There are Ocean's in The Ocean State?! And Bamboo, too!

We've been in Rhode Island since the 15th (or something) of August. Maybe some of those of you who have been following along are beginning to think we've stalled out. I wouldn't be surprised! I've thought that a few times myself! After our debacle getting down to RI (that's Rhode Island and you can read about the debacle ----> here) we decided to assess the weight of the things we were carrying and come up with some lighter alternatives. After many orders, returns and more orders from Amazon and other such sites (plus countless visits to good old fashioned, brick and mortar shops) for things including but not limited to: rain flies, battery chargers, camping plates, sleeping bags, shoes, coats, glasses (ok, this had nothing to do with weight but me and Ezaias are looking fly in our new specs and looking fly is important too!), school supplies and so on we are getting close to being able to head out. Which is great news because I had to put my thick socks on during the last night we spent in The Lightning Bug and just yesterday we all went digging around for out long sleeve sweaters! The north east is getting cold and that's our cue to say, "sayonara!" (That's goodbye in Japanese, which Ezaias has been studying as part of his unschooling schooling.)

Though I'm loath to admit it, Rhode Island has a pretty significant place in my history. I'm not from here but I did grow up in part here and my family is all here. I spent 15 years, in all total, of my life here. I'm 37, so that's not quite half. I'm not sure what the formula is for figuring if you are from a place? 

For some time we were staying in the south of the state, which I have normally considered a world away from the north (culturally speaking) from where my family lives. Then we came up north to stay with my mother and nephew. My nephew got a full scholarship to a ritzy, all-boys high school. So it was fun to be here to chauffeur him to his first day of school, his first HIGH SCHOOL DANCE, and spend some concentrated time with my family (even though we drive them crazy) before heading out for quite some time. I had the unusual luxury of taking a drive by myself the other day. I was traveling down old familiar roads and noticed a car off to the side. The car was blocking other drivers from getting around and slowing traffic down. From where I sat, I could see the driver looking stressed but what I could also see was that most of the drivers passing by them were stopping briefly to ask if they were ok. The driver said thank you but waved each one of them onward. As I watched I thought to myself, this place isn't so bad. It's rough around the edges but everyone I know here has a heart of gold and, if I'm honest, I always do feel at home and safe here (even though I happened to read that my town is 95% less safe than other US towns, regardless of size). So, at that moment, I decided to try to see RI differently. I thought about the things I love about the area (art, food, ocean, etc.) and decided to share them with my kids and Travis. We've also been trying to take part in some RI traditions that I am not familiar with (most of them include food). 

What will follow, in a few separate posts because we took LOTS, is a photographic chronicle of our time (so far) in RI, with special guest appearances by my beautiful family!

Let's start with the ocean:

TLB, at home in the "woods".

Up early to the beach, baby! The sun won't wait for us. 

Kid: Mom, are we allowed to go into the water?
Mom: No, I would rather you didn't..... 

A cloudy sunrise at East Beach (while we are on the east coast of the country).

Sunrise on the left and the Moon on the right! How lucky were we? So beautiful!

This beautiful show happens every single day!!

We literally stood in more or less one place. These were the colours to the left (sunrise).  

These were the colours to the right (where the moon was). 

To the left.  

Baby isn't happy to be up this early. He hardly noticed the beautiful things happening around us! 

Hugs from Mama help some.  

I don't know why I expected them not to jump into the ocean at 5am??

The waves were pretty incredible though. (That's my nephew Maison on the left.)

Slowly warming up to it, right before we headed back for breakfast. 

I got wet. Now what do I do? 

Seaweed! Like for real seaweed! (I realized that my kids have like zero experience with a real ocean. Vermont has a pleasant lake (it's pretty big) but they were blown away by the waves and the salt and the seaweed and the crabs! I grew up around the ocean but I've never been really drawn back to it but I do love it. I felt a little guilty that my whim and fancy have likely kept them from experiencing this natural marvel until now. Side note: they have been to the ocean but they don't have great memories of it.) 

Wet kids: I'm wet! The sand is sticking to me! There is sand in my pants!
Dry kid: I'm having so much fun!
Mom: (does not say I told you so...)

The Fantastical Umbrella Factory! 

It's a collection of hippy shops (think nag champa and petchuli) surrounded by lovely gardens. 

With big grass. 

And big flowers. 

And chickens to remind us of home...

And bamboo!

A massive bamboo forest, in fact!!  

So, of course, this happened!

Then this happened. 

So we (the parents) said that couldn't happen.... 

So then this happened....

Hey, Pantene, we are looking for a sponsor... 

Up he goes.

Look Ma, no shoes! 

Then they all joined in. 

Let your monkey out, my children. 

No paternity test needed. 

Run for your life!! (Unschooling opportunity #1 This is a grizzly bear. They don't live in RI. Neither do black bears. We were practicing for Yellowstone.)

We climbed a tower in the forest that looks out to the ocean. See that straight line between the forest and the sky? That's the ocean. 

Micaiah found this massive plant. Can you identify it?

We played "Name that Skull!" That giant one on the right is a horse!

Kai is our resident turtle lover and expert. 

He got up each morning and rode his bike to the Naturalist's "House" to help place the turtles in their outdoor tank for the day. 

This one was called Speckles. Micaiah was great at teaching other kids how to properly hold them. 

Simeon needed a little time to warm up to the turtles. (The parents were thankful about that.)

Fishing for bros = hours of fun! 
The pine cone, seen in the littlest brothers mouth, served as their "hook". 

Back to the beach! (This time with swimsuits and towels!) 

This time we visited the southern and western most tip of Rhode Island at sunset.
To the east there was a massive storm (still hours off) rolling in. To the west the sun was going down.

Both of which made for more incredible colours.

Sea shells, sea shells, everywhere.
Do you know what our kids do when they see sea shells?
They collect them! Pockets and pockets of sea shells! 

We walked the 1.5 mile stretch of beach and watched the sunset. (Sunsets don't really lend well to our novice camera, so here is one of the last ones we got.)
Then we walked back in the dark. 

It was great fun checking out southern Rhode Island. Next time we'll tell you all about our more urban adventures in the north of the state. 

                                                                                         ~ <3 The Wanderlings

Day 24 - Unexpected Perks of Living Full Time in an RV

To my surprise I have a growing list of the unexpected perks of living in a pop up camper (maybe you're the type of person that would like to hear what is NOT working out? I've been accused of being an perpetual optimist (I prefer the term silver lining-ist, which I coined myself (I think). Being an perpetual optimist (aka silver lining-ist) seems like a good thing but would you believe it can actually make others resentful and annoyed with you? I can tell when this happens BUT I'm a silver lining-ist, which often means I ignore the growing resentment or tidal wave of negative energy coming at me and come up with a probable and positive reason for that negative energy and go on with my little parade. So, my point is, this blog may not deliver on the negative but....every now an then, my negativity fountain does start flowing, so don't ever give up hope!)

So, here we go! Perks of Living in an Extremely Small Space on Wheels and Vinyl Walls: 

1. No toilet = No seats = No pee on the toilet seats! Which means the only family member that sits to pee (that's me) never has to sit in other people's pee!! Woot! Woot! In fact, I don't ever have to know when anyone has gone to the bathroom (minus the baby, for now) and so I don't have to smell anything either! Double woot! Earlier in the month we were digging holes in the woods of Vermont and doing our business there (TMI?). Luckily, both of my kids have a ton of experience digging holes. This took literally no training whatsoever. When we told them that these were the rules for staying in the National Forest they didn't even bat an eyelash. This week we have porto-potties and actually, following the party weekend at the campground, I'm sort of missing the digging holes in the woods thing. Here's a screenshot from the government's website...if you're having a hard time believing this:

Believe me now?

2. No walls = No full body mirror = Wear whatever you want and just KNOW you look great! Case in point = yesterday when I wore a legit sleeping bag to go to a posh beach in southern Rhode Island (note: my family lives in northern Rhode Island = very different). We have photo evidence but oddly enough we are having a computer glitch right this very moment. 

3. Now's the time to get over your lifelong No Food Touching rule. We haven't fired up our onboard water system yet. Even when we do, it doesn't hold much (6 gallons, maybe). We've got one five gallon water jug, another smaller two gallon jug and a 2.5 gallon Berkey water filter (this thing is a beast and can filter anything you put through it. We got it originally to filter out fluoride from our drinking water when we lived in the city. It's like our one claim to Doomsday Prepper fame!). In all total that is a storage capacity of 9.5 gallons for five people (plus six more when we finally getting around to using the onboard water system). At our current site we have water spigots to refill our water supply. We probably go through about two of the five gallon jugs per day and less on each of the small ones. We filter all of our cooking and drinking water through the Berkey, to be safe. Anyway, what this all means is that we would like to avoid things like using a clean dish to serve dessert, or something like that. Travis and the kids usually have absolutely no problem with this. Me? I'm a lifelong no food touching kind of person. So I was both empowered and only slightly grossed out the other day when I ate fried plantains (google it Cats) from a bowl that had recently held a fried egg. Repeat after me: everything is going to be okay. This plantain is going to taste so good. Maybe you'll really like eggs and plantains after this! 

"remotes lakes, streams and stagnant ponds" oh my!
(We haven't actually tried this but it's clear this thing is a filtering beast!)

Perfect family, eating in the woods. 

4. Got a toddler (or 8 year old or even an adult partner) who likes to suddenly start spitting out their food at dinner? Do they like to upturn their plate without a moments notice? If their drink is unsatisfactory will they simply pour it on the ground? If this sounds like your life I've got the perfect solution for you...put your table in the middle of the woods! Voila, your mess simply disappears and you can finish your dinner in complete peace. Who knew?!

Last but not at all least is...

5. It's never really clean, which makes cleaning a breeze! As I mentioned before, it takes about two minutes to clean our camper but it takes about two minutes to trash it as well. This is really a glass is half full sort of thing. As a silver lining-ist I don't have to tell you how I see it (usually). Travis and I probably need a bit more credit in this department. We have spent A LOT of time going over and over and re-doing, re-thinking and re-working our organizational systems and tools. As of yet we still do not have it down but once we do it will be very important that everyone sticks to the expectation that everything has a place and that is where it goes when you are through with it. The kids aren't strangers to this, so hopefully it all goes without a hitch (or perhaps, in this case, with a hitch??). Of course, being organized will only help us deal with the muddy, sticky tree sap, leaves and pine needles, frogs and bug exoskeletons, etc. that usually cover our tiny little floor moments after waking, to a certain extent... but if you'll just focus on the giggles that accompany those things (and keep your sweeping brush nearby) you'll be just fine.

~<3 The Wanderlings