The Sloan's Storm California

Not gonna lie. It is a little hard to believe that just a little over a week ago, we were sitting on the beach in Cali trying to figure out the hardest decision of our day...where to eat dinner. And yet tonight I sit on the couch in my living room wondering who's gonna do all this laundry and when (oh when!) we're finally gonna get the RV unpacked. As if we weren't crazy enough the first time, Jer and I decided yet again to pack up the kids and the coffee pot and this time head west. This go-round found us RV living for sixteen days all along the Pacific Coast. We went as north as San Francisco and as south as San Diego and we did it all in approximately 400 square feet and with a small fortune in gas money. Ride along with us? 

Home, sweet home

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I'm not entirely sure what had us wanting to take our kids to see the Pacific coast but Jer and I sat down in the fall and started planning out just what all California might hold for our family. Mountains, beaches, touristy things, seafood, warm weather, and some dear family were just a few of the things that beckoned us. We decided on May, hoping to miss the crowds and to round out our homeschool year with a little of what we call in these parts, "school of life." We left on a Friday morning with our cabinets full of snacks, an arsenal of clean underwear, and a wee-bit anxious momma who was not quite sure she had remembered to pack it all.

Our first stop found us in Williams, Arizona. Even though Jeremy and I have lived well within a day's drive of the Grand Canyon all of our lives, neither of us have never been there. A shame? We thought so. So we made the slight detour and decided to find out what we've been missing all these years. Finally pulling in mid-afternoon, we swam our children at the RV park until their bellies rumbled with hunger and pool water. Then we walked them until we arrived at the most glorious BBQ honky-tonk joint I have ever seen in my whole life. It was on the old Route 66 and it had stuffed and mounted animals, pool tables and a juke box. It had wooden floors and a waitress who called you darlin'. But beyond that, it had a hamburger topped with pulled pork,  horseradish cole-slaw, AND FRENCH FRIES. It was entirely over indulgent and it was DI-VINE. And one of us {not me} might have even made ours a double. Woof! We spent the remainder of our evening stuffing ourselves and forgetting about the day's fits and hot drive and then miraculously, everyone slept. In.their.own.beds. Glory, hallelujah!

Saturday morning is when we actually made it to the park. Between the heat and the crowds, we figured early and rested was our best shot at walking the rim. Can I just confess that I was a BASKET CASE? Like in the sweating hands, stomach in knots, hot mess sort of way. The boys were psyched and I was convinced their enthusiasm would lend to a long, long, looooooong fall complete with dramatic mother-esque screaming. Obviously, after the fact, none were lost to the Canyon but taking four little people hiking along the Canyon rim with NO RAILING ranks up there with my list of things I am now glad are over. As for actually seeing the GC, though? Beautiful. And oddly fake looking. It's weird. You can tell that what you see immediately in front of you is real but the rocks in the back sort of just look like someone hung a backdrop with a picture screen printed on it.