEW opportunity before you – to do something different from the past, and let go of fear of the future.