RV Newbies

You will all be happy to know we survived! Edson drove a big arss RV from Michigan to Florida. It took us 8 days but we did it. The plane ride was Cayenne's first. She was hilarious. Spoke to strangers, took out every toy in her backpack and put it on her tray table and was such a big girl, She sat in her own seat with Daddy a majority of the time and only wanted mama near the end when she got tired. One of the funny moments: a lady had her dog on the plane that had fake pink fingernails. SHWAT? I snuck a pic (see below).

Look in the background. PINK FINGERNAILS

Our RV Newbie Route

Grand Rapids, MI: It was a bit po-dunk. It felt like we were in the middle of nowhere. Maybe we missed the "city" part but we were definitely off the beaten path. I saw a broken down semi trailer in a field that someone was using as a billboard. It read "Body Parts For Sale". NUFF SAID. I mean I know they meant Auto Body Parts but still. Disturbing. I wish I would've snapped a pic but holding onto my toddler in a taxi without a carseat took priority. All that being said, the RV park was very nice.

Martinsville, Indiana: Cedar Creek Winery & Brew Co. It was our first Harvest Host location. I LOVED this place. The host, Bryce was so nice and helpful. Our generator wasn't working so he offered us electricity and anything else. The land was beautiful, the wine was good and E said the beer was good, too. They are in the process of building a distillery so ideally we'd like to go back and bring some friends. Walking around being outside and spending time with each other affirmed why we are doing all this.

Townsend, Tennessee: We had planned on going to a goat farm in Tazewell, TN (another Harvest Host spot) and working on the farm for a couple days to save some money. That didn't work out seeing as though our brand new RV generator was NOT working. It was in the 80s and 90s and not having ac would not be kosher for this sweaty family of 5. We ended up going back to Townsend, TN and staying at a campground with full hook-up there. We spent a lot of time with Papaw and Granny especially while Edson had to work (and deal with the generator). Two times in one year was a new record!

When we pulled up in our spot at the campground we weren't impressed. Below is our view from the front window. I didn't think we'd have neighbors with a washer/dryer unit taken apart in the 'front yard,' Then we went to the river and that took all my redneck worries away.

The beautiful Little River- view never gets old

Cayenne filled her shoes with river rocks and then said "Look Mommy! My shoes ROCK!"

BB Gun Competition at Papaw and Granny's

Veggies picked fresh from Granny's Garden

The Smoky Mountains Overlook

Sparks, Georgia: We stayed at another Harvest Host spot: Horse Creek Winery. Our first Harvest Host experience was so incredible this one was kind of a let down. They had us park next to a dumpster behind the building where the employees smoke. We ate at the Bistro and they got our food all wrong and it wasn't good when we finally got it. We decided that we didn't even want to try the wine. We were super excited when we saw their website but not so excited once we got there. They have two locations so maybe the other location is better. Not so sure. It didn't help that it was right off I95 and being in the south meant gun-toting employees. That was a fun conversation at dinner with our boys as they were floored by the whole idea of someone openly carrying a gun in a restaurant.

Now we are back in Florida and I don't think we've sat down since we got back. It's been go-go-go. We have to get everything together for this RV so we can head out for the next year or more. It. Is. A LOT! Edson has all the technical stuff (i.e. wifi booster, getting the braking system and tow stuff set up on our Flex, finalizing details with selling his car, etc. etc.) and I have the task of making appointments, organizing and decorating. We are talking a lot of appointments: dentist, doctor, allergist, veterinarian, orthodontist and more. Did I say this is a lot? As for the organizing and decorating that's the fun part but I'm spiraling out of control. I tend to get carried away in trying to make everything perfect.

Deep breaths in and out. At this point we are a bit zombie-like and I'm ready to crash at the end of each day.  

We started homeschool yesterday. The website hasn't updated to the Day 2 assignments yet so I'm having to improvise today. We are leaving Saturday September 10th and we just found out the place we were supposed to stay in Tallahassee doesn't have power and that our New Orleans reservation has been cancelled due to flooding. Did someone say PLAN B?! We did have our first leg planned out but it's back to the drawing board. I'm definitely going to get a lesson in being more flexible on this adventure.

I'll be sharing much more very soon. Our learning curve, a trip to Tellico Plains, TN, the route and a few little things in between. These posts are bound to get smaller as I post more and that is definitely the plan. Stay with me! 

We did it!!!

Yes, that's right folks. We bought an RV. We picked it up yesterday. All of us flew to Grand Rapids, Michigan, took a taxi to the RV dealership and saw our new home for the first time. We have yet to name her (as you know that is definitely going to happen) but she's a big beauty.

We landed on a Forest River Georgetown 364TS. It was the only clear choice for us. It has 2 bathrooms, a king bed, bunk beds and a overhead bunk above the driver/passenger seat. Our big requirements were 2 toilets and the bunks for the kids. We realize the 2 toilets is extravagant but we've lived with only 2 toilets in the house before and it was NOT pretty so less than that would be downright catastrophic. We also realized that we'd be potty training Cayenne during this adventure, too. As for the bunks, it was simple. We didn't want the kids to have to fold up their beds every day. We wanted them to feel like they had their own space (even if it is tiny).

We spent a few hours signing papers and scouring the RV from head to toe with the technician so he could show us everything. The outside was Edson's domain. I attempted to hold a sleeping Cayenne and pay attention but all the talk about the gray water, black water, this pump and that was too much for me. The inside was also Edson's domain when it came to all the tech-y stuff. I was mostly interested in asking about drilling holes in the walls to hang decorative stuff. Thank goodness for Edson. He has single-handedly figured out how to run this entire RV on his own. Of course, with some help from youtube.

We stopped off at Wal-Mart to load up on all the essentials and then headed to the campground that the RV place paid for and settled in for the night. We laughed a lot on the way to our site. Never would I ever have thought we'd be in this thing and in this predicament almost 15 years ago when Edson and I met. It is hilarious thinking about it honestly.

Edson driving this humongasaurus

Hidden Ridge RV Resort in Grand Rapids (our first overnight stay)

Edson and I slept better than we have in a while. The ups and downs of trying to make this all work is daunting so finally having one piece of the puzzle was a really nice feeling. We left this morning after going through a checklist: put in slides, put up leveling thingys, dump gray water, fill fresh water, put everything that can fly across the room in something else that won't, etc. One thing we forgot? To hook the refrigerator door closed. Oops! Stuff went flying but nothing broke and hopefully we learned our lesson.

We are driving back to Florida to fill this bad boy up with our stuff. We are giving ourselves a couple weeks to do so and then we are Peacin' Out :). Our first stop is a Harvest Hosts location in Martinsville, Indiana as we take baby steps to get back. Super excited about this spot as it's the best of both worlds for Edson and I: a winery and a brewery. CHA-CHING! It's called Cedar Creek Winery & Brew Co. Check it out HERE.

Our itinerary for this week:

• Start: Grand Rapids, Michigan
• Martinsville, Indiana by way of Indianapolis
• Tazewell/Townsend, Tennessee by way of Louisville, KY
• Sparks, GA (another Harvest Hosts spot)
• End: Then we end up in Jupiter, FL to park for a couple weeks

I will inevitably have a ton to write about so stay tuned for lots of fun pics and stories. I'm sure there will be A LOT. 

Our Deadline and OUR DECISION

We gave ourselves a deadline: June 30, 2016. We wanted to know by that date what we were going to do with our lives. Yeah, well, that deadline came and went. The trip to my Dad's, Cape Coral, Fourth of July, our 10 year anniversary, a trip to Siesta Key and finally Reno's 9th Birthday all passed by in a blink of an eye. Summer is wrapping up and we've been going back and forth with our decision quite a bit. Understandably.

In the end we did put an offer in on a house in Port St. Lucie. It is a really nice house.  We went back and forth a few times and the seller did come down $22K in price which is huge. We ended up walking away as it just didn't seem right. Don't think we didn't doubt that decision quite a few hundred times. Ultimately, we really thought about it and asked ourselves: 'Why would we stay here when we risked everything to uproot our family for a new way of life?' We would be living the same lifestyle: the routine and the whole rigamaroll. The housing market in South Florida has also exploded in the last 18 months. We find houses that sold in 2014 for $185K that are now listed for $285K. That is disgusting! The bubble is going to burst people-- it IS going to burst.

Our final decision:DRUM ROLLLLL PLEASE... We are going to....

Image courtesy of GoRving.com

Holy smokes (or Holy MOKES as Cayenne would say)! It's a crazy choice but it's the right one for us right now. There will never be another good time like our current situtation. Our stuff is in storage, our kids aren't connected to this place or their school and BA-BAM! We are headed out on the road and will have a TON of stuff for the blog to share with all of you. We are thinking this will be a 1-2 year extravaganza in order to see everything we want to see. My hope is that we will find a place we fall in love with along the way. If not, it isn't the end of the world. We have a house in VA that will be available in May 2018 and we know we have a place to come back to in FL.

We are going to share a ton more as the weeks get closer but we are excited, extremely nervous about the unknown and overwhelmed by everything that still has to be done. Exhibit A:

1. Selling cars/trading/posting or blah blah
2. Finding our RV- the one we really like is the Forest River Georgetown 364TS- E is working with 2 different dealers to get the best deal
3. Finalizing homeschool options/plans and sending notice of intent to superintendent, ensuring we have access to an annual evaluation
4. Learning how to operate poop pump, water tanks, etc. - E's got this!
5. Dealing with wifi, satellite stuff to ensure we have what we need for work, communication
6. Going through all of the stuff we have at both parents houses and determining what we need to bring and figuring out what we do with all of the other stuff. In other words, downsizing AGAIN.
7. Working on registering vehicle, insuring, etc.
8. Figuring out our route. We are looking at staying at national parks, if possible and RV parks and then supplementing with a night at places we find through Harvest Hosts. Check that out-- it's amazing! Our plan is to be in warm climate during winter months so we don't have to pack coats and everything that comes with winter. We will share with you the first portion of our route soon as we've finally gotten somewhere with it.

Most people do all this stuff with time on their side. That is not the case with the Cortes Clan. We've got one month to get 'er done. Stay tuned as our adventure starts to unfold...

Taking it's Toll...

Today is 4th of July. I lay in bed typing while Cayenne is in her crib sleeping a few feet away. My mom planned a really nice relaxing day by the pool. She made lunch, specialty cocktails for the grown-ups and a delicious burger dinner with dessert to boot. We wrapped it up by heading to see some fireworks. It was a really nice day.

Only problem: it wasn't what we do in Virginia. Niko came home and burst into tears. It's really the first time I've seen the move affect him in a bad way. He just wanted to shoot off fireworks and be out in the street running around with all the neighbor kids. I've got to be honest: I wanted that, too.

As I lay in bed with my teary eyed 10 year old who just wanted to be in OUR house, in OUR Virginia with OUR friends it was all I could do to not burst into tears with him. It's crazy how things work. Cayenne is warming up to everyone now. She will be out of my sight and not panic every time. She seems happy since she has adjusted. The boys on the other hand who were happy with the move in the beginning are changing their minds. They just want Virginia. They want their friends. My mom's neighborhood has zero kids, they weren't in school long enough to make good friends to hang out with over the summer and they are just lonely. They don't want to play outside with just each other either. I've forced it but it's not the same. Reno even said to me the other day, "I don't like playing outside anymore. I don't have any friends. I want to play outside in Virginia." My heart broke a little. My kids would play outside for hours with kids in our neighborhood pretty much every day without fail.

Anyway, I'm just venting. Everyone is switching roles now that we are in month 4 of living here.

At least we have the beach! This view is an 8 minute drive away.

Edson and I both explained to Niko that this is temporary. Whether we RV or find a house things will be different next year. We had a nice day with some awesome fireworks and we need to remember that. It didn't satisfy him. He worried that the next neighborhood wouldn't have any kids or we'd be in a National Park that doesn't allow fireworks.

I had no idea the 4th of July meant so much to him. Neither did Edson. He told the kids to get their shoes on and he left with them. He didn't have to tell me what he was going to do. I knew. He took them to go get some fireworks so he could do them with him. I love him. Good Daddy award for sure.

We are still searching for a house. A HUGE factor is having kids in the neighborhood. We really liked a couple houses we saw and then drove around the hood, like stalkers, trying to find kids playing outside. We didn't see any so we didn't make an offer. It was that simple. We can love the house, but if there aren't any kids outside playing or at least bikes or scooters or some indication of kids we will NOT live there.

As for the RV option: it's a tough one. My biggest concern (other than us going crazy in such a small space) is the lack of socialization for our kiddos. I'm working on researching that now. I know there are tons of people that do full-time RV-ing with kids so it's just about figuring that out and asap. Both kids want to RV even though we've explained what that really means.

Our decision will come soon. It has to. We are stressed and need answers (so do you). I know what I'm leaning towards...

Side note: This post is obviously a few weeks old, but I still wanted to post it as things still apply.

A Trip to the Mountains

Going to the mountains is always an adventure. We try to go every year to see Granny and Papaw. This year was the longest trip yet as far as driving. We always leave from Virginia. We left from Florida and although GPS said 12 hours it was more like 16. Phew-- it was nuts. Cayenne wasn't too happy with that long car ride and she made it known with lots of tears and screams. Needless to say when we stepped foot into our cabin a cold beer and the hot tub was on the brain. My brain, at least. The kids just were excited for the hot tub (that we cooled down for their little young bodies). We definitely didn't need anyone passing out after that hellish drive.

For the past 3 years we've gone and stayed at the Pioneer Cabins and Guest Farm. It is wonderful. It's exactly what these 3 kiddos need to be around. They see where our food comes from, only steps away from our cabin. We pick vegetables and use it in our lunch and dinner and go down to the chicken coop to get eggs for breakfast. They feed goats, chickens and get to run around on a big farm. The cabin is rustic but nice and has everything we need.

Eating one of the last strawberries of the season!

Walking the donkey and the ponies down to the pasture

Then we head to my Dad and step-mom's place: lovingly titled the Morgan Family Farm. It is also a GREAT experience for our kiddos. They get to feed the chickens, get some brown delicious eggs, pick vegetables, shoot BB guns and just have a good time with Papaw and Granny. This year we even got to see Granny's mom, Mamaw, so it was a treat! They recently got a car port and when we arrived this time they had a dart board, bubbles, ice cream maker and corn hole set up and ready for us to play with. We played, laughed and ate lettuce from the garden on our burgers and had homemade ice cream and blackberry cobbler (yes the blackberries were from the garden). 

Homemade ice cream- the before

Homemade ice cream- the after

Corn hole with Mamaw and Granny

Mamaw getting in on the corn hole action!

Everyone getting sleepy

We left Papaw and Granny's pretty late the first night but we ended up stopping by Full Service BBQ. It smelled awesome on our drive in to the cabins but we were NOT stopping again. We had some quick yummy TN BBQ just to say we did and headed back to the cabin but not without seeing some beautiful scenery along the way.

The Smoky Mountains

The BBQ place that was once a gas station. 

We passed some fresh water coming out of the mountain on our drive there. Pretty awesome!

We loved our time with Papaw, Granny and Mamaw on the Morgan Family Farm. It was way too short as we travelled for 2 days and had 2 days to spend there. The 2nd day Cayenne got a fever (most likely from teething) but we had to cut our visit a bit short. Booooo. We walked around the Pioneer Farm, made s'mores on the deck of the cabin and the kids went into the hot tub in between the rain. It was a great trip and only wish it could've lasted just a bit longer. 

S'mores

Cayenne's first S'more. She just wanted the marshmallow- silly girl

Little sticky fingers

Every time we cross the TN line I start talking a little funny. I gotta talk with a little kuntry accent like thisss. Imagine that last line with some twang and a long drag at the end. I love taking our kids to a place that I have so many fond memories of. A bit after my parents got divorced my Dad moved to Townsend, Tennessee. My Uncle Don and Kristen had cabins there. I would go every summer. When I was old enough to drive Livia (Lisa even came once, too!) my sister from another mister would come, too. I would always remember tubing in the crick (actual name Little River but say it with the accent), driving around Gatlinburg, catching our own fish at the Trout Farm, eating watermelon on the back porch and just laughing A TON with each other.  I get teary-eyed thinking those times are gone but am so grateful I can make new memories with the hubs and our kiddos.

Side Note: Cayenne is sitting on my lap while I'm writing this and screaming over and over PLEASE GO CABIN, PLEASE GO CABIN. I think she had fun. 

Until next year! We'll miss you Papaw and Granny (& Mamaw, too)! 

Life Road Map- We are down to 2 options!

I've been on a hiatus. Writing this blog went to the back burner as school, sports and then summer took over. We were supposed to slow down. Apparently, I'm not really good at "slowing down." Cayenne is in swim twice a week, Niko and Reno were playing flag football on two different teams, looking for a job, researching options and the going back and forth between my mom's house and Edson's parents house got the best of me. I'm BAAAAACK. Think, Arnold.

I digress.

Well, if you've read the last posts we had narrowed our options down to 4 possible paths our life can take right now. We've narrowed it down further. Thank GOODNESS for that.

Colombia (or any other South American country), unfortunately, is out at the moment. No job opportunities have come up for either of us. I've been looking at resorts/hotels to do sales or event planning and Edson has been looking for remote work, well, anywhere! Nothing has progressed so his current J O B is what we've got and luckily the working remote thing is going well. My friends, this is not to say that we won't revisit the idea in the future. Edson's parents are still planning to sell their house and go later this year. If a new job comes up or if we are able to spend summers there then that is something we will think about in the future. I can't say that I'm not bummed about it. I absolutely am disappointed but the reality of it is it's just not meant to be right now. We haven't really had too much time to be disappointed anyway as we've got to figure our life out and ASAP.

Moving to another place in Florida, i.e. Cape Coral is also OUT. We went on a research mission and it was nice, but not for us. The absolute best part was we took a sunset dolphin cruise that evening to surprise the kiddos. We brought snacks and drinks on the boat (adult ones for E and I) and it was amazing. We saw dolphins, a beautiful sunset and the captain of the boat let the kids drive!

A thing of beauty! We are from the East Coast of FL so the West Coast sunset was beautiful!

A rare sighting: all of us in one pic!

The little harbor where we caught the boat

My big boys

DOLPHINS! Flipper in the flesh. :)

Ultimately we liked the houses, but they weren't amazing and same with the area. It was nice but we'd be starting over again. Not knowing anyone, etc. I think we'd be willing to do that if we thought our quality of life would be way better but it didn't seem that would be the case. Not being around family and not being overwhelmingly floored by how awesome the place was made it an easy "UH NO" when we drove away. It's funny but Edson said "Sooo?" and my response was "NOPE!" before he even finished asking the question. We were both relieved that we agreed it wasn't for us. 

There are only 2 options remaining: CLICK HERE for dramatic sound effect :) 

1. Buy or Rent a house in South Florida

2. RV Full Time

We will keep you posted. 

Good Ole' Walt

DISNEY & UNIVERSAL

Yes, we did it. I took the plunge. I went to Disney with my family. We are from Florida and we haven't taken our kids to Disney World. Most people would think that is ludacris.

I was not motivated AT ALL to be amongst 5 gazillion people and to stand in line for a very long time with small children but we did it and we survived with minimal injury. My mom was the one who made it all happen. She has been wanting to take our boys since they were little and didn't want to wait until they were too old and wouldn't be interested.

We woke up very early and drove to the parks. Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios the first day and then Universal's Islands of Adventure on the second day. It was a whirlwind. I can honestly say that seeing Cayenne meet Pluto (whom she cried for) made it all worth it. We waited in line for a picture and when we got to the front of the line she walked up to him and hugged him-- it was a long warm embrace for at least 4 minutes. She didn't want to let go. It was the sweetest thing ever.

Pictures are way better than words.

This was 4 minutes later. Pluto started making motions like he was flattered and covering his eyes.

Hollywood Studios will be way better when the Star Wars Land is up and running, but the kids really liked this place.

Not sure we will go back anytime soon. Disney and Universal, food and lodging for one night and two days cost a lot of bucks. Luckily, my mom covered most of it-- thanks, Ma!  That being said, if we stay in the South Florida area a day trip is possible. Although I would've wanted to stay at our hotel a bit longer. We were in such a rush to get everything in that we didn't get to enjoy it. The Cabana Bay Beach Resort was super nice. I wanted to hang out by the pool, walk around, have a cocktail and all that. I would definitely recommend the hotel and Islands of Adventure for kids the boys ages. Cayenne, poor thing was bored there. The Dr. Seuss area was not even catered to her age. Disney was something that we checked off the bucket list. I'm sorry, Walt, I will watch your movies (and we do our fair share) and enjoy Mickey and Minnie from afar.