Teaching Teamwork and Responsiblity

There are many reasons why I wanted to take this trip with my kids. One of them is to help my kids learn to be responsible about their things and how to work together as a family. I'm afraid that my boys would much rather play Minecraft or other assorted videogames than do anything. Especially if that anything involves work. Normal? Probably. Not desirable though.

I know as a parent that it is my job to instill in them a sense of responsiblity. Sometimes though, it has been easier to just do things for them than fight with them about it. I know that is all kinds of wrong to give in to them just to avoid a fight and  sense that there is a reckoning coming. Before it is too late (is it ever too late?) and they have become recalcitrant pre-teens and teenagers I wanted to have significant time together with them. Traveling across country together in a car/small trailer is significant time...

We have made some progress. I have them help me set up the trailer when we get somewhere and unhook everything when we leave. They are responsible for some chores. Walking Chewie, picking up after him, feeding him, buckling their sister in the car, putting all of their stuff away every morning and putting their things away at night before bed. Do they give me a hard time about it? Yep. Do I yell at them? Yes. Do I feel bad about it? Yes, but only because I should have been on them about all of these things a long, long time ago.

If anyone has any ideas how to reinforce personal responsibility, teamwork and self-discipline let me know. I need all the help I can get.

Ghost Towns, Shaniko and Basque Sheepherders

 

One of the things I decided that I had to do when I went on this trip was take my kids to a real, live ghost town. When I was very young, my parents took us to explore one. I had to have been less than six years old but the whole idea of a town standing empty was fascinating and that fascination that still holds for me. There are several websites that list the different ghost towns in Oregon, complete with  banjo music. Each county has its own listings, coordinates and last known condition of the towns. Some are quite remote. That was worrying. I didn’t want to drive up into the mountains and get lost with my three children and become one of those tragic stories Live at 6!

Lucky for us not too far after Grass Valley we were set to make a turn to go to Fossil. At this intersection was a small town. I suppose it isn’t actually a ghost town since it had residents. Twenty of them. Seasonally. It also had a hotel, ice cream shop, a goldsmith (who wintered in Arizona) and a two curio shops, as well as a hitching post and the wooden sidewalks. There were several empty buildings all of which were from before the turn of the century (the last one anyway) and even a dentist! Probably the most exciting thing for Noah and Zack was the jail. You could go inside and shut yourself in a cell. Also there was a wagon for transporting prisoners that the kids could climb in.

I asked what happened to the town. An age old story. The industry that the town was built on experienced a massive downturn. What was that industry? Wool. There were millions of pounds of wool going out seasonally. That is until synthetics and cotton took hold on the clothing industry. The town withered away.

“If this was a wool town were there Basque sheepherders?”

The goldsmith replied, “Oh sure. In fact a good friend of mine is Basque. He would take me out four-wheelin in the hills. The man drove like a crazy person. I thought I would die everytime we went out.”

I wanted to ask why he kept going but went with, “Does he still speak Basque? I always wondered if the retained their language and culture.”

“Oh sure. He spoke the language. But never out of the house. That was only for at home.”

Basque sheepherders living in American, in fact Americans themselves many generations over, yet they still retain their language. Amazing.

P.S. I have more pictures but the internet is so slow I can't upload them. Will add some later.

Small Towns and Back Roads

After spending the night in Hood River (at Wal-Mart) we hit the road towards John Day with the hopes of seeing the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. We were taking the back road – a highway called The Oregon Scenic Byway. We passed through several small towns – one stop light type of towns that looked like time forgot them. In the best of ways though – small, beautiful older homes and rolling fields of alfalfa right outside of town. We stopped in Grass Valley (famous for some type of car race track rally style) and had lunch at a market/café.

The ladies there were so friendy and admittedly curious about a mom traveling alone with three children and a travel trailer. They asked where I was going. When I said, "Alexandria, Virginia via Austin, Texas " they could barely hide their concern. One of the ladies walked out to see me off and comment on what a nice, large trailer I was driving. "Good luck and blessed travels to you" she said as she waved us off.

"And God Bless your husband. Thank him for his service." Will do.

Windmills

Driving out the Columbia River Gorge we got to see the wind farm up close and personal. They are HUGE! And boy was it windy. I am wondering how much energy they provide. Whatever they do they were an awesome sight. The picture does not do their size justice. Penelope said "Mommy, get me away from those aliens!" Can you tell she has big brothers?

Walmart

That's right. You heard correctly. I drove an hour and camped overnight in Walmart. Not too far from home (I also have a friend who lives there). It was a safety stop. If it really was untenable I could turn around and easily go home. I'm not really serious about going home…but I was tired and just wanted to sleep. So did the kids. How did I find out about camping at Walmart? I downloaded an app – a truck stop app and a camping/rv app. Best $4.99 I have spent in a long time.

Did you know that WalMart allows you to camp overnight there for free? I found this out when I downloaded a truck stop app to look for rest areas. Awesome. I love WalMart.

The kids keep asking when we can stay there again (I have a feeling it has something to do with the shopping possibilities).

It’s Like Herding Spider Monkeys

I honestly didn't think we would ever pull the trailer out of the driveway (really the space in front of my house). I brought it home with the intention of having the kids help pack their stuff and my own clothes. It was prepacked with the most important things so there wasn't too much left. I have an 11, 9 and 3 year old. I didn't have high expectations of Penelope (age 3) but I thought Noah (11) and Zack (9) could and would help take stuff out. Wrong. So you all have heard the expression "It's like herding cats" right? Well it was like herding spider monkeys. They didn't just run in three directions they also climbed the walls and bounced from house to house. When I would get one on track the other would go awol. By the time I left I was sure I would either kill, lose or maim one of them on this trip and that I shouldn't even consider going on this trip. I was so frustrated and stressed I lost my ability to speak. Grunting and pointing were the only forms of communication that I was capable of. Luckily I have lovely friends who helped lasso my monkeys and get the in the car. Only to pull away and realize I needed to feed the stinkin' monkeys and would have to get out of the car with them again. Uh oh.

Bearing in mind all of this I decided not to drive too far from home and we ended up in the Wal-Mart parking lot in Hood River, Oregon spending the night.

Time For an Adventure

There are many reasons I wanted to go on a trip across country with my kids in a travel trailer and I am sure many reasons will come to mind along the way. First, I have such great memories of my trips with my parents as a young child. In fact, they are my first memories. Being in Texas watching fireflies – someone caught some in a jar for me and I thought they were magical. I was two. Racing through the desert in the corvette sitting on my parents lap. Seeing the Grand Canyon and watching my dad dangle my baby brother over the side. Of course my mom was horrified. I thought it was amusing. Seeing the desert in bloom. Being together as a family. The trips ended sometime after first grade. My parents divorced and there were no more trips racing across the desert. But I always had those memories of us being together. And I wanted to create the same kind of memories for my children.

Why now? Well, my husband is going on a deployment and is out of state. I am two classes away from starting an internship for my Masters. This is really the last time we would have a big chunk of time available for us to go. And we need as many days as we can get as I am taking the scenic route. No highways for us unless absolutely necessary. I want to see America. I want my kids to see America and get a sense of her depth and breadth and all the different types of people she contains. What could be better than small town America and the life along its scenic byways? Not that I am looking down on big cities (I live in a relatively large one) but there is something special about small towns and the people who inhabit them. So join us and see America by road even if you can't go yourself.