After spending time with the cousins, we moved on to see Mom. She happens to be a fellow van owner. We converted her Ford Transit last year for her to do some exploring of her own. South Georgia is a bit too warm for me and we still have Florida and Texas on our list, so the visit was short. Not to mention the fact that we have a home-base to set up in the Pacific Northwest.
In Florida we visited my awesome nephews and their amazing families in the JAX area, my sister in the Tampa area and a dear friend in Fort Meyers. From there we took a very strange route as you can see on the following route map then shot down to Houston for some Mother/Son time.
In Houston we got in a couple of great bicycle rides and frisbee tosses before I threw in the towel on the temperature battle of wits.
I just realized that March 6th must have been Grey Shirt Day, who knew? By the way, Darin and I were on our Lectric Bikes, Franklin and Alisha were on their non-electric bikes. Lectric Bikes are awesome and the only way I would have been able to keep up.
Austin, TX was next on our list where we visited more amazing family, enjoyed good food and learned a bit about concrete and 3-D printing. We made a couple more stops before arriving in Oceanside, our old home-base. We went to a Van meet and greet in Carlsbad at the Mercedes Dealer and said hi to a few friends. Where relaxation was in order.
We took care of a few loose ends and got back on the road headed north. We revisited some family on the way in San Francisco, CA and Talent, OR.
We were on a mission. We have things stored in Bellingham at my brother's house, things stored in a POD in Des Moines, WA and of course things in the van.
We have a renovation to start for our new home-base and a trip to Alaska to plan. Time to bring some ideas to fruition. I love to plan and know how plans change so now I'm ready to see what comes next.
We are confident in our ability to co-exist in a small space, even in sub-zero climates. This test has been a success in my book. The van will continue to be our home on wheels for the foreseeable future as the plans for our new home-base are extensive.
Instead of droning on about the sights and sounds of this leg of our trip I will close here for now and add a photo dump.
Port Orchard... Here we come!
