Sodas, windows, and other things.

We left our family and one of our furry friends (Boba, our Boxer) in Tulsa on 06/21 headed for Canyon, TX, a small town just south of Amarillo. On the way, we decided to make a stop at Pops Soda Ranch (http://route66.com) just outside of Oklahoma City. For those who do not know, I am an avid collector of glass root beer bottles and have tried and collected about 75 or so in the last 7 years. I have also started another glass soda bottle collection with my kids. Upon driving into Pops, I was floored. I have never seen such a selection! They have over 600 different sodas, most of them in glass bottles. So, we loaded up a case in no time (six root beers I had not previously tried!)  and went to head out. Oh yeah, I should also mention that they had a diner that had a line out the door and for good reason I am sure; the food smelled amazing, but we were on a timetable.

Well, as we were gassing up to leave, Martha tells me we have lost a window on the RV! I go and inspect the bedroom and was very confused as we had not hit anything or been away long enough to get robbed. So, we turn to the redneck's best friend duct tape!

Just a temp fix until we could get to our next stop. One more thing, our A/C in the truck decided it didn't feel like working, so we had to drive with the windows down. To make it go by a little easier, we decided to sing kids praise songs as loud as we could! We made it into Canyon just at sunset, and with the help of my good friend Roman, we secured the temp fix until a proper solution could be found.

The next day, since every place we called was closed, we decided to go hiking in Palo Duro Canyon (the mini Grand Canyon as it is called in these parts). The state park was only 11 miles from our front door, so it took no time getting there. We headed out on the trails leading into the majestic desert landscape, telling the kids all about erosion and what we knew about the local wildlife.

The kids did great until about the 0.6 mile marker (we had planned on a 1.5 mile hike). Then, the younglings started to miss air conditioning. We decided to push hard back to the visitor center and burned back up the canyon to much needed shade and water refills!

Later that day, we were able to spend some time at the lovely new home of our friends, the Asbills. The boys were extra excited as Roman and Angela have three sons very close in age to ours, and they were all fast friends despite having never really met before. Canyon also has an amazing coffee shop on the town square called Palace Coffee (http://palacecoffee.co), I could stay there all day. Some of the best coffee and atmosphere, not to mention great staff! Thank you so much to Patrick for hooking me up with the best cup of Joe in the best cup in the house!

Last night, we went to the Varsity Theater across from West Texas A&M, to see Monsters University. This gem is a one screen movie theater that has been open since 1947! It was really neat to see a movie in such a classic theater. Today, the boys and I went to Amarillo and checked out the Don Harrington Discovery Center, a hands on science museum for kids of all ages. It has been a great time this week hanging out with dear friends, exploring new places, and trying new things! In two more days, we will be leaving for Colorado, hopefully with all of our windows intact!

Oklahoma Bound

We said goodbye to our house in Anna TX on June 7th and set off for Tulsa OK, our first stop.

 We pulled into the Warrior RV and set about the task of setting up for the first time. The event went smooth despite us never having done it before, trying to figure out whether or not we should hook up the sewer line was a bit confusing, but we managed ( Thank God it did not happen like on the movie RV).

We found that we had not downsized enough and had to store/give away more things to family. My apologies to my brother and sister for taking up most of their garage. After clearing out the excess stuff, we were finally able to organize our new home. Let me say this: Going from 1700+ sqft to a little under 300 is definitely a challenge. However, the freedom that comes with not having a ton of crap is amazing.

This first stop in an RV park was really just a test run for us, to figure out how we were going to do things. For us it is all pretty much trial and error. I would like to say a huge thank you to the Norton family, who posted videos on Youtube of how they live in an RV with 6 kids.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6gow8Vxhcs You guys are amazing! These videos helped give us lots of ideas on how to organize our new home on wheels.

After our test run of a few days, we took off to church camp for a week with the family and then hit the road for Canyon TX, a small town just south of Amarillo where our very good friends, the Asbills, live. This trip was definitely an adventure, which I will fill you in on in the next installment. Until then, don't forget to let go and let God.

The Beginning

About five years ago my lovely wife and my older two sons were living in Carlsbad, NM and we talked about selling all of our stuff and living in an RV. This was possible due to the fact that Martha (my amazing wife if you didn't already know) works from home doing medical transcription, so she an work from anywhere as long as she has a high speed internet connection. The idea died with the thought of buying a house and living the " American dream". So we did just that, the house in the suburbs, the corporate job for me, mini van, soccer practice, cub scouts, the whole shabang! After 5 years of it, we came to the conclusion that it is not all that it is cracked up to be. We work to pay bills, to pay the mortgage, to live, but is it really living? What if you had no mortgage, no car payment, and nothing tying you to one place? Where would you go? What would you do?

So we decided to go back to that idea of living in an RV. We had done some work our first home and put some good equity in, we determined that with the money we would make from the home sale and selling/ giving away all of our non essential items we could pay cash for a truck and RV, and be free to go where we want and LIVE! This decision was not a whim, we put a great deal of thought and prayer into it.
Speaking of prayer, weather you believe in a Higher Power or not, I have to tell you about what has happened since we made our decision, it may change your mind.

We prayed to God and asked for wisdom and discernment involving this huge life change. We asked that if this was in His will that He would open all of the doors, and if not that He would close them. Soon we began to see his hand working. My long lost brother came and helped me fix up the house ( something I could not do all on my own for I am ignorant to the ways of carpentry), we found a family friend who is in our town and with a great real estate agency, we found a great truck  about $4000 under the market value  and the dealer took my car in trade for more than the trade in value, our house went on the market 5/1/13 and we got TWO offers within three hours, and our ended up selling for more than our original asking price on that first day. Now tell me that is not God!

I am sitting in our almost empty home now, we closed on the house yesterday. We have stored what we wanted to keep (not much) with our family in Oklahoma, and Monday we will go get our new home on wheels ( a 24 ft fifth wheel).
 Now some of you may be thinking that we are nuts, and you may be right, living in a small space with 3 kids and two dogs may not be your cup of tea. I invite you to follow us on our adventures on the road as we explore the U.S., and maybe even Canada and Mexico. 

Never stop dreaming! Let Go and Let God!
Blessings,
Daniel Sandoval