We were supposed to leave November 1st. That was the plan, but none of us had any motivation to do so and everyone slept in. Sometimes you just need a down day, especially before an undertaking like this. Plus, it’s vacation…sort of!

This isn’t supposed to be a stressful trip, this is supposed to be fun. We woke up late again and didn’t leave the house until almost 2pm. Then we had to stop and vacuum the van and get it organized, so it was late leaving Richmond, but we did hit the road!

Day 1 was a travel day. We’re trying to get out west to see a new area of the country, which means hours on the road. After several people from my reader group recommended things near them, Katy fell in love with St. Louis’s City Museum, so the start of our trip had me back on 64 heading west.

I’ve made this drive as far as St. Louis three times now in just over a year, but Bethany and Katy have never seen this part of the US. Coming across George Washington National Forest and throughout West Virginia saw amazing views of fall foliage. In my mind we were past the peak for that, so I wasn’t expecting it, but nope, it was gorgeous! We drove through Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky stopping in Louisville for the night.

Some of you may be wondering WHY we are doing this. The answer is simple:

1. It’s cool!

2. I’ve always wanted to do this and the hard reality is that my babies are growing up fast and I won’t have these opportunities with them for much longer. As it is, we’re already missing Roman who’s off to college living his own life (and James – we left dad at home).

3. The reality of our life finally caught up with us. I work for myself now and can write anywhere, and we homeschool the girls who can school anywhere. There’s nothing stopping us from making this happen, so simply put, we’re doing this because we can!

The thing is, we have a loose route, and a general idea of something we want to do in each state, but we’re living life as free spirits and seeing where the wind takes us! Hope you’ll join us for this adventure by following and cheering us along.