The Never Ending Road Trip

*This was written in my note book on October 11^th*

If you know Colt or I then you know that neither one of us really enjoys driving.

I am writing this from the passenger seat on day 3 of our road trip from Louisiana to Las Vegas. We are now somewhere in Arizona.

I think I am losing my mind!

Since the time of our drive to Louisiana I have forgotten that for large portions of the trip there are no radio stations AND no cell signals. So I have been listening to the same cd for hours. If I have to listen to “All About That Bass” one more time I may punch the stereo in the face.

SILENCE!!!

While Colt listens to his book with his headphones and the kids watch a movie in the back, I sit here and write this nonsense as I listen to the sound of the road.

*Note to self- at the next stop buy a new cd any cd.*

GPS says we have 5 ½ hours to go but in RV time that really means 7 hours. Hopefully we make it to Leeds today, then in a few days we will make the quick drive to Las Vegas. If all stays according to plan we will be able to stay put for a few months.

I know what you must be thinking….Why would they live and travel in an RV if they both dislike driving?

The answer…. Even when we have to go through a few crazy long days of driving to stay on a schedule; the days, weeks and months that we get to explore and experience new places make up for the crazy travel days.

Our never ending road trip will one day come to an end. Hopefully not for a while and it certainly won’t be the end of OUR FAMILY TALE.

Until next time, I love you C, M, B, C, E and L

Leesville, LA

Small southern town living is not for everyone, myself included. With that said I am glad we as a family got to experience it.

Talk about a culture shock and a new world when we came here after New York City!

There is one grocery store in town and a Walmart. If you need groceries these are your options. There is one high school, one library, and more churches than I thought there would be. 

When you are looking for something to do on a weekend and you have already watched all the movies at the theater, and if you don't feel like going to the skating rink or bowling again, then you must hop in the car and go for a drive. Alexandria is about 45 minutes away to the east, Lake Charles is about an hour and half to the south. Alex and LC are not huge cities but compared to Leesville they are!

The people here are great!! The southern hospitality is amazing. Everyone talks to everyone. You cant drive down the street with out everyone waving and flashing a smile. 

I am looking forward to getting back to a city ( I am a total city girl) but I will miss the friends the kids and I have made and hope to take some of that small town friendliness with me.

Lindy loved the rain

Colt cleaning Ms. Judy's rv

Lindy helping daddy clean Ms. Judy's rv

We hosted an rv park bbq

Lake Charles 

boys trying to make fire

girls trying to make fire

AF base in Alexandria

Cj liked this plane in Alex.

our lovely neighbor, Ms. Judy. She became like a grandma to our kiddos. 

school work time

The wonderful RS president of the Leesville ward, Sarah. I am going to miss her.
I feel like if we were here longer we would have become like besties.

Bobby washing dishes

Family fun night

Stand Back It Might Explode

20 years from now I can picture my family gathered for Christmas, grand kids playing, and my adult children sitting around with their spouses when they start reminiscing about their own childhoods. Then some one says, "Remember that time we found that bomb and they called the bomb squad?".

Yeah, we now have that story.

Let me explain.....

Bobby, CJ, Eva and a friend were out exploring around the rv park one afternoon. Late afternoon/early evening they came back to our rv very excited to show us this "cool thing" they had found.

They found "it" by the lake sticking out of the mud, so the dug it up and strapped into the baby seat on the back of the bike and rode it home.

Curiously Colt and I went out to see what "it" was.

"WHAT THE CRAP!? GET AWAY FROM THERE AND STEP BACK!" Colt said.

Colt slowly and carefully picked "it" up from the back of the bike and set it gently on the floor. He had me take the kids back while he took a closer look at "it". He thought it was some kind of large ammunition, but wasn't certain because it was very rusty. After a few minutes of inspection and the fact that the kids told us there was another one, Colt called the MPs(military police).

This MP, young kid, looked like he was fresh out of basic, looks at the thing kicks it and says "Well it didn't explode.". All while we are stand just 10ft away. Then we all take a few steps back as he starts kicking and banging this "thing" on the ground.

Colt told him, "since you are so comfortable messing with it can you move it away from our rv and my family".

The mp picks "it" up and takes it across the street where he proceeded to hit it against a tree. Luckily our neighbor, Ian who happens to work in ammunition on post drove up and saw WHAT was going on. He pulled over and jumped out of his car and took a look. He knew right away it was some kind of ammunition and told the mp to call EOD(bomb squad).

A few minutes later a few more MPs roll up and start evacuating everyone from their rvs. They pushed us back to the other side of the park.

As the rv park people started moving towards the back of the park a few people thought ahead and grabbed chairs and food and drinks.

Thanks to another neighbor, Stephen, who was in the middle of cooking a big pot of gumbo and his homemade tater salad nobody went hungry.

After awhile EOD showed up and did there thing. They looked at it, inspected it, researched it, x-rayed it, and grabbed the other one. They eventually decided they would be okay to transport and took them both, to who knows where, but they were gone and we were given the all clear.

Turned out they were a couple of mortar rounds from the 50's or 60's.

By 10:30pm everyone was headed back to their rvs and ready to end the night. Everyone was a bit upset but it turned out to be a fun night.

The rv community is an amazing group, and I will tell you something, they are not lying when they talk about southern hospitality.

Most importantly everyone was safe, as this could have very well ended differently. We got to try gumbo for the first time and have a fun night hanging out with our fellow rvers.

Now we have a very cool "remember when story".

P.S.
As for that young MP, he was yelled at by a few different higher ranking people that night. He also had to apologize for the way he handled the situation. Hopefully he will remember.

Until next time, I love you C,M,B,C, E and L.