Over the mountains and thru the woods to Missouri we go...

After spending many hours researching campgrounds and bible camps to do missions work at, I thought I had a pretty good plan. We'd leave the Mesa Verde, Colorado area and spend the winter wandering around New Mexico, western Texas, back to parts of Arizona then north again in the spring to explore Utah and then Hwy 50 going east thru Colorado again for the fall.

But, what was I thinking?  Why do I even waste my time making plans?

My dear hubby sat me down one morning, about a week before we were set to leave Colorado. He told me that  he felt we needed to go back to Missouri. There was a camp there that we loved and they would be needing new camp hosts next fall.  Shae wanted to look into taking it over. It is on about 1500 acres with two beautiful lodges, four large pools, outdoor activities, and a five bedroom log home.  The wages aren't great, but we thought Shae might be able to keep engineering some to bring in extra cash.

When I heard him say, "I think we need to go back to Missouri."  I almost tipped over.  What about my plans for the grand adventure around the south and then west again?  Zion, Bryce Canyon, off roading in Moab and Colorado.  Visiting family in Texas, Arizona, and again in Colorado. I was hoping that maybe, just maybe we could rent a condo on a beach in Texas for Christmas!

Missouri!  I love Missouri, but I had no desire to go back.  We had just been there in May and it was only November.  We hadn't been gone that long!

I controlled my tongue and facial expressions.  I love my husband dearly and decided I really needed to consider what he was saying.  Here was a great opportunity to honor him and his ideas.  Boy, I must admit, it wasn't as easy as I would have liked.  I knew I needed to be open to this not just in my facial expressions and lack of words - but also from my heart. 

If honor is not from the heart - it is not honor.

We discussed the idea thoroughly and I never really liked the thought of going back, but I love my hubby and trust his judgement.  The camp we were going to was wonderful,  a great place for everyone in the family, except not everyone in the family was looking forward to going back.  Only Shae and Cody wanted to go. 

It was growing for all of us.  Trust.  Peace.  Love.  Joy.  One thing I have learned on this trip and in life is that our happiness should not depend on where we are camped.  Our happiness comes from the Lord.  Our happiness does not revolve around our circumstances but instead around our inner peace and joy.

So, off we went. The four day trip back to Missouri was a tough one, but we made it.  The fall colors were gorgeous and we were welcomed by so many wonderful friends and family. 

We rode our ATVs and UTV in the Ozark Mountains and hiked the trails that wind through the hills.

Seeing my mom is always wonderful.  She lives in the Ozarks and looks forward to our coming back every year.  Usually we all put on weight from her wonderful cooking. 

Camping with off-road vehicles

Recently a question came across the Facebook page for full-time traveling called Families on the Road. A gentleman wanted to know how campgrounds and state parks react to off road vehicles, ATVs in particular.

We have been traveling full-time for over three years and during that period we have hauled our off-road vehicles across the country. As we made the hard choices of what to bring on the road and what not to, our ATVs were something that had to come. Off-roading is something my husband and I have done since we were very young and is a family hobby we all enjoy. It was hard to imagine traveling to so many beautiful places and not get to experience from the seat of a four wheeler.

There is something different when you experience nature while being in it rather than driving by it in a vehicle or taking the same tour that hundreds others have taken that same day. Sure, we do those things, but sometimes we come across a place that is only accessible by off-road vehicle and that is when the fun begins.

Before I get all weepy eyed telling you the wonderful adventures we have had together in the wilds of America, I will get to the logistics of traveling with off-road vehicles.

This is how we do it.

We have a 42’ Toy Hauler fifth wheel camper. The back end of the camper comes down to form a ramp that we can drive our ATVs into. The room is 8 ½ by 12. The floor is rubber and has places for tie downs to attach. We payed the extra money to get a gas tank that is under the back room. It has a nozzle to put the gas into the ATVs. I must admit, we rarely have used it. I don’t like to have gas fumes in our camper. Call me crazy, but I like all our brain cells. I think my husband and son have lost enough siphoning gas out of our van for the ATVS.

When we started our trip we actually used the garage area to store our ATVs. After we had our last child we decided to take them out and make that back room into a permanent kid’s room. It has carpet on the floor, toys everywhere, and school books on the desk.

We bought a second vehicle, a 15 passenger van, which I drive. It hauls a 16’ flat bed trailer with four ATVs, 4 kayaks, a Kawasaki Mule, and bikes. My husband is a master at putting them all on like a puzzle. Tie downs, straps, and more straps are used to hold everything snuggly in place. He checks and re-checks each strap before we head out and at every stop to make sure it is safe.

My husband drives a Dodge Dually one ton pickup that pulls our camper. I drive in front of him with the van and flat bed. He stays behind to make sure the trailer is pulling right and everything is secure.

Not all campgrounds like two vehicles and two trailers. But, most don’t mind a bit. They usually have a spot for us to park our extra vehicles.

State parks are different. Usually they charge per vehicle and trailer. Some have even charged per kayak and ATV even though we weren’t going to use them there. Needless to say, we didn’t stay at those.

National campgrounds are more tolerant. They usually don’t care if you park on the grass, how many vehicles you have or how many people. They almost always are friendly and courteous. Some have a two week limit but others do not. Camping spots are usually larger and more space in between.

As far as riding on state or national campgrounds – they do not allow it. No riding on their property. They do not mind us parking our flat bed with the toys on it but by no means are we to ride them around.

We try to always let them know that we have no intention of doing that.

So, sometimes we have to trailer our off-road vehicles and other times we try to camp near a national forest so we can ride from our camper.

Each state has different regulations as far as stickers required to ride there. Different counties have different regulations also so be sure to check out local laws before making your camping reservations.

Now, to the cry me a river part of my post. I just have to write it, though. I want you to know why we go through the trouble of hauling these expensive toys across the country.

Life has never been easy for us. My husband was severely ill for 13 years with nerve damage to his face. When he was finally well, he decided to do this trip. Once again, life was not easy. Our first year on the road was really hard. That is why we did year two. The first year was not what we thought it would be so we wanted to keep going so we could experience the wonderful times on the road that we had sacrificed so much for.

Badlands of South Dakota

We love traveling now, but it is still hard. So, when things get tough, we leave our camper and go into our huge back yard, the United States. When I jump in the Mule with my kids and we head up a mountain to explore this amazing country of ours, all the troubles of yesterday, today, and tomorrow just melt away. Nothing else matters when we are traveling down a road with the wind in our hair and the dust at our back. We never know what is around the next bend; sometimes a mud hole and other times the most beautiful aspen forest or mountain.

We have ridden in deserts, mountains, forests, and near lakes and rivers. I love to bike ride, but I cannot take six kids on bikes 40 miles around a mountain or desert in a day. Driving through the landscape in our van is nice but how much better when we can get off the main road and be in the landscape instead of just viewing it.

I pray that God would give us a treasure when we head out on an adventure. We might find a beautiful tree or a sparkling stream. Sometimes the treasure is a rock worn smooth by the wind or a deer that lopes through the woods. Treasures are to be found everywhere if we just slow down our busy lives and take the time to look.


ride to the San Juan Mts outside of Mancos, CO

I can hardly wait for hunting season to be over so I can grab my kids and head out into the woods to learn about trees, fishing, hiking, beaver dams, deserts, drought, floods, and sun…by being in it, on our off-road vehicles.

Gabriel and I go for a winter ride in Mark Twain National Forest , Missouri

Cody on his ATV enjoying the desert in Arizona

Shae misses his KTM. He sure enjoyed while he had it!

Our family enjoys picnics up in the mountains.

We love to ride where the van can't go.

Sorting the camper and taking a break

Thank goodness the worst is over.  I can't believe how much stuff we had crammed in 42 feet.  Bad news is that we filled our storage trailer.  We have had to stuff boxes in my mom's attic.  She has been so great to let us do that.

Traveling full time can get exhausting.  We have hardly gone anywhere the last five weeks.  It is nice to just park it for a while. 

We have decided to wait to buy some land for a home base.  We do want to keep traveling, but would like a piece of property to come back to.  But, at this time, we decided it is not right for us.  My husband told me he is concerned about his job.  His company is very successful, but might have to lay some people off this fall if a few things don't change.  He has had two job offers recently and turned them down, so I hope that if he does get layed off, there will still be some opportunity there for him.

Of course, he would love to write about ATVs and ride them for a living.   Cody is doing great with his writing for the ATV Magazine Blog.  We are so proud of him and hope some doors open up there.

We still don't have a clue where we are going next.  We have narrowed it down to North, South, or West. 
Guess that is still pretty vague...ha ha ha

One of the reasons we did this trip was because we felt that our possessions were holding us back from doing the things we needed to.  But, I feel like we may have missed out on visiting some dear people while back in Missouri because we had to sort out so much stuff.  Of course, it takes extra long to do anything with six kids and one being a baby!  After all of this work, we are going to go have some serious fun and do some visiting.

Maybe we'll come see you next!

Four wheeling in the desert, Agua Caliente, Arizona

(To read more on this riding area, go to our online magazine and read Cody's article)

Today was one of those days that make it all worth while. 

We loaded up our atvs and headed out to the desert.  Cody found Agua Caliente riding area on the internet, and it looked pretty good.  It is a lot of fun to get to ride in so many different terrains as we travel across the country. 

The weather was perfect.

Not much wind, so not much dust.

We really didn't know where to go, so we just headed out.  We followed the road for a ways, then took a side road that led to a dry river bed.  I just knew there had to be gold in there, but we sure didn't find any.  Not that we looked real hard! 

We stopped in some shade for a little break.  The first thing I did was look up.  I saw on tv the other day that "Arizona has a HEALTHY population of mountain lions."  So, I wanted to make sure one was waiting for us in the tree above. 

It was a great day.  The dry air felt wonderful on our lungs.  Cody took pictures for his new job writing for ATV Magazine's blog at http://www.atvmagblog.com/

He has submitted one entry so far.  It hasn't been posted yet, so I will let you know when it is.

I will post more about this later, baby needs me.

night night

Sheri
(update: 10/12  ATV Magazine was bought out so Cody is now blogging for Camping Life)

Prairie Dogs with the Plague!

I could hardly believe it!

I've never heard of any animal having the plague!

As we drove through the Badlands National Park we saw signs all over that warned people to not get out of their cars because the prairie dogs have the actual bubonic plague!

We asked the ranger about it and she said that the prairie dogs just south of the park got the plague. They sprayed that whole area with some kind of pesticide that would kill the fleas that the prairie dogs carry. It is by the fleas that the plague is passed. They were hoping to keep the plague out of the prairie dog towns on the park. I had never seen a prairie dog town before so let me describe it for you. There are holes all over the ground with dirt mounded up around them. There are prairie dogs poking out of the holes here and there. They like to holler to each other. They are a danger to ranchers because their horses and cows can step in the holes made by the prairie dogs and break their legs or get stuck.

I did some research online.  I don't believe everything I read, but this is what I found out. The plague kills between 20 and 30 people a year in the U.S. It is spread by prairie dogs, squirrels, bunnies, mice, and other small animals. It is more prevalent in dirty conditions.

Well, we found out all of this and stayed far away from the prairie dog towns. We went riding ATVs Saturday and then again on Sunday at the Buffalo Gap Grasslands just south of the Badlands National Park. Shae and Cody rode some by themselves while the kids and I went to the visitor center. Of course, the guys had to get close to the prairie dog ghost towns, where most of the prairie dogs have already died. They saw a few live ones, and were a little close to them. I was pretty upset when I heard they got so close to them. We found out that you usually start seeing symptoms within 3-6 days. We were watching them for those six days! Yikes! What an adventure. We had a great time, just watch out for those prairie dogs!

How weird.....the plague.....in prairie dogs! What an adventure!

Hanna didn't want to get out of the van to take pictures of the prairie dogs.

Prairie Dog on alert

Riding isn't allowed on the national park lands, but just south there was a great riding area.

Here are a few links for more info:
ABCNews

NPR

Animal Planet

For more info on the Buffalo Gap Grasslands, click here.

The Badlands of South Dakota and Buffalo Gap Grasslands

Badlands National Park, South Dakota

I wasn't sure what to expect. We have been in the Badlands of New Mexico, but thought South Dakota's Badlands would be different, and they sure are! We all thought they were a cross between the Grand Canyon and the Painted Desert, both in Arizona. It was beautiful, yet so seemingly dead. The colors were gray, brown, and a layer of red here and there. The peaks rose sharply in the sky and deep ravines dug into the earth.

This is a fossil mine; yet I was disappointed to find out the fossils you see on the Fossil Trail are fake. We were hoping to see the real ones.

We went on a Saturday and brought our ATVs. We found numerous sites online that told us we could go off roading in the Badlands. We were excited as we drove east out of Custer, where we stayed, through Custer State Park then north towards Rapid City and onto Badlands National Park. We would have gone what seemed a shorter way through the Sioux Indian Reservation, but two people told us not to. They said the crime is horrible. That if we broke down, we would come back to our vehicle stripped down to nothing. I used to live on an Indian Reservation in northern Wisconsin. Yes, there is crime, but there is everywhere. I hope these people were not just prejudice against these Indians. I know many nice Indians, or maybe it is more politically correct to say Native Americans, I'm not sure. Where I grew up, they were called Indians and proud of it. It is a subject that I could avoid in my posts. Prejudice is a serious word. Some would say that different prejudices are earned while others are passed down.  Either way, we try to teach our children to be open minded and judge fairly - lest we be judged.  (off my soap box now)

First, we entered the Buffalo Gap Grasslands. It was pretty with the Badland Buttes in the background. We saw lots of prairie dogs, deer, and a few people. There are a few motels, but all were booked up for the night.

We went to the Visitor's Center on the Park. One ranger said we could ride our ATVs on the Badlands National Park and the other Ranger said we couldn't. They didn't seem to get along either! So, to play it safe, we stayed off the National Park and road in the Buffalo Gap Grasslands just to the south. It was amazing. Riding on our 4 wheelers is a great way to enjoy the scenery. There aren't all the people and cars. Just us and the land. We road for a long time while the guys enjoyed the hills and buttes.

The rocks there are so smooth. We figure from the constant wind blowing the sand over them. 

There was a prairie dog ghost town. We found out the prairie dogs have the plague! Yes, the actual plague! Signs are everywhere that tell people not to get out of there cars at the prairie dog towns. We stayed well clear of those, or at least most of us did, but that is another story.

We bought a map at the Visitor's Center that showed the grasslands boundaries. There is a lot of room to ride. Shae and Cody enjoyed the berms and hills. We rode for hours and had a wonderful time. We decided we wanted to come back the next day but like I said before, we couldn't find a motel, so we headed home. The next morning we drove back and the guys rode some more. Shae was pretty sore so didn't want to ride all day. I guess he is getting old...he he he. The kids and I went to the Visitor's Center and did Junior Ranger.

Then onto the beautiful scenic drive. The buttes go up so high and down so low. We took a couple pictures of the butte cracks in a few rocks for the guys...ha ha. They thought we were funny. The kids and I didn't get to ride, just Shae and Cody.

When we got back to the riding area a wind storm hit and we had to get in the van. Sand was flying everywhere.
We had such a wonderful time. It was an amazing experience. I definitely recommend you go to this place and bring your ATVs, dirt bikes, and UTVs!
Sheri