Making the Rounds and Crashing

We left our AirBnb so early in the morning that much of Madrid had not gone to sleep yet.  It was dark out and the night clubs were winding down. Over 24 hours of travel and we were back in New York.

What a great experience this trip has been.  We saw so much, had plenty of time to leave the tourist mode and get into everyday life.  I know we each took different things away from this experience, but I think at the end we were all happy to get back to our "norm" in the U.S.

Since leaving Madrid we have been in NJ getting our camper and storage stuff organized,

The girls are back together :)

Dordogne, Foie Gras, and Sofia in a Guillotine

We made it to the Dordogne Region of France on a Friday afternoon.  Drove from Rodez for a few hours and were on our way to our airbnb in Perigueux, but made a pit stop in Sarlat-la-Caneda.

Baguettes and B.O.

We returned out rental car in Plymouth and caught the train back to London and then to Paris.  It was a long day of travel, but we made it safely to Paris.  Diego's cousins met us at the station and guided us to our new rental.

We're in the South, Ya'll

There was an imaginary line from St. Louis to Nashville where the accent kicked in.  We drove through some back roads and a few hours later emerged to "Go gechu un".  It felt warm and fuzzy.....We're close to home :)

Centennial Park

On the Road Again.....

It has been a while since I have written on the blog.  We had a very nice visit with family in Las Vegas.  Went to several Circque du Soleil show's, thanks to our local connections.  Saw Willie Nelson in concert at the Belagio.  Visited Red Rocks and spent lots of family time.

Cousins playing, no fighting, no playing....can't keep it straight :)

A Place Where Everyone Can Spell Diego

We left Long Beach and drove south.  Diego has family in this area too, so we were planning a little reunion.
We camped at Guajome Regional Park in Oceanside, CA.  The campground was just okay.

We spent a couple of days in San Diego.  We drove by Balboa Park to see things.  Then to Seaport Village to get some work done.  The weather was just beautiful and there was a Starbucks right next to the village.  We all got a little work done and then the girls all headed down to the park by the water.

All I Want To Do Is Have Some Fun.........

We left Santa Maria and took Hwy 101 down towards the coast through Santa Barbara and Ventura.  At Ventura we headed down towards hwy 1 on the coast.  Once the ocean came back into view we were near Point Mugu and had a hungry group.  Took the first ocean side spot that we would fit into and made some lunch.


We took our time relaxing with the beautiful view and somewhere in those relaxing moments we locked ourselves out of the truck :)

Got Boat?

We left the Leavenworth/Wenatchee area and had a beautiful drive on Hwy 2 through the Wenatchee National Forest.

Beautiful drive

Great scenery.

We were headed west and north towards the coast, to Anacortes.

Holy Toot!

The wildfires of Washington meant we had to make a last minute change in our route and skip the Winthrop stop.  It was a bummer, but with only one road open in that direction we were nervous that we might get stuck up there, not to mention the air quality was not good.

We rerouted to the Leavenworth area and stayed at Wenatchee County Park.  The air was okay the first day, but then, depending on which way the wind was blowing, was not great.  The campground was okay.  Next to a busy highway, but quite a few trees and was well maintained.

We started our week out with our first day back to a little book work for the school year.  We were testing our some of our new material and seeing how we liked it.  The afternoon of our first day we went to Cashmere, WA.  The town is very small and has a candy factory that has been around for generations, called Aplets and Cotlets.  We took a tour and picked out a couple of boxes to take home.

Heading behind the scene for our tour.

"Go Get Chu One"

After hanging in out in Victor, ID area, the whole group relocated together that weekend and headed up closer to the west side of Yellowstone NP at Henry's Lake State Park in Idaho.  Very pretty park with a lake and mountain view.

Large Marge and The Hairy Toe

We made the short drive across the pass from Palisades to Victor, ID and arrived to our campground. We had planned to be in the National Forest that week so we could have more of a "camping" experience for Jon and Steph.  We changed plans at the last minute and not sure if it was a good decision or not, but either way it worked fine.
We ended up at Teton Valley Campground in Victor and about a 20 minute drive to Jackson Hole, WY and Grand Teton National Park.
The day we arrived was Luna's b-day, so after setting up camp we took her into Jackson Hole to a movie.  She picked Inside Out and it was a good choice.  Pretty cute movie.  We toured the town a little and grabbed some groceries.
Jon, Steph, Bryce and Taylor arrived late that night and sleeping children were carried into the camper.
We took it easy that first day.  Sang Happy Birthday to Luna and did a little hike.

Yes and No

It seems we are moving fast these days.  It has been tough to find places to stay in Florida this time of year, so we've just been taking the spots we can get.  We are working on our boondocking skills, but not quite there.

We spent the last 5 days or so at Jonathan Dickinson State Park.  It was just north of West Palm Beach in a great spot along the coast.  It was very windy out there, but the breeze was welcomed most days because the temps were pretty warm.  It's great that we were able to get a spot there because it was so close to my brother and sister in laws place and we were able to visit with them everyday of our visit.