One year on the road

We have now been on the road for one full year. What a year it's been! We have so many wonderful memories from this year and we've learned so much.

We have logged around 10,000 miles on the trailer and far more on the truck. We've visited 23 states. I haven't counted the exact number, but I'm pretty sure we've been to around 75 different museums and zoos. Our best guess is around 150-200 different parks and playgrounds. We've seen the Pacific and we'll see the Atlantic on Wednesday. We've visited a whole list of friends and family. Jeremy has worked in 4 different time zones.

More importantly, we have so many memories with our kids. We've proven to ourselves that we don't need as much space, as many toys, or as many clothes as we thought. We've created a life where adventure is the norm, and change is expected. The kids don't know very many current tv characters but they can describe museum exhibits they saw months ago. They love playing outside and exploring new places. We spend a lot less time (maybe too little!) keeping up the house and far more playing with our kids. There are so many things about this lifestyle that we love.

There have certainly been challenges along the way. We've run short on bandwidth for Jeremy's work. We've had to do repairs on our house, which leaves us homeless in the meantime. We've had some long hours of driving and some near misses with floods and tornados. We knew that we'd be missing out on community and that has been harder than we anticipated. It's not always easy to have the kids sleeping a few feet apart.

We've also gotten to take our kids to some pretty amazing places-they've splashed in the Pacific, ridden to the top of Pike's Peak, walked along the rim of the Grand Canyon, and played in the desert sand. They've cooked s'mores over campfires. They've picked blueberries and oranges fresh off the tree. They've hiked over waterfalls and seen national parks. We've ridden trolleys, boats, zip lines, and trains of all sizes.And we have spent more days than I can count going for walks, playing in the sand, and exploring playgrounds.

Here are some favorite photos of the last year:

From Kansas City

From Kansas City

From Kansas City

From Sioux Falls

From Sioux Falls

From Sioux Falls

From Sioux Falls

From Sioux Falls

Rinnah's first birthday

From Rinnah's Birthday

From Rinnah's Birthday

From Rapid City, SD

From Rapid City, SD

From Rapid City, SD

From Rapid City, SD

From Rapid City, SD

Mount Rushmore

From Rapid City, SD

Watching bear cubs play in South Dakota

From Rapid City, SD

From Rapid City, SD

From Fort Collins

From Fort Collins

From Fort Collins

From Loveland CO

Building a campfire

From Loveland CO

From Loveland CO

From Loveland CO

From Loveland CO

From Colorado Springs

From Colorado Springs

From Colorado Springs

From Colorado Springs

From Colorado Springs

From Colorado Springs

From Colorado Springs

From Colorado Springs

From Colorado Springs

From Colorado Springs

From Colorado Springs

From Colorado Springs

From Colorado Springs

From Colorado Springs

From Colorado Springs

From Loveland CO 2nd visit

Rinnah's first steps

From Loveland CO 2nd visit

From Loveland CO 2nd visit

From Loveland CO 2nd visit

From Denver

From Denver

From Denver

From Denver

From Denver

From Wyoming

Mouse that stowed away under the hood of our truck

From Wyoming

From Wyoming

From Salt Lake City

From Salt Lake City

From Salt Lake City

From Salt Lake City

From Salt Lake City

From Salt Lake City

From Salt Lake City

From Salt Lake City

From Salt Lake City

From Salt Lake City

From Salt Lake City

From Salt Lake City

From Salt Lake City

From Salt Lake City

From Salt Lake City

From Salt Lake City

From Salt Lake City

zip line in Park City, UT

From Salt Lake City

From Ian's Birthday

Ian's birthday-riding the commuter train

From Ian's Birthday

From Pullman, WA

From Pullman, WA

From Pullman, WA

From Seattle

From Seattle

From Seattle

From Seattle

From Seattle

From Seattle

From Seattle

From Seattle

From Seattle

From Meetup with Cindy

From Portland

From Portland

From Portland

From Portland

From Portland

Decorating Christmas cookies

From Christmas

From Christmas

From Christmas

Riding the train with Grandmother & Granddaddy

From Christmas

From Sunnnyvale CA

From Sunnnyvale CA

From Bakersfield, CA

From Bakersfield, CA

From Bakersfield, CA

From Bakersfield, CA

From Bakersfield, CA

From Bakersfield, CA

From Phoenix, AZ

From Phoenix, AZ

From Phoenix, AZ

From Phoenix, AZ

Grand Canyon

From Phoenix, AZ

From Jacksonville, IL

From Jon's wedding weekend

From Jon's wedding weekend

Uncle Mike

From Jon's wedding weekend

Uncle Jon's wedding

From Jon's wedding weekend

From Jon's wedding weekend

From Family photos-Jacksonville, IL

From Family photos-Jacksonville, IL

From Family photos-Jacksonville, IL

From Nashville flood

From Orlando, Florida

From Orlando, Florida

From Orlando, Florida

From Orlando, Florida

From Disney

From Disney

From Disney

From Disney

From Jacksonville FL

From Jacksonville FL

From Jacksonville FL

It's been a great year!