Home is where we park it

When I was a child, home was a tiny town of only 300 people. I moved once just a few blocks from a little two bedroom cottage to the large five bedroom house my father built with his own hands over the course of many years. The house sat at the end of the block surrounded by fields of alfalfa. I’d run in the newly planted grass, jump over the small new pine trees, and bike down dusty dirt roads to see friends.

Not long after I wed our home became where the army sent us. We had no say or choice in where we went. The army spoke and we complied. We made the best of each destination and found the good no matter how challenging it was. Those who could see only the bad would slowly fall into themselves and find nothing but despair. Home was not a place but what you made of it.

Now, home is where we park it. We have been on grand adventures from the awe inspiring Arctic tundra, to the majestic Appalachian Mountains, from gorgeous Canadian Lakes to mysterious southern swamps, from great tall pines sparkling with snow to endless desert sands scattered with cacti, from the marvelous waterfalls in deep canyons to the pristine beaches of the oceans. We have listened to the mighty moose and wolf of the north and chased the tiny frogs and lightning bugs of the south; we’ve viewed the great grizzly in the woods and stood among small lizards on scorching hot rock. We have seen the sunset on wide open plains and watched it sink below high pointed peaks. We have walked in the clouds and swam in the rivers those clouds feed. We have gazed upon some of the tallest snow covered mountains in the world and climbed around in massive deep caverns with their impressive underground formations. We have felt the heat from steaming active volcanoes and the cold of pure glacial ice. We have smelled the salty sea air and the mountain conifer’s sweet sap. We have tasted the delicacies of fine restaurants and the delicious yet questionable road side food truck cuisine. We have searched for favorite treats in little mom and pop stores and scoured hillsides for berries plucked fresh from the earth. We have been dazzled by the neon lights of large cities and amazed by the millions of twinkling lights in a cloudless night sky.

Home can be wherever we want it to be. It can be viewing wonderful new places; or discovering the good old army friends have found at new posts, or parking in the old alfalfa field by my folks and watching my boys ride bikes on the now paved road, and play in the old green grass as I tell them how I used to jump those trees that now stand taller than the house their granddad built. Yes, home is wherever we choose it to be, we chase the beauties of the earth and love all that they can teach us.

Visiting the Arctic Circle Alaska.

Sunset in the Appalachian Mountains in Tennessee.

Enjoying a beautiful lake in BC Canada.

Playing in Destruction Bay in Yukon Canada.

Having fun on a zip line in Baton Rouge Louisiana.

Hunting for a Christmas tree In Fairbanks Alaska.

Playing at White Sands National Park in New Mexico.

Going for a ride checking out the different kinds of cacti in Quartize Arizona

Checking out Multnomah Falls in Oregon.

Loving the Lower Falls on Yellowstone River.

Tossing rocks into the Pacific Ocean on the Homer Spit

Floating around in the Gulf of Mexico at Magnolia Beach Texas.

Moose crossing in front of us on a drive near Nenana Alaska.

having fun with frogs.

Spotted a grizzly in Denali National Park.

Views of arches and watching for lizzards in Zion National Park in Utah.

Enjoying the view of Carhenge in Nebraska while waiting for the sun to set.

Glorious sunset in Idaho

Walking in the clouds near O point on Engineer Pass in beautiful Ouray, CO aka the Switzerland of America.

Hanging out in the river near Ironton CO.

Gazing on Denali in all her glory.

Looking out over amazing stalactites and stalagmites in Carlsbad Caverns National Park

Watching Old Faithful blow in Yellowstone National Park the largest active volcano site on North America.

Walking around on Matanuska Glacier.

Makeshift teeter totter on the beaches of Whidbey Island in Washington.

Strolling in a Kentucky forest.

Helping Dad with a project in the mountains of Montana.

Loving the view of the ocean out the ship’s restaurant windows.

Trying the delicious fish tacos made in a bus in Hyder Ak.

Checking out the neat items at the little shops around Four Corners and having fun running in and out of the four states.

On the hunt for blueberries in Alaska.

Overlooking the lights of Las Vegas while viewing the “Christmas Star.”

Amazed by the Northern Lights putting on a great show among the stars.

Gold panning adventures.

running in and out of international boundaries.

Playing chase at Watson Lake’s sign forest.

After going several times we finally added a sign of our own to the forest.

Our first time traveling this Highway it was neat, but also made me not want to do it again. We did three more times. LOL

I think this was our third time and our first with the HDT (heavy duty truck).

Being in four states at the same time at four corners!

Fun and freaky experiences at Mesa Verda National Park.

Visiting a dairy farm and learning how it runs.

Helping round up cattle for meds and branding.

Chimney rock

Gateway Arch St. Lewis Missouri.

Bluebells of Texas

Magnolia Market

One of many beautiful spots we have called home.

Parked in the old alfalfa field by the house I grew up in that my dad built. Those pine trees on the left above the house are the ones I jumped over as a kid.

So little we have seen of this amazing world, someday we hope to visit every continent! For now my world is my family and I’m enjoying showing them our tiny corner of earth. The reflections on the globe are my three boys, my husband, and myself.

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Perhaps you’d enjoy reading about how we do school for the boys as we travel, just click the link below!

Or perhaps you feel like some fiction, if so check out this story about some travelers and their crazy adventures.