Deep Breath.......

AHHHHHHHHHH..........
     FINALLY, we have slowed down long enough to take a breath! Everything from April 15th to now has been moving at a MILLION miles an hour! We have been so blessed with friends who did everything from making meals, to packing boxes to selling stuff and cleaning up! The Colorado weather continues to be ridiculous vacillating between snow, rain and wind. Without hot water and a clear walkway, we have been continuing to live downstairs out at the Ranch in Franktown. Good thing too as just after the latest rain storm we came in to find a soaked mattress and two leaky skylights in the trailer. As our friends over at Fulltime Family say, things will break when you move, and when you don't! So we are getting used to the idea that fixing things will be a weekly occurrence! This weekend we hope to finish the kitchen and our bedroom areas and figure out what the gig is with the hot water heater. It's been a real blessing to be able to get all the kinks figured out while we still have an alternative place to live. Thank goodness for the in-laws! It's been great coming "home" to the ranch each night.
     The kids are adjusting well, I think we will all be happy to get into our own spaces, especially Jacob who runs deep. He has had a meltdown or too but usually a good night sleep helps him to bounce back.  Tonight we had a cub scout meeting in the park across from the house we used to live in. I was taken aback by the feeling of sadness at seeing someone elses patio furniture on "my deck". Right up until Alan reminded me that they are the ones that get to mow, weed and sweat out the summer without AC! At times it's been hard to let go but we always remind each other what we will be getting in return.
     This week's moment to remember.... Aiden got to try out the new ER when he walked into the brick wall and had to get stitches. While they were stitching him up, the Dr asked what he was going to do this summer. He said, "We'll be camping for the whole year!" As often happens, the Dr. and Nurse turned and gave us a quizzical look, to which we nodded yes. They asked where he wants to go the most and Aiden answered, "Tokyo." Looks like Geography is the first on the roadschool list!
     Grab your chopsticks, Tokyo here we come!
 
   

Phase one, nearly complete...

We are safe and sound, sprawled out on a massive King bed in my in-laws basement. Quite the opposite of the plan but the big picture idea here is clearly, “learn to roll with it”!

            I love that phrase, “hindsight is clearly 20/20”. In HINDSIGHT we should have parked the trailer in front of the house to load it, HOA be damned, instead of bringing 2000 loads back and forth. As it was I spent the weekend pitching things out the front door of the wildcat into bins to sell, donate and store.

            In HINDSIGHT we should have filled the water tanks and tried the shower, of course that would require no freak snowstorms which appears to be impossible in Colorado.

            In HINDSIGHT we should have gotten the storage space sooner rather than later.

Next time.

     It has been a really hard week. Physically as well as emotionally. It was a shock to finish our garage sale with way more than we wanted to have left over, and way less in cash than one would think possible after selling everything we’ve accumulated over the last 12 years together. We boxed up, bagged up and piled up what we tend to consider “precious” belongings, and thankfully had some wonderful friends haul it away, I couldn’t watch it go. And now less than a week later, I can’t tell you what was in half those bags. Our kids are LOVING being at the ranch but still adjusting as we knew they would. Being at the Ranch, with their grandparents, and familiar horses and the generally slower, more relaxed pace seems to make everything better.

       Right now, we are awaiting another freak snowstorm, which means we can’t plug the hose in and run water without risking damaging the plumbing, something we are a bit to nervous about trying. We also have to continue to go to work and school and hockey and Physical Therapy AND be out of the house entirely by tomorrow. Alan looks like the walking dead. He has done this almost entirely on his own between my knee brace and getting sick. He and our friends have rallied and made this possible. As I write this, Jenny E. is vacuuming my house and finding all the precious things I have dropped, lost and forgotten.

 Jenny says it’s like a pregnancy condensed into two months. It really is, growing pains, things changing quickly, not sure what is coming down the pike and not feeling quite right anywhere yet. But, I know, just as with our boys, we have a bright future on the horizon, new wonderful things to experience, and after all, the journey is an adventure!

             

Naughty Body!

Things are moving at the speed of light, everything except me! We have 7 days to be out of the house, one of those is Jacob's 10th Birthday sleepover... And on top of the ACL surgery recovery I have a chest cold that makes me feel like I am drowning at any given moment. I can't move without hacking like an emphysma ridden hag. I have a fever, and, of course.... things have to keep moving!!! So I have given myself 24 hours of downtime in the hopes that it will payoff in the long run, and I'll be able to get back to packing after school tomorrow. Friends of Facebook have given me some great ideas on how to burn it out, from vodka to horseraddish to fresh ginger, and I'll try them all!
"Wanda the Wildcat" is all set up at the In-law's ranch, waiting for us to move in. A late spring snowstorm here in Castle Rock is a good reminder that we'll have to keep a sharp eye out for weather wherever we go.
    So, a quick nap and then hopefully I'll be feeling better. I know the importance of listening to your body but what if you just can't? Then you soak that stinker in Vodka, horseradish, lemon and ginger! If nothing else, I'll smell so bad the boys will give me some space!
Fingers crossed!
Laura

It's 5 a.m. Turns out this is the only time I have had to update you all since we purchased "Wanda the Wildcat" on Tuesday. As soon as she was in front of the house things started to move at the speed of light! Normally, not an issue but we still have work, a "normal" life to attend to and I'm on crutches and recovering from another ACL surgery so Alan is doing the lion's share of the manual labor. We are both exhausted physically and emotionally but still so excited to start this journey in a couple months. We are pushing hard to be out of this house in 10 days, (AHHHHHH!) and will spend the last month of school out at "the ranch" in Franktown in order to save rent. We are blessed to have patient in-laws who will let us park there!
     So many friends from school and all over town have come to help us out. We couldn't do it without our Jenny, she is here every spare moment to pick up where I can't help out. So many people have helped in so many ways, we are eternally grateful to you all! From listening patiently while I have a mini break down at work to putting price stickers on everything in sight, I am blessed to have a community of friends in Castle Rock. The boys are really excited, especially to move out to "Pappa and Gramcyns". Jacob is showing a few signs of stress here and there but they are coping well overall. Seeing all of their stuff moved out to the garage sale was unnerving until the tallied up the total they would have for their "coming home" fund. Both have planned numerous sleep overs in the next month or so to get in some extra friend time.
     No doubt about it, this is the "not so fun" part of the adventure, but I have faith it will all fall into place, and I don't say that lightly. But for now, I am going to try and grab a few more minutes of sleep before the garage sale!
L.

New Trailer is Ours

The Hamilton family now owns the 5th wheel that will take us across the country, our 2007 Forest River Wildcat is being packed. We are now preparing for our giant garage sale that is going this weekend to try and get rid of all those things we dont need and dont want to store. I will post several pictures of the new trailer in a few days so we can share it with everyone.

Big Daddy's First Post

So gang,

     I have been so busy taking care of other things around the house so I have been unable to get a post on our blog. Several people have asked me why I would want to do this crazy thing, going on the road for a year with my family. Well, I give the same answer, I am tired of the day to day garbage that goes along with working in corporate america. Life is just to short to deal with companies that dont really care for the people that work so hard for them. At the end of 2012 I decided that I just didn't want to wait for my kids to grow up before traveling around the country.

     So all that aside, We are headed to Longmont CO tomorrow in a snow storm to pick up our fifth wheel and turn over our travel trailer. I am so excited I dont think Ill be able to sleep tonight thinking of all the ways we can do to make it home. Our first outing with the new rig will be on the 10th at Chatfield with a bunch of friends so we can work out any kinks. Thanks to everyone who follows us on this journey into the wild blue and dont forget to forward this blog on to everyone you know.

Alan

YAY! Once again, working as TEAM Hamilton we have figured out how to have people subscribe!  It's near the bottom (follow by email) for those of you who want to subscribe by email, and there is also a place for those of you who use a blog reader.