Day-to-Day Living

Happy New Year from the Clarke Family, our year in review. . .

Jan 12016

Happy-New-Year-2016

Happy, Happy New Year to you! We are ringing in the 2016 at Bahia Honda State Park, here in the middle of the Florida Keys. We’ve had a wonderful Christmas and holiday season here in the Keys – we can honestly say it’s been one of the best holidays we have ever had.

TODAY marks our 200th day on the road! When I did the calculations I was shocked that today would land on the 200th day. Time has flown by since we left Olympia, Washington on June 16, 2015. We’ve had our share of ups, downs, u-turns, milestones and breakdowns – but what a year it’s been!

Here are some numbers since we started traveling ::

Total miles driven: 12,730.8 miles
Total spent on gas (diesel): $2055.47
Average mpg (diesel): 13.2 mpg
Average price paid per gallon (diesel): $2.58

Total # states visited: 25 states! Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida

Junior Ranger badges earned: 15
These are badges our kids can earn through the state and national park system for learning about the places we visit.

Total # of family and friends we have visited along the way : 40 (plus lots of extended family in Minnesota!)
Total # of speeding tickets: ZERO, we are slow pokes
Total # of times missing our exit (as in taking a wrong turn): Surprisingly only 5 or 6 times, probably because we are slow pokes.

Most miles walked in a day (as a family): 11.2 miles on Dec. 2 while at DisneyWorld
Total # of pounds of weight lost (between Jeremy and Heather): About 25 pounds and still going. . .although our lifestyle is more active we are also enjoying things like lobster rolls, philly cheesesteaks, Key Lime pie and other local fare. The kids are growing like weeds – so going the other direction!

Total # of Costco Warehouse visits: 12 Costco stores in 12 different states. Same polish dog and pizza everywhere we go. 🙂
Total # of Target store visits: Ha! We lost count early in the trip. It’s our go to store on the road.
Total # of Airstream repair appointments: 4 (although the first one doesn’t count since they didn’t fix anything)

House-Contract-for-sale

Here are some of our highlights from this year ::

Preparation before hitting the road ::

Deciding for sure that we want to travel full-time January 6, 2015
Going to the Tacoma RV show January 10, 2015 to tour possible RV options
Purchasing our 2015 Airstream Flying Cloud 30 foot bunk model February 28, 2015
Purchasing our 2015 F-250 truck in early March
Researching and learning all about towing and owning an RV – purchasing things like a truck canopy, hitch, generators, solar panels, tools, etc.
Selling all our possessions and downsizing to only a 5 x 10 storage unit and our possessions in the Airstream
Having two garage sales, taking countless loads to Goodwill
Re-roofing our house, painting every room (and all the trim) in our house and staging our house for sale
Listing our house for sale and getting 3 full-price offers in the first 2 days (yay!)
Having a BIG house-cooling party – inviting all our friends and family over to tour trailer and to TAKE home items they want from our house.
Wrapping up the school year
Packing up our trailer and hitting the road June 16, 2015

Harrisville-State-Park-view-camping

Since we’ve hit the road ::

Towing our trailer over Snoqualmie Pass
Visiting Leavenworth, Washington for the first time
Touring Grand Coulee Dam in Washington
Visiting family in Clarkston, Idaho
Spending the day at Silverwood Theme Park in northern Idaho
Visiting and spending quality time with family over the 4th of July in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho
Meeting up with family in Glacier National Park, Montana
Touring the Lewis and Clark Caverns in Montana
Seeing Mount Rushmore in South Dakota
Dodging hail storms in South Dakota
Celebrating Liam’s 8th birthday in South Dakota
Celebrating Hadley’s 5th birthday in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Getting a new water tank installed in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Spending time with family in Northern Minnesota
Visiting Heather’s grandfather’s grave in Northern Minnesota
Seeing the church where Heather’s grandparents were married in Nebish, Minnesota
Wading in the headwaters of the Mississippi river
Visiting Mall of America in Minneapolis
Eating cheese and visiting the largest producer-only Farmer’s market in Madison, Wisconsin
Visiting Notre Dame Football stadium in South Bend, Indiana
Eating Culver’s for the first time in South Bend, Indiana
Getting a SECOND new water tank installed in Grand Rapids, Michigan
Playing on the giant sand dunes of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park in Michigan
Taking a ferry and spending a day on Mackinac Island, Michigan
Spending a week along the eastern coast of Michigan in beautiful state parks
Celebrated Heather’s 35th birthday in Michigan
Staying at wineries in Ohio and Pennsylvania
Swimming in Lake Erie over Labor Day weekend in New York
Visiting Niagara Falls and going on the Maiden of the Mist boat tour to the base of the falls
Walking across the Canadian border at Niagara Falls
Visiting family and eating Dinosaur Barbecue in Rochester, New York
Eating lobster rolls in Maine near the flagship LL Bean store
Touring lighthouses in Maine
Walking the Freedom Trail in Boston, Massachusetts
Watching a Red Sox game at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts
Taking a Ride The Duck tour in Boston, Massachusetts
Seeing the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Touring Gettysburg battlefields
Visiting Amish Country in Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Visiting the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
Visiting Smithsonian museums in Washington, D.C.
Visiting the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.
Seeing the White House in Washington, D.C.
Trick-or-treating at a massive RV park in Virginia
Playing in the Atlantic Ocean at Virginia Beach, Virginia
Seeing dolphins swimming off the coast in Virginia Beach, Virginia
Flying home to Washington state for a couple weeks in November
Taking a guided horse-drawn carriage tour through downtown Savannah, Georgia
Seeing 6 alligators, 1 turtle, countless birds at Savannah National Wildlife Refuge
Spending time with family outside of Savannah, Georgia
Spending 8 days at DisneyWorld
Swimming in a natural springs full of fish near Tampa, Florida
Swimming in the Gulf of Mexico for the first time, near Tampa, Florida
Touring a Turtle Hospital and learning about sea turtles in the Florida Keys
Spending Christmas in the Florida Keys
Eating Key Lime Pie in the Florida Keys
Saltwater fishing off the coast in the Florida Keys
Spending New Years Eve at Bahia Honda State Park

We end 2015 with a sense of wonderment over the last 200 days. We feel incredibly blessed to be on this journey. I can’t wait to see what 2016 has in store for us. In the next week or so we hope to sketch out a general route for the next few months.

Stay tuned for more posts and adventures!

Not-All-Wander-Lost

Checking in from Florida and our December plans. . .

Dec 102015

North-Beach-Camp-Florida

Okay y’all, I feel like we’ve been in a time warp . . .how is it December 10th already? Where did November go? How is it almost Christmas!?! The last three weeks have just flown by. Last time I updated the blog we had just gotten back from a fun-filled trip to Washington state and were enjoying the fall colors in North Carolina. Since then we visited South Carolina, Savannah (Georgia), Blythe Island (Georgia), St. Augustine (Florida), Orlando (Florida) and now we’re near Tampa (Florida).

Beauty-Beast-Disney-World-550

We spent a crazy SEVEN days at Disney World the first part of December (see photos on Instagram) and although we had a magical time – I’m not gonna lie – I’m soaking up the quiet, empty county park we’re staying in now. I’ll share more about Disney and the Disney campground later.

As we’ve traveled south over the last few weeks I’ve been working a lot. I’m not complaining (mostly explaining my absence) – I’m so grateful for the opportunity to make a living on the road – but it doesn’t leave a whole lot of time for travel blogging and even exploring. I have so much that I want to write about – so many stories to tell, photos to share, and places to gush about . I still have a busy 10 days or so of work and then things slow way down – and I’m hoping get caught up with stories and posts here. The rest of the family has been busy getting caught up on school (we took a break for Washington and for Disney). It’s been a lot of quiet, productive days around the trailer.

So what’s next?! We are hanging out at this quiet county park for a few more days, then heading to Tampa, Florida – and I’m so excited to see one of my very BEST childhood friends (from Alaska) who lives there now with her family. Last time I saw her was for her wedding nearly 5 years ago here in the Tampa area. I haven’t met her kids yet – and I can’t wait. We will also be meeting up with the Curren Family (we last saw them in Minnesota!) and I’m looking forward to the kids playing together while the adults get to catch up on Airstream tips and stories of our travels. . .

Florida-Keys-Christmas

After Tampa. . .we are headed to the FLORIDA KEYS!! I cannot tell you how excited I am for this. I had completely GIVEN UP on finding a state park reservation over Christmas in the Florida Keys. Every time I searched ‘next available date’ for ANY availability it would show me dates in May 2016. Seriously. And I had looked at private campgrounds in the Keys – but couldn’t find much less than $80-$100 a night. . . and we just did that at Disney (read = EXPENSIVE campground), so I wasn’t feeling it, especially when I knew the state parks were $38/night.

And then today, I’m working away. . .and I get an email about an campsite opening from a cancellation (thanks to Wandering Labs). . . for a full SEVEN days at a state park in the Florida Keys. I had it booked within 2 minutes of the email hitting my inbox. I’m just giddy. AND. . . I found another reservation for New Years Eve in the Keys. . . so we’re set (except for 4 random days in between the two reservations, but I’ll figure it out). If you have favorite places, tours or beaches on the Florida Keys – please share your advice!

decorating-for-christmas-trailer

Honestly I am pretty sure we would be happy anywhere for Christmas. We weren’t sweating the details – everyone kept asking where we’d be for the holidays – and I knew as long as we were together, that was all that mattered. We have our little tree decorated (Ikea!), Christmas lights up in the kid’s bunk area, Christmas presents ordered off Amazon (and delivered to my friends house in Tampa), the Elf on the Shelf causing trouble every night, Christmas carols on the radio, Christmas movies on the TV, the kid’s advent calendars. . . almost everything we had in our big house – but on a much simpler level. 🙂

After the holidays. . .who knows where the road will take us!?! We’d like to see the Everglades, I’d like to spend more time near Tampa to see my friend and her family, I have a great uncle in Sebring, Florida. . .and I want to see the Florida panhandle. We have family we want to see in Montgomery, Alabama and in Atlanta, Georgia. . . .and we didn’t really get enough time to explore the Carolinas. So many places – so little time! Where do you think we should go in the south!?!

Ultimately, I’m just hoping for fair weather (doesn’t have to be perfect, just no hurricanes) and happy memories. . .as we wrap up 2015 on the road. . . .

5 month check-in – My “real job” heats up, a trip home to suburbia and what’s ahead. . .

Nov 142015

I’ve been a serious slacker in the world of Take That Exit blogging these past few weeks. I have lots of reasons for this – but the biggest reason is this is the busiest time of year for my “real job” which is my website QueenBeeCoupons.com. Since that website is our sole income source on the road (you know. . . how we pay the bills around here) it’s getting my undivided attention lately. It’s a busy time because I post and share the VERY BEST deals online and in stores – which we all know are going crazy this time of year. . .

If you’re looking for the very best Black Friday deals, online sales, gift guides and more, you are certainly welcome to follow me over at QueenBeeCoupons.com – you’ll be directly supporting my family if you shop through the links on the site. And I appreciate your patience as I get through the holiday season and can hopefully return to more frequent posts here on TakeThatExit.com.

Another reason that I’ve been remiss about blogging is we just spent TWO whole weeks in Washington state visiting family. We found a great deal on airline tickets direct from Raleigh-Durham to Seattle, it was Grandma’s birthday and we had a couple (very minor) things on the trailer that we wanted repaired under warranty – so it all came together for us to take a trip home while we dropped the trailer off at the shop.

We had a wonderful time “home” in Washington visiting family and friends – catching up with friends from Snohomish to Battle Ground, we logged quite a few miles on I-5 in those two weeks. We stayed with Jeremy’s parents in Lakewood, Washington who have a nice big house and who are gracious, kind and generous – a true pleasure to be around. We enjoyed the benefits of a bath tub, 2-ply toilet paper, grandma’s home cooking, driving our tiny sedan (we could park where ever we wanted!), a babysitter, our local bank and post office, our favorite restaurants and so much more.

Halloween-at-Grammys-house

BUT if I’m being honest, it was hard, too. The kids had a tough time transitioning back to a house – so much space, so many toys, so many TV channels, not enough fresh air and exercise (it rained a lot!), so much candy and sweets (Halloween in suburbia). They bickered more, acted more impulsively and were a bit on the wild side – what should have been a more stable environment actually resulted in the opposite behavior. We were spread out across many rooms and I definitely missed the close knit feelings we have while in the trailer.

North-Carolina-county-park Our first night back in our Airstream in High Point, North Carolina

We left Washington so grateful for the time with people we love, but also grateful and relieved to return to the simplicity of our shiny, tiny home. Our trip back to “the real world” has us asking the question, “are we going to be ready to transition back to suburbia in 6 short months or do we want to do this longer?!” We have always tentatively planned for this adventure to last about a year, pulling into the Portland in the spring 2016 so Jeremy could find a teaching job in time for the following school year. Now we aren’t so sure that’s what we want – could we possibly do this TWO years? Frankly, only time will tell how we’ll feel. . . we’ll keep journeying on with an open mind.

The-Road-Ahead-South-Carolina Hadley and I hiking to a lake near our campground in South Carolina.

We are so happy on the road right now – if it stays that way, why stop? Well the other thing we have to consider is finances – I want to make sure we have enough money saved so that we can buy a house when the time comes to transition back. We currently have a down payment stashed away and as long as I can earn enough on the road to cover expenses we can avoid tapping into that. If we want to do this two years we might need to boondock more, eat out less and make similar sacrifices to stretch our budget a little longer. I’m no stranger to frugal living (that’s how we were able to save for our trailer and truck!). But am still navigating how to live more frugally on the road while still enjoying the sights and places that we’re visiting. I haven’t shared our travel budget in a couple months because honestly it was stressing me out a little – I was worried about the money we were spending – mostly worried what others would think if our totals were higher than people thought they should be. Every time I start to settle into a budget – things change – like the expensive Northeast campgrounds and the extensive touring we did in the spendy cities, or expensive Florida in December, or Disney World. . . I know staying in one spot is the key to saving the most – but we want to explore and we just need to adjust accordingly. It’s something I’ll probably write more about at a later time. . .

North-Carolina-Poinsett-State-Park

So what’s next? We are currently at a beautiful state park in South Carolina and on Monday we head to another state park near Savannah, Georgia. We have family in the Savannah area so we’ll hang out there before heading to Florida.

We’re struggling to find a state or county park in Florida with openings over Thanksgiving – so currently we aren’t sure where we’ll be during this time. This has me a bit worried because that’s also the week of Black Friday – my busiest work week of the year and I need a stable spot with rockin’ wifi.

After we get Thanksgiving out of the way, we head to Disney World the first part of December! I found a campsite cancellation at Fort Wilderness (the Disney World campground) – we’ve always wanted to go and no better time than while we are here and able to camp (so much cheaper than flights, hotel costs!). It’s going to be an early Christmas for us.

From there, we head west to Tampa, Florida . . .and then we end up in mid-December with no current reservations anywhere. 🙂 We are finding Florida parks are completely booked on weekends, and very full on weekdays, so I’m not sure how long we’ll spend in Florida. We have family in Montgomery, Alabama and Atlanta, Georgia that we want to visit and are tentatively planning to be in Arizona by late March to spend some solid time with my grandma in the Phoenix area – but that’s all we have “planned” on the horizon!

Guess we’ll see where the roads take us. . . we’d love your advice on places to stay in Florida . . .or where we should head after that. 🙂

Thank you for your patience through the holiday season as I juggle a busy work schedule with travel and family. Follow us on Instagram for snapshots of where we are and what we’re doing.

The fresh water tank “repair” . . . that didn’t fix the problem

Sep 12015

Airstream-water-tank-cracked

To keep things from being confusing (especially if you follow our real-time adventures on Instagram) – I’m about a month behind in blogging, here are some of our adventures from the week of August 5, 2015.

Do you recall our broken fresh water tank? Our fresh water tank appointment finally came around on August 5 (we spent the day at the Science Museum of Minnesota). After a long day we picked up Stella (our Airstream) right around closing time from Shorewood RV and she was still leaking water from the underbelly. The staff at the RV shop assured us – don’t worry about the dripping – that’s just residual from the repair. But two days later our tank is STILL leaking – especially when we would use our water pump – we knew it hadn’t been fixed properly. Sigh, by this time, we had already moved north to Bemidji, Minnesota to spend time with family and bringing it back to Shorewood RV wasn’t an option. I’m not sure I would have anyway, as they didn’t seem to fix it right the first time.

Shorewood-RV-Anoka-MN

Let’s just say we were a little frustrated. We had waited THREE long weeks for the initial appointment at Shorewood RV. The fresh water tank is where you store clean water for when you aren’t hooked up, via a hose, to a water source. This fresh water tank allows you to go to a dry campground and be able to flush a toilet, wash the dishes or even take a shower – without a hose hook-up. We had spent three weeks in expensive private campgrounds because we needed a water hook-up and we were itching to get into the state parks, not a possibility without the water tank working.

We called the next closest Airstream dealer on our route, Woodland Travel Center – in Grand Rapids, Michigan and took their earliest appointment of August 20. I knew as soon as I talked to them on the phone that we’d be taken care of. They were immediately more responsive and helpful than the last place – but we would have to wait another two weeks for another repair.

This is part of life on the road friends. It was frustrating, but not enough to throw in the towel. If we were living in our old house, we’d have car repairs, housing repairs and other things to tend to. It’s just part of life – whether your nomadic or stationary. This was just another bump in the road – so to speak – and we’d take it in stride.

We pledged to make the most of the situation and enjoy our time in Northern Minnesota and then head quickly through Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois and up to Grand Rapids. I’ll share more about these adventures soon. . .

Ask your questions! What do you want to know about life on the road?

Aug 142015

This weekend marks two months on the road for us – it’s gone by so fast and I am just now feeling like we’re getting the hang of it. We have been to eight states and driven thousands of miles. I’ve blogged a lot about the things we’ve seen – but not much about our day-to-day life.

I thought it would be fun to do a Q&A series – you ask questions about life on the road and we’ll do posts addressing those topics! What do you think?!

What do you want to know about life on the road? What aspects of living in a 30-foot Airstream trailer and traveling full-time do you want to know the most about?

Leave your questions on this post and we’ll work to start answering them. . .

p.s. For those of you who subscribe to our newsletter – do you like the real-time delivery of one post at at time? Or would you prefer one email, once a week with all the posts from that week? Thanks!

Happy New Year from the Clarke Family, our year in review. . .

Here are some numbers since we started traveling ::

Here are some of our highlights from this year ::

Checking in from Florida and our December plans. . .

5 month check-in – My “real job” heats up, a trip home to suburbia and what’s ahead. . .

The fresh water tank “repair” . . . that didn’t fix the problem

Ask your questions! What do you want to know about life on the road?

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