JULY = Our month of celebration!!

July has always been a pretty exciting month for me, as a child...it was the time of Summer, school was out, I could play with my friends all day long, and it was my birthday month. Now as an adult, it still holds the same excitement but now I get to share the month with my babaa', our daughter Brittney and Savannah due to all of their birthdays and both of our anniversaries all in the month of July. For us, it is truly like it's Christmas in July!!!

Last year we were celebrating in the mountains of Shaver Lake in California with our traveling friends: Bob, Steve & Miss Cheri. This year we are back in California, in NoCal...the Bay Area, but celebrating with our 'sticks & bricks' friends that J' hasn't seen in about 13 years and I'm meeting for the first time. It's been a great time and fun is always had by all. On J's birthday, we woke up to homemade french toast among other amazing foods for brekkie made by our friends Jenn and Scott. The rest of the day was spent lounging in the pool then for dinner I took him to Applebee's and had one hell of a feast for the price.

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For Savannah's birthday, she was able to pick anything in the world to do and she picked taking it easy by tanning poolside.

[caption id="attachment_5038" align="aligncenter" width="350"] Birthday baby[/caption]

For our Anniversaries, the day seemed to more get away from us then going out and celebrating so we made burgers at home and just hung out. It was a nice day and really every day seems like our Anniversary because we get to spend every single day together and being together is the most important thing!

For my birthday, Jenn and I went for a 4 1/2 mile walk in the morning, made some sloppy joe's from scratch (I'm not a "sloppy" girl, but I am now, those things were the bomb!) We ended our nice time together by cleaning her porch and garage...hey friends gotta do what friends gotta do! haha Later that night, a couple of our friends took us to a restaurant named Ceviche's whose food is to die for...O.M.G.!! The shrimp looked like baby lobsters... they were so huge! We had a great time together, it's so great meeting and getting to know all of these people I've heard about for the last 8 years. Oh my gosh, I almost forgot...J' came home with TWO DOZEN roses for me. They look and smell amazing and the only request for dinner from J' was that I wear a flower in my hair...done!

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The only celebration we will not be able to attend is our 'Lil Bit's 21st birthday which is happening right now, today, this moment. I hope she stays safe, has fun and knows that we would give anything to be with her on this day...well every day!!! We love you very much and wish you the happiest birthday!

The month is almost at an end and has been another amazing month to remember and to celebrate. It's awesome that we've been able to come together with friends of the past and (for me) making everlasting friendships. This July of 2013 is sure to go down in the record books of being one of the most amazing celebrations to date! Thank you to everyone that made every memory worth remembering and smiling about for years to come, we love you so very much!

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[caption id="attachment_5050" align="aligncenter" width="350"] Here's to July[/caption]

We hope your July was as much fun as ours...maybe even better and if not...there's still three days left!!

 Here's to an even better August and more unforgettable days.

PEACE

 

 

A Million Dollar Good-bye

I've been meaning to get this post out for, well ...forever now but life seems to be moving a little fast these days so it has slipped under things, put on the back burner, blah blah blah....

No more excuses.

We are on our way to California and so we have to say "good-bye" to our friends in the Enchanted Forest of Flagstaff. The past two weeks have been not only inspiring, but for me, also eye opening as well as having the opportunity to open my heart and mind to things that have been shut off for many years. I truly met a Soul Sister for life and I will never forget the time that was spent listening, laughing our butts off, and loving this life that too many people take for granted. This blog post is about the GOOD in good-bye. There are a few different links to this post due to the awesome friends we have and them being up on their "game" in the blog world. I hope you are able to view all of the links and can enjoy every minute as if you were there.

We hope you can join us next time!

Randy the poets blog post= http://mobilecodgers.blogspot.com/2013/07/discovering-good-in-goodbye.html

A video Laurie made including a song she wrote and some great photos = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMJUYcBRw38&feature=youtu.be

A video J' took of our "Million Dollar Good-bye"=

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x11vd6g_a-million-dollar-good-bye_tech#.Ue6nd3eAfXo

We will never say good-bye, only see ya later...I mean, could you say good-bye to a friendship like that!? I don't think so. We are forever tethered and we are so grateful to have met such a great group of people and be able to call them, not only friends, but family.

We love you and can't wait until we meet up again some time very very soon!

PEACE

A Gathering Like No Other

What is this thing called the R.T.R., you ask?

For those of you that don't know, the R.T.R. stands for Rubber Tramp Rendezvous and it's something that can be described but truly has to be experienced to get the full effect but I will try, as I always do, to bring it to life on your computer screen through my pictures and stories.

This gathering was our second Summer R.T.R. We saw some people that we had met previously at other gatherings as well as greeting new faces and making new friendships along with strengthening the bond of our true tribe! It's such an amazing time.

Upon our arrival, there were already quite a few rigs parked among the trees...everything was quiet...pretty much the norm for the middle of the day.

[caption id="attachment_4987" align="aligncenter" width="224"] Joon @ the R.T.R.[/caption]

We unpacked and set-up our awning...which I'm now going between calling the Freedom Fort or the Simple Temple...both are great names for what our amazing awning has actually become. Within about an hour of setting up, we started grilling hot dogs and within about 10 minutes of that we had a good 10-12 people bringing their chairs bringing in good food to share with the group, big smiles and good conversation. Since I was the hostess with the mostest...I have no pictures to share but take it from me, it was spectacular!

The couple of days that followed our arrival date were a little slower than usual but it was a great time to catch up with old friends and meet some new faces. We were super stoked to see one familiar face and his furry babies as well as an awesome addition to his family...Brad and the traveling fur babies! haha He has two pups and a kitty...hopefully they will be "on tour" soon and we will get to see more of them.

The group walks daily, twice a day. Bob promised Homer (his dog) that he would give him a great life and keep him healthy, so every day... twice a day (8 a.m. & 6 p.m. depending on the time of year), they go on about an hour long walk. It's nice for the group as well because there is a lot of bonding time on those walks. In between the walks, there's a lot of other things going on. In the morning, around 10 a.m., we all gather and talk about different topics ranging from how we cook and our favorite gadgets to any kind of questions about living the lifestyle as well as gathering for meals and music. If you want to come, than come on and if you need or want some alone time than that's what you get. It's all about helping one another as well as doing what you want to be doing and if you want to be alone...then go be alone. Everyone understands and is very respectful of your time.

Some of our downtime consisted of bonding over cooking sweet potatoes with Bryce, talking in the forest with Steve, taking walks with the group or by ourselves, having dinner parties at The Simple Temple which would then turn into hilariously long conversations into the darkness of the night, gazing at the Super Moon, surprises from Bob, hair cuts and colors, installing solar panels and a bed on other rigs, J' being a mechanic, watching the Ravens and Squirrels "sort" our trash, beautiful sunsets, decadent oatmeal with Randy & Laurie, rainbow time, laughing, playing music...er, trying to play music haha, getting soaking wet while eating brekkie in the rain, and among a million other things just being together as a group.

There are about a million and one pictures during this time...you know me! Here I will try to sum it up in a few photos ...ya know for the full effect!!

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I will have to upload the majority of the photos into Shutterfly when I get the data...there are just too many great photos that I have to leave out due to storage. But at least with these you can get a little glimpse into how much awesomeness we consume in two weeks!

Who knew you could have this much fun for FREE in the forest!?

There is nothing like this experience/lifestyle. I'm just happy to be able to say that we are able to live this life and enjoy it to the fullest. There are things that cannot be put into words on 'paper' for they are experiences that had to be felt in that moment that not a lot of people would understand unless they were present. This Summer R.T.R. is a moment in time that I will cherish and remember for a very long time. The people that I have to thank for that know who they are and I cannot say thank you enough for making this one hell of a Summer and making my life that much better to wake up to every day. And Bob, I want to personally thank you once again for bringing us all together so we can make these true bonds and connections that will last longer than a lifetime...You rock Bobby and I love ya man!

Thank you all for making this Summer magical! We WILL see you down the road and can't wait to hear about...well...everything!

PEACE

Thank you for the Summer R.T.R.

Yes, yes...behind once again! Truly I have to ask myself, am I really behind? What am I behind on? I guess I'm the only one that knows that...so I take it back. I'm not behind...just enjoying this amazing life we're living! We're making memories to actually have something to write about! We have done so much in the last couple of weeks, it will be hard to go back to cover all that we have done but I will try...if not for anything else than for all of you...my awesome readers out there! Don't you love that I put you on the priority list? Believe me...there's not a lot on that list...but you're all there and that's what matters.

Trying to pick up where we left off....we were headed to the R.T.R.

The Summer R.T.R. of 2013 was two weeks of greatness, amazing connections, more laughter and love than I could have ever imagined, strengthening of friendships, keeping busy with jobs here and there and memories that will last a thousand years. Bob has taken gatherings of vandwellers and those alike to a whole new level and I just want to express my appreciation for him and for those that have gathered around him, making our vandwelling life a much more memorable one. The people we have met on the road and at gatherings, such as the R.T.R., are a pack like no other. We are like minded people, that love to listen to stories, laugh at each other, help one another and we all just get "it". Some of our best friends are now people we have met on the road of travel. We all come together and just ride on the vibe of life...there's nothing like it and as I have thrown out the invitation before...I throw it out again to all of you that want, wish or thrive on a lifestyle like this and invite you to come experience "this", at least for a week. I have never experienced comradeship like this in my life, nor do I think I would ever experience this in the world of the "Matrix". It's amazing and we thoroughly enjoy it...so here I am tempting you again to come join us in this spectacular world that we live in...even if for a couple of days. I promise it's so intriguing you'll wonder why you didn't make it happen sooner.

In the next post I will try to captivate you further with moments caught on film and short stories about our time at the R.T.R.

Until then (and I promise I won't keep you waiting long)...

PEACE