The last 8 states we went through, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah were a blur! We found out in late October that we would need to fly out to Kauai to the house we bought on the road on December 14, 2022, or we wouldn't be able to go until the following June. We didn't want to rush the end of the trip, but we also didn't want to wait until June to get to Kauai. So we made our plans to return to Utah in time to get all our things ready to fly out on December 14th. Halloween on the road was tricky. We started our day like any other adventure, and made our way to a beach with perfectly white sand and played there for a while. Then after Paul finished a meeting we drove to a nearby town that boasted the "best Halloween trick-or-treating" in the area.
Matix was Marshmello, a favorite singer of his that wears a mask when he performs, Hawken and Lullaby were panda bears, and Solace was an archer (with gloves and a bow). They used their pillowcases and ran from house to house and got tons of candy! They sorted their candy the next morning.
Then on to Alabama and then Mississippi to play in the water while Paul worked. The kids got their school work done and after just two days we were off to Louisiana.
The Halloween gloves became a permanent fixture in Solace's wardrobe and we went to the best gumbo place in New Orleans for dinner. We had to wait in line, and listened to the street performers, and played games with the window displays. It was a long wait, and the air smelled like the most delicious food, and urine and vomit, all at the same time. We were happy that once we got into the restaurant it only smelled good!
We camped in Texas for a bit at the cutest little forested campground. There were chickens and deer and all kinds of wildlife to see and listen to. Once we left there, we drove to Houston and spent the night. I got to see Laurel that night while Paul put the kids to bed, and we all went out to eat with her for breakfast in the morning before she had to get to work. It was a great little stop!
More schoolwork as we went through the rest of Texas and New Mexico on our way to Arizona. We stopped first on the East side to see Paul's brother Dale, and his family, and then to see some of Paul's aunts and cousins. Dale helped us get our awning on the RV.
Lullaby and Kjerstin wanted matching braids for church, and Sadie walked the whole way holding my hand.
Paul's cousin Devin remembered him, although they hadn't seen each other in years. It was so cute to see. We sat and talked story for a while and got all caught up.
Good bye to Dale and his family, then on to Stacy and Colleen's house. We got a small U-Haul for all our things. I cleaned and organized while the kids watched tv in Grandma Stacy's house and Paul worked. We left the RV at Stacy's house and traveled back to Utah with just the car and the U-Haul.
Out to eat for Stacy and Colleen's birthdays (late), good bye to the RV then driving while Paul had meetings and a hotel sleep in St. George before the snow chased us back to Sandy Utah, to Great Grandma Berg's house.
Reunited with all our pets who were all twice their size in weight and winter fur, but happy to see us none the less. Lots of cuddles for Great Grandma Berg and stories told from the adventures.
The RV trip was SO much fun. It was a lot of work, and so many lessons learned, but mostly, all happy experiences. I'm so grateful we were able to do this with our family. The kids wrote in their trip journals nearly every single day and I hope we can add to them someday soon with another trip. It was a really cool experience. We traveled through 18 states, plus Washington DC.
We still have the RV, although we haven't used it ourselves since this trip. Here is a video of several of our favorite clips from the entire trip!
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